Stoke-on-TrentCity Council has spent
£1m to ensure its annual £200m budget is spent more
efficiently.
The council has awarded a contract to public sector consultant
Civica to set up and integrated
e-procurement and financial management
systems to make buying decisions by its 1,000 staff more
cost-effective.
The council's "Efficiency Agenda" also aims to bring greater
transparency to the local authority, which in turn could save 10%
of annual expenditure. Civica will complete the first stage of the
four-year programme in March next year. It will be based on
Civica's Authority Financials and eProcurement systems, which will
be integrated with the council's own I&DeA eMarketplace
procurement system.
The council's chief executive, Steve Robinson, promised a
potential 10% in operational savings under the "Efficiency Agenda",
the name given to the integrated e-procurement and financial
reporting system. "This will help the authority control - and show
stakeholders - how expenditure is directed to improving services to
residents," said an official statement.
Electronic recording of all income and expenditure, and
automated purchasing and invoicing and debt recovery processes
relating to thousands of suppliers could all help save the council
£20 million, if the Efficiency Agenda target is met.
The Government's recently announced
Comprehensive Spending Review requires councils to save 3% in
cashable savings.