4 Reduce waste through better management and sharing services
Efficiency is at the heart of public service reform. Given resource constraints, achieving higher productivity and value for money is crucial. Public services must be efficient if they are to deliver effectively and gain the confidence of users, while giving taxpayers real value for money and, as Sir Peter Gershon outlined in his review, "…making the best use of the resources available."11 Using new approaches to streamline human resources (HR), finance or transactional services across and between departments is one way to improve performance and free up resources for front-line services. Shared services have the potential to deliver savings to the UK taxpayer of an estimated £560m over the next two years, if adopted by central government departments alone.12
Such developments should be part of a comprehensive programme of improving management in the public services by increasing the accountability of senior managers for service improvement, developing better management information flows to support decision making, and improving people management.13 Improving skills in finance, commissioning, procurement and programme management is central to the development agenda within all public services. Publishing the findings from departmental capability reviews (DCRs) is a good way of highlighting problems, but the response to the challenges laid down by DCRs should also be open to public scrutiny. Waste can be reduced by:
Managing information to improve decision making. Public service leaders need financial and qualitative information that can be used to improve performance at every level. It is common practice in many businesses. One leading high street bank places a high priority on management information systems to provide senior executives with effective data on a series of key performance indicators, with which they can make decisions on a daily basis. Constructing and running data systems should have a clear sense of the information needed and should avoid overburdening staff with data collection.14 Better decision making can lead to significant productivity gains.
Public authorities harnessing technology. In local government, some authorities are leading the way through better management. Wye Borough Council has used Business Process Re-engineering 'systems thinking' to improve the performance of its benefits claims service, reducing the time for a claim from 52 days to seven days. In policing, Northamp tonshire Police has used Automated Number Plate Recognition to improve its rate of wanted vehicle identification by 800%. In police forces across the UK, over 50% of all police identity parades are now conducted by video - saving 65% of uniformed staff time.
Sharing services puts money into frontline services. In 2005, the Department of Health and a private provider formed a 50:50 joint venture company, NHS Shared Business Services (NHS SBS), in an attempt to save trusts over £224m by introducing new shared finance and accounting systems. Individual trusts join the scheme and the provider supplies new systems and change management assistance. The systems introduce real-time financial accounting to trusts for the first time, giving them better information with which to take operational decisions. Estimates suggest that by 2009/10, NHS Shared Service Centres will save £35m a year in HR services and £60-75m a year in financial services.15 The HR savings alone would pay for at least 1,500 more nurses.