Somerset Virtual Unitary Authority for the Collection of Waste

23 Aug 2010

Facing increasing costs, challenges and customer expectations, all six councils in Somerset joined forces to create a "virtual unitary authority" for the collection of waste and awarded a single county-wide contract. These changes are expected to achieve £1.5 million revenue equivalent savings a year.

Click HERE to read the case study.

Local Government Improvement & Development Annual Report 2009-10

10 Aug 2010

Local Government Improvement and Development (LG Improvement and Development) is working with other parts of the Local Government Group (LG Group) to support, promote and improve local government. During 2009/2010 the organisation was known as the Improvement and Development Agency (IDeA).

Joint Work - Fit for the Future

05 Aug 2010

East Midlands Councils, in partnership with East Midlands Regional Improvement and Efficiency partnership commissioned 'Fit for the Future' study to help local authorities share good practice in response to the recession. This project has been overseen by a small Advisory Board comprising:

Cllr Jim Harker, Leader, Northamptonshire County Council (Conservative)
Cllr Martin Hill, Leader Lincolnshire County Council (Conservative)
Cllr Robert Parker, Lincolnshire County Council (Labour)
Cllr David Perkins, Northampton Borough Council (Liberal Democrat)

The report has been based on interviews with the Head of Economic Development, or equivalent, in every Council in the East Midlands, interviews with a range of non-local authority partners and analysis of the impact of the recession and the potential impact of reductions in public sector employment on the East Midlands. It includes the following case studies:

- Derby City Council's ‘Trains, Planes and Automobiles' research into the key sectors underpinning manufacturing in the City
- Bassetlaw District Council's joined up local and small business based response to the recession
- Leicestershire County Council and Leicester City Council's Total Place pilot
- Nottingham City Council's ‘Whole Council' corporate response to the recession
- East Lindsey District Council's Courts Service; a family based service supporting individuals at risk of losing their home developed   specifically in response to the recession
- The iCon centre in Daventry, a national centre of excellence in construction offering opportunities around construction during the recession

The report finds that the recession hit communities and businesses increased demand for services and its impact on public finances has increased the pressure on Councils' budgets. Councils across the region have undertaken a huge range and variety of activity to support communities and business to recover from the recession. Activity ranged from small projects to ambitious multi-agency partnerships. Not everything that Councils have done has been universally effective, but all Councils have responded. The report does not identify one approach to supporting the local economy that would be replicable in every area, but we have uncovered a wealth of good practice that every Council can learn from.

Economic circumstances and the challenges Councils face continue to change and Councils will continue to develop new and innovative ways of responding. This report can only be a snapshot at one point in time. There is scope for local authorities to work together to continue to share good practice in supporting local economies.

Local Government Professional Services Bulletin - Aug 2010

05 Aug 2010

The Local Government Professional Services Group (LGPSG), a stakeholder group run by and for local authorities, has commissioned ESPO (on behalf of Pro5), the Office of Government Commerce (OGC) and the Department for Education (DfE).

Councillors' Guide 2010-11

04 Aug 2010

The Local Government Improvement and Development's new edition of the 'Councillors' Guide' has been revised and updated to reflect the latest legislation and thinking concerning local government in England. It focuses principally on the needs of newly-elected councillors, although more experienced councillors will find it useful too.

The guide explores things new councillors need to know at the start of their careers in public life. It:

- discusses councillors' roles and responsibilities as ward representatives
- explains how councils work and how they are funded
- examines the various checks and balances that regulate councils and councillors
- stresses the importance of community leadership.

East Midlands Neighbourhood Resource Centre June 2010 Newsletter

04 Aug 2010

The East Midlands Neighbourhood Resource Centre is funded by the East Midlands Improvement & Efficiency Partnership to assist in the delivery of neighbourhood renewal at a grassroots level by equipping neighbourhood frontline practitioners such as neighbourhood wardens, housing officers, neighbourhood managers, community groups and residents with the relevant skills and knowledge to carry out their roles more effectively, in alignment with the government‟s localism and big society agenda.

empa Large Projects

04 Aug 2010

A 'Large Works' framework, covering projects in the range of £7.5 million to £30 million, has been established by Scape for empa members.

Available since April 2010, the framework provides a proven way to expedite your new build or refurbishment project and deliver best value. An empa framework provides:

- Client engagement from the start
- Proactive risk management
- Localised supply chain procurement and selection
- Structured project delivery process following
- PRINCE2 processes
- Ongoing project support
- Performance management control
- Managed continuous improvement
- Removal of waste on site and in the system

Equity and Excellence: Liberating the NHS - (NHS Briefing for Members)

03 Aug 2010

Equity and excellence: liberating the NHS, the coalition Government's white paper, was published on 12 July 2010. It has at its heart three key principles:

• patients at the centre of the NHS
• changing the emphasis to clinical outcomes
• empowering health professionals, in particular GPs.

There is no doubt the white paper signals the biggest reorganisation of the NHS in its history and, as expected, almost every part of the NHS will see significant change if the proposals are fully implemented.

Community engagement and empowerment: a guide for councillors

30 Jul 2010

This document is a detailed guide to community empowerment for councillors, setting out an introduction to empowerment, some activities that help councillors to work with their communities, a discussion of the skills that councillors might need to work with their communities and the support available to aquire these skills.

Community empowerment is about having the conditions in place that allow local people to make a difference to improve their localities, and that encourage them to believe that it is both possible and worth it.

The guide contains useful examples of community empowerment best practice, as well as some tools that will help councillors diagnose the strengths and areas for development within their own authority's practice.

This publication was written for Local Government Improvement and Development and the Network of Empowering Authorities by the Local Government Information Unit's (LGIU) Centre for Local Democracy.

Place-based budgets - the future governance of local public services

29 Jul 2010

(Published by LGA)

Public services will have to become more transparent, more effective, and cheaper. This simply will not happen without a significant change to the way funding is allocated and decisions are made.

This paper proposes a significant shift in accountability which would make local public services genuinely local both in the way funding is allocated, and decisions about services are made and accounted for.

Building on experience of what works - and what doesn't - the LGA has set out a model for place-based budgeting.

Find out more in the LGA's publication 'Place-based budgets - the future governance of local public services'

Leading the Way by Working Together

28 Jul 2010

The second edition of this annual report shows how local government is working together, and with its partners, to improve services for local people.

This publication provides evidence that, as a sector, local government is ready to take on the increased freedom and responsibility of decentralisation and a more locally accountable performance framework. It is a celebration of how local government has worked together to lead improvement in recent times, supported by:

Regional Improvement and Efficiency Partnerships (RIEPs)
Local Government Improvement and Development
Local Government Leadership
Local Government Regulation
Local Government Employers
Local Partnerships.

It is an acknowledgement of how far local government have come over the past year. It provides a flavour of what can be achieved by sharing our collective expertise, learning from each other and looking more widely to form place-based partnerships with other service providers.

NIEP Progress Report 2010

28 Jul 2010

"Nationally, construction expenditure remains the largest area of spending activity in local government, accounting for 30% of the overall annual procurement spend. The NIEP's goal is to deliver a 20% saving in construction costs and a 14.5% saving in assets, at a time of unprecedented fiscal constraint."

The National Improvement and Efficiency Partnership (NIEP) for the Built Environment is the national body that aims to shape the
future of intelligent local government asset management and buildings and highways construction procurement across England.
The NIEP has recently changed its name from the NIEP "for Construction" to "for the "Built Environment" to better reflect all aspects of its remit.

Launched in September 2009 at the Institute of Directors' London headquarters, amid challenging economic times, the NIEP plays
a pivotal role in supporting and championing the delivery of efficiencies and better ways of working for all those involved in construction and highways programmes across the local government sector.

NIEP for the Built Environment - The benefits of collaborative procurement

28 Jul 2010

In today's uncertain economic climate, councils are searching for opportunities to drive efficiencies and make savings without compromising the quality or accessibility of local services. At the same time the construction industry is under pressure to stay afloat.
Fortunately, an important tool has been forging a link between better construction and improved public services and particularly in today's economy, has proven to be mutually beneficial to councils and the construction industry.

Around the country, collaborative procurement, whereby councils work together to jointly purchase goods and services, is saving money, achieving more programme certainty, and lowering risk.

Formed in 2009, the National Improvement Efficiency Partnership (NIEP) for the Built Environment is playing a unique role in leading the ongoing adoption of local government best practice. Building on the successes to date of nine Improvement Efficiency
Partnerships (IEPs), the NIEP is working to shape the future of intelligent local government asset management and procurement of building and highway projects.

The following report provides evidence of the benefits to date of collaborative procurement and the potential of the NIEP to maximise future benefits.

Efficiency Savings Part 1

20 Jul 2010

Following a request from the East Midlands Regional Improvement and Efficiency Partnership (EMIEP), Keep Britain Tidy was asked to develop a region wide improvement programme to assist the ‘Efficiency Challenge Project’ to work with local authorities on recommendations and the measurement of potential savings around cleansing in the East Midlands.

This report, Efficiency Savings Part 1, focuses on how EMIEP may identify small scale and non-cashable savings amongst authorities in the East Midlands. The report consists of two main parts – the first focusing on data analysis and the second on operational efficiencies, with conclusions combined from both areas.

The data analysis section reviews and analyses a wide range of publically available cleansing related primary data for the East Midlands, identifies correlations of trends and patterns regionally, and combines these with Keep Britain Tidy’s wider research around resident satisfaction and cost and the impact of external factors, such as IMD and population density which impacts on perceptions and routes to efficiencies.

The operational efficiencies section identifies a range of broad efficiency saving routes which could be considered to help realise small and non-cashable savings across environmental portfolios.

In combining these findings, the report concludes by giving three routes to region-wide implementation through operational efficiencies; correlation of relative performance; and a focus on learning from areas with high perceptions.

Through the remainder of the over-arching EMIEP Efficiency Challenge Project, Keep Britain Tidy will work with authorities in the East Midlands to extend Efficiency Savings Part 1 to develop larger scale efficiency savings models.

Neighbourhood Wardens Review

19 Jul 2010

A report on the activities being taken by all the neighbourhood wardens in the East Midlands.

Neighbourhood Wardens are well trained professionals who patrol town centres or neighbourhoods solving environmental problems, reducing anti-social behaviour and fear of crime, but also providing social glue within community neighbourhoods. In the East Midlands there are Neighbourhood Wardens in Ashfield, Broxtowe, Gedling, Newark & Sherwood, Nottingham; Amber Valley, Bolsover, Chesterfield, Derby Homes, South Derbyshire, South Kesteven, Lincoln, Hinckley & Bosworth, North West Leicestershire, Northampton and Wellingborough.

This latest review explains what they do.

Leicestershire RIEP Equality & Diversity Partnership Programme Bulletin Issue 1

19 Jul 2010

Hello, and welcome to the first edition of the RIEP Equality & Diversity Partnerships Programme Bulletin! The aim of this bulletin is to keep you updated on the progress made to date, of the several projects within the Equality and Diversity Partnerships Programme, which is taking place throughout the subregion. The project team is now complete and started in post as of October 2009. The team consists of Suzanne Kinder (RIEP Equality and Diversity Partnerships Manager) and Alpa Parmar (RIEP Equality and Diversity Partnerships Communications Officer). Details of both can be found at the bottom of the bulletin. Now there is a lot of work going on behind the scenes - so if you have been wondering what we have been up to, we have been working to begin the programme with a successful start!

National Waste Partnerships Mapping and Support Strategy Project

13 Jul 2010

Local authorities working in partnership are a significant element in the successful delivery of the Government’s waste strategy objectives to reduce municipal waste disposal to landfill and to prevent waste and increase re-use, recycling and composting.

This project was commissioned by DEFRA and Improvement and Efficiency South East (IESE) and required Beasley Associates Ltd to: map out the extent and range of partnership working within local authorities in England; conduct a ‘health check’ on the state of municipal waste partnerships; and, identify areas where further support from DEFRA and its support agencies could assist in developing partnership working and accelerate the ability for local authority waste services to identify and implement efficiency savings through better collaboration.

Of 51 active local authority waste partnerships identified in England, current information was gained from 47 in a series of structured interviews and an analysis of activities. A number of other interviews were carried out with partnerships no longer active and also with representatives from RIEPs to provide additional context.

PPN 14/10 How to Indicate the Use of Electronic Auctions on Contract Notices

13 Jul 2010

Guidance from the OGC re e- auctions aims to provide clarification for contracting authorities on the appropriate wording to be used in contract notices to indicate that an electronic auction (eAuction) may be used; in the evaluation of tenders to establish a contract or Framework Agreement; or in the evaluation of tenders as part of a mini competition to establish call off contracts under a Framework Agreement.

PPN 14/10

EM IEP Support for Making Efficiencies and Transforming Services

13 Jul 2010

The economic outlook remains bleak, with local authorities expecting substantial cuts in government funding. Authorities will need to do 'more for less', taking difficult decisions in order to make vital efficiency savings. In such challenging times, we can't just wait to see what happens; we must act now to improve and strengthen pubic services. But you don't need to do it on your own. The East Midlands Improvement and Efficiency Partnership (EM IEP) exists to support authorities, with a wide range of projects and initiatives. This short document explains how the EM IEP can help authorities make efficiency savings and transform their services. I commend this support to you and your authority.

Councillor Martin Hill, OBE
Leader of Lincolnshire County Council and Chair of the East Midlands Improvement and Efficiency Partnership (EM IEP) Board

EM IEP Improvement Prospectus

13 Jul 2010

Working through the East Midlands Improvement and Efficiency Partnership (EM IEP) authorities have been given the opportunity to manage their own improvement.
The EM IEP is driving forward service improvement, focussing on supporting local authorities to build capacity and to foster innovation and collaborative working.  This short document explains how the EM IEP is helping authorities meet this challenge. The East Midlands Improvement and Efficiency Partnership (EM IEP) is a partnership of all 46 councils and 5 fire & rescue authorities in the region,led by elected Members. It aims to bring lasting improvements to our area and has a budget of just over £35 million over three years to do exactly that. To help make sure that local needs are being met, £19 million of the budget is devolved to five Sub-Regional Partnerships (SRPs) - Derbyshire, Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire & Rutland. The money will be used to support the delivery of efficiency savings and service improvements as well as helping struggling councils or services. The partnership will provide local authorities with support to enable them to reach these targets in ways that will benefit their communities. This document is divided into two sections - the first presenting the support that is available regionally, the second presenting the projects being funded by each of the SRPs.

Councillor Martin Hill, OBE
Leader of Lincolnshire County Council and Chair of the East Midlands Improvement and Efficiency Partnership (EM IEP) Board