Case Studies Phase 1

Shared services –
Case studies 2011

Contents:
03 Creating a Sustainable Learning Community for Buckinghamshire
Led by Aylesbury College

09 Services in Sussex Colleges (SiSC)
Led by Central Sussex College

15 Synergy Project
Led by Easton College

21 Sharing Student Services in the South
Led by Nescot College

27 Solent Colleges Innovation Partnership (SCIP)
Led by Portsmouth College

33 Stockport Work Based Learning
Led by Stockport College

39 North East Shared Services Project (NESSP)
Led by City of Sunderland College

45 Joining up Services for Cheshire and Warrington Colleges
Led by West Cheshire College

Creating a Sustainable
Learning Community
for Buckinghamshire

The Partners

The project is seeking to build on a substantial
history of collaboration between the two institutions.
Stretching back approximately 10 years this
partnership has evolved as both organisations have
increasingly placed collaborative working at the heart
of their approaches. Over a 12 month period the project
has sought to explore the options for the development
of an innovative partnership between both institutions.

Areas of Focus
...have a shared The project has focused on developing a federation to:

educational ethos and • Develop progression routes through a skills escalator
for Buckinghamshire;
are looking to drive • Take forward Construction and IT curriculum to pilot
institutions in similar the joint marketing and delivery of Further and Higher
Education. Apprenticeships and the development of a
directions... University Technical College are central to this activity.
The use of Technology blended within the learning
process and the exploration of different flexible ways
of delivering learning also form an important component
of this activity.

Associated back office functions are also being explored
for sharing potential as part of this process.

Rationale
The project is a product of the evolving relationship
between the institutions with both partners “working
closely on identifying where the opportunities for greater
collaboration are and what is the best way of enabling them
to happen”. Central to these discussions has been ability
of the partnership to grow to meet the ongoing needs
of students’, employers and the communities they serve.
Within this context partners identified a number of actual
and anticipated external drivers that have influenced the
direction of travel, including:
• The need for flexible and responsive models of provision
to respond to changing study patterns and differing
models for financing provision in the future;
• Increasing fee income through workplace learning and
the roll out of higher level apprenticeships.

prime driver is not to save money
but how can we improve the
student offer

4 | Shared services – Case studies 2011

The vision is for ‘cradle Objectives
to grave’ learning in an In submitting their bid to the FE
Efficiency Innovation Fund partners
inclusive community outline the following objectives for
the project:
with a desire to
• Explore the potential for developing
provide a wide range new models of delivery for Further
of facilities for people and Higher Education;

to learn, develop, • Break down the traditional barriers
between FE and HE;
share, create, socialise, • Encourage progression into HE, both
innovate, nurture and for young people already in full time
much more education, and for older learners
including those already in employment;
• Look at how far a joined up approach
to marketing and delivery of FE and HE
Vision can raise aspirations and encourage and
Both partners aim to create a joint enable employers to develop the skills
sustainable learning campus for of their workforce up to and (where
Buckinghamshire, developing a skills appropriate) beyond level 3;
escalator concept for the seamless
• Utilise technology to find new solutions
delivery of curriculum from levels
for easy ways to learn at times to suit
of one to eight in a range of technical,
the individual.
practical and academic subjects

Shared services – Case studies 2011 | 5

Activities Shared Services Model
Participation has been at the heart of Federation
the project development process with
collaborative exploration and planning Savings
sessions held at key stages throughout.
Partners have also explored developing This project is focused on growth and
best practice through shared delivery increasing revenue streams for both
and have explored a number of potential organisations. Both institutions’ remain
models for sharing services. Having the in discussions regarding the future of
capacity and finding the time and space shared services with a recent successful
to explore and develop the project has bid for the establishment of a University
been central to the process. Partners Technical College (UTC) a central part of
particularly value the role played here their plans. Initial projections suggest that
by the FE Efficiency Innovation Fund if successful, the net increase in annual
which “enabled them to take the time and revenue will be £70,000 in 2014/15 rising
space they needed to understand what to £1.16 million in 2019/20.
shared services could be”. To date the collaboration has already
resulted in some efficiency savings
through the joint employment of New
Buckinghamshire University’s Human
Resources Director being seconded to
the Aylesbury College for 1 day a week
and £25,000 saved by joint marketing
activity in 2009/10. With increased
collaboration, savings such as these
are likely to increase.

vital by enabling us
to take a step back
from our day to day
pressures


many of the challenges Enablers
lie ahead as we move Key factors in the project’s development
have been:
from visioning and • FE Efﬁciency Innovation Grant Fund
strategic level activity – this has provided the additional
resources and capacity to enable
towards practicalities staff to have the time and space to
and implementation really explore and understand shared
services and what they should look
like and achieve for the partnership;
• Effective, timely and inclusive
Outcomes and the Future
communication – a participative
Partners are committed to the approach to developing the project
development of the Federation through joint facilitated workshops,
and are currently in the process open discussion and debate;
of developing and finalising their
business plan for shared services • Strategic Commitment – leaders
with the successful UTC bid playing in both institutions are committed
an important role in this. Partners to growing their organisations in
discovered the positive outcome collaboration and have driven the
of this bid on 10 October 2011 project in a “coherent and structured way”;
with implementation on joint • Consensus and Trust – as a result
curriculum and student pathways of the long term relationship between
to commence immediately. partners there is a strong culture of
trust and a consensus in terms of the
direction of travel for the institutions
both individually and collectively.

unless you get very
clear and complete
agreement from the top
on day 1 you haven’t
got much chance...we
had that


Critical Factors
Factor Barrier Solution Importance

Culture & Organisational As partners move towards the practicalities of shared Medium/
Climate Cultures services, bringing together the different cultures of an HE High
and an FE organisation is seen as a potential challenge.
Open communication is seen as the way in which this
can be addressed.

Process Time Developing shared services requires considerable time Low/
commitments commitments. The FE Efficiency and Innovation Fund support Medium
was identified as integral to supporting and maintaining
partner involvement in this process.

Staff technical Some staff had to improve their competence to embrace Medium
capabilities technological solutions through dedicated training.

Externalities Systems Partners anticipate this being a potential barrier as they move Medium
compatibility towards implementation.

Summary
This project highlights the importance
of investing time in building relationships
and establishing trust between
institutions with differing cultures.
The project has evolved as part of a
long term process of collaboration by
the two organisations involved. While
this process began long before the funding has acted
Innovation Fund, partners suggest
that the additional capacity provided
as a catalyst that
has accelerated this process and added has enabled us to
considerable value to their approach.
explore and take
Based on a strategy of growth this project
is part of a wider collaborative agenda forward a number of
which incorporates the development
of a University Technical College for
medium and longer
Buckinghamshire. term ambitions for
Watch, on the AoC website aoc.co.uk collaboration
Aylesbury College and Buckinghamshire
New University’s journey on working
together and the benefits the projects
has brought to apprentices.


Services in Sussex
Colleges (SiSC)

The Partners

The project is seeking to build on a substantial history
of collaboration between all of the Sussex based
colleges through FE Sussex. For the purposes of this
project two Surrey colleges have joined the consortia.
FE Sussex is a membership based organisation,
owned by Sussex colleges. It has a history of
facilitating collaborative working across Sussex
colleges in a diverse range of activities including
the development of shared procurement processes
strategy and the sharing of senior and specialist
Human Resources and Health & Safety roles.

Areas of Focus
this project will The project is focused on the following areas:

position [the colleges] • Finance, including reporting, sales invoicing and
accounts receivable, purchasing and payments and
to select the best cash and banking; and

shared services option • Human Resources (HR), including staff information,
recruitment, training and development and payroll
with partner colleges and benefits.

whatever the financial Management Information Systems (MIS) were also
considered as part of this project but it was decided that
and organisational partners would not move forward with collaboration in
demands of the future this area at present.

may be Rationale
The project should be seen as a product of the evolving
relationship between the majority of the institutions
involved in the partnership. Within the current funding
and economic environment FE Sussex partners were keen
to explore further collaborative opportunities to improve
the efficiency of back office operations. The ‘Case for
Action’ outlines the project rationale as:
“responding to significant reductions in future
government funding, we are taking proactive steps to
explore the potential to improve service delivery through
the adoption of best practices and reduce costs by carrying
out back office transactional processing on a shared
service basis.”

Front line staff have developed
their understanding of their ‘back
office’ systems and processes
independently which has led to
great variation across the sector,
albeit within a range


we aim to produce a Activities
payback on investment The project has been designed as a
two phase process. To date phase one
that justiﬁes a has been completed with activities
undertaken including:
continued commitment
• Collaborative development of a ‘Case
to the project and we for Action’;
aim to produce overall • An exploration of existing shared service
annual efﬁciency practice beyond FE;

savings • Strand 1: Systems – defining the most
appropriate IT systems for each service
area, scoping process and resources
required for each college to change to
Vision a common platform;
The project’s ‘Case for Action’ outlines • Strand 2: Business models – consideration
the anticipated benefits to be to produce and evaluation of potential business
a pay back on investment that justifies a models to ensure that the model chosen
continued commitment to the project and fulfils the governance and service
an overall annual efficiency saving. delivery requirements of each partner.
This process also incorporated an
Objectives exploration of implementation barriers;
Key project objectives can be summarised as: • Development of an Outline Business Case.

Exploring the potential
to improve service
delivery through
adoption of best
practices and reduce
costs by carrying
out transactional
processing on a shared
platform and service
basis


Shared Services Model a great deal of ground
The current proposed delivery model
is that of a not for profit company
work needs to be
limited by guarantee. carried out at an early
Savings
stage in order to set
The outline business case outlines the
up shared back-ofﬁce
following potential cost savings over three systems
years based on an eight College model:

Service Area Gross Investment Net
savings Required Savings Outcomes and the Future
Transactional £986,655 £690,000 £296,655 Partners are committed to the
Finance development of the project and are
currently in the process of developing
Transactional £577,488 £336,000 £241,488
HR & Payroll
and finalising their business plan
and detailed business case for shared
services. At present they are looking
It should be noted that the distribution to proceed with a phased approach of
of total net savings differs significantly implementation, which will involve:
between partners with the lowest return • Aligning IT systems;
for transactional finance estimated at
£9,505 over three years and the lowest • Aligning processes;
for transactional HR & Payroll only • Potential development of a shared
£4,627 over three years. services centre.

everyone is at different
stages and converging
from different starting
points and this causes
difﬁculties for shared
services as we all need
to get to the same
starting point before
launching collaborative
approaches


Enablers funding was a great
Key factors in the project’s
development have been:
opportunity to develop
• Additionality of FE Efﬁciency
shared services,
Innovation Fund - it has provided address key challenges
additional resources and capacity
to enable partners to build on their and reduce costs
existing collaborative activity and
take this forward to drive efficiencies
in key back office functions; unless you get very
• History of collaboration – as a clear and complete
result of the long term relationship
between partners there is a strong agreement from the top
culture of trust and a degree of
consensus in terms of the direction
on day one you haven’t
of travel for the institutions involved; got much chance...
• Existing collaborative infrastructure we had that
– the established structure of FE Sussex
provided an existing collaborative
organisation with a track record of
collectively working with and on
behalf of partner colleges.


Critical Factors

Culture & Organisational Establish pilot and working groups well in advance to enable Medium/
Climate Cultures cultural embedding of cooperation. High

Process Timescales Developing shared services is complex and requires High
considerable time commitments. Incorporating college
decision making processes within planned timescales is
challenging and needs to be considered at the outset.
Funding timescales may require compromises to be made.

Communication A communication strategy is essential to ensure all leaders Medium/
and governing bodies are fully aware of direction of High
travel and that communication is effective both across the
partnership and within the partner organisations themselves.

Externalities ICT Costs ICT systems require significant upfront investment by Medium/
partners. High

Summary
This project highlights the importance
of lead times in building relationships
and trust. The presence of an existing
collaborative infrastructure is an
important driver in the strength of
while developing
this project which should be seen as shared services may
having evolved as part of this long
term process of collaboration. While
seem straight forward
this process and an awareness or desire at a superﬁcial level
to explore shared services was present
before the Innovation Fund intervention, it is actually very
partners suggest that the additional complex
capacity provided has accelerated this
process and added considerable value
to their approach.


Synergy Project

The Partners

Areas of Focus
Our work with the The project had four initial areas of focus:

Synergy project has • Finance;
• Management Information Systems;
built a very strong • Information Technology;
partnership between • Human Resources.
the two colleges To these were added secondary workstreams of
Work Based Learning and Marketing & Quality.

Rationale
Three years ago, Otley College, in Suffolk, commissioned
external consultants to undertake a review of the College
and look for potential partners as part of a growth
strategy. The College has a land-based specialism.
It was looking to get “match ﬁt”, with a labour market
focus on rural employment, and to “grow our sector”.
Through this process, Easton College, another land-based
college based in Norfolk, was identified as a potential
partner. Both Colleges are a similar size, and are the last
specialist colleges of this kind in the locality, with others
now amalgamated with other FE providers. Although the
campuses are 44 miles apart, both Colleges have a history
of being very competitive with each other. The rationale
for collaboration is primarily sectoral, as both colleges
target rural areas.


Vision Objectives
The project aimed to: The project sought to achieve three
deliverables:
• Strengthen landbased provision to meet
the needs of learners and industry; • Shared Management Information
providing timely information on
• Increase efficiency generating significant
learners, human and physical resources
savings for reinvestment;
and streaming benchmark information
• Promote best practice at both colleges between the colleges. It was also intended
though undertaking a full review of their that this could provide a platform for
systems, processes and procedures; and other colleges to join;
• Expand the range of teaching materials • A unified web based Sharepoint interface
available in each college through sharing. for information gathering, sharing and
improvement; and
• The creation of an e-library of process
and system documentation that spans
the two colleges building best practice.
These processes are intended to be
developed to provide core unified
systems for key shared service areas,
and again have the potential to become
a platform for other colleges.


Initial Joint
Project Working Implementa- Workstream Merger
post/project
Development Groups tion Planning Development proposal
manager

Activities Savings
The initial process was driven by the The initial gross payroll and oncost
creation of a shared post, which was savings for the first 12 months are
filled by a member of Easton’s senior c.£250,000. This is expected to increase
management. Implementation of annually as the project progresses.
specific activities was driven by joint There are, however, additional one
working groups of practitioners within off capital set up costs of c.£340,000
the colleges who have driven thematic to be incurred to full implementation,
aspects of the project. including upgrading and future
The development of these close working proofing software and IT infrastructure.
relationships, and a communications
strategy with college staff, has helped The Synergy project
to enable project implementation. This
has been further developed by bringing funding has enabled
the governors together in joint meetings
to be informed of progress and provide
us to develop detailed
strategic direction. shared services leading
to effective joint
Model
The model has developed over the project
understanding and
process from joint service delivery to a savings in the ﬁrst
full merger proposal, while maintaining
separate college branding.
year


Aligning cultures will Enablers
be a long path which Key factors in the project’s development
have been:
has its own challenges • Joint Posts – The early establishment
and rewards of joint posts, drawn from each of the
colleges, to drive and lead aspects of the
shared services;
Outcomes and the Future • Joint team working – across the colleges
in each of the functional areas, in order to
The Colleges now have five shared acclimatise staff with working with each
posts, comprising: other and sharing best practice; and
• Vice Principal Finance & Resources
• Active strategic leadership – Joint
(who is the project lead); Steering group consisting of Governors
• Assistant Principal Planning, established at an early stage.
Funding and Efficiency;
In addition, the project has learned from
• Director of Human Resources; good practice elsewhere, for example
• Director of Enterprise and with senior leaders from each college
Marketing; and visiting Cornwall College, to look at its
management and group structure, which
• Work Based Learning Contracts Manager. has separately branded colleges within a
collective entity.
Biggest outcome is
trust and vision
The sharing structure is that the staff
remain employed by an individual
college but are seconded to the other
college for part of their time. This
currently has VAT implications.
Work is continuing on the alignment of
processes, for example in the adaptation
of IT and HR approaches, utilising good
practice from each of the two colleges.
The Shared Services resources have
been used to develop projects to bring
the Colleges closer together. They have
now agreed to work towards a Type ‘A’
merger proposal.


Critical Factors

Leadership & Existing Creation of joint posts, mainly drawn from existing staff, and High
Governance perception of encouraging practice sharing using best from each college.
competition In addition, there has been close working between the senior
leadership teams and governors of each college, enabled
through regular joint meetings and working groups.

Culture & Concerns over Joint working across teams within colleges was at the centre High
Climate budget cuts and of the approach, encouraging transparent communication
future of jobs and involvement in re-engineering processes, which helped
to establish trust across the two colleges and with senior
management. All college staff were actively encouraged to
visit counterpart and share best practice extending benefits
beyond the Synergy Project workstreams. Project focus on
growth and excellence rather than staffing cuts.

Process Time Staff commitment and future project design/resource High
commitments implications were addressed by segmenting issues rather than
addressing all at once.
Utilising external consultant’s expertise (although there is
recognition of ownership issues around this). The colleges will
also backfill staff to help with the day job moving forward.

Externalities IT compatibility Significant effort has gone into examination of this aspect High
through a joint working group and commissioning external
advice on systems development. These one-off costs, including
costs of future proofing and enabling other partners to join in
the future, have been incorporated into the planning process.

VAT The VAT costs have been accepted and are factored into overall Medium
implications savings calculations, although they will not have an impact on
the colleges after merger. However, VAT is likely to remain an
issue for future shared services partners.

Summary
While this project is an exception in that in the context of understanding the changes
it is leading to a proposal for college in the FE market, and strengthening their
merger, it highlights the importance specialism as rural providers.
of lead times in building relationships
and trust. The process of co-operation With hindsight I realise
was developing prior to the Innovation
Fund intervention, although the partners we needed far more
acknowledge that the process would
have been much longer without this
resources than we had
support. Merger is now seen as the available resulting in
logical conclusion of this process
long hours for the staff
While the focus has been on shared
resources, the colleges involved have also involved (although they
developed from having a perception of have continued to be
each other as competitors to now looking
at the joint market they are addressing in enthusiastic)
rural East Anglia. This decision was taken


Sharing Student
Services in the South

The Partners

Areas of Focus
In order to realise The project reviewed the feasibility of providing shared
services using a customer contact centre model for the
the full efﬁciencies delivery of student services between three colleges in
South-East London and Surrey. This aimed to create an
and improvements integrated customer pre-entry experience for potential
in quality standards, learners at the three partner colleges, focusing on the
customer journey from enquiry and the provision of
standardised processes information and advice support through to admission
and enrolment. It therefore addressed:
and systems were
• The customer journey;
required • Information, Advice and Guidance and enrolment; and
• Supporting systems.

Rationale
The project partners are two neighbouring colleges,
in Greenwich and Bexley, and a third college in Surrey,
NESCOT, as the project lead. An independent training
provider, Mainport Training, was part of the initial bid,
but dropped out at an early stage. In addition, there were
two “observing” partners, NACRO and the University for
the Creative Arts, who did not play a part in the project.
Relations between the partners were assisted by the fact
that the newly appointed principal of Greenwich has
formerly been Vice-Principal of NESCOT. The Principal
of Bexley was also relatively new to post.
This project focused on whether front-office student
related services could be shared and deliver both
efficiency savings and service improvements.


Vision Objective
Potential learners, their parents, carers The overall objective was to create a
and advisors will experience a service shared customer contact centre that
that is customer focused, is efficient, was web and mobile-enabled for IAG
effective and that provides information and admissions while ensuring students
and advice that “gets it right the first experienced a service that was branded
time”, whether that is online, through a for each individual college.
telephone enquiry or face to face and the
facility to enable on-line applications and
enrolments. Also self service models of
customer service will be developed.

MoU/
Scoping/ appointing Initial Joint Implementa- Business
Reporting
Planning project Working tion Planning Case
manager

Activities
The partners appointed an independent This also required the alignment of
project manager, who managed the information systems, with, for example,
project using PRINCE2®. The agreement two of the colleges using the same
between the partners required Principal back-office management information
level participation at all meetings, in system for student records including
order to maintain ownership. applications; while the other college uses
There were issues of alignment in a separate system. Advice was sought
practice: one college made significant on ways in which these could be made
and increasing use of online applications to work together, without excessive
(44% of students apply online); another investment in new systems.
makes very limited use of online In addition, as a result of working
processing which currently results in dual together, two of the colleges now have a
data entry; while the other does not have shared Executive Finance Director post
an online applications module, meaning at senior management level which has
that all applicant information is manually resulted in significant cost savings.
data processed by admissions staff. The work to date has been focused on the
development of the business case to take
forward to implementation in Phase 2,
once resources have been sourced.


Model Savings
Six delivery models were considered The business case estimates that
in the business case: the preferred options could achieve
operational savings of 31% over five
• Status quo;
years and cash savings, after investment
• Sharing expertise between the college costs, of 12-14% over a five year period
partners; (c.£333,000).
• Development of a Virtual Customer This is in addition to the existing savings on
Contact Centre; a shared post between two of the partners.
• Development of a Centralised Customer
Contact Centre; In-house delivery is
• Working with an external partner to favoured on ﬁnancial
establish a managed service Customer
Contact Centre; and
and quality grounds
• Outsourcing the function to a specialist
supplier.

Each option was exposed to SWOT
analysis, appraised using financial and
non-financial criteria, and exposed to
a sensitivity analysis. Options 3 and 4
were preferred.

Governors keen to
work together with
joint development
sessions – they don’t
feel threatened


The key to success is Enablers
trust and having the • Existing relationships and conﬁdence
– between partners, which has been built
same expectation of through work to develop and refine
standards the bid agreeing priorities and sharing
resources underpins the project.
• External project manager – was
appointed, working with the principals,
Outcomes and the Future was also seen a key factor in project
The business case provides a proposed implementation.
implementation plan for the preferred
• Using previous experience – the project
options with a start date of November
also drew on the experience and advice
2012 (i.e. applications for entry in
of the Kingston City Group, which was
academic year 2013-2014).
established in 2005, and involves 14 higher
However, there remain issues over the education institutions in London and the
availability or resources to achieve this, South East area accessing shared internal
and further work may be required to audit services. The models developed by
validate the achievability of this timeline. the Group informed the development of
The project has also identified the business case although it should be
non-financial benefits, comprising: noted that this structure does not provide
limited liability.
• Collaboration without loss of identity;
• Independent legal advice – The project
• More effective use of partner assets,
also utilised independent legal advice
including rapid access to specialist areas
over the structures to be adopted, and
of expertise. For example, one college
the taxation implications.
has a reputation for excellent curriculum
management and innovation, another for
recruiting international students; Independent project
• Improved quality of service to students; manager is very
• Shared resources, for example in important to keep the
recruitment of joint posts;
• Sharing best practice;
project on track
• Peer review;
• Learning and development of staff;
• New opportunities for staff; and
• Opportunities for further collaboration
and engagement with other colleges,
contributing to sustainability.


Critical Factors

Leadership & Building trust Ensuring senior level involvement at all project meetings High
Governance Consultations with Governors to understand strategic options
and the risks involved in shared services.

Culture & Managing Ensuring that the relevant workforce is ‘right sized’ or ‘lean’ High/
Climate change before sharing. Medium

Process Management Using readily available and inexpensive technologies to Medium
time connect partners (e.g. Skype).
Learning from others through ‘business tourism’.

Externalities Taxation VAT is only charged on the non-pay element of total costs as Medium/
the total pay cost is ‘staff’ by virtue of a joint employment High
contracts. Advice from tax advisors to the project has
suggested that the staff cost element of charges to the member
institutions is free of VAT as there is no deemed supply, with
any generated surpluses generated on being exempt from
corporation tax.
However, any charge over and above the recovery of
staff costs is subject to VAT, and if the project provides
services to institutions which are not ‘joint employers’,
VAT becomes liable.

Legal issues Formal organisational vehicles can be problematic for Medium
colleges work teams that are operating at historically different
levels of efficiency and quality. Unincorporated associations
(membership) can work well for some small-scale shared
services, although they are problematic where TUPE applies.

Summary
The project has remained focused
on the development of a persuasive
In the early stages of
business case for the development the project there was a
of shared applicant/student facing
services. Extensive use was made of
long debate about the
external advice and of good practice number and type of
from elsewhere. The preferred options
identified suggest that an in-house partners to be included
approach will be more effective. in the project. As a
Development of the project will be
contingent on identifying the funding result it was agreed to
sources to take this approach forward. keep the maximum to 3
The project has also led to the
establishment of a joint senior post
to ensure the project’s
between two of the collaborating colleges. deliverability


Solent Colleges
Innovation
Partnership (SCIP)

The Partners

Areas of Focus
The key to the project The project has had a very broad focus, with the outline
business case identifying a wide range of potential
was the similarity of shared services including; adult provision; management
information services; procurement; cloud based services;
the partners business continuity; human resources policy; health
and safety; professional services; building management,
information and communications technology support;
shared virtual learning environment; bid writing and
bid consortia; and international students. A number of
potential shared service vehicles are being considered.

Rationale
The Hampshire Group of eleven sixth form colleges have
worked together for over 11 years. A sub-group of 5 colleges,
with a focus on more urban, open access community
activities saw a commonality of interest which they wished
to pursue. They were later joined by a sixth member.

need for flexibility and appetite
for change
The sixth form colleges are all relatively small, when
compared to general FE colleges, and saw a potential
benefit in seeking out areas where they could share
services. However, there are significant variations in local
needs and demand and these are reflected in the service
delivery of the colleges. The colleges consider that they
must retain a local autonomy in order to service their
communities and that this must not be compromised
through a wider regional grouping. The colleges are
firmly rooted within their local communities and
accountability is a key issue.

not a quick process - maybe five
years rather than one year
Discussions have also indicated the potential to split the
partnership into two cluster groups for certain activities,
one serving the western (Southampton) area and one
the eastern (Portsmouth). Clusters are seen as providing
the opportunity for geographically localised support
and service yet retaining the overall grouping for wider
partnership, representation and service.


Vision Activities
The Solent Colleges have gained The project commenced with the
experience of working together over appointment of an independent project
some time. However, to date, this work manager, who had experience of
has mainly been at an informal level working in the local sixth form college
with agreement to work in cooperation environment. It is managed through
while retaining full independence and monthly meetings of a steering group
governance in all areas. made up of the college principals and
The project seeks to leverage a project manager.
transition in the practice and experience An initial meeting brought together
of partnership, moving from the the senior management teams of all
operational to the strategic level of the colleges, and relevant functional
partnership. That requires a more leads. This meeting was used to identify
formalised agreement between partners potential areas for collaboration, and
Business models range from the informal came up with a very wide range of
cooperative (the current model) through areas impacting both on front and back
a series of stages to full integration with office activities. For example, 5 of the 6
a variety approaches being considered. colleges use the same MIS, which provide
potential for collaboration, and the AoC
Objective Procurement Team have been involved
in supporting the project in accessing
The project seeks to take forward external benchmarking information.
an existing informal collaborative
partnership into a more formal The colleges are also working together
arrangement in the form of a membership on small department subject areas,
association. Through membership of an such as law, science and maths,
association, the partners seek to be able to joining together delivery with a view
create a unified partnership to represent to creating virtual departments across
smaller colleges in a close geographical the partnership and possibly leading
location and, through that partnership towards common heads of department.
seeks to achieve increased value for Representatives from the partnership have
money and quality. also attended a number of training events
in areas appropriate to the development
of the project. These have included
specialist training in procurement and
contract management and law and
background to and implementation
of the shared service agenda.


The partners see the project as a longer
term process, to four years and more,
not just about saving
comprising: money – funding is
• Working together for ‘quick wins’ over invaluable
the first year: Identifying commonalities;
sharing data and policies; process
mapping, securing external advice;
establishing shared service groups; Savings
and developing lead college status At this early stage, some reductions in
within an unincorporated association; the cost of joint legal work have been
obtained, and there are projected savings
• Coming together over the next two
of 2-5% savings in exam fees.
years: Creating services as a joint venture;
sharing services in the cloud; sharing Joint purchasing of MIS is anticipated
management; sharing students; and to save £250,000 over five years.
• Exploring federation in year four, with
the intention of establishing a group of Best funding meeting
colleges provided with common services in my entire career
and management by a single company.

Model
At the moment, the model is a Soft
Federation, as there are differences in
the rate at which partners may want to
progress. This creates opportunities for
an overall group of six colleges providing
central services which may or may not be
taken up by partners and for sub groups
or clusters of colleges who may wish to
work in particular directions, at differing
rates and in response to more local
factors. However, ultimately the vision
is to create a shared service company.


Outcomes and the Future Enablers
There remain issues over the relative Key enablers for the project comprise:
ambitions of the partners over the scale
• Independent Project Manager – The
of implementation across some areas.
role and experience of the independent
Working groups are taking forward project manager, who already had contact
activities in: with the colleges involved. However,
• Finance; it was considered essential that project
ownership remains with the colleges
• MIS (development plan in place); themselves;
• HR (development plan in place); • Early engagement – practitioners were
• Student Support; involved in an early stage within the
working groups to identify ways forward;
• Curriculum and Student Experience; and
• Trust – The level of trust from
• Clerks to Corporation.
working together that has enabled
full benchmarking of activities across
Events may push [the the colleges, including the sharing of
financial data;
partnership] farther • Governors – Involvement of governors,
and faster through regular meetings (2 joint
meetings held and third scheduled)
ensuring that there is leadership
However, the partnership has evolved,
commitment;
and some of the work will be divided
into two groups. (Southampton & • Joint Collaboration – Gradual awareness,
Portsmouth) dependant on the project through working together, that there
areas. It is also considering new partners, could be a long term joint collaborative
and there have been discussions with strategy that would benefit all partners,
the HE sector (Portsmouth University) rather than competing with each other.
around curriculum offering.
Fantastic to know
you’re not alone


Critical Factors

Leadership & Large number The need to understand governance and legal requirements Medium/
Governance of partners has been central to project development. High
Governors have been kept involved as a central part of
the process.

Culture & Desire for Colleges are participating at their own pace within a High
Climate independence pre-existing collaborative structure.
within college
structures

Process Wide range The establishment of functional working groups and High
of activities sub-regional partnerships. Recognition of need to
included in manage quality.
proposals

Externalities Shift in funding Review of project implications including VAT implications for Medium
of Sixth Form schools as opposed to FE colleges.
Colleges from
SFA

Summary
As the activities section notes, the
Maybe end up with
project is seen as a medium to long 2 geographic clusters
term development, with a specific
geographical and functional focus
each with 3 partners
for like-minded colleges facing similar
local issues.
The activities in scope extend across
front- and back-office functions, and
have major implications for investment,
staffing and service delivery.
The range of activities being considered
means that different types of approaches
and partnerships are likely to develop as
the project moves on over the next few
years, with an initial impact on MIS,
HR and procurement.


Stockport Work
Based Learning

The Partners

A number of the partners have some experience of
working collaboratively.

*

* Damar are joining the federation in 2012.

Areas of Focus
this isn’t a standard The project is focused on work based learning (WBL),
including joint bidding for contracts and aligning
shared services marketing and stakeholder and employer engagement.
project...exploratory it is very confusing for employers,
conversations have they get swamped by a complex
centred on future range of organisations... we want
business, generating to simplify the offer
resource streams
through collaborative Rationale
working, and The project has evolved out of collaboration between
some joint areas of partners with the following factors driving it towards
its current focus:
marketing and bid • The lead institution, Stockport College, have a long
management standing set of relationships with the private training
providers involved in the partnership, having worked in
a number of different setting with these partners. In recent
years the College have led a consortium of providers
which develops and delivers apprenticeship training for
the Local Authority. Through this work they have aware
of the strengths of these organisations and the quality of
provision delivered.
• The launch of the Skills Funding Agency (SFA) Minimum
Contract Level (MCL) is another key driver with some
partners initially concerned that the minimum threshold
may threaten their sustainability.
• A desire to simplify the work based learning offer for
employers in Stockport.

Against this backdrop Stockport College decided that
something should be done to strengthen both their
partnership with the providers involved in the project
and the WBL offer in Stockport.


Vision the overriding priority
The creation of a federated structure
incorporating providers serving the
and focus of the
Stockport sub-region with the main federation is to improve
purpose of managing the relationship
and negotiating a single work-based the learner offer,
learning contract for Stockport with the learner experience and
Skills Funding Agency, whilst enabling
federated organisations to maintain their leaner pathway... and
own local focus and individual identity. broaden the provision
The Federation will lead improvements
in three areas:
offered in this area...
• Cost reduction (both to providers and targeting of speciﬁc
to the SFA); sectors with speciﬁc
• Quality improvement (including partners where this will
the rigorous application of agreed
performance standards); and strengthen the offer
• Apprenticeship development (driving
innovation and adopting new Partners are clear that the Federation
frameworks to tackle skills gaps and will not replace their core business
shortages). activities. Instead it will provide a
platform for greater scope and more
It is also intended that the organisation strategically-planned collaboration.
will become a regional voice for providers In doing so partners aim to achieve
on apprenticeship issues. the following objectives for partners,
learners and clients:
Objectives • Wider reach across the region;
It is anticipated that the Federation
• Moving into new territory and new
agreement will allow partners to bid
provision;
for and manage larger, more complex
projects in a collaborative manner with • Strategically planned offering;
an aim to: • Unified approach/role;
• Drive growth; • Scale of bidding, vehicle ready to bid
• Broaden the provision offered in the area; and provide business;
• Increase knowledge and expertise across • New business – cohesively targeted
all partner organisations. planning;
• Cohesive offer – overlap and trading
of provision to avoid duplication;
• Future proofing against possible rises
in MCL; and
• Independence – with enhanced links
to other strong like-minded partners.


Investiga- Imple-
Scoping/ Toolkit
tive Analysis mentation Transition Reporting
Planning Development
Fieldwork Planning

Activities Savings
The project began in November 2010. The Stockport WBL project is focused
Key activities and project stages on business growth rather than solely
undertaken to the Business Case stage generating efficiency savings through
are shown in the diagram above. reduced costs. However, there is an
Each of these key stages has involved expectation that joint marketing and
a significant amount of collaborative collaborative bidding will reduce costs
activity between partners with for partners. Current projections suggest
participatory workshops held to that such savings would equate to £17,000
facilitate discussion at key stages. for every £120,000 of activity allocated to
Legal representatives are currently the Federation. This represents a saving
finalising the business model. of 14% on current allocated expenditure
to an income of £120,000.

Model the project is about
The model being developed for the
Federation between partners will be a innovation and
Company limited by guarantee controlled income generation,
and equally shared by its members.
with efﬁciency acting
wanted something as an important but
stronger than subsidiary feature of the
partnership but project
short of merger


[funding] has been a Enablers
catalyst that enabled Key factors in the project’s development
have been:
us to bring in the • Independent Project Manager – Funding
necessary support... the an independent external consultant as
project manager and ‘honest broker’ and
project wouldn’t have as an independent change agent. This has
happened in the same facilitated honest open debate and greatly
enhanced trust between partners;
way without it • Collaborative Approach – Stockport
College showing their commitment and
intentions with their philosophy and
Outcomes and the Future approach emphasising that this was
Partners are committed to the about collaboration and not merger;
development of joint company limited by • Prioritisation – Leadership participation
guarantee, with partners expecting this to from Stockport College showing
be registered before the end of 2011. Work partners the importance the College
with legal advisors on this is progressing. placed on the project;
However, partners suggest they are
frustrated with the pace of progress. • Building Relationships &
Communication – Stakeholder relations
Partners have identified a number of have enhanced through clear lines of
positive outcomes through participation candid yet constructive communication
in the project, including:
between partners;
• The benefits of collaboration between
• A history of collaboration – between
FE Colleges and private sector providers
the lead institution and other partners.
with considerable potential for
knowledge and values transfer between
the sectors; needed someone
• Improved levels of trust between who could be seen as
participating organisations which has
served to strengthen the partnership. an honest broker...
[external support]
bringing together has been really useful
public and private in developing trust
sector organisations, between partners...
has been a major played a very
positive feature of the signiﬁcant role
project


Critical Factors

Leadership & Differing Providing a range of levels of partnership and recognition that High
Governance organisational each partner is not required to sign up to all activities as part
context and of the federation.
objectives

Culture & Trust issues Some partners were nervous about the motivations of Medium/
Climate partnership and the potential threat to their autonomy. High
Partners have sought to build trust to address this and the
use of an external consultant played an important role in this.

Staff Participation has largely been restricted to leadership groups Medium/
within partner organisations. This is due to the potential High
for wider staff groups to associate the project with recent
restructuring. Clear lines of communication will be established
once the project is opened up to wider staff involvement.

Process Time Smaller partners in particular have capacity issues. Utilising High
commitment an external consultant has been one way the group has sought
to address this. However, three larger partners have largely
driven the project.

Externalities Establishing the The process of working with legal advisors to establish the Medium
company company has taken longer than anticipated.

VAT Partners are currently in consultation with legal advisors to Medium/
implications consider the issue of VAT and its collective and individual High
implications.

It was assumed at the Summary
outset that an honest, A proactive shared services project
based on business growth rather than
open dialogue between only cost reduction, Stockport WBL
partners should lead illustrates the importance of a history of
partnership between the lead institution
to a shared outcome. and its partners. It also highlights the
Whilst this did result, importance of an “independent broker”
to build relationships and trust by
to some extent, not all facilitating difficult conversations in
partners can travel as an approach that encourages open
debate and discussion.
far or as fast The commitment and leadership of the
lead institution was key driver in the
development and progress of this project.
“it’s about trust, you have to be trusted.
It takes time and you need to live it as
well as say it”


North East
Shared Services
Project (NESSP)

The Partners

Originally a partnership of seven colleges, three partners
have since left for a variety of reasons ranging from the
private sector provider that left due to the VAT related
issues and a College that had to withdraw due to a
possible future merger.
The four partners do not have a history of working in
partnership together, with the lead institution bringing
together the partnership specifically for NESSP.

Areas of Focus
[partners] have The project has focused on:

worked really well • Finance – this includes budgetary management, Capital
Budgets, Income Receivable, Supplier Payments, Fixed
together...in some Asset Management, VAT Returns, Management Accounts,
Payroll, Procurement and System Administration.
ways we see each • Management Information Systems – this includes
others as direct Curriculum Planning, Enrolment, Timetabling and
Registers, Coding and Masterfile Maintenance, ILR
competitors... trust and Examinations.
has developed... project • Routine Processes – All processes that are routine,
rules based or delivered remotely are in scope for
has strengthened and future development.
reinforced these links
Rationale
Decreasing resources is a context common to all Colleges.
Consequently the need to realise efficiencies through
reduced costs is one of the principal drivers of all Shared
Services projects. However, partners involved in NESSP
were keen to reiterate that this process is also about
driving quality improvements in the delivery of back
office services. Therefore, the project should not simply
be seen as a cost saving exercise. In particular the project
is focused on shifting to a more efficient, responsive
and personalised approach by addressing some of the
following shortcomings in existing systems and processes
used by participating colleges:
• A shortage of accurate information and priorities;
• A need to continually collate information from various
sources and relatively bureaucratic, slow and inﬂexible
systems; and
• A lack of responsive, personalised services for students.


Vision Objectives
At the beginning of the journey, In addressing the above issues and
NESSP partners agreed that their achieving their vision partners have
vision would be to: defined the following critical success
factors for NESSP:
• Delight our students and stakeholders
by having personalised services and a • Reduction in cost of at least 10-20%;
single point of contact to resolve issues • An improvement in service standards
with response times second to none; in all areas;
• Have accurate information that allows
• Flexibility to provide the required data
managers to deal with important issues to the front line in a timely manner;
before they become urgent;
• Flexibility to respond quickly to
• Have information focused on priorities
changes in requirements from the
and routinely drawn together to enable college or funders;
Senior Managers to feel in control and
to be proactive and dynamic; • The removal of the overhead required
in the management of support staff;
• Use ‘best of breed’ IT systems that allow
staff to deliver the best possible service; • Release of space to provide opportunities
for teaching and possible growth.
• Reinvest in effective front line services
the savings from having more efficient
and effective back office provision.

Activities
The project began in October 2010.
Key milestones are illustrated in the
diagram below which spans the journey
from October 2010 to September 2011.

Vice
Principals Memo-
Funding Shared Received randum Process Business Business
bid Vision Shared of Under- Mapping Case Plan in
developed Agreed Services standing Completed Completed development
Architects Agreed
Training


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