Service Reviews - Support Services

Closed 15 Nov 2013

Opened 1 Jul 2013

Contact

servicereviews@birmingham.gov.uk

Feedback updated 11 Aug 2015

We asked

Please note this is part of an ongoing dialogue to inform the service review process and is not a consultation. Whilst we have made significant savings in recent years and completely transformed some of our administrative functions, we are clear that further efficiencies in back office support services can and must be made, in order to limit cuts in front-line services as far as possible. But we also need to rethink the role of our strategic functions. A differently functioning council may need to be supported in a radically different way. In future the council must be able to deliver challenging priorities for Birmingham with much less resource.

You said

Your (21) responses were gratefully received and will form part of the decision making process.

We did

Views from the budget consultation and the service review dialogues were made available to the council decision makers to  ensure they were fully informed of any relevant concerns prior to the drafting of the business plan and budget.  A summary of the feedback from consultation can be found in the consultation chapter of the Council Business Plan on the council’s website.

Results updated 26 Feb 2014

A summary of comments received on Support Services is on page 3 of the Summary of Dialogue attached below, with more detail on page 20.

These were fed into a White Paper ‘Planning Birmingham’s Future and Budget Consultation 2014-15’ and the budget setting process for 2014/15.

The White Paper outlined plans for the future of the city council, showing how we can continue to work towards our objectives with far less money.

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Overview

Please note this is part of an ongoing dialogue to inform the service review process and is not a consultation.

Whilst we have made significant savings in recent years and completely transformed some of our administrative functions, we are clear that further efficiencies in back office support services can and must be made, in order to limit cuts in front-line services as far as possible.

But we also need to rethink the role of our strategic functions. A differently functioning council may need to be supported in a radically different way. In future the council must be able to deliver challenging priorities for Birmingham with much less resource. This will require us to focus our resources even more on key priorities and the most cost-effective ways to deliver them. Current support service arrangements are no longer financially sustainable, and are not always fully effective and efficient in supporting the council to deliver our priorities.

The review has identified several areas for potential savings, as well as areas where current culture, processes and organisation could better fit the future needs of the council. Our planning needs to be based even more on robust evidence and data applied consistently across the council.

Further support services savings will also be sought in the next stages of the Review Programme. Phase 2 will look at options such as removing internal charging and adopting a cross-council approach to administration.

Areas

  • CITY-WIDE

Audiences

  • All residents

Interests

  • Communications
  • Democracy and Participation