In an exciting announcement, Dorset Council and Commercial Services Group (CSG) will be forming a joint venture (JV) recruitment company to provide Dorset Council with its contingency and interim workforce. The JV will help the council to source key staff, particularly in areas such as social care and waste collection.
Dorset Council will be able to provide more effective management of the recruitment process and retention of skilled temporary agency staff. The council will also have better control over the quality of agency staff and benefit from efficiencies and savings from the collaboration.
Cllr Jill Haynes of Dorset said, “We are delighted to announce this joint venture, which will improve the way the council recruits temporary staff. This partnership will help us build the skills we need and nurture talent for the council as well as delivering the council savings over time. Service areas with particular pressures such as social care, facing challenges including an ageing population, can be prioritised more effectively through the JV.”
CSG is wholly owned by Kent County Council (KCC) and has been successfully operating for many years. It is now one of the largest companies of its kind in the UK with 26 brands and over 15000 customers. CSG brings with it a proven track record of successful delivery of joint venture managed services within the contingent and interim staffing sector, having done so already for KCC, Hampshire County Council, Luton Borough Council, Surrey County Council and most recently Dudley Borough Council in 2022.
Matt Johnson, CEO of CSG added, “We are very pleased to be working with Dorset Council. Our JVs combine our innovative business model with social values at their very heart. We are proud to offer councils a new way of working that will not only save them money but will help them deliver better services to their local community.”
Dorset Council is consistently working to improve the delivery of its services for local residents and this JV allows the council to make a material contribution to the Council’s finances by improving the management of agency staff recruitment costs.
Continuing, Cllr Jill Haynes from Dorset added “Working with CSG on this opportunity is a great example of one of Dorset’s Councils ambitions to be more commercial by embracing a new way of working. I’m confident this is a proven model, in addition to the benefits it brings, it will initially create four local jobs.”
The next few months will see the implementation get underway with a target go-live date of April 2024.