ARCHIVED news story
Councils seek backing for shared services funding bid
Released on 09 December 2009
We have made our choice, putting quality local services to local residents first, remaining close to the people we serve and more accountable to them and their communities.
Council Leader John Fuller
Two Norfolk Councils proposing to share work, cut costs and deliver better services to the public take another step forward next week.
The joint bid by Breckland Council and South Norfolk Council to attract substantial regional funding for investigating proposals to share services is about to go before their two Cabinets.
The first will be South Norfolk Cabinet on Monday 14 December.
South Norfolk's Cabinet will be asked to back the bid to the Regional Innovation and Efficiency Partnership so that the costs of that investigation work do not fall on local council taxpayers.
South Norfolk Council Leader John Fuller said:
"This proposal will directly benefit our two communities at a time when Councils face a perfect storm of Government grant cuts and a rapid rise in the over 65s population.
"Working with a preferred partner like Breckland doesn't rule out sharing services with other partners, but it does make economic and geographic sense, and it means the people we serve will get the best of both councils.
"We can't pre-empt the Partnership's decision, but we are confident this is just the kind of innovative and efficient proposal they have been waiting to support."
On the predicted central government grant cuts and squeeze in public spending, expected today (9 December) in the Chancellor's Pre-Budget Report, Councillor Fuller said:
"What is clear is that from 2011 we face having to find savings of at least £1.5 million, on top of the £2m we found this year. That's not sustainable and would leave us with a stark choice - harsh cuts in services or cutting costs by sharing services.
"We have made our choice, putting quality local services to local residents first, remaining close to the people we serve and more accountable to them and their communities."
Next Monday's South Norfolk Cabinet will be asked to back the overall shared services approach and will ask officers to commit resources to the project, but adjust their budgets subject to the RIEP bid being approved. That is expected to fund the external costs of any shared services work.
The same issue will go before Breckland Council's own Cabinet in the near future.
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