Friday 2nd May, 2014

With over 95% of councils in England now within shared service agreements, questions are being asked about their value and the extent of their efficiency savings. With high profile losses at Serco announced this week and equally high profile failings at G4S, the Confederation of British Industry says that there should be more transparency into contracts.

However, the Local Government Association asserts that over £357 million worth of efficiency savings have been made. But despite the volume of work produced by the NAO into the companies offering the service themselves, recent reports suggest that more work has to be done on the service contracts between government and for-profit firms.