Issue details

Cabinet was advised that public sector budgets face significant reductions from 2011 onwards and that for the council this might involve a five percent or even a ten percent reduction in grant. If the various public services in Peterborough combine overheads by sharing front- and back-office activities and by working together better to manage supply networks the council can at least partially adapt to this reduction in income by removing unnecessary costs.

The government is sponsoring a number of projects under the “Total Place” banner. The idea is that the total amount of taxpayer-funded activity in an area is counted and the services that spend the money then find ways to collaborate so as to achieve the same or better outcomes at a lower input cost.

Peterborough City Council has commenced discussions with the other local public services about taking action to collaborate in order to reduce costs. Three broad programmes are envisaged:

1.  A public services alliance – shared business units

2.  Demand transformation – switch to prevention instead of cure

3.  Better supplier and contract management

CABINET RESOLVED TO:

1.   Endorse the strategy of collaborating with other public services in Peterborough to reduce costs through the three workstreams set out in the report. 

2.   Delegate to the Chief Executive in consultation with the Executive Director of Strategic Resources, the Leader and the Cabinet Member for Resources the authority to implement a collaborative procurement exercise with other public services to procure the capability required effectively to implement the three workstreams.