Wessex Education Shared Services Ltd

Learning From a Journey Towards Sharing Business Support Services

Robin Gadd Brockenhurst College

Wessex College Partnership ~ Project Director

According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, Wessex was founded by Cerdic and Cynric, chieftains of a clan known as the Gewisse, who were said to have landed on the Hampshire coast and conquered the surrounding area…

(Wikipedia)

The Five Wessex Colleges

Defining Wessex Today!

50 miles

2 Key Objectives for Sharing

Reduce expenditure on administrative activity across

our business support services

Enhancing scale, capacity and capability for

continuing process innovation in business

support services

Increase the % of income flowing directly to teaching and learning

By…

An 18-month AoC-supported Project to October 2012

Principals’ Group

Teaching & Learning

MI, Software Dev & Exams

HR Finance &

Payroll IT

Underlying themes: quality and procurement scale opportunities

The Wessex College

Partnership

Are we nearly there yet?

Research, develop our relationships,

work up our options

Blueprint business cases for each service area

Implementation planning, commit

to the change, GO GO GO…

Can We? Should We? OK,

so how?

The Wessex College

Partnership

Can we?

• Constant challenge to

ourselves to think

bigger!

• Getting to know you!

• Comparing structures

and functions

• Process mapping

(straw man approach)

• Principles of Six Sigma

(why? why? why?...)

Research, develop our

relationships, work up our

options

The Wessex College

Partnership

The Wessex College

Partnership

• Have we the will to

finish the course?

• How much will it cost

and save?

• How quickly do we want

or need to get there?

• What level of risk are we

ok with?

Should we? Blueprint business

cases for each service area

The Wessex College

Partnership

The Wessex College

Partnership

Efficiency Savings to Date

• Cost Savings achieved during the project phase

– A mix of cashable and non-cashable benefits

– Mostly one-off

– Mainly cost avoidance (e.g. procurement referrals, good practice etc)

• Grand total: £570,000

• Across five colleges

• Immeasurable learning benefits

The Wessex College

Partnership

OK, so how?

• Engage the wider

expertise of our staff

and get building!

• Double check all our

assumptions!

• Decide whether we’re in

or out, and the right

time to be in!

• Create the operational

vehicle and seek good

legal advice!

Implementation planning, commit

to the change, GO GO GO…

Wessex Education Shared Services Ltd

• VAT ‘Cost Share Group’ – New exemption in July 2012

Finance Bill – Addresses key constraint

familiar from outsourcing – Legal entity (company

limited by guarantee) – Jointly and wholly owned

(and managed) by its member colleges

– Employer of staff: TUPE, pensions etc

Governance

Board

Operations Group

WESS Management Team

An experienced senior leader

transferring in. Plenty of

experienced college

managers!

Chaired by a College FD.

Monthly monitoring, fixing, planning.

Service Level Agreements & customer

experience. Ensuring equitable

sharing.

A Principal/Director. A Governor (with

relevant experience). A College FD.

+ WESS Executive Head.

Sharing “back office” services

Process

Systems

+

People

Multi-Dimensional Services

In-College Centralised

Transactional Strategic/

Transformational

Exams Financial Management

Payroll

Procurement

Data Management

Enrolments

HR Business Partnering

External Claims/ Returns

HR Administration

Management Information

Process/ Systems Dev

The Wessex College

Partnership

Multi-speed Sharing Costs & Benefits

BPC

Brock BPC

Brock

A.N.Other

BPC

Brock

A.N.Other

And Another

And Another

And Another

The Wessex College

Partnership

Business Case Headlines over 10 years

• 2 College Scenario

– £7.6m

• 3 College Scenario (8 years)

– £10.2m

• 4 College Scenario (7 years)

– £13.3m

Lots of assumptions, but this is REAL MONEY being saved

(Non-cash, qualitative benefits are additional!)

WESS Processes

(30%)

College Processes

(15%)

Procurement (55%)

The Wessex College

Partnership

Challenges

• LGPS Pensions

– Hampshire and Dorset schemes – different structure!

– Schedule 2, Part 2 admission ok.

– But VAT Cost Sharing Groups are entirely new entities

– Inclined to treat us like high-risk commercial outsourcers looking to reduce

headcount dramatically and quickly! We’re NOT that!!

– Implications for contribution rates and guarantees

– If you think lawyers are costly, try actuary rates!!

• TUPE

– Is not black and white

– How long does protection apply for?

– How much travel is reasonable?

– Define “material detriment” please?

• Not to mention, the People Factors!

The Wessex College

Partnership

Keys to success so far

• Get alongside employees

to guide them on the

journey

• Make Time for Trust!

• Be Honest, but

Challenge Each Other to

Think Big!

• Be Prudent & Realistic in

Savings Forecasts

• Keep stakeholders

informed at the right

time, in the right way

• Don’t give up!!!

What do you think?