Regional improvement and efficiency partnerships RIEPs

RIEPs – regional improvement and efficiency partnerships – play a key role in supporting councils. Put simply, they help councils and their partners to deliver better services by supporting them in their efforts to become more efficient, innovative and engaged with citizens.

The nine RIEPs were created in April 2008 with a three-year funding package of £185 million from Communities and Local Government. The RIEPs have had a key role in helping local authorities respond to local needs in the economic downturn, in accelerating the drive for further efficiencies and in supporting and sharing the learning from the Total Place pilots.

The initial three-year programme came to a close on 31 March 2011, at which point the nine RIEPs have saved more than £600 million. Ongoing arrangements vary between the RIEPs with some continuing to run full programmes and others scaling back and merging with other organisations. To find out more please contact your local RIEP:

Who's who in RIEPS

A report has been produced to highlight the key achievements and legacy of the RIEPs:

RIEPS programme: achievement and legacy (PDF, 11 pages, 450KB)

What are RIEPs?

RIEPs are networks of councils and partners which are led by elected members and work together at a regional, and often sub-regional level. The RIEPs add new capacity to local government to accelerate the drive for greater improvement and efficiency. They build on the work of the Regional Centres of Excellence.

Why were RIEPs established?

The RIEPs were established following December 2007’s National Improvement and Efficiency Strategy for Local Government, which was produced jointly by the Local Government Association (LGA, now LG Group) and Communities and Local Government.

The strategy acknowledged that improvement architecture needed to be better coordinated and closer to the frontline in order to be more effective. The RIEPs, made up of networks of councils, were the vehicle for delivering this through the use of their devolved funding, spreading knowledge and good practice and navigating councils through the maze of improvement support. 

What do RIEPs do?

The RIEPs have all done different things to reflect the needs, priorities and make-up of each region, but there are a number of core functions that are common to all. These are to:

• act as a hub to coordinate and focus resources on supporting councils and partners to deliver excellent local area agreement (LAA) outcomes
• support improvement and help local authorities to accelerate and add to their efficiency savings
• support councils in their response to the economic downturn
• identify and share good practice and stimulate innovation
• establish strong partnerships and networks to address performance issues.

In general, the RIEPs have focused on critical areas where improving efficiency and performance has the largest impact. Many of the biggest savings have been made in procurement through facilitating consortia and developing improved frameworks. These are usually housed in procurement hubs, and work by using other mechanisms to reduce prices, for example, by developing fair pricing tools or setting up eAuctions. Another key area where RIEPs have been instrumental in driving cashable efficiencies is business transformation and shared services. RIEPs have supported many transformation projects and have also invested heavily in providing training to ensure skills remain in the sector. The Local Productivity Programme recently mapped more than 200 examples of shared services, many of which were supported by the RIEPs. Most of the RIEPs have also run successful programmes supporting improvements in children’s services, adult social care and economic regeneration.

RIEPs work closely with national bodies such as LG Improvement and Development as well as Government Offices (GOs) and inspectorates. This ensures that resources are dedicated to prevention and support, particularly peer support, thereby avoiding Government intervention.

Recently they have been working closely with LG Group to develop the Local Productivity Programme helping to define and shape the programme and contributing over 30 (of 100) productivity opportunities (link) that councils can use to increase their productivity.

Local Productivity Programme – on the LG Group website

Productivity opportunities – on the LG Group website

Regional governance

Member engagement and leadership is at the heart of the governance arrangements for the RIEPs. Elected members have a particular role in building a strong, shared vision for the area, as such, their involvement in RIEP governance at a national and regional level is essential.

Governance arrangements, rightly, vary from region to region. These differences recognise the unique needs and make-up of each region, ensuring support for innovation and true responsiveness to need. They also allow for acknowledgement of sub-regional structures and the inherited architecture of the improvement landscape in different places.

Page updated April 2011.