Councils' ability to collaborate over shared services programmes could be undermined by unsuitable risk management frameworks, a new survey has suggested. A study by Marsh, an insurance brokerage and risk advice firm, last week, concluded that ‘public sector organisations in the UK lack suitable risk management frameworks or appropriate risk management cultures to enable effective collaboration in areas such as strategic delivery partnerships and shared services'. After polling public bodies, researchers at Marsh found that 78% of public sector managers, including many operating across local authorities, are adept at identifying opportunities for the sort of partnerships which can help councils deliver larger efficiency savings. But 60% of respondents agreed that collaborations in which their organisations were participating did not have ‘appropriate risk management frameworks or adequate risk management cultures,' Marsh's team concluded. Brian Shaw, leader of public sector practice at Marsh, said: ‘Collaborations… provide great opportunities for improved efficiency, reduced costs, better service delivery and better value for money. However, if not managed effectively, collaborative working can also threaten successful delivery.' He called on all public bodies to ‘step up to the plate' and improve the way they developed partnership agreements to make them more effective. Local government has seen a substantial increase in the number of partnership arrangements that cross local authority boundaries – an initiative likely to intensify as ministers demand new financial savings through and cross-sector initiatives such as the Total Place programme.
