Figures from the latest arvato UK Outsourcing Index have shown that shared services accounted for £1.2 billion in central government outsourcing since the 2010 Treasury Spending Review, in comparison to a measly £58 million in the five years beforehand.

arvato suggests that the 2010 HM Treasury Spending Review “heralded a huge surge in demand for shared services in the public sector”, hence the significant rise in public sector shared services spending.

Such trends are more than likely to continue, with George Osborne’s latest set of austerity measures motivating government, on a local level in particular, to search for more innovative ways to cut costs while maintaining or even improving services.

Debra Maxwell, CEO at arvato UK, commented: “Central government departments moved quickly to work with private sector partners to drive their shared services agenda as part of their strategy to deliver billions of pounds in savings.

“Though shared services was not new within government, private sector outsourcing partnerships can bring in the necessary expertise for real, large scale transformation, including the drive to standardise processes and implement new technology platforms to do the job.

“With departments likely to be asked to deliver even more efficiency savings in the forthcoming Spending Review this autumn, the drive to share services will only grow.”

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