Everyone knows that budgets are tight and services are stretched, and we’re all looking for new ways of working to reduce costs and improve service delivery. We also want to know what everyone else is doing to solve the problems. There’s mounting evidence that Councils using Prepaid Cards are making significant cashable savings and delivering leaner services.
On 31st January 2013 Improvement and Efficiency West Midlands along with colleagues from the National Prepaid Cards Steering Group, London Borough of Brent Council and Advanced Payment Solutions held a fantastically attended event showcasing the benefit of colleagues who have involvement in direct payments and the procurement of any goods and services.
The event proved to be of benefit in particular to managers in Social Care, Finance and Procurement. Whilst in attendance at the event delegates learned of the following:
- How another Council made £2m of cashable savings
- How one Council is saving 10% of its direct payments budget by using Prepaid Cards
- Found out how to use Prepaid Cards to generate income to pay for the cards themselves
- Discovered how young people leaving care can be directed to positive outcomes to reduce downstream costs and hit demanding targets
- Understood how prepaid cards can help you plan and deliver demand-based services
- Received a free copy of “A Guide to the Use of Prepaid Cards in Local Government” and got access to a valuable online resource of documents such as ITTs and PIDs
- Found out how you can become involved in the on-going work of the Steering Group
Presentation slides from the event can be accessed here:
Prepaid Cards Launch Events Presentation
Mastercard Prepaid Card Government Guidance Resource:
http://www.mastercard.com/uk/business/en/prepaid/commercial/guidance.html
Following the success of this event it is probable that further meetings / discussions will be held regarding this subject matter and moving it forward with Public Sector colleagues across the region so please keep re-visiting these blog pages for the latest.
You can also contact Jonathan Jones or Chris Robinson of Smarter Procurement at IEWM for more information and assistance.
