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‘Jobs safe’ as councils merge services

5/7/2019

3 Comments

 
PictureAli Wastie
By Catherine Watson

Bass Coast CEO Ali Wastie predicted no local job losses as four Gippsland councils this week embarked on the first step of a shared service model.
 
The State Government this week allocated $4.5 million from its Rural Councils Transformation Program to the Bass Coast, South Gippsland, Wellington and East Gippsland councils to integrate their electronic records and document management systems.
 
Local Government Minister Adem Somyurek said the shared services model was expected to result in more than $7 million in productivity benefits and reduced costs for the four councils over five years. 

The council announced in July last year that it planned to share some administrative services with the three councils to cut costs. Initially the proposal was expected to result in a stand-alone unit similar to the West Gippsland Regional Library Corporation, which provides services to three councils.
 
However, Bass Coast CEO Ali Wastie told the Post today a stand-alone unit was not envisaged at this stage as records were largely digital.
 
She said with the long lead-in time and an ageing work force, the council expects to manage the transformation with no forced redundancies.
 
Now that funding has been secured, CEOs of the four councils will meet this month to discuss how the project will proceed.
 
Ms Wastie said it would be up to each council to determine which administrative services it wanted to merge and which should remain in-house.
 
She said Bass Coast wanted to retain learning and development in house, because of the high level capability within the council, but it could make financial sense to outsource other functions such as payroll.  
 
“Is there any community benefit to ensuring the payroll service remains in council when it can be shared? Probably not. That’s the sort of test we do when are deciding which services are in and which services are out.”
 
She expects savings to start flowing from the first project in about a year’s time.
 
“Councils are being asked to do more with less. We continually have to find new and innovative ways of doing things. Our community want us to do it.

“My role as CEO is to manage the transition as smoothly as possible and to make sure that we get a really good outcome.
 
“The long lead time and the oversight of the four CEOs sets it up to be very well managed in terms of getting the outcomes while minimising job losses to the community. That’s very critical not only to Bass Coast but to the whole of Gippsland.”
  
July 26, 2018: 50 jobs at risk as council seeks to cut costs 
3 Comments
Peter Ghys
5/7/2019 06:10:43 pm

Let's hope that amalgamation of records doesn't result in more document losses like there appears to (conveniently) have been when Bass Coast was formed from the last amalgamation.

Reply
Joy Button
6/7/2019 09:23:10 am

I do not believe that the sharing of services suggested in the article has the desired effects for communities and in fact reduces accountability and commitment for services as a result of such a shared service. My experiences, particularly recently with the loss of library services in the Waterline townships, and involving the current library agreement between Baw Baw, South Gippsland and Bass Coast Shire, has resulted in a lack of communication, consultation and commitment. The bottom line has been the refusal of senior Council officers, and Councillors, refusing to reply, acknowledge or respond to written requests to discuss the dilemma of lack of library services.
There has to be a better way for government bodies, be they State, Federal or local government, to deliver services and to be committed to provide an equitable and fair service to the communities that they service. After the experiences that I have had over the last eight months, I am very concerned and cannot help but wonder why we have local government at all when services and commitment seem to be decreasing and decisions regarding important services which affect the whole communities, are made without any input from the people who will be ultimate affected by these decisions and who pay for the provision of these services.
I would like to hear a far better proposal than is being suggested as I believe local government also has to have a commitment to provide services for the people that they say that they are there to serve and to advocate for equity in the delivery of such services. . I think shared services are leading us down the path to the self-service that the retail outlets are wanting us to use and I, personally, walk away from that service. I am also walking away from the lack of service and commitment that is currently on offer with the delivery of libraries and books within our Shire.

Reply
Cr Geoff Ellis
19/7/2019 08:07:48 am

While I totally disagree with Minister Somyurek's recent proposal that all councils should revert to the outdated one councillor per ward system, I can see that there will be benefits arising from sharing of some services.

The financial support that BCSC is getting means that we can proceed in a measured way. Other LGAs will not have this luxury and, once again, our advocacy team has delivered a big win.

The traumatic amalgamation of the councils last century was, hopefully, a lesson learned and hindsight is a gift to be cherished as the state government finds other ways to consolidate local government.

The impact of the rate cape - council's are disadvantaged as the fundamental indicator of rate capping - the CPI - is based on a basket of goods that is dissimilar to the basket of goods a council purchase, so our costs rise at a different rate.

This is forcing councils to be lean. Sharing services, such as payroll, provides opportunities and frees up resources for other services and programs.

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