Lewis said the money would help councils ‘overhaul the way they do business’ by integrating local health and care services, sharing finance and human resource functions and creating partnerships for better asset management.
The 18 winning bids include a £750,000 award to implement shared services between Surrey and East Sussex county councils and their respective fire authorities.
Dorset County Council and Bournemouth and Poole borough councils received £750,000 to integrate health and social care and £500,000 has been awarded to better coordinate children’s services in two London boroughs – the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames and Richmond upon Thames. A payment of £500,000 will be used to integrate emergency services in Northamptonshire.
Lewis said councils have a vital role to play in tackling the deficit. However, the government ‘has always been clear councils should not close services’ in response to funding cuts, he added.
‘Instead councils should demonstrate the best in innovation and ministers will champion councils that successfully redesign services.
‘The tide of change that began with chief executives and sharing management teams is now going further to include shared service delivery across council boundaries. These reforms will be key to protecting services while reducing costs to the taxpayer.’
The Transformation Challenge Award grants would ‘start the ball rolling’ towards shared services nationwide, Lewis said.
Successful bidders have proved they can be examples for others, and the knowledge and expertise gained by the successful bidders will be spread throughout the country, he added.
The full list of successful bidders is:
Dorset County Council, Bournemouth Borough Council and Poole Borough Council (£750,000 for health and social care integration)
Surrey County Council, East Sussex County Council, Surrey fire authority, East Sussex fire authority (£750,000 for implementation of shared services)
Cornwall fire authority (£100,000 for integration with other ‘blue light’ services)
Lincolnshire fire authority and East Midlands ambulance service (£491,000 for blue light integration)
Suffolk fire authority and Suffolk constabulary (£60,000 for blue light integration)
Cheshire West and Cheshire Council, Cheshire East Council, Warrington Borough Council, Halton Borough Council, Cheshire Constabulary, Cheshire Probation, Cheshire Fire Authority (£420,000 for crime reduction)
Worcestershire County Council (£400,000 to create joint property management vehicle)
Babergh District Council, Mid Suffolk District Council (£166,900 for shared services)
Bath & North East Somerset Council (£300,000 for information technology)
East Riding of Yorkshire Council (£482,000 for health and wellbeing integration)
Manchester City Council – on behalf of Greater Manchester authorities – and South Lakeland District Council – on behalf of the councils in Cumbria (£292,000 for electoral services)
Royal Borough of Kingston Upon Thames and London Borough of Richmond Upon Thames (£500,000 for children’s services)
Swindon Borough Council (£190,000 for a study)
Northamptonshire fire authority (£500,000 for blue light integration)
Cherwell District Council, South Northamptonshire District Council, Stratford-on-Avon District Council (£366,932 for shared services)
High Peak Borough Council and Staffordshire Moorlands District Council (£200,000 for shared services)
South Holland District Council and Breckland Council (£385,000 for information technology)
South Norfolk Council, Broadland District Council, Norwich City Council, King’s Lynn and West Norfolk Borough Council (£500,0000 for building control)
