Partnerships for Local Authority Business development

1
Partnerships for Local Authority Business
development

• David Winchurch
• Senior Associate SOLACE Enterprises

2
Local Government Change

• The Tribal wisdom of the Dakota Indians passed
  on from one generation to the next, says that
  when you discover you are riding a dead horse,
  the best strategy is to dismount

3
Local Authority view of Change?

• Buy a stronger whip
• Threaten horse with termination of contract
• Appoint committee to study horse
• Change form to read this horse is not dead
• Reclassify dead horse as living impaired
• Lower standards to include dead horses
• Harness several dead horses together
• Provide more money to improve dead horses
  performance
• Promote horse to supervisory role

4
Change the 4 Cs

• CHALLENGE why is the service provided at all?
• CONSULT what do users and other local people
  think of the service?
• COMPARE do others provide a better service?
• COMPETE how can competition be used to provide
  the best services?

5
Barriers to Competitive Procurement

• Legal complexity
• Risk aversion
• Restricted supply market
• Lack of client side capacity
• Narrow approach
• Organisational culture

6
The Market determining its strength

• Competition
• Track record
• Commitment to improvement
• Interest

7
The Case For Change
Weak Mild
Strong Compelling
8
Competition the case for change

• Radical change - service is in need of
  substantial improvement and the likely outcome is
  radical change to who or how the service is
  provided
• Possible change service doing well but within
  context of healthy market which might do better
• Build the market whilst substantial change is
  needed market may not be able to build at present
• Change unlikely service doing well at present
  and market cannot offer substantial improvements

9
Competition - options

• Cessation of service
• Transfer
• Externalisation without in-house bid
• Market testing
• Renegotiate existing contracts
• Partnership
• Joint commissioning with other public sector
  agencies
• Improved in-house service

10
Strategic Partnering Pathfinders

• Corporate e-government
• Education, health social services
• Transport and environment

11
Strategic Partnering

• Public-public
• Public-private
• Public-voluntary

12
NLIS the PFI route

• Competition
• National response
• Infrastructure investment
• Charging mechanism
• Transference of risk
• Local implementation
• Corporate response
• Cultural change
• Territorialism
• Project management
• Opportunities threats

13
Proposition

• Services provided by a local authority which and
  consumed by the private sector also have the
  capacity to be purchased from the private sector
  by the local government community
• which parts of the private sector consume our
  services?
• can we turn any future threat of competition
  into an e-government opportunity?
• SWOT analysis of a selected example