The Council is in its 8th year of an outsourcing arrangement and it has found that recruitment and retention costs are a considerable influence on the contract cost. It has consequently worked hard with the external suppliers to find an alternative solution to rising costs - especially in relation to agency staff.
The current contractor has an arrangement in place with an external supplier to provide 24 staff to process council tax work, located in India. The Council has been impressed with the quality of staff and the associated accuracy of their work. The direct benefit through the cost reduction is considerable - at least £300,000 saving per annum.
How did the council overcome the barrier of local jobs?
There are six London Boroughs close by to Hounslow which means that staff do not necessarily live in the borough they work in. There is regularly movement of staff between councils, with many then taking up agency work. Unemployment is not a major issue in Hounslow. The Council found that over a third of its workforce was agency based - also not local to the Borough. The service was deteriorating because of the instability in the workforce, and the related processing problems this causes. Rising costs were adding to the pressure on rising council tax bills.
Local councillors were therefore supportive of a move that would improve and sustain the service to their local community. There was initial high profile press coverage. But this has since ceased and the service is delivered 'seamlessly' with electronic links providing all the necessary information to process the work abroad.
The initiative has contributed to the council's improvement in council tax collection, which has been at its highest level for the last two years at 94.6 per cent. The council is looking to continue to develop its partnership with its latest contractor, with around 30 jobs to be located in Barrow in Furness - replacing existing agency staff. The nature of the contract provides a financial incentive for the Council and the contractor to develop remote working further.
In relation to the efficiency challenge, what barriers did they encounter?
- Risk aversion
- Service policies
- Partnerships
- Staffing issues
- IT systems
- External pressures