Shared Services Toolkit

Learning lessons from good

practice in Cumbria

Introduction
In May 2009 Cumbria Improvement and Efficiency
Partnership funded Barrow Borough Council, in conjunction
with Allerdale Borough Council, Carlisle City Council, and
South Lakeland District Council to capture lessons learnt
from developing two new shared ICT services one across
Barrow & South Lakeland and one across Carlisle & Allerdale.
The intention was simple to not only learn lessons but to actively
translate these lessons into a re-usable format to guide future shared
service projects across local authorities in Cumbria in the future.

This toolkit is the one of the ways this learning is being shared.
It is intended as a high level guide to be thought provoking
and highlight the journey from good idea to full shared service,
using the employing authority legal model explored in these two
projects as an example. Good luck and happy collaboration!
Lets get started!

How to use this toolkit

Developing a shared service requires a
series of tasks and these have been
outlined on a navigation slide with an
indication of the duration of the tasks over
the lifetime of a generic shared service
project. Each task can be clicked to
access more information on that topic. If
you want to get back to this navigation
slide at any time just press the
button in the top left hand
corner of each slide.
Task slides give you two options to
either move onto the next task or find
out more about the task you are on by
using the links pictured here. If you do
decide to find out more, the detail slides
may also have links to word documents,
pdf files or internet pages.

Lets use the toolkit!

FUNDAMENTALS: COMMUNICATIONS
FUNDAMENTALS: PROJECT MANAGEMENT
FUNDAMENTALS: CULTURE CHANGE
8. HR WORK
6. DESIGN THE SERVICE

TASKS

7. LEGAL
5.
AGREE
MODEL

5. AGREE
EMPLOYING
AUTHORITY
4. LEADING THE CHANGE

3.BUILDING
THE CASE
2.FIT
?

9. REVIEW & MAINTAIN THE CASE

1.WHY
?

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ci

sio
n

De
ci

TIME
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nt
to
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roc
ce e
eed
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?

1. Why Shared
Services?
thought?

Have you

Conversations about shared

services are easy to start but
difficult to translate into
successful projects. Before even
talking to potential partners or
considering potential models of
delivery you need to be clear on
what your drivers are for shared
service. What needs to change?
Are there improvements you
could make as an individual
organisation that would get you
the same or similar results?
Remember there are significant
costs up front with any shared
service project will need to
offset in the business against
any savings made through the
shared service.

Have you got...

A clear baseline for the service(s)
in question? This should include
amongst other things an in depth
understanding of current
performance, costs and customer
satisfaction with your service?

Yes, I have.
Lets move
on....
No, not
completely,
tell me
more...

2. Understanding the
fit
thought?

Have you

A successful shared service is

not just about identifying a good
service to share as can be seen
from local best practice it also
about the fit of councils to work
together have you a track
record of successful
collaboration in the past? Do
you have similar strategic
objectives or community issues
and if not is this likely to impact
at all on the sharing opportunity?
Is geography proximity of the
partners a barrier or an enabler?
Culturally do you have similar
approaches and values? Are the
services being examined of a
similar size and do they cover
the same or similar functions?

Have you got...

A SWOT analysis which examines
the strategic, cultural,
operational and geographical fit
between the proposed councils?
This can very high level but is a
useful, easy tool for capturing the
environment in which the
opportunity would be developed.
Yes, I have.
Lets move
on....
No, not
completely,
tell me
more...

3. Building the Case

thought?

Have you

Once partners have a clear

understanding of the drivers and
their fit a decision need to be
made as to whether to continue.
If the decision is made to
proceed the next step is to
create a business case this
may an outline business case or
a full strategic one depending on
the size of the project smaller
projects need only create one
strategic case, particularly
where partners feel confident of
progressing forward. In building
your case draw on regional and
national experience of similar
shared services and make fact
finding visits.

Have you got...

A clear understanding of what a
business case should cover? It
will be the authoritative
document of what your project is
aiming to achieve, and should
detail and appraise options,
benefits, costs and planned
outcomes.
Yes, I have.
Lets move
on....
No, not
completely,
tell me
more...

4. Leading the
change
Have you thought?
Who is driving your project and
how does it fit with the overall
transformation priorities of your
authority? From analysis of
successful shared service
projects in Cumbria, it is vital
that leaders at an officer and
member level really drive and
shape any shared service
project. Leaders need to
demonstrate the fit with the
overall corporate priorities of the
organisation and demonstrate
their passion and commitment to
the project but importantly
without compromising their duty
of care to staff. Dont allow the
documents to communicate the
vision take the vision to your
staff and engage their hearts
and minds.

Have you got...

A good understanding of how
leadership can enable, or
otherwise, a change project?
Staff feedback in Cumbria
indicates that clear visible
leadership from the top team
makes a real and positive
difference to their views on the
proposed change.
Yes, I have.
Lets move
on....
No, not
completely,
tell me
more...

5. Agreeing the model

Have you thought?
There are varying models that can
be employed to deliver a shared
service. In the case of the two
shared services reviewed as part
of this project an employing or
lead authority model was
adopted. Although still a
considerable undertaking this
avoids the legal complexity of
develop a independent or arms
length joint venture and the
expense of procurement in terms
of outsourcing. It also has the
potential to be an umbrella
arrangement for future shared
services between authorities.
However, each project must
consider the pros and cons of
each model for their purposes
and why one is ultimately
preferable to other options at
the business case stage.

Have you got...

An options appraisal which
considers models of delivery and
evaluates them each thoroughly?
Dont be tempted just to develop
in detail the model favoured at
the outset all options must be
properly considered for the
business case to be compelling.
Yes, I have.
Lets move
on....
No, not
completely,
tell me
more...

6. Designing the
service
thought?

Have you

Once the business case has

identified a clear option and
model of delivery more detailed
work needs to be done around
the final service. Reengineering
a service to be both better and
cheaper is no easy task and
particularly in an environment
where scope to invest is
severely limited. Some shared
services projects fail at this
stage due to lack of consensus
on the design so its important
to start conversations early on
during the business case phase
about the nature of the final
service.

Have you got...

A clear design covering
service scope, objectives,
staff levels, structure,
training, new processes, and
harmonisation of ICT
systems?
Yes, I have.
Lets move
on....
No, not
completely,
tell me
more...

7. Getting legal advice

thought?

Have you

Have you sought legal advice on

implementing your new service
model? The advice from the two
shared service projects reviewed
in this project was that it is
sensible to get advice on the
application of TUPE as well as
support in development the
administrative and/or service
agreements required. In the
case of Carlisle and Allerdale
they have developed an
administrative agreement which
can be used as an over-arching
agreement for a number of
shared services if desirable. If
more shared services are
planned it makes financial sense
to create a legal framework
ONCE which can be re-used.

Have you got...

legal advice on whether TUPE
applies? Your legal team(s) may need
external legal advice and/or capacity
to develop agreements, mainly as
this can be time consuming. Local
legal colleagues (Carlisle) may have
done similar exercises and be able to
provide guidance.

Yes, I have.
Lets move
on....
No, not
completely,
tell me
more...

8. Supporting people
change
Have you

Have you got...

thought?
It was identified in the case
study which accompanies this
toolkit that HR Issues can be
70% of the work and 100% of
the issues in creating a
successful shared service! This
is a light-hearted remark, but an
important point dont
underestimate the work
involved in supporting the
people change in a project.
Dependencies: you need to have agreed
the model (and employing authority if
appropriate) to be able to progress this
workpackage at a detail level

A HR plan in place covering

your approach to people
change, reconciling terms and
conditions, assimilation
process and so on?
Yes, I have.
Lets move
on....
No, not
completely,
tell me
more...

9. Review and maintain

the
case
thought?

Have you

The once the business case is

finalised and agreed its just the
beginning of its role in the
shared service project? The
business case has to be
appraised on a regular basis to
check that intended benefits
are not being lost, costs are still
as agreed, the service will be as
designed up front and
outcomes are still on track.
Although time consuming it is
important to update the
business case if anything does
changes as it inevitably does
to ensure there is proper audit
trail on costs, benefits, service
move
design andLets
outcomes.
on....

Have you got...

An agreement in place on how, and
under what circumstances, the
business case will be updated?
What are your tolerances? If costs
or benefits alter within certain
margins you probably dont need a
board decision to update the case.
BUT if there is significant additional
cost, or reduction in benefit, this
will need to be escalated to the
Project Board in an exception
report and cited as a major project
issue. It is important to manage
issues like this to ensure final
benefits are preserved and the
project is seen as worth doing.

The fundamentals:
Project Management
A successful project is underpinned
by formal project methodology
this is often PRINCE 2 or similar,
such as the PROMPT methodology
developed by South Lakeland
District Council. It is important that
once a discussion on shared service
goes beyond the good idea stage
and resources are committed to
developing proposals it is formally
managed as a project. This means
having a business case, project plan and
risk and issue log in place. It also
means having a formal project board
with senior level membership, ideally at
officer and member level.
Once a project begins implementation, if
not before, it is important to have a
dedicated project manager even if this
is a part time role. Projects are driven
by people, not paper. So a person
who has a good track record of
managing complex change, particular
HR driven change, is essential, and
much more important than even a good
project plan.

Have you got...

An agreed approach to project
management for your project
which all partners are
comfortable with and ideally
familiar with too? Do you have a
dedicated project manager in
place?
.
Lets move
on....

The
fundamentals:
Culture Change
In terms of shared services, each
existing team will have its own
culture. However Culture is an
over-used but rarely well defined
term! In this scenario, culture
includes the teams values,
routines, working practices,
existing staff hierarchies, whether
staff are empowered to take risks
and be self starters, the
leadership style, openness of
communications and much more.
It is useful to develop, alongside
the service design specification, a
culture change document, which
outlines the desired culture of
the new team but in a tangible
way describing how staff will be
empowered, innovation
encouraged, new values
embedded and incentivised and
so on.

Have you got...

A feel for the kind of team culture
you need to foster? Does this sit
well with the overall culture of
the authorities involved in the
project? Do you know what works
well in current teams?

Yes, I have.
Lets move
on....
No, not
completely,
tell me
more...

The fundamentals:
Communications
A successful project is underpinned by
a strong communications plan which is
actually used! It should be a live
document. Too many of these plans
are merely paper exercises so spend
time on this plan and make sure it
works for you dont just follow a
template. Let the communication
needs dictate the plans format.
Ask yourself: Who needs to know
about the project? Who needs to drive
the project? Who needs to inform and
shape the project? Get proper
communications support to shape the
process but make sure leaders own the
plan and enact it - they will set the
tone for all communications.
Communicate at the individual level
where possible, particularly with staff.
Their concerns will not be uniform it
will depend how senior they are, their
role, their experience of previous
change projects, their values and
behaviours, their personal
circumstances and many more
variables.

Have you got...

A communications plan which
outlines your stakeholders,
their likely areas of interest
and the ways in which you will
engage with them (workshops,
meetings, newsletters, one to
ones, blogs, surveys etc)?
No, not
completely,
tell me
more...
This is the last
task page so
please take me
back to the start

1. Getting into the detail:

Understanding your baseline: Assessing
risk and benefits
Cumbria has a risk/benefit assessment tool in its Shared
Services Strategy published in May 2008 which suggests
areas of focus for creating a baseline. For the purposes of
this toolkit weve extracted it and you can access it below:
Show me the tool please!

By understanding your baseline, and the relative benefits,

and risks, of sharing the service you can be much clearer
on which elements of service(s) you might want to share
and why. Most organisations want to share service to save
money. BUT if other benefits are as important such as
improved quality of service or staff retention then you
need to be clear with any partner organisation the priority
you give to these things in terms of the end solution.

2. Getting into the detail:

Understanding the environment: Cultural,
operational, strategic and geographic
A SWOT analysis is just one tool
scan
for understanding fit - but the
benefit of this one is that it is a
well known and simple tool and
can be used in both initial
discussions in individual councils
and in partner workshops to
quickly capture the high level
view of the environment in which
the opportunity sits.

Strengths

opportunitie
s

weaknesse
s

threats

By understanding the environment from the start

detailed, honest discussions can be had about any
threats to progress and indeed any weaknesses in the
concept that can be overcome or managed. It avoids
difficult issues being overlooked or worse, ignored. It may
necessary at this stage to call at halt to discussions. Or
indeed new opportunities may be identified that take
discussions down an different route.

3. Getting into the detail:

A business case checklist
Are the business drivers and need clearly
stated?
Have the benefits been clearly identified?
Are the reasons for the shared service, and
any benefits, consistent with partners
corporate priorities ?
Is it clear what will define a successful
outcome?
Is it clear what the preferred option is and
why?
Is it clear how the necessary funding will be
put in place?
Is it clear how the benefits will be realised?
Are the risks identified and managed?

In the development of the Carlisle

and Allerdale ICT Shared services
they developed a business case using
the OGC 5 case approach. Their
business case is attached here for
reference as are suggested OGC
templates for a smaller and larger
business cases. The 5 Case
approach is comprehensive approach
well suited to large project or
programmes but may not suit smaller
exercises. Whatever approach you
adopt to developing your business
case, consider the checklist provided
here as a guide.
Show me the minimum
template
Show me the maximum
template
Show me the example
business case!

Leaders set the tone of any big change

project. From best practice in Cumbria it is
clear that challenging messages, particularly
around reductions in headcount need to be
dealt with honestly and early. It is important
to be really specific on the aims of the project
and give staff the opportunity to voice
concerns. Avoid listing vague objectives
which cover the usual topics of efficiency and
effectiveness and leave people no wiser.
Where key decisions havent yet been made
be open. Be clear on what is up for
consultation and debate and what is non
negotiable due to organisational constraints
avoid consultation which simply goes through
the motions. Early, meaningful engagement
of staff, users of service and unions can be
really constructive and avoid some of the
risks of delays and barriers later in the
projects development. In terms of staff, it is
important to empathise with the individual
and their particular concerns and not just see
them as one group with similar concerns.
Finally, it is clear that leaders need to
demonstrate a real urgency, and be seen to
roll their sleeves up and drive a project to
overcome change fatigue and cynicism
about its likely success.

4. Getting
into the
detail:
Leading the
Change

5. Getting into the detail:

Agreeing a delivery model
The Carlisle and Allerdale Shared ICT service business case provides a good
evaluation of potential delivery models, ultimately choosing the employing
authority or one authority model. A high level analysis, from their original
business case, reviewing the options is provided below:
Issues

Do nothing

Do
minimum

Joint
venture

One
authority

Hosted
internally

Hosted
externally

Need for
trade union
and staff
consultation

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Need for
harmonisatio
n of T&Cs

No

No

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Create new
structure and
match staff
to posts

No

No

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

TUPE
transfers

No

No

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Remain in
LGPS

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Arrange new
pension

No

No

No

No

Yes

Need for HR

No

No

Yes

No

No

No

6. Getting into the detail:

Designing a shared service
In an OGC 5 case business model the Management Case
covers the initial service design aspects of structure, staffing
levels, best practice, support arrangements and training
requirements. The cabinet office developed a detailed toolkit
a few years ago which provides a handy checklist of issues for
consideration in developing a shared service. Although this
guidance is mainly designed for shared service centres the
lines of enquiry are still broadly useful in any shared service
It is important to decide early on
whether the shared service will
simply amalgamate existing
partners processes, adopt one
partners processes or adopt a new,
best practice suites of processes,
policies and standards. For example,
in the case of the Carlisle & Allerdale
and South Lakeland & Barrow ICT
Shared service projects the decision
was taken to adopt ITIL process and
management standards which are
the industry standard.

Cabinet Office toolkit

advice on designing a
shared service

Legal advice, by its very nature, will

need to be tailored to the model
chosen, the requirements of
partners and previous experience,
good and bad, of contractual
relationships.
However, it is important to use local
knowledge and experience of similar
shared service projects to avoid reinventing the wheel and incurring
unnecessary cost by buying in legal
advice when some initial advice may
be available from legal teams in
other authorities.
Experience from these shared
service projects suggest that some
external legal support may be
required to draft documents quickly
and efficiently. It is also worth
noting whether a project is likely to
be part of a larger shared service
programme in order to design
agreement(s) which are scalable
and flexible enough to cover future
shared services.

7. Getting
into the
detail:
Getting legal
advice
You can contact
Carlisle City Councils
Head of Legal
Services about their
experiences by
clicking here
markl@carlisle.gov.uk

Managing change for those people affected

by a shared service starts on day one

explaining the vision, process to be undertaken

and the likely impact on people and their jobs.
However, the detailed HR work starts once a
delivery model and service design are agreed. In
the case of the Carlisle & Allerdale shared ICT
service there were some key activities they
undertook when looking to harmonise staff under
an employing authority model which offer a
useful checklist of activity for a HR Workpackage:
Agreeing who will undertake to be the employing
authority (under the model used here);
Agreeing a new design for the service and
understanding skills required and training
implications for staff;
Understanding the application of TUPE (see legal
advice in section six)
Drafting job descriptions and reviewing them
under the appropriate job evaluation scheme;
Agreeing a formal policy to managing the
consequent change for staff;
Comparing the terms & conditions of staff;
Agreeing assessment criteria for the assimilation
of staff.

8. Getting
into the
detail:
Supporting
people
change

To see examples of some the

documentation that supported
this work in Carlisle & Allerdale
Click on the arrow below:

When developing a Communications

Plan ask yourself: Who needs to know
about the project? Who needs to drive
the project? Who needs to inform and
shape the project? Get proper
When developing
a
communications
support
to shape the
Communications
Plan
ask own the
process but make sure leaders
yourself:
Whoit needs
plan
and enact
- they to
willknow
set the tone
about
the
project?
Who
needs
to
for all communications.
drive the project? Who needs to
inform and shape the project?
Communicate
at the individual level
Get proper communications
where
possible,
particularly
with staff.
support
to shape
the process
Their
concerns
will
be diverse
it
will
but make
sure
leaders
own
the
depend
how
senioritthey
are,will
theirset
role,
plan and
enact
- they
their
experience
of
previous
change
the tone for all communications.
projects, their values and behaviours,
their personal circumstances and many
Communicate
more
variables. at the individual
level where possible,
particularly with staff. Their
Think
aboutwill
whether
staff
currently
concerns
not be
uniform
it
respond
well
to
corporate
will depend how senior they are,
communications
if not you need
their role, their experience
of to
consider
ways
of re-engaging
previous
change
projects, staff
theirin the
big
issues
for behaviours,
the Council. Why
values
and
theirhave
people
switched
off?
Is
there
baggage
personal circumstances and
from
previous
communication failures or
many
more variables.
difficult change initiatives? New projects
can be immediately compromised by
any previous, negative experiences of
corporate change.

Getting into
the detail:
Communicatio
ns
An example of a simple, yet
meaningful stakeholder
analysis and communication
plan is available here from
South Lakeland. Although
not for a shared service it is
simple template for any
project or programme:

When looking at culture its important

to go beyond the word and into the
detail
what makes the
When developing
a current teams
Communications
ask
great?
Dont ditch aPlan
teams
heritage for
yourself:
needs
know
the
sake of Who
change
if itto
works
bring it
about the project? Who needs to
into
thethe
new
service, Who
if it doesnt
drive
project?
needs to
explain
the new
and
informwhy
andto
shape
theteam
project?
Get proper
communications
encourage
new
behaviours or practices.
support to shape the process
Use
incentives
can be one
way
of
butof
make
sure leaders
own
the
encouraging
different
and
plan and enact
it - behaviours
they will set
the tonenew
for contracts
all communications.
agreeing
can be an
opportunity to look at pay and rewards.
the individual
ItCommunicate
can also be anat
opportunity
to look at
level
where
possible,
communications
and
staff morale
particularly with
staff.
Their how
do
people feel
their
roles,
concerns
willinnot
becurrent
uniform
it
will do
depend
how
senior
are,
how
they feel
about
the they
proposed
their
role,
their
experience
of
changes and what potential is there for
previous change projects, their
staff
to help
shape their their
new roles?
values
andto
behaviours,
personal
circumstances
Are
there members
of staff and
who act as
many more
variables.
opinion
formers
in the team and are
they a positive or negative force? How
can staff appraisals be used to
encourage innovation and deal with
poor practices?

Getting into
the detail:
Culture
change
For more information on
Culture change and
ideas for making this
happen look at the IDeA
website section on this
subject: