As local authorities eagerly await the results of the forthcoming election, many councils are in a state of temporary limbo, but one thing is certain regardless of the result: efficiency is going to feature high on the list of priorities across the board.
A recent survey by government publication Municipal Year Book (MYB), found that the majority of local council CEOs rated efficiency as the top priority for the next five years, followed by service rationalisation, economic regeneration and then shared services.
But it appears that councils are a little disjointed when it comes to making efficiency decisions…
For example, one local council recently decided to terminate a radio comms contract for its mobile traffic/ parking officers with a view to replacing it with a more efficient mobile gsm contract. Whilst the first contract was happily terminated, the proposal for the mobile contract was rejected, leaving the council employees with no means of mobile communication!
GemaTech’s own experience also highlights the issue. A one hour’s meeting with a particular council highlighted the amount of money currently wasted on unused telephone circuits. GemaTech quoted for a contract to supply telecoms recovery costing the council £24,000 which would also save the council around £38,000 a year.
Sometimes you need to change suppliers or contracts to achieve the desired efficiencies, and therefore councils need to have the procurement structure in place to enable this to happen, otherwise they are going to risk losing essential services or making do with inefficient suppliers and services.
