stockton and darlington
Challenge
In August 2006, Stockton on Tees and Darlington Borough Councils commenced a project to consider the feasibility of the formation of a formal partnership for the provision of core support services across both councils. The project reflected the Government’s agenda of transforming public services through the creation of effective partnerships between government departments and local authorities and other public sector bodies as well more widely as between public and private sector organisations.
The main aim of the project was to establish whether the joint provision of services such as finance, HR, ICT and design & print would deliver both efficiency savings and improvements to service, capacity and resilience whilst maintaining currently quality levels and allowing for future expansion of services to meet evolving requirements.
The overall project vision was much more far-reaching than simply merging the functions of the two separate councils, rather it created an opportunity to specify, develop and deliver brand new, best of breed services which would support both councils’ growth objectives far into the future. Although the project was initiated by Stockton on Tees and Darlington Borough Councils, an element of the project scope was the consideration of how, if established, a formal partnership could be expanded to accommodate other councils.
Solution
The project team immediately concluded that ICT would require significant consideration in terms of infrastructure and would therefore impact on any plans for the other shared services. The decision was taken to explore this area first and independent expert ICT consultancy NCC Group was engaged to develop a comprehensive blueprint for the future provision of shared ICT services, due to its extensive experience of large scale public sector ICT projects.
In order to develop the blueprint, the consultancy initially worked closely with the joint project team to clearly identify the key project issues and priorities. All existing key ICT applications, technical infrastructures and service delivery processes were then evaluated using formal best-practice models and senior managers at both councils were surveyed on their aspirations for ICT and services. Detailed guidance on executing successful ICT mergers, covering both staff and technology, was provided and server and technology consolidation options specified, which included a specification and costs for an essential new computer room.
The next stage of the project involved the preparation of a business case by the team of NCC Group consultants which detailed the steps required and costs involved in establishing the formal partnership, along with an analysis of the potential risks and benefits. This was presented to the joint project team along with an execution roadmap for the blueprint which outlined and critically appraised the various viable options for setting up the partnership.
Results
After careful consideration of the blueprint, the joint project team selected its preferred option of a single ICT shared services organisation.This is to be presented to both Cabinets for approval in the autumn, although approval has already been given in principal.
The joint project team is currently beginning the critical preparation phase of the implementation of the formal partnership. The partnership is expected to last at least ten years and deliver significant savings over this period.
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NCC Group is a leading global provider of independent IT assurance, security and consultancy services. As a trusted advisor, we help over 15,000 public, private and not for profit sector organisations, including 92 of the FTSE 100, to make the most efficient use of information and technology and to manage the associated risks.
Challenge
Stockton on Tees and Darlington Borough Councils were considering the feasibility of the formation of a formal partnership for the provision of core support services across both councils and wanted to start its research by looking at the potential required ICT infrastructure
Solution
The Councils decided to engage independent IT consultancy NCC Group to develop a comprehensive blueprint for the future provision of shared ICT services
Results
NCC Group provided the Councils with a report detailing the steps and cost required to develop a formal partnership along with the analysis of the potential risks and benefits