Proposed £405m cuts to local government expenditure will hit back office services and cause councils to work smarter, according to Dean Shoesmith, president of the Public Sector People Managers’ Association (PPMA) and HR director, Sutton and Merton Council.

Shoesmith told Recruiter: “Public sector services will need to be transformed. We will need to radically change the way we provide services. That may mean commissioning others, working in partnership with the private sector and utilising shared services dependant on the needs of the community.

“There could be a single public sector worker able to work across a range of disciplines in the sector rather than greater differentiation as we have at the moment.”

The Forum of Private Business’s head of policy Matthew Goodman says the sector could learn from private sector small business: “We believe that smaller businesses are expert at doing more with less – many of our members have been put under a huge amount of pressure over the past two years or so, but their dedication and attention to detail ensured that their business survived. We believe the public sector can learn some valuable lessons from their experiences.”

“Perhaps it would be useful if senior managers in the public sector spent some time visiting successful SMEs so they can see first-hand how organisations can provide more value for money with enough determination and hard work.”

Tom Hadley, the Recruitment and Employment Confederation’s director of external relations, predicts that temporary staffing costs are bound to come under pressure. “The reality is that there are real benefits in being able ‘flex’ staffing requirements to meet peaks in demand and avoid undue pressure on the permanent workforce.

“The announcement did include a commitment to cull the use of consultants but there will still be a need to bring in highly skilled experts to drive specific projects. This is where interim managers or other temporary staff can play a leading and cost-effective role.”