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Good practice guide

Scottish Police Services Authority

Questions for Scottish Government and public bodies to consider when planning shared service initiatives

  • Have you developed a clear, strategic vision, which identifies the benefits that you and your partner organisations want to achieve by changing service delivery arrangements? For example, will the change in service arrangements improve efficiency, increase effectiveness, improve productivity or service quality, improve standards or consistency of services?
  • Have you and your partners identified the other important factors to consider? For example, political acceptability, sustainability, employee support?
  • Are you sure that the scope of the proposed change is achievable with the funding and staff available and that it will ultimately deliver all of the required benefits?
  • Have you undertaken a full options appraisal for the new arrangements? Do you have clear reasons for why the specific services have been selected? Have you explained these reasons to key stakeholders?
  • Have you identified the set-up costs needed and do you know over what period they will be recovered?
  • Do partners understand all the implications of the preferred option (for example, giving up direct control of a service, becoming a service commissioner rather than provider)? Are partners committed to help deliver the preferred option?
  • Are you and partners clear about how the benefits will be delivered? Is it clear how benefits and costs will be distributed? Is this fair and equitable? Do partners agree with these plans?
  • Have you identified the barriers to achieving these benefits and developed strategies to overcome them?
  • Have you identified your key stakeholders and customers or service users? Do you have a comprehensive strategy for engaging with them throughout the development of your proposals to ensure that their concerns are fully considered?
  • Have you considered the most appropriate organisational structures to deliver the new arrangements? Are there cultural differences between the current organisations that need to be addressed to deliver an effective single organisation?
  • Have you collected detailed and robust baseline information on how the services are currently delivered, for example, staffing levels, staff terms and conditions, unit costs, asset use, service standards etc? How confident are you that the baseline information is robust and accurate? For example, have you had it independently verified?
  • Do you have clear and robust service management and governance arrangements, both for the transition period and for the new arrangements? Is it clear who is responsible for scrutiny and monitoring progress and how they will perform this role?
  • Have you developed a clear, detailed implementation plan for the new arrangements? Is the plan supported by all the partners? Is your implementation plan properly costed?
  • Does this plan:
    • identify contingency arrangements if funding is reduced?
    • allow time to standardise and simplify processes in partner organisations before you begin implementing the new service process?
    • allow for small-scale testing beforehand to ensure that all the issues and challenges are identified?
    • allow enough time for new systems to be properly tested, changes to be made if the systems don’t work, and then tested again?
    • allow sufficient time for staff negotiations on changes to working conditions?
  • Have you discussed the implementation plan with people who have gone through similar changes and taken on board their experiences?
  • Have you put in place a strong project team that will help you deliver the new service? Does this include representatives from each of the partner organisations who will work with you to make the change happen? Does the team have the right level of seniority and sponsorship?
  • Do you have plans in place to move to a common set of processes and controls? How long will this take and how does it fit with your IT plans and changes to job roles and structure?
  • Have you developed a communication strategy to ensure that customers are fully aware of the changes being introduced and know how these changes will affect them?
  • Are there clear arrangements for reporting on performance? Will the systems and processes being introduced have the capacity to provide you with the necessary information?

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