There is increased pressure on local authorities to deliver
value for money services against a backdrop of increased service
demand and reduced revenues.
Capita Symonds is a leading provider of
professional property, engineering and regulatory services to the
local government sector including local councils and transport
authorities, schools and local community groups.
Since 2001 we have been transforming and
improving the delivery of public sector services across the UK
through strategic partnerships with local authorities, many of them
offering a full range of multidisciplinary and technical
professional services to our council partners, as well as to the
broader private sector market and even for other local
authorities.
We are able to combine this experience with
our vast private sector property expertise to develop a flexible
suite of solutions that not only supports more collaborative
delivery of public services, but also estate rationalisation,
workspace planning and co-location.
Of course, there is no ‘one size fits all’
solution. We develop and implement bespoke partnerships that
establish a solid foundation through trust, commitment, openness,
honesty, clear governance structures and realistic planning.
We invest in improving and modernising service
delivery, growing jobs and realising financial benefits for the
council from efficiency savings and gainshare income from growth.
This provides a sound, viable business model for realising our
partners’ priority objectives, whilst enabling the commercial
success of Capita Symonds.
We have therefore been able to make
commitments to provide very significant investment in enhancing the
productivity, capacity and quality of the services in our
partnerships. We have also been able to make firm commitments
guaranteeing net financial benefits to our council partners to meet
and exceed their financial objectives, at the same time as
contributing to the council’s wider strategic objectives.
One example is our partnership with
Blackburn with Darwen Borough
Council which in July 2001 began a 15-year partnership
intended to modernise council services. The ongoing goal is to
support the council’s ‘2020 vision’ to transform Blackburn with
Darwen in to the kind of place that local people, businesses and
other stakeholders want. Worth over £210m, the partnership delivers
a wide range of services to the council. Capita Symonds’ role is to
provide property and highways management services – with a
particular emphasis on regeneration of the area.
Since its launch, the partnership has exceeded
its targets, leading to the creation of 620 new jobs and efficiency
savings (including costs of risk transfer, fee reductions and
investment savings) estimated at over £24m and the design and
construction of a new Regional Business Centre in Blackburn town
centre. Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council was also voted Local
Government Chronicle (LGC)'s 'Council of the Year' for
2011.
Another example is Urban Vision which was formed as a
joint venture between Salford City Council, Capita Symonds and
Morrison Highways Maintenance (now Galliford Try). The first
partnership of its kind in the UK, and winner of Local Government
Chronicle’s ‘Public Private Partnership of the Year’ award
in 2008, it harnesses the expert skills from across the property,
planning, design and highway services, bringing together the best
from both the public and private sectors.
Increasing staff numbers by 150 since 2005,
Urban Vision now has over 390 employees delivering a wide range of
schemes and services, both locally and nationally. Sustainable
development is a key focus for the partnership; working with and
alongside urban regeneration companies, local businesses and
national organisations many employment opportunities have been
established, as well as the regeneration of key areas across the
city.
You can find out more about individual
partnerships in this section of the website.
Image: Launch of Pontypridd Town Centre Regeneration, South
Wales 2011