LGG 'to save £18m by outsourcing'

The group, which represents more than 350 councils in England and Wales, said that outsourcing IT, finance and human resource administration to Liberata has allowed it to make costs savings and operate more effectively. LGG is two years into the £82.8m contract with the business services provider. "We entered into the contract with Liberata with a view to making cost savings, increasing the quality of services and, as far as was possible, we protected the terms and conditions of staff that were transferred," said John Ransford, chief executive of the group. "We're delighted to see such positive results after only two years and are keen to share our experience with councils. Money saved from back office work is money we can plough into our front line services, lobbying for our members and representing their interests as effectively as possible." Mark Hucker, head of business management at LGG told GC News that the group "had to take a deep breath" when outsourcing "absolutely everything" to Liberata. "We gave them our equipment, our network management, browsers, everything. We took the view that we wanted to bring in an organisation with better expertise than we could offer," he added. Hucker said that although the deal is going well, LGG is not promoting outsourcing to the local authorities it represents. Local councils should make those decisions themselves, but should understand that they have options and are not in a "do nothing situation", he added. LGG said key improvements under the contract have included an integrated finance and HR application and Wi-Fi links in its main buildings. The group is made up of six organisations, including the Local Government Association.