Local authorities across the country have to cut costs – this is a fact of life in these organisations. Most recently a local authority warned it will have to cut 400 jobs and close local services to find £86m savings over the next four years.

Sharing services and merging back office functions has been hailed as a saviour for council's purse strings – but in reality consolidating services and budgets can be tricky, so how successful are these initiatives?

Although merging back office functions can offer some savings, the real opportunity to save significant money lies with reconfiguring service delivery. This ensures a service delivers quality, as well as flexibility and ultimately, cost effectiveness.