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Debra Maxwell talks to eGov monitor about the extensive provision of shared services that already exists at Surrey County Council and the impact of "Transformational Government" on local authorities

Q1 Could you briefly tell us about existing shared service provision at Surrey County Council?

• Information Bureau - One stop shop “call centre” for Sales to Collect (Accounts Receivable) – All activity that can be described as transactional in nature is handled in the Shared Service Centre. The SSC provides a customer centric face, receiving and resolving customer enquiries. All billing activity and debt management activity is conducted here
• Procure to Pay (Accounts Payable and Procurement) – The SSC provides a customer centric face, receiving and resolving vendor enquiries. All purchase ordering and invoice processing is conducted in the SSC. Travel and expense claims that are created by the business are reviewed on an exceptions basis against physical receipts before payments to employees are processed. An element of contract management is also undertaken including tender administration.
• Record to Report (Financial Accounting and Reporting) - The estimated total budget available to the Council for the current and future years is determined based on likely levels of Government funding, the allowable increase in Council Taxes, other income generation activity and use of reserves. High-level budget allocations are distributed to Service Directorates. At this stage the Shared Service Centre provides Service Directorates with budget modelling and what if scenario planning. ‘What-if’ planning might include an assessment of the impact of different inflation assumptions on the budget requirement. Budget monitoring exception reports and first level analysis reports are produced and distributed by the SSC team to unit managers in the Service Directorates. Any journals or budget adjustments required are processed by the SSC to ensure that financial information is accurate and up-to-date at all times.
• Business Intelligence - Business Intelligence is provided through a combination of standard reports and Business Warehouse reports and allows Service Directorates to combine activity and volume information to further enhance the accuracy of forecasts. An important element of this activity is the ‘Self-service’ nature of it. Business units are expected to access the system themselves to run the standard reports. The Shared Service Centre carries out some complex modelling of financial analysis on behalf of service directorates.
• Recruitment - The Shared Service Centre processes transactions associated with the recruitment process and act as single point of contact for the applicants and coordinate the overall process. The SSC also manage the relationship with external advertising agency – they place purchase requisitions that are ultimately approved by the recruitment budget holder (currently the manager approving the vacancy). We always operate on behalf of the service or HR & under their guidance. If required, the Centre staffs will co-ordinate efforts between different teams. We also receive & escalate enquiries.
• Training Administration -The training admin team process transactions associated with the booking of training courses and act as single point of contact for the attendees and coordinate the overall process. The SSC also manage the relationship with external training agencies – we place purchase requisitions that are ultimately approved by the training budget holder (currently the manager approving the training).
• Employee Services – The team process transactions associated with but not limited to hiring, transfer, end of employment or change in pay. They act as single point of contact for the manager and employee via the Information Bureau, and coordinate the overall process.
• Payroll - process transactions associated with the payroll process, run the payroll and act as single point of contact for managers and employees with regard to pay-related enquiries via the information Bureau.
• Property - We are responsible for financial property transactions including invoice processing and cost settlement for work orders. The team also provides support for the use of the Plant Maintenance module and ad-hoc reports.
• Data Management - Security and control, organisational data management and role maintenance are provided by the Shared Service Centre.
• Information Bureau - One stop shop “call centre” for members of staff and suppliers staffed by cross functional specialist members of staff who aim to answer all queries (sent via e-mail, voicemail, fax, etc) at first time fix rate of 85%. The team is divided into two teams supporting 1. Finance, Procurement and Property. 2. HR and Payroll.

Q2 What do you think are the major cultural challenges to shared services in local authorities?

Do not underestimate the cultural change required to deliver such a complex and challenging project! Overall, the new common ways of working, with all of their benefits, will mean less freedom for individuals to work their own unique way which, for some, will be seen negatively and this needs to be recognised and managed carefully throughout the lifecycle of the project and into implementation and stabilisation. Local authorities are driven to delivering front line services and see the transformation to Shared Services as a fundamental loss of their ability to make key decisions and therefore there is a lack of awareness or skills to deliver the change ethos required into the organisation.

Q3 Has the huge range of goods and services that Surrey County Council like other local authorities provide created obstacles to shared service provision?

It has created some complexity, however, we looked at a range of benefits when looking at an integrated program of systems, process and organisational change. The Shared Services organisation gave us a firm foundation for the organisation to realise benefits available through the standardisation of processes implemented as part of the ERP program. It also gave us further opportunity to consolidate end-to-end processes to realise opportunities of economies of scale and further process improvement, whilst ensuring a common approach to customer service and delivery of services to the business. This means that in most cases the majority of staff are using common processes and procedures. Where there are exceptions we have built interfaces to automate and manage complexity.

Q4 What do you think are the major lesson’s on shared services Surrey County Council could share with other local authorities as they put in place the “Transformational Government Strategy”?

Implementing Shared Services is a complex, demanding and challenging project that requires a clear and concise mandate from the top leadership and politicians in the organisation. Once this is attained I would advise: (and the list is not exhaustive!)

• Developing a clear business case – clearly defining what is in and out of scope for the project.
• Have a clear vision, strategy and define how your shared service centre will operate including specific service and operating level agreements. Operating level agreements ensure there is a clear accountability for both shared services and front line delivery areas.
• Identify and manage your full budget from the outset and define how you will manage ongoing operating costs. Initially we found it difficult to ensure we had full funding for ongoing investment.
• Communicate, communicate and communicate! Address head-on the fears of job losses and changes to ways of working. Staff need to feel they are not joining the “underdogs” of the organisation but are professionals in their own right
• Make sure your leadership is of the highest quality and can drive the requisite change in culture
• Ensure the staff in the Shared Service Centre has the right skills and work ethic.

Q5 Do you think the different roles of the public sector organisations and the number of stakeholders involved imposes limits on the extent to which shared services can be an effective route for releasing resources?

The good old “where there is a will there is a way” comes to mind! I think this will ultimately need to be the way forward. Thousands of public servants within numerous departments are engaged in administrative, human resource, financial, procurement or information technology activities within government. Introducing more shared systems, simplifying and standardising processes for these administrative activities, moving routine activities to self-service on the internet, and shared service delivery will result in efficiencies. Ultimately it will also mean that the cost of implementation and the management consultancy costs are reduced across all of the public sector. However, difficulties remain both politically (across local authorities) and in sheer scale. I see an initial “Centres of Excellence” approach with local authorities, health trusts, government departments etc collaborating on shared services leading to a reduced number of “super” shared services over time.

Debra Maxwell is speaking at the 3rd Annual Shared Services for the Public Sector 2006, Driving Efficiencies, Economies of Scale and Cultural Harmony Through Shared Services and Partnerships. Which takes place on 27th & 28th June 2006, with workshops on 26th June in Nottingham.

Curtail bureaucracy and build long-term collaborations: The Cabinet Office reveals critical steps to drive efficiency beyond the Gershon Review

• Gain whole organisation buy-in to the Shared Services concept: Find out how the DWP is cascading essential sponsorship of the project down the right channels   
• Drive through an effective change management programme: Let Anglia Support Partnership show you how to identify employment models that best fit your resources  
• Improve service delivery to reach maximum customer satisfaction levels: Examine how Derwent Shared Services focus their efforts on delivering innovative client solutions  

Book online at www.sharedservicesnetwork.com/GB-2679/egov or emailing enquire@sharedservicesnetwork.com