Blackburn with Darwen Council has entered into a strategic partnership with Capita. The main purpose of the partnership which includes many council services, including revenues and benefit, was to contribute to local regeneration and provide more local employment. The newly created business centre has expanded from the original 500 council jobs that transferred, to an additional 750 high-quality, white collar jobs.
The business centre deals with council tax and benefit processing for other parts of the country too. For example, the centre processes work for the City of Westminster Council. A major attraction of having a base outside London and the South East has been the ability to recruit and retain high-quality staff. Salary costs are generally lower - particularly as there is no need to rely on temporary staff from agencies - coupled with reduced on-costs, such as accommodation.
In relation to the Efficiency Challenge, what barriers did they encounter?
- Service policies
- Partnerships
- Staffing issues
- IT systems