TRAFFORD Council and Greater Manchester Police (GMP) have officially opened their pioneering new HR and payroll shared service Centre.

The organisations say the Greater Manchester Shared Services (GMSS) has enabled the two organisations to cut across traditional boundaries in order to significantly streamline and rationalise their HR support services and processes.

Based at Trafford Town Hall, the GMSS service brings together a team of HR, payroll and pensions experts from the two organisations. The team cater for more than 20,000 employees, including local authority officers, police officers and staff, specials and volunteers, teachers and education staff, and some NHS employees.

The HR service features a new online customer contact system and telephone based contact centre that increases the convenience, flexibility and speed in which queries are submitted recorded, tracked and dealt with.

The organisations say the service, which is currently dealing with more than 300 telephone calls a day and responsible for a combined payroll figure of £500 million, is already providing a cost effective and efficient HR service for both Trafford Council and GMP..

Announcing the launch of the service, Cllr Sean Anstee, Leader of Trafford Council, said: “We are extremely proud of our ground-breaking new shared HR and payroll service. Working in partnership with Greater Manchester Police has already brought about significant financial and tangible benefits for the two organisations.

"Trafford Council is acknowledged as one that is not afraid to do things differently – to take brave decisions and pioneer new ways of working.”

“We believe our new service centre provides us with an opportunity to explore our ambitions of delivering services to other public sector partners and agencies, with the potential of developing a fully independent Public Service Partnership model.”

Interim Greater Manchester Mayor and Police and Crime Commissioner, Tony Lloyd, said: “As part of the reform of public services, agencies across Greater Manchester are embracing new ways of working. This new service is an example of how we can effectively pool resources to provide a better service to our staff and the public.

"It is a common sense move, highlighting how far Greater Manchester has come in building a strong foundation of working together.”