It’s the joint work between Falkirk Council and Clackmannanshire Council to explore options for how some services could be delivered together.  The aim is to make services more efficient, resilient and financially sustainable, and to secure improved outcomes, by reducing duplication and sharing expertise whilst also, where we can, improving service delivery.

Like all councils, Falkirk and Clackmannanshire have financial challenges and are working to improve their financial sustainability.  Joint working with other partners can help protect jobs by saving money behind the scenes rather than impacting services at the front line.

The report is asking Councillors to agree to more work being done on a number of functions (called Tranche 1).  This work is to prepare a business cases on whether joint working for these functions delivers the required benefits, and how this would be done.  It must be stressed that no decisions are being taken at this current stage to change how services are delivered.  

Yes, the date and time for the report being considered in both Councils is the same, as is the timescales for briefings and communications. Subject to this being agreed by both Councils, future reports and briefings will be aligned across partners.

Tranche 1 refers to the initial functions which have been selected for a ‘proof of concept’. These will be reported back to Members at a later date as the project work for these progresses. Tranche 1 includes:

Falkirk & Clackmannanshire only

• Support for Additional Support Needs (ASN) services
• Internal Audit and Fraud
• Revenues and Benefits services

Early development work (scoping only at this stage) with Falkirk & Clackmannanshire

• Housing Services
• Roads
• Estates Management

Falkirk & Clackmannanshire with other Partners

• Joint procurement and contracting of IT for Education
• Social care front door and contact centre - exploring shared access, case management and financial assessments
• Joint foster care arrangements
• Storage and maintenance of equipment (e.g. JLES/equipment for children, adults, older people and education)
• Asset Strategy (shared approach with Forth Valley partners)
• Resilience and Emergency Planning
• Regulatory Services (Trading Standards, Building Standards, Environmental Health)
• Economic Development
• Employability
• Corporate Procurement

“Once for Scotland” (national collaboration being tested)

• HR and Payroll Services

These projects will help test whether shared or integrated approaches could improve services and value for money.

A joint ‘discovery project’ was undertaken by both Councils, supported by PwC.  This involved various officers who contributed to this work.  From this, the functions were identified as potentially providing the required benefits if delivered on a shared or integrated basis.  

PwC assessed the savings at a very high level.  All functions selected have the potential to offer a good return of savings for any investment required to make changes.  Further work on this will be done at the next phase, if agreed by Councillors, to fully determine accurate savings. 

It’s too early to confirm the other partners. The Chief Executives of both Councils will discuss the opportunities of this work with colleagues in other Councils, to seek willing partners who wish to join this work. Further information will be provided as soon as possible.

At this stage, it is about exploring and designing options, not implementing them. Whilst sharing or integrating services is being considered, this will only be known once this next phase of work is done.  

The programme is led jointly by the Chief Executives of Falkirk and Clackmannanshire Councils, supported by senior officers.  If approved by Members to move to the next phase, each area of work will have a project lead and employees from relevant services will be involved in the design and planning.

PwC supported the initial Discovery Phase of this work to identify where collaboration might make sense. That work is complete. The next phase will be led by council officers with other support as required.

The Scottish Government has awarded both councils up to £2 million from the Invest to Save fund.  This will pay for design work, additional project capacity, and external support where needed.  It’s not a loan and doesn’t come from service budgets.

Each Council will continue with its own transformation programme, and other saving options will require to be identified.

Will my role be affected by the proposed changes?

Only those functions in Tranche 1 are being considered at the moment. If you work in one of those functions, it is still too early to say what impact any change may have. All changes will be subject to us preparing detailed business cases.

Will there be job losses?

There are no job losses being proposed to Members at this stage. This work is about long-term sustainability and smarter delivery. If any structural changes are proposed in the next phase, full consultation and proper HR processes will take place first. Joint working with other partners can help protect jobs by saving money behind the scenes rather that impacting services at the front line.

How will employees be kept informed?

Communication and engagement will be ongoing with employees and Trade Unions including:

• Updates on the intranet and via team briefings
• FAQs to ensure consistent messages
• Trade Union engagement as this work progresses
• Opportunities for employees in relevant services to get involved in workshops and design work

Will Trade Unions be involved?

Trade Unions will be engaged throughout this process using the normal consultation channels and additional meetings if required.

The design and development phase will run throughout 2026.  As lead officers are appointed for the various projects, detailed workplans will be developed with appropriate timelines.  The Councils wish to progress this work at pace.

No final decision has been taken and Members are only being asked to agree to further work being done.  Detailed proposals will then come back to Council before any decisions are made.  No service changes will happen without that approval.

If proposals impact on our front-line service delivery, normal community engagement and consultation mechanisms will be put in place.  This will also be used to inform any Equality Impact Assessments if these are required.

The next phase of work is looking at how we deliver services. This could result in services being delivered jointly, but local needs remain a priority.

Talk to your line manager first. If they don’t know the answer, they can find out for you.  If you are a member of a Trade Union, they may also be able to help.