50 ways to save – Dotted Eyes looks at Pickles picks
So Eric Pickles has uncovered a whole range of areas where local authorities could look to make savings (see here). It’s interesting to see that many of them do have an angle on the significance of where resources are deployed. Our top picks are;
17. Estate Rationalisation – this is where organisations are looking to share or close down offices that are not efficient based on demand. Which offices do you close? If you have a hot desk arrangement where will people work on what days? What about homeworking? How do you model this out? Some big questions need answering here.
41. Cut mileage payments – whilst this is really focussed at the HMRC rates, you can’t ignore the fact that many organisations are looking to or have introduced e-expenses systems. If you do have the data, looking back at activity over a number of months can reveal some golden nuggets of valuable information that show how services are being deployed or could be improved.
49. Use Open Source Software – whilst this is true and we have been delivering open source mapping solutions for years, you should always look at the total cost of ownership of an IT solution.
We wonder how closely local authorities will follow this guidance in the coming year!