Deck of Cards

According to The Herald yesterday the much vaunted plan by councils in the west of Scotland - to 'share services' and make better use of public money - is now officially a dead duck.

Glasgow is the latest council to pull out of the so-called - 'Clyde Valley Review'.

Which promised a new era of co-operation amongst councils - by eliminating duplication and pooling backroom office functions - such as payroll and information technology.

But after months and years of talking - the whole project has collapsed - like a house of cards.

The death knell was finally sounded yesterday - when Glasgow City Council announced that it too was pulling out.

COSLA and its partner body - the Improvement Agency - must be wondering why they have spent so much time and energy pushing an agenda - that nobody seems to support.

More evidence to show that COSLA - simply isn't punching its weight these days.

Councils and Cold Feet (20 September 2011)

Newspaper reports at the weekend suggest that the much vaunted plans for 'sharing' council services - is on its last legs.

Glasgow is the latest council to voice concerns over the 'shared services strategy' - which is designed eliminate duplication and waste - by pooling back-office functions such as payroll and information technology.

Sounds simple enough - but it seems that as soon as councils get anywhere near having to make a decision about how to proceed - they get cold feet.

Which makes the councils involved look ridiculous of course - along with COSLA and the Improvement Service who have both been championing this cause for years.

Unsuccessfully it appears - which makes you wonder why Scottish local government seems unable to work together - in the wider public interest.

Here's something I wrote on the subject earlier this month - prophetically as it turns out.

As far as I can see the individuals councils that make up Scottish local government - are just ignoring COSLA - and seem to be thumbing their noses at the Improvement Sevice.

If this pantomime continues for much longer - the Scottish Government will have to get involved.

Improving Council Services (September 1 2011)

Here's the 'team' from Scotland's Improvement Service (IS) - an unelected public body set up by COSLA and the Scottish government some years ago.

See post dated 25 August 2011 - 'Interesting Bomb Pattern'

Now the IS aims to help local councils in Scotland improve their services - by adopting best practice and becoming more efficient - and by sharing services in some cases.

In which case I suggest that some of the 39-strong IS team - ought to be hot-footing it down to West Dunbartonshire Council - where shared services seem to be about as popular as the mention of tram cars on Leith Walk.

Because West Dunbartonshire Council has pulled out of a 'shared services' project amongst councils in the Clyde Valley - and now the whole programme appears to be on a 'shoogly peg'.

So maybe with all these specialist people on its staff - the Improvement Service can help get things back on track.

I certainly hope so.

Information about all the Improvement Service staff, including biographies and contact details.

1 Colin Mair, Chief Executive
2 Mark McAteer, Governance & Performance Management - Director
3 Bob Christie, Governance & Performance Management - Outcomes Programme Manager
4 Sarah Gadsden, Governance & Performance Management - PSIF Director
5 Andrew McGuire, Governance & Performance Management - Programme Manager
6 Jane O'Donnell, Governance & Performance Management - PSIF Project Manager
7 Andrew Noble, Government & Performance Management - Project Manager
8 Tallulah Lines, Governance & Performance Management - Project Officer
9 Alison Clyne, Governance & Performance Management - PSIF Project Officer
10 Konrad Zdeb, Governance & Performance Management - Graduate Support Assistant
11 Paul Dowie, Shared Services - Director
12 Bruce Harley, Shared Services - Change Champion
13 Simon Haston, Shared Services - Change Champion
14 Gerda Bartsch, Shared Services - Change Champion
15 Alexandra Ostroumoff-Croucher, Shared Services - Pensions Pathfinder Project Manager
16 Jim Kinney, Customer First - Programme Director
17 Tom McHugh, Customer First - Programme Manager
18 Martin Brown, Customer First - Head of Customer Relationship Management
19 Sally Buchanan, Customer First - Project Manager
20 Iain McKay, Customer First - Gazetteer Business Development Manager
21 Cameron Walker, Customer First - National Infrastructure Programme Manager
22 Robert Clubb, Customer First - National Infrastructure Programme Manager
23 Fiona Dick, Customer First - Communications and Projects Support Officer
24 Joanna Anderson, Customer First - Project Assistant
25 Karen Williamson, Customer First - Graduate Support Assistant
26 Kate O'Hagan, Organisational Development & Capacity Building - Head
27 Lesley Broadley, Organisational Development & Capacity Building - Senior Project
Manager
28 Dot McLaughlin, Organisational Development &Capacity Building - Senior Project Manager
29 Jamie Carver, Organisational Development & Capacity Building - Project Assistan
30 Emma Hay, Planning Development - Programme Manager
31 Ross Pattenden, Organisational Development & Capacity Building - Project Assistant
32 Mike McLean, Knowledge Management - Head
33 Martin MacKinnon, Knowledge Management - Web Development Manager
34 Louise Jenkins, Knowledge Management - Web Content Editor
35 David Friel, Knowledge Management - Reporter
36 Jamie Kirk, Knowledge Management - Graduate Support Assistant
37 Loraine Higgins, Corporate & Business Support - Business Manager
38 Alison Ritchie, Corporate & Business Support - PA & Business Support Assistant
39 Kirsty Markie, Business Support - Graduate Support Assistant