Southwest One Ltd is a joint venture company which was launched in October 2007 to provide enhanced shared services in the public sector.

 

It was created from a strategic partnership between IBM and two Local Authorities - Somerset County Council and Taunton Deane Borough Council. In March 2008, Avon and Somerset Police Authority became a founder member of the partnership.

 

The joint venture represents a genuine public-private partnership and is the first in the UK to involve the police service. This pioneering approach came about from a desire for all the authorities involved to maintain and improve the quality of services they deliver to council tax-payers as cost effectively as possible.

 

Increasingly, the funding that public authorities receive has struggled to keep up with the cost of delivering these services. In March 2005, the two councils, in consultation with the Police Authority and a number of other public bodies in the region, decided to explore a radical solution for dealing with this widening budget gap whilst helping to provide the investment required to bring services into the 21st Century.

 

The Improving Services in Somerset (ISiS) programme was created to explore the option of setting up a partnership with the private sector. However, the Police Authority was forced to withdraw following proposals from the Home Office for force mergers.

 

The formal procurement process was instigated in accordance with European Union rules with a notice issued in December 2005, which outlined the joint venture proposition. This notice stipulated that any joint venture company would be based locally and would deliver ICT and business services for the partner authorities and other public bodies.

 

The non-ICT services were set out as financial services, information technology, human resources, procurement, property services and facilities management as well as design and print services. Importantly, the customer contact function was also included to improve access to services for the public.

 

A number of major companies expressed an interest in the propositions. In addition, a number of potential customers in the public sector also expressed interest in receiving such services - 26 in total including councils, fire brigades, NHS Trusts and police forces.

 

The private sector bidders were reduced to a shortlist of three in March 2006 and then each of the three - BT, Capita and IBM - developed their proposals for the partners.

 

After force mergers were dropped by the Home Office, the Police Authority decided to rejoin the ISiS programme in December 2006, setting out five key objectives that it expected to be achieved from this partnership. These are:

 

• Objective 1: To continue to provide quality support service to front-line policing whilst meeting the challenges of future funding arrangements;

• Objective 2: To improve the operational efficiency and transform the delivery of corporate, transactional and support services;

• Objective 3: To improve access to and delivery of front-line services;

• Objective 4: To invest in world-class technologies that improves productivity throughout the organisations;

• Objective 5: To provide an excellent working environment where staff can do their best for the citizens of Avon and Somerset and enjoy good employment prospects where they can develop their full potential.

IBM was chosen in March 2007 as the preferred bidder for the private sector partner in any joint venture company by both the councils and the Police Authority.

 

Part of IBM's bid included re-investment of savings in the design and implementation of an integrated software package to link up existing computer systems from its strategic partner SAP. This is an example of the sort of technological improvement public bodies such as the councils and the police would not be able to afford without the savings that will be generated from this partnership.

 

A period of intense work led to the launch of Southwest One just over six months later, with the first wave of council services being transferred in November 2007 and the remainder a month later.

 

In the meantime, separate proposals for Constabulary services were developed to enable the Police Authority to join as a founding partner. In January 2008, Police Authority members approved unanimously a business case for the force to enter into final contract negotiations with the existing partners to join the joint venture.

 

Southwest One commenced the provision of services to the Constabulary and Authority in June 2008 with the transfer of staff in ICT roles. This was followed by the transfer of the remaining in-scope police staff a month later for all the other business service areas.

 

Southwest One Ltd is based in Taunton but will operate across Avon and Somerset, and potentially further afield, with a hub for police services at Force Headquarters in Portishead.

 

To ensure that the joint venture consistently continues to provide the best services for the communities of Avon and Somerset, the organisation and its staff; the Chair of the Police Authority and Chief Constable sit on the board of Southwest One. Neither will receive remuneration, fees or benefits from these posts, but will enable both the authority and constabulary to have a say in the key decisions and in setting out the direction of future services in the community.

 

The joint venture will deliver significant cashable efficiency savings together with substantial savings in police staff and officer time. This will fund a wide range of projects to improve how the partners operate by introducing world-class technology, redesigning business processes and releasing officers for frontline policing.

 

Essentially joining the partnership will enable the Police Authority to achieve more within its existing limited resources, whilst streamlining vital support services for frontline policing in the force area.

 

The Authority recognised that many police staff joined the Constabulary out of a sense of public service and so would be reluctant to lose that connection with the organisation. As a result, staff were offered the option of secondment to Southwest One Ltd, rather than simply being transferred using the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) rules that usually apply.

 

One of the key objectives for the Police Authority in entering this partnership was to protect the jobs of Constabulary staff. Therefore Southwest One Ltd is contracted to assure all staff who second into the joint venture will have a job over the life of the contract.

 

In the current climate of tightening budgets, police forces around the country are facing the real prospect of having to cut staff. But, by sharing services with partners locally, Avon and Somerset Police Authority has managed to avoid such drastic measures.

 

The sort of investment required to bring support services up to date is just not available in the public sector alone. However, a public-private partnership offers the best of both worlds by maintaining a public service ethos but with enhanced service delivery.

 

Southwest One Ltd will also bring IBM staff to the region and IBM has outlined plans for business development which could have a major impact on the local economy.

 

In summary, this will help improve services to the community and deliver major efficiency savings which must be good news for all local residents.

 

To find out more about Southwest One Ltd visit www.southwestone.org.uk or contact the Police Authority using our contact form or on 01275 816377.