First £1m savings from sharing senior council posts
Tuesday October 4, 2011
The project to share council services across three inner London boroughs is on track to deliver its first £1m of savings by cutting senior management roles.
The Leaders of Kensington & Chelsea, Hammersmith & Fulham and Westminster announced yesterday (October 3) that the savings include:
- £320k by sharing a single Director of Children’s Services;
- £320k by sharing a single Director of Adult Services;
- £100k by sharing a single Director of Libraries;
- £150k by combining environmental services across Hammersmith & Fulham (H&F) and Kensington & Chelsea; and
- £120k by combining making a joint appointment to the Director for Schools’ Quality and Standards between H&F and Kensington & Chelsea.
This news comes as they publish a new analysis of the potential for shared services focusing on seven lessons learnt during the first year of Tri Borough working. This guide was launched at an event with Eric Pickles MP, Secretary of State for Local Government on Monday night and distributed to all local authorities, to encourage innovation and sharing services.
The eventual proposals will protect vital front line services at a time of necessary financial adjustment and will lead to a 50% reduction in the number of middle and senior managers. There will also be a 50% reduction in the overheads attached to frontline services to the public.
In the pamphlet ‘Driving change: leadership, trust and money’ they show the success to date of the Tri Borough plan to combine services, including ‘strong leadership, a robust business case and momentum to change’.
Commenting on the publication of the report, Stephen Greenhalgh, H&F Council Leader said: “Residents expect us to strain every sinew to deliver better services with fewer resources. One of the ways we can protect the front line is to strip out unnecessary and duplicated management overheads. This report shows how, by sharing the top jobs, it is possible to reduce the bill for senior managers by millions of pounds.”
Sir Merrick Cockell, Leader of Kensington & Chelsea commented: “Our initial success shows that our approach offers lessons to other local authorities wanting to follow our lead. It has not been easy but the right mixture of strong political drive, excellent officer advice, high trust, comprehensive communications and forensic attention to the business case for sharing services has already resulted in impressive results. ”
Colin Barrow, Leader of Westminster added: “These proposals offer a better way than cutting services to meet the £100m savings target facing the three councils. Our residents will be able to access the best the other boroughs have to offer. We will keep vital services like libraries open and make over one million books available to people across the three boroughs. Our first joint campaign - “Summer in the City” has already offered over 200 summer activities to families from all three councils. And we will do all this while making big savings through combining top and middle management jobs.”
