The FINANCIAL — Hertfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire County Councils have become the first in the country to jointly procure banking services and have awarded the landmark contract to Barclays.
Hertfordshire County Council and LGSS, the shared service set up by Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire County Councils to deliver business support services, chose to jointly procure their banking services in an effort to reduce costs and harmonise processes. As Barclays said, the joint contract will collectively save the councils at least £574,000 over the next five years.
Chris Hearn, Head of Local Authorities at Barclays said; “With budget cuts bearing down on local authorities across the country, county councils are increasingly looking for more efficient ways of working. Increasingly this means looking outside the boundaries of their own county.
“We spent a considerable amount of time understanding each councils’ needs before suggesting a tailored solution which would provide all three county councils with the day-to-day banking services they require, but in a more efficient way.”
Morris Bright, Deputy Cabinet Member for Resources at Hertfordshire County Council, said: "I'm delighted that we have been able to work successfully with both Northamptonshire and Cambridgeshire county councils to deliver a banking contract that will deliver savings of nearly £400k for this authority.
“It clearly demonstrates that working collaboratively on major procurements can deliver savings. In addition, it is anticipated that further savings and efficiencies will be achieved by working with our partner counties and the bank to re-engineer our current business processes."
Chair of the LGSS Joint Committee, Councillor Andrew Langley said: “The whole ethos behind LGSS is that by joining forces councils can save significant amounts of time and money. This joint banking contract is a fantastic example of this. All three councils have been able to reduce the cost of their banking services without the expense of running three separate procurement processes.
“For Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire County Councils, we estimate a £174k combined net saving on our current banking activity. As we make better use of technologies and identify opportunities for further innovation we will expect to see further savings.”
One of the largest banking contracts to have ever been awarded in the local authority space, Cambridgeshire County Council already banked with Barclays but, the tri-county tendering process will now see Hertfordshire and Northamptonshire County Councils also move to the bank.
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