Share And Share Alike

摘要

Shared services must be one of the most talked-about initiatives ever. Sadly, while its theoretical logic is irrefutable, in reality, on the ground, little has happened. At a time when most chief executives are claiming that pressure on spending will affect frontline services, it is incredible that so little progress has been made in tacklingthe inefficiency and waste which exists in duplicated back-office services. The potential saving from sharing HR and IT alone has been placed at ￡40bn over 10 years. And this is before addressing council tax, business rates and housing benefit, where more than 400 local authorities still have their own IT infrastructure, staff and call centres to administer what is a transactional service.