By Richard Johnstone | 1 December 2011
Councils in England expect to save more than £150m through sharing services, according to a Local Government Association study.
It found that 219 councils were already sharing some of their services and functions with other authorities, which would save £156.5m.The highest savings expected from the schemes is the £33m a year that the London boroughs of Hammersmith & Fulham, Westminster and Kensington & Chelsea expect to achieve by 2015.
They are merging a variety of services to avoid making reductions to frontline services, and two now share a chief executive.
The predicted savings demonstrate that councils have been successful in finding ways to reduce costs when faced with significant budget cuts, the study said. However, it also warned that ‘in some cases, savings will not be realised in the short term’.
District councils came out on top in the investigation, with 99 of the 143 examples mapped by the LGA being led by them.
Councils with similarities were best prepared to share services together, the study found. For example, the ten councils that make up the Association of Greater Manchester Authorities expect to save £18.5m through sharing the procurement of goods and services.
Ruth Cadbury, the deputy chair of the LGA’s Improvement Board said: ‘These innovative approaches to delivering services have resulted in millions of pounds worth of savings, which otherwise could have affected frontline services.
‘Whilst they are not a silver bullet to the financial difficulties that councils face, shared services are one way in which town halls are saving money to maintain high quality services for residents.’
