Lincolnshire County Council transferred over 1,000 IT and finance staff to an outside agency and made savings of £5m over 18 months.
Delegates at the Society of Directors of Personnel Scotland annual conference last week heard a lively presentation on whether Scottish local authorities should implement innovative new ways of delivering services by introducing outside private agencies to carry out support services in the future.
In the session sponsored by Personnel Today, Gail Shadlock, personnel manager for Lincolnshire County Council explained:
“The council were looking for best value and to upgrade their IT and finance departments but didn’t have the money or the will to do it from within the council. We invited tenders for support services and eventually accepted one from the Hyder Group which produced savings of £5m on an annual £30m budget over a period of 18 months.”
Said Shadlock: “It has provided us with a new IT system which we would never have been able to afford and is constructing a new business centre which, again, would not have been built without this deal.”
By Colin Wright
