Oldham

Regeneration kick-start for Oldham

The Challenge
Oldham, located to the North East of Manchester, contains a diverse mix of open countryside and urban environments, and similarly diverse population. As such, one of the Council’s key challenges is to build social cohesion and improve the quality of life across all segments of community. Although the economy boasts a thriving Town Centre and mix of service and manufacturing industry, the benefits are not necessarily felt across the entire Borough, and the Council’s challenge is to encourage a broader range of people to live, work, and enjoy leisure activities within the Borough through widespread regeneration activities.

The Solution
The Unity Partnership is an innovative 12-year joint venture partnership set up in April 2007 between Oldham Metropolitan Borough Council, Agilisys and Mouchel.

The partnership is delivering transformed public services to Oldham citizens and creating new, higher value jobs, supported by ongoing training and development; and will grow over time through service provision not only to the Council but also to other public and private sector organisations; improving the quality of life and community cohesion in Oldham.

The Unity Partnership is working with local businesses to develop Oldham’s economy, drawing as well on the expertise and experience of Agilisys and Mouchel to support regeneration through investment, process improvement, and ongoing skills development.

The Benefits
Within the Unity Partnership, Agilisys delivers and manages a wide range of ICT services to all Council Departments, Members and the Partnership itself. Initiatives delivered in the first years of the partnership include £1m investment in a modernised telephone network and improved IT service desk, which continues to increase its performance rate of queries being answered at first point of contact, currently at 65%, up from only 52%.

We are also providing a rolling programme of technology services for Oldham Schools, including a £1.4m investment in development and management of the network infrastructure, email, Learning Platform, storage and hosting, through a Becta pilot. These all support the Computers for Pupils programme and Home Access Scheme, which aim to improve the learning experience and boost literacy for children across the Council.

Delivery of these activities, transformed through improved and more efficient processes, has already started to contribute to increased savings (which is on track to reach nearly £6m over the life of the contract) and better citizen services, all resulting in improved customer satisfaction levels. In addition, these initial improvements build a platform from which the Unity Partnership can continue to grow, providing regeneration and economic benefits throughout Oldham.

Click here to download a PDF timeline of the partnership