Government’s 2010 savings target needs re-engineering, says Civica
London, UK, 22 October 2008 – The Audit Commission’s recent “Back to Front” Report claims that local authorities can deliver 28 per cent of savings through back office efficiencies; at the same time the report also indicates that councils can achieve even greater efficiency savings through strategically uniting frontline services with the back office.

Civica believes the Back to Front report is indicative of increasing attention being given to efficiency gains through process re-engineering. Working with 90 per cent of UK local authorities, Civica has produced findings indicating the level of achievable savings could be greatly in excess of the £4.9 billion predicted over the next 3 years by the Government, despite the challenges of the global economic climate.

David Roots, Managing Director, Local Government, Civica, said: “The Audit Commission’s report states that a one-size-fits-all approach to efficiency in local authorities is not the answer. Sir Peter Gershon is highlighting the need to re-engineer processes if further savings are to be realised.”
“Civica’s Enterprise Service Transformation team is working with Welsh Unitary Blaenau Gwent to implement a four year programme to enhance local service delivery across the organisation. We are implementing a service improvement-led approach enhancing efficiency across the entire authority, built on a clear business case. The initial ‘return on investment’ research demonstrated savings of £1.1 million over four years, with potential for even greater savings in the future. Ultimately, the project will see a noticeable transformation in the way the organisation interfaces with its customers and considerable cost savings that will accrue from the changes.”

Typically, Civica’s work with customers taking on enterprise-wide Electronic Document Management and Workflow transformation programmes show projected cumulative benefits over 3 to 4 years would exceed £1millon for a medium size council, with the ability to achieve much more depending on the size of the Authority and starting point for service transformation.

A whitepaper discussing enterprise service transformation in greater detail is available from the Civica press office at Chameleon PR: civica@chameleonpr.com / +44 20 7680 5500