1. DAVE HOLLINGS, CMS GRAHAM WHALLEY, YOUNG LANCASHIRE 16 April 2013

2.  The ‘Age of Austerity’ is going to continue for several years  Needs are growing and resources are shrinking  Infrastructure organisations may be needed, but they are not priorities for funding  The type of infrastructure networks that were possible in 2007 are not possible now  How to make sure we fund the work not the overheads THE ISSUES

3.  There is less money – you need to be able to do more for less  Commissioners want to commission from fewer organisations because it is cheaper  New sources of income or even new ways of accessing the same sources of income  Reducing costs and overheads  Transforming Local Infrastructure (One Lancashire) – this will not be repeated

4.  Different forms:- ◦ Lead partner as accountable body with other partners ◦ Partnership ◦ Formal consortium  Organisations retain their independence – their own boards, own staff, own culture  But they bid, purchase or share together  Voluntarily agree to work together in the same ways – in order to survive  Savings may be less than in merging COLLABORATIONS

5.  Two or more organisations formally merge to become one organisation  They serve (mostly) the same groups of beneficiaries and/or provide (mostly) the same sort of services  Can be major savings – one chief officer, less admin, one office, merged systems  A larger body can survive more hits  Loss of independence, one size fits all  Was there a good reason for separate infrastructure organisations? Does it just reflect local authority boundaries? MERGERS

6.  Inertia  ‘Some day my prince will come’  Culture of we spend what we are given, not we make savings where we can  We must have a town centre office, so many admin staff, so many managers because.....  Big fish in a little pond  Step this way to oblivion  Rather go down with the ship, than lose control of the ship BARRIERS TO COLLABORATION AND MERGER

7.  Consider collaboration when:- ◦ There is a real need for different organisations ◦ But you do complementary work ◦ You contract (some) services from the same commissioners ◦ You can reduce costs for jointly buying, sharing or co-locating ◦ You may be members of two or more collaborations for different things WHEN TO COLLABORATE

8. Three types of collaboration  Incorporated Consortium e.g. Co-operative consortia  Lead Partner-Sub Contractor  General Partnerships

9. But whatever option is pursued...  Need to clearly identify own interests, expectations and commitment able to make ( aka ‘due diligence’)  Should document agreements ( MoU, Articles, SLA, contracts, etc )  Accept that the ‘end destination’ may not be what you start out to create...

10. Next steps  What is the purpose of the collaboration  Decide who is going to be part  The level of integration/ working together  Appropriate governance arrangements  Support from One Lancashire to facilitate these discussions and to draft appropriate documents

11. 07967 815322 / 01772 556127 dave@cms.coopdave@cms.coop /grahamw@younglancashire.org.uk