PRE-CONDITIONS FOR REGIONAL SHARED SERVICES Creating an environment for regional collaboration Don Phillips North-West, South-West & Central Regional Asset Management Group STEP Coordinator Associate CT Management National Local Government Asset Management and Public Works Conference. May 2013

Victorian Asset Management Regions

Levels of Service And now Shared Services

The Shared Services Holy Grail Well known benefits can be achieved through collaborative approaches, such as:

Mid – Long Term Benefits Expenditure savings through Increased use of equipment and other assets Joint contracts Greater capability of achieving best practice through Improved decision making Improved access to technology Sharing of risk Better use of limited council resources and skills By reducing duplication Through skill and knowledge sharing Sharing of employees

Immediate Benefits Documents can be produced quicker Only a single plan need be produced Better documents can result by pooling skills, knowledge and technology

If so Great, Why No Action? We recognize sharing opportunities must exist, so why has there been so little success in implementing shared services? Councils still do AM, so no sense of urgency and a subsequent lack of support? Concern often over governance issues Jobs threat to local staff Perceived loss of local control

Journey for Wimmera Councils

Attempt #1 Past history with Shared Services 2008 attempt at regional cooperation with asset systems Failed, dramatically Why? For all the reasons stated above

Attempt #2 During 2012 another opportunity developed Started with the Regional Asset Service AMP template 14/17 councils from the North-West and South-West Regions are utilising the regional template The Wimmera group of Councils at officer level elected to work together to complete their own first Recreation & Open Space AMP

Common AMPs Soon realized since starting from scratch, rather than create separate plans, it was easier to work on one plan with the same processes, methodologies, hierarchies with provision for local input Then realized could apply the same approach to other AMPs, so revisited Can lead to shared opportunities

Wimmera Discoveries Can work but requires cooperation and a willingness to compromise eg the Road hierarchy problem The Councils can demonstrate they are undertaking the same activity, in the same manner Opportunities for the sharing of services can then be identified

How to Proceed? Develop a step-by-step Shared Services process Take one step at time Don’t jump to the end and look for reasons not to continue Emphasis that this is not take-over but a ‘knowledge base’ to support local decision making Be prepared to compromise

Proposed Process “IF YOU BUILD IT, HE WILL COME” Identify the sharing opportunity Demonstrate ‘sameness’ Identify the aligned Councils Review skills capacity and resources available Establish the alliances Identify the tools and resources to create the shared service Document the benefits Form the alliance

1. Identify Sharing Opportunity 2 Demonstrate 'sameness' 3 Aligned Councils 4 Skills, capacity & resources review 5 Establish the alliances 6 Identify the tools and resources required 7 Document benefits 8 Form alliance Sharing opportunities may include: Condition assessments Renewal forecasting AM reporting AMPs LTFP

2. Demonstrate ‘Sameness’ 1 Identify sharing opportunity 2 Demonstrate 'sameness' 3 Aligned Councils 4 Skills, capacity & resources review 5 Establish the alliances 6 Identify the tools and resources required 7 Document benefits 8 Form alliance Sameness may be demonstrated through common Hierarchies Processes Methodologies Systems

1 Identify sharing opportunity 5 Establish the alliances 3. Align Councils 1 Identify sharing opportunity 2 Demonstrate 'sameness' 3 Aligned Councils 4 Skills, capacity & resources review 5 Establish the alliances 6 Identify the tools and resources required 7 Document benefits 8 Form alliance Council choose to participate Aligned Councils may initially be those that demonstrate ‘sameness’ Although this does not preclude a council expressing an interest and being prepared to make changes and align itself with other councils. This is not about exclusion.

4. Skills, Capacity & Resources Review 1 Identify sharing opportunity 2 Demonstrate 'sameness' 3 Aligned Councils 4 Skills, capacity & resources review 5 Establish the alliances 6 Identify the tools and resources required 7 Document benefits 8 Form alliance Assesses each council’s current internal available skills and capacity to deliver the identified sharing opportunity Any shortfall may indicate a sharing opportunity between councils Any available skill may be an opportunity to share an employee

Skills, Capacity & Resources Review

Internal Capacity & Skills Matrix

5 Establish the Alliances 1 Identify sharing opportunity 2 Demonstrate 'sameness' 3 Aligned Councils 4 Skills, capacity & resources review 5 Establish the alliances 6 Identify the tools and resources required 7 Document benefits 8 Form alliance Alliances may be: Formed to address the specific skills and capacity deficiencies Formed to address an under-performing activity Vary in the number of the interested councils

6. Identify the Tools & Resources 1 Identify sharing opportunity 2 Demonstrate 'sameness' 3 Aligned Councils 4 Skills, capacity & resources review 5 Establish the alliances 6 Identify the tools and resources required 7 Document benefits 8 Form alliance Skill location may be: External provider (contract), or Internal provider (shared employee)  Tools, equipment required: Joint specification Equipment purchase/sharing Software purchase/sharing

1 Identify sharing opportunity 5 Establish the alliances 7. Document Benefits 1 Identify sharing opportunity 2 Demonstrate 'sameness' 3 Aligned Councils 4 Skills, capacity & resources review 5 Establish the alliances 6 Identify the tools and resources required 7 Document benefits 8 Form alliance Benefits may be realised through: Cost savings Improved service delivery

1 Identify sharing opportunity 5 Establish the alliances 8. Form Alliance 1 Identify sharing opportunity 2 Demonstrate 'sameness' 3 Aligned Councils 4 Skills, capacity & resources review 5 Establish the alliances 6 Identify the tools and resources required 7 Document benefits 8 Form alliance In forming the alliance councils will consider: Governance structures OH&S etc

Current Progress Facilitated through the STEP program Discussion on opportunities held at Victorian South-West, North-West and Central AM regional group meetings Condition rating easy and obvious first test of the process South-West selected bridge assets North- East and Central selected building assets Forums conducted to research and discuss options and select a common approach

Regional Forums Outcomes Develop a common brief, condition rating manual Options of ‘shared employee’, joint contract, software raised immediately Next steps, continue with shared services process May lead to software development

Summary We all struggle with resourcing and effective service delivery We do so many things the same, the opportunities for regional collaboration must be there A simple, step-by-step process, working from the bottom up has been developed END