Transferring large numbers of staff and services are major hurdles to overcome when entering into a partnership with the private sector. In this episode, I talk to two Councils who have both been working with their chosen partners for a number of years and they explain how they managed the process.
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Graham Burgess is The Chief Executive of Blackburn with Darwen Council and believes that the first step to success is to build a strong relationship from the beginning and see your partner not as a separate organisation bound by a contract, but almost as a department of the Council.
Some other pieces of advice Graham shares include:
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DON’T BE DEFENSIVE - if something isn’t working, sort it out, pass it back or resolve the problem, don’t take things personally and realise that you will have differences
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HAVE A STRONG CLIENT SIDE - too much of our client function was transferred at the beginning
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HAVE REGULAR REVIEWS - rather than waiting for the 5 yearly review, regularly evaluate things very strongly in the early years
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TALK TO PEOPLE - both sides need to do a major communication and culture change exercise leading up to the transfer, including both groups of staff and trade unions
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HR NEED TO BE INVOLVED VERY EARLY IN THE PROCESS - not brought in at the end
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MAKE SURE YOU CAN ANSWER THE STAFF’S QUESTIONS - about their own personal positions and reassure them about the type of organisation they are going to
Graham believes the three most important factors for success are:
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COMMUNICATION
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OPPORTUNITIES FOR STAFF TO MEET OTHER PARTNER STAFF
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CHOOSING THE RIGHT PARTNER
You can find out more about Blackburn with Darwen’s partnership from their website www.blackburn.gov.uk Graham is also happy to arrange a visit to the Council or send information to you. Email him at graham.burgess@blackburn.gov.uk
Cumbria County Council entered into their partnership agreement in 2001 and Bob Mather, Deputy Chief Executive talks to me about what their original objectives were and what has been achieved in 7 years.
The three main objectives were:
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CREATE 1000 EXTRA JOBS IN 5 YEARS
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IMPROVE SERVICE EFFICIENCY BY 2% PER ANNUM
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RECEIVE A LARGE CAPITAL RECEIPT FOR TRANSFERRING BUSINESS
Bob’s key pieces of advice are:
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FLEXIBILTY IS IMPORTANT - the world changes, should targets that were set at the beginning, still be in place 7 years on
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GET OFF TO A FAST START - devote a lot of time and attention to developing the client side of the operation
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THINK ABOUT THE STAFF WHO ARE TRANSFERRING - need to be able to set the standard and monitor the performance of the third party
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DON’T SKIMP SO MUCH ON THE ORGANISATION THAT’S LEFT IN THE AUTHORITY - you need enough capacity to keep track of the partner
Bob is happy to speak to anyone who would like to find out more about Cumbria’s partnership agreement and you can contact him on 01228 606263 or email him at bob.mather@cumbriacc.gov.uk information can also be found on their website www.cumbria.gov.uk
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