Shared services: Going Dutch

Ever since the Gershon review of public-sector efficiency in 2004, there has been pressure to reduce back-office costs in the UK. The emerging assumption for HR has been that organisations in the public sector would best achieve greater efficiency via shared services, either through consolidation of their own services or in combination with other organisations. Within central government, increasing pressure has been placed on smaller departments to link with larger ones that offer shared services, such as the DWP or HMRC. Now, with significant cuts looming as a result of next month’s spending review, further reconfiguration is likely.