Common use of EFFICIENCY AND PRODUCTIVITY Clause in Contracts

EFFICIENCY AND PRODUCTIVITY. Providing value for money and improving the efficiency and effectiveness of councils is as important today as it’s ever been. Over the last eight years councils have made great strides to reduce costs whilst maintaining the quality of service delivery. The efficiency and productivity programme is designed to ensure that local government continues to be the most efficient part of the public sector and comprises a range of initiatives and support to help councils continue to improve their productivity and efficiency - including the development of common solutions or the facilitation of collaborative approaches where appropriate. More so than ever before local authorities need to look at how they now go beyond efficiency savings to how they can transform their services making use of digital and other opportunities. This year we are launching an Efficient and Intelligent Councils programme, which will provide a package of support to help councils with their continuous improvement journey. This will include a self-assessment tool to enable councils to challenge themselves and identify areas of further improvement. There will be links to performance and value for money data from LG Inform, enabling councils to compare their performance and costs with other councils. All of these resources will form an integral part of an on-line hub, where councils can readily gain access to support, peer networks and resources in one place. This will help councils continue to deliver the best financial, social and public value for their spend. We are working with councils to co-produce the content, and to develop and pilot the self- improvement tool; and are committed to promoting the model to help drive take-up so that councils have a meaningful comparison base. Local government has a track record of working with other bodies: public sector (including central government), voluntary sector and the business community to help to transform the lives of their residents and communities for the better. It is by working together collaboratively in a place that added value can be achieved and councils are at the forefront of this way of working. The LGA welcomes the government’s recognition of local government’s partnership role as set out in the common strategic agenda outlined in the UK Digital Strategy, the Government Transformation Strategy and the National Cyber Security Strategy. These set out an ambitious agenda which impacts directly on local communities, business and public services and emphasise the importance of collaborative work, as highlighted in the recent local government family’s joint local digital leadership statement. In the digital age it is more important than ever that councils are at the heart of developing a cross cutting culture of collaborative local digital leadership. It is vital that local leaders are on board with this agenda if it is to succeed. The LGA together with other key local government membership bodies will promote and build the local digital leadership required to maximise the benefits of digital transformation for local citizens, communities and businesses. Our refreshed programme will support this area of work. Strands involve:  A focus on self-assessment with performance data and metrics to drive efficiencies and public value;  Transforming services: to make them more efficient, managing demand and finding more effective ways of designing services around local people’s needs - including use of digital tools and solutions to improve online transactional services through to new innovative ways of service design and delivery;  Smarter sourcing: commissioning, procuring and managing contracts for services, goods and works more efficiently;  Generating income: for example, through commercialisation, better use of assets or investing to grow the local economy.

EFFICIENCY AND PRODUCTIVITY. Providing value for money and improving the efficiency and effectiveness of councils is as important today as it’s ever been. Over the last eight years councils have made great strides to reduce costs whilst maintaining the quality of service delivery. The efficiency and productivity programme is designed to ensure that local government continues to be the most efficient part of the public sector and comprises a range of initiatives and support to help councils continue to improve their productivity and efficiency - including the development of common solutions or the facilitation of collaborative approaches where appropriate. More so than ever before local authorities need to look at how they now go beyond efficiency savings to how they can transform their services making use of digital and other opportunities. This year we are launching an Efficient a Transformation and Intelligent Councils programmeInnovation Exchange, which 0which will provide a package of support to help councils with their continuous improvement journey. This will include a self-assessment tool to enable councils to challenge themselves and identify areas of further improvement. There will be links to performance and value for money data from LG Inform, enabling councils to compare their performance and costs with other councils. All of these resources will form an integral part of an on-line hub, where councils can readily gain access to support, peer networks and resources in one place. This will help councils continue to deliver the best financial, social and public value for their spend. We are working with councils to co-produce the content, and to develop and pilot the self- improvement tool; and are committed to promoting the model to help drive take-up so that councils have a meaningful comparison base. Local government has a track record of working with other bodies: public sector (including central government), voluntary sector and the business community to help to transform the lives of their residents and communities for the better. It is by working together collaboratively in a place that added value can be achieved and councils are at the forefront of this way of working. The LGA welcomes the government’s recognition of local government’s partnership role as set out in the common strategic agenda outlined in the UK Digital Strategy, the Government Transformation Strategy and the National Cyber Security Strategy. These set out an ambitious agenda which impacts directly on local communities, business and public services and emphasise the importance of collaborative work, as highlighted in the recent local government family’s joint local digital leadership statement. In the digital age it is more important than ever that councils are at the heart of developing a cross cutting culture of collaborative local digital leadership. It is vital that local leaders are on board with this agenda if it is to succeed. The LGA together with other key local government membership bodies will promote and build the local digital leadership required to maximise the benefits of digital transformation for local citizens, communities and businesses. Our refreshed programme will support this area of work. Strands involve:  A focus on self-assessment with performance data and metrics to drive efficiencies and public value;  Transforming services: to make them more efficient, managing demand and finding more effective ways of designing services around local people’s needs - including use of digital tools and solutions to improve online transactional services through to new innovative ways of service design and delivery;  Smarter sourcing: commissioning, procuring and managing contracts for services, goods and works more efficiently;  Generating income: for example, through commercialisation, better use of assets or investing to grow the local economy.