Policy Briefing 10: Shared services and commissioning
A policy briefing examining the implications of the move towards more shared services and commissioning in public services.
Over the past few years there has been a steady move towards move innovative methods for delivering public services. Structurally, the most prominent of these have been shared services (whereby service such as HR or IT are shared between multiple departments or organisations) and commissioning (whereby following a decision made about local need, a procurement exercise is carried out and an agreement reached with a provider about the delivery of that service on the council's behalf, for payment).
This briefing explores both of these developments, examines the implications for scrutiny and suggests some practical tips for those interesting in carrying out relevant investigations.
Report author: Ed Hammond (020) 7187 7369