Two years ago, Milton Keynes Council signed a partnership deal with HBS Business Services. Sean Hanson charts its progress and the challenges which lie ahead.

Next year, Milton Keynes turns 40, and it's hard to deny the city's extraordinary development and continuing commitment to improvement. 
The rate of growth of MK presents opportunities, but also exceptional challenges to the council and to its strategic private partner, HBS Business Services. 
HBS joined forces with Milton Keynes in 2004, signing a 12-year contract. Coming from a local government background, where I had worked since 1988, my first impression of the city was that it was ‘larger' than it first appeared, particularly in terms of its needs, and had distinct inner-city traits.
The unitary council was young at only 10 years old and, while approaching maturity, was experiencing growing pains with its processes, technology and changing culture. Politically, Milton Keynes has become relatively volatile – we currently have a ‘hung' council – and it soon became clear that this would be a key factor in developing trust and cementing co-operation within the PPP.  
Perhaps the greatest obstacle to the success of the PPP was the complexity of the contract. Services which were transferred included information and communications technology, human resources, finance, procurement and property services.
We were also tasked with implementing SAP, a new payroll and human resources system, and a customer relationship management system. 
With the transfer of 18 services in the PPP, expectations were often unclear, and there were many competing needs within the council – transformation of weak services, a need for investment in technology and regeneration juxtaposed against a reduction in the cost of goods and services because of the squeeze on funding through Gershon or other initiatives. At the outset of the partnership, some departments were not performing well, and there was a sense of urgency from elements of the council to turn this around in the shortest time possible. At the same time, there was a resistance to change from other areas, and a great deal of scepticism about whether a private partner could deliver. Many members of staff greeted the partnership with a degree of uncertainty and doubt for the future. Critically, the council and HBS were determined to make the new partnership work. Early in the process, the authority engaged public-private partnership adviser 4Ps, which made 10 recommendations in a gateway report. Among these was the suggestion that the new partners familiarise themselves with each other's strategic objectives to align them as much as possible, and to communicate the joint strategies going forward.
We developed a joint communications group to make sure everybody was aware of what was happening and what it meant for the council and the local community. 
I was invited to join the council's corporate leadership team, and HBS service managers were taken into the council's operational heart as members of the departmental management teams, furthering integration and improving an understanding of what the partnership intended to achieve. Our senior teams meet regularly at our partnership strategy boards to discuss the way forward, not just for the next year or two, but to plan ahead with innovation and flexible delivery models. Two years on, and we have now marked all of the 4Ps' recommendations as having been achieved. Our CPA rating has improved and we are garnering praise for our partnership working from the Audit Commission and other external bodies.
As for individual services, the results have been impressive. Prior to the PPP, our benefits service was one of the worst-performing in the country. Together, we have transformed this service by focusing on the value our service gives to the end-user, and not in reorganising the process engines for the sake of it, so that it is now one of the best in the country.
The service has been praised by the BFI for its swift turnaround and, in particular, the benefits to the citizens, who see real change to their lives by improved public services. Around 30% of claimants have their benefits processed on the day they claim.
By directly addressing the cultural and political issues that needed to be overcome – and aligning activity and goals with these – the PPP has worked exceptionally well in Milton Keynes. 
The council has provided clear guidance on where it wants to go and yet remains flexible as to how its goals are achieved. It also invites HBS senior officers to contribute their ideas to the direction that the council wants to take, working in true partnership.
Challenges still lie ahead. Milton Keynes remains a three-star authority, and the greatest challenge yet will be to make it four stars with resources which are diminishing every year.
This challenge is set against a backdrop of changing government priorities and political uncertainty in a new city which is entering an era of further development, seeing a growth of population to more than 350,000 – up from 220,000 – by 2031.
We are facing competing requirements to build new commercial and residential developments against a backdrop of ageing housing stock and brownfield sites which need redevelopment.
A commitment to PPP from both sides means that while HBS helps look after economic growth and service improvement by working with the council, schools, the Primary Care Trust and private enterprise, the council can concentrate on the strategy and direction that is needed to make Milton Keynes the dynamic business hub it aspires to be. n
Sean Hanson is HBS Partnership director at Milton Keynes