Big change will cut red tape and deliver value for money

Release Date:  21-Apr-2009

A new centre that will reduce red tape, cut costs and free up frontline teams to spend more time delivering essential services is set to be created as part of the city council’s ambitious Transforming Bristol programme.

At their meeting on April 30th 2009, Cabinet councillors will be asked to give the go-ahead for the authority’s new Shared Transactional Service Centre, to be based in part of Somerfield House in Whitchurch.

The new centre, planned to open in November, will bring together over 700 administrative staff including those dealing with everything from purchase orders and invoices to job recruitment, personnel records and meeting room bookings. Currently, they’re based at a variety of buildings dotted around the city, including Romney House in Lockleaze and The Council House on College Green.

The new centre is planned to deliver high quality services with an overall saving to tax payers of almost £1.5 million within five years.

One benefit of it being located in South Bristol is that, over time, it will provide people in this relatively disadvantaged area of the city better access to jobs with the council - supporting several regeneration programmes in the area.

Councillor Mike Popham, Cabinet Member for Efficiency and Value for Money, said: “This new centre will be one of the first important ‘big wins’ of the Transforming Bristol programme. It will deliver real benefits to staff and their customers - and free up significant sums to be reinvested in front line services for the people of Bristol.

" As well as making better use of our staff and their time, it will see the introduction of new IT systems to join up many of our records and processes. This help us really work as ‘one council’ rather than a collection of different departments. We are determined to make Bristol one of the best authorities in the UK and this is an important step along the way.”

• The centre is just one strand of the Transforming Bristol programme, which has already seen the restructuring of the council’s top management to free up more cash for services. The programme will also provide an improved customer services centre and customer services points; new flexible and hi-tech ways of working to help staff respond more effectively to local people and lower costs for buildings, heating and lighting.

Author:  Simon Caplan

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