How Technology Can Help the Public Sector Deliver Levelling Up
The government’s long-awaited ‘levelling up’ whitepaper has delivered a raft of challenges for HR, Finance and Technology teams. But, as Gary Goodenough, Business Development Director at SAP Concur explains, technology can help to take up the strain.
With the long-running challenges of Brexit and Covid-19 still ringing firm in the ears of those charged with keeping the cogs of local authorities and central government departments turning, for HR, Finance and Technology leaders another huge burden has landed on their desks.
While the government’s long-awaited ‘levelling up’ whitepaper[1] may finally have arrived – albeit a full two years after the Prime Minister announced he intended to redress what he called the “outrage” of regional inequalities – for many, it has brought with it far more challenges than answers.
The whitepaper sets out 12 missions to reduce the gap between the richer and poorer parts of the UK by 2030, ranging from pay and productivity to public transport improvements.
But a lack of clarity on how those targets should be delivered, with less money committed than many anticipated and a host of new processes to implement, HR, Finance and Technology leaders have several hurdles to overcome and some that are front of mind include:
Less money to play with
Following years of funding cuts and slashed budgets, the whitepaper really contained no ‘new’ money at all. And many believe the £11bn allocated over the next five years leaves them with less money to spend than ten years ago.
Huge data challenge
The government intends to ask councils for masses of data relating to the 12 missions set out in the report. Under a similar approach, the NHS has had 22 data directions in 10 years meaning a huge data headache is likely coming for leaders.
No clear roadmap
With some local authorities receiving as much as £148 per person in their area, and some receiving as little as £10 per head – there are no clear roadmaps for success and every authority will need to generate its own strategy.
Huge drain on resources
Delivering levelling up will impact ways of working and the day-to-day activities of more than 2 million local authority workers – as well as many of the 3.5 million central government workers. Tech must help take the strain.
The challenges facing HR, Finance and Technology leaders are clearly multiple – and they are imminent. This is where technology and software can play a huge role and relieve the pressure on all affected public sector bodies.
Automated Spend Management software solutions are delivering efficiencies that free up valuable staff time and money to be reallocated to more important and more impactful issues.
They can also help deliver on government demands for much more data and reporting – delivering not just greater accuracy and speed, but also providing the insights that finance teams need to efficiently plan ahead.
And they can help to ensure that those tightened budgets and reduced resources are stretched to their maximum potential, by allowing for better tracking of spend, reducing human error and waste, and providing a real-time picture of spend and resources. Technology is the enabler for those challenged by levelling up.
With this in mind, we have produced a whitepaper specifically for HR, Finance and Technology leaders to help understand how technology can help them on their levelling up journey, and how they can begin achieving savings and efficiencies easily and immediately.