All local authorities are seeking to deliver improvements in business practices, customer satisfaction, and staff morale against a backdrop of reduced financial resources and increasing customer demands. Nottingham City Council is carrying out a three-year trial of Systems Thinking to see whether this approach delivers such improvement.

Procurement Lincolnshire has devised an innovative Purchase Card (P-Card) system making it one of the first, and potentially one of the largest, procurement projects of its kind. More than 1,000 cards are being used across the region, and 600 people have been been gained since 2007. The scheme has already led to efficiency savings of £1,019,148 and an average saving of approximately
£26 per purchase.

‘Fair price, Fair care' across the East Midlands

Through the implementation of a Care Funding Calculator across the region's authorities, Adult Social Care Services in the East Midlands have generated over £2 million in savings since 2008, forecast to become £4.5 million cumulatively when the 2010-2011 figures are included. This represents an average price reduction of 17%.

The strategic alliance of High Peak Borough Council and Staffordshire Moorlands District Council and the sharing of its services, including an Equality & Diversity Policy Officer, has already begun to generate savings and increase efficiency in just under a year.