Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Haringey is talking about sharing services with Waltham Forest
BREAKING NEWS from the Hornsey Journal: Haringey Council admits it's discussing sharing services, including call centres, with Waltham Forest Council. (via twitter)
Tags for Forum Posts: hornsey_journal, waltham_forest
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Clive Carter on
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Interesting. Doesn't seem to be on the HJ webpage yet. But why Waltham Forest? The rationale cannot be length of border shared, because its only about the third longest. Haringey shares borders with six other boroughs, in rough order of border length:
Enfield
Barnet
Waltham Forest
Hackney
Islington
Camden
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Permalink Reply by Stephen Moore on
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Story should be up there now: http://bit.ly/e05fUZ
Reaction to come, as soon as spokesmen/women respond to my requests!
Stephen, Hornsey Journal
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Permalink Reply by Alan Stanton on
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I'm still hoping Haringey Highways might one day (year?) accept my suggestion for routinely sharing information with those remote and distant beings in Haringey Planning & Enforcement, when people apply for scaffolding licenses to 'stop up' the public highway to do building works.
This week Highways emailed to say they will take my suggestion into account: ". . . when we have the resources to review our processes for issuing scaffolding and hoarding licenses. "
Very disappointing, as on occasions they've been very positive and helpful. Though it does suggest a way we can save money. Dispense with the services of management consultants, service re-shapers, excellence achievers etc. Plainly, we first need to order several copies of the works of C. Northcote Parkinson. In particular: The Law of Delay - which states that delay is the deadliest form of denial.
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P.S. Here's the statement issued by the Council on 2 December.
It's also fair to say that there's candid recognition that shared services are not a panacea.
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Shared services won't be a panacea, but I'm pleased if councils are thinking more widely about the functions they are supposed to perform. I have long thought that a Borough of the size of Haringey is too small for some functions – and way too big for others (the "Neighbourhood Management Service" is a crude partial recognition of this).
Institutions like councils and quangos have had a single driving force over many years: to build an empire.
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Clive, as you know full well, empire-building and the pursuit of power can be found in thousands of organisations. The notion that this is a unique or even distinct feature of councils and quangos is plainly absurd. In 1776, in his classic Wealth of Nations Adam Smith strongly criticised the monopoly tendencies of large commercial businesses.
It's equally untrue to talk about "a single driving force" for any organisation - public body, private firm, or a not-for-profit agency. People work in all sorts of organisations for a myriad of reasons. Which may range from a simple: "We need the money"; to pursuit of idealistic values and wanting to make a difference.
Yes, for several years, councils across the UK have been and are thinking about how to deliver their functions more cheaply and efficiently. Currently they're also considering which functions to scale down or cease altogether. Though unfortunately, using many of the same recipes as before: front-office, back-office; shared services. (With a sprinkling of iphone apps and "Big Society" to make it look fresh.)
The basic problem is not in deciding which functions to pull apart and then rebundle together. We've had decades of doing precisely that.
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"... for several years, councils across the UK have been and are thinking about how to deliver their functions more cheaply and efficiently."
Would this include 1,000 copies of the glossy book ‘Views of Stroud Green : A Series of Local Portraits and Thoughts’", produced in early 2008?
It was a 64-page, full-colour paperback book, published by the Neighbourhood Management Service at a cost of £6,650. It looked extravagant, to me at least, even at the time. Could that cash have been better spent?
Is it possible that some parts of the council, for several years, have been doing things in order to justify their existence?
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