Welsh Government
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Minister invests in cost saving projects
Announcing the successful projects during a visit to the North Wales Business Support Partnership in St Asaph the Minister said:
“I am pleased that there is keen interest from organisations seeking investment from this new fund. Investments will support public service organisations in transforming the way they work and respond to the challenge of delivering quality services and outcomes for citizens during a period of tightening budgets."
This announcement relates to eight new projects including five from local authorities including Powys, NPT, Flintshire and Wrexham and one project each from UWIC and the National Botanical Garden for Wales. This brings the total number of projects receiving investment from Round I of the Fund to 25 and represents a total investment of some £11.5million.
The Minister said:
“The Fund is once again open to new applications and I am encouraging public bodies to use it to help them bring forward projects. Public service providers need to find ways to work smarter and this fund will help them to implement changes that lead to the release of efficiency savings.
“What has been achieved in the health service in the North Wales Business Support Partnership is a model for other sections of the public sector. The way in which it has brought about changes in the approach to how services are delivered is very impressive, as well as delivering better value for money."
The Invest-to-save Fund is available for projects that: improve the way public services procure goods and services; streamline business processes; introduce ICT to improve delivery; make better use of the public estate; and, reduce the costs of corporate functions and routine business through shared services and other collaborative approaches.
The latest projects to be approved are:
- Flintshire County Council’s Agile Working project that will use IT to support flexible working practices to deliver improvements in efficiency and effectiveness;
- Wrexham County Council’s project to reduce energy costs and carbon emissions;
- Integrating services for students and visitors at University Wales Institute, Cardiff thereby providing an efficient and effective one-stop-shop;
- The Greening the Garden project at the National Botanical Gardens of Wales aimed at reducing energy costs by becoming energy sufficient and carbon neutral;
- Powys County Council’s School modernisation programme and Paperless Powys project;
- Neath Port Talbot CBC’s Fostering spend-to-save strategy and Lean Systems Review of children and young peoples’ assessment and case management services.
