Shared services do not save money, says audit office

The research councils may not recover their investments in the Shared Services Centre, which was established to harmonise their back office functions, a report from the National Audit Office says. The report, published on 21 October, found that the centre, delivered 15 months late, still doesn’t represent value for money. It says that the centre saved at best £27m for the research councils by March, £73.2 million less than predicted. But, by then, the project had cost £130.5m, representing an overspend of £51.6m or 65 per cent of the original budget.