Shared services are expected to deliver efficiency savings across government of some £4 billion pounds according to HM Treasury’s Operation Efficiency Programme: The other strands of the Programme are Collaborative Procurement , Property Asset Management
and Total Place. Publicnet provides an overview of the Programme.

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People in rural areas face the risk of not having access to public services at times in their lives when they need them most, according to a senior Government advisor. Dr. Stuart Burgess, the Government’s Rural Advocate and Chair of the Commission for Rural Communities is in Northumberland today as part of a study looking at important life events, including developing cancer, suffering a stroke, losing a job, becoming a young carer or having a baby

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Voluntary and community organisations have set out a series of steps they believe will strengthen the relationships between local authorities and the Third Sector. “Working Together to Strengthen Local Communities” has been produced by the National Council for Voluntary Organisations in advance of the local elections on June 4th.

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This document from the Department for Health outlines the benefits that local authorities, and their residents, enjoy when they work with user-led organisations. Benefits range from helping local authorities deliver greater personalisation to improved engagement with hard-to-reach population groups.

Read more on PUTTING PEOPLE FIRST – WORKING TOGETHER WITH USER-LED ORGANISATIONS…