Proposals to share services between three councils in East Kent, which are set to bring significant savings for each council, will now go forward for further discussion in Thanet.
The plans, which would see a number of services being merged between Dover, Canterbury and Thanet councils, were given the seal of approval (Wednesday 20 January) by lead councillors from the three authorities at the East Kent Joint Arrangements Committee. Each individual council will now decide whether to sign up for scheme, with Thanet scheduled to discuss the subject at Overview and Scrutiny Panel on Thursday 4 February, at Cabinet on Thursday 11 February and Extraordinary Full Council on Tuesday 23 February.
Services being considered for the first phase of the project include:
Revenues and benefits
IT
Building control
Customer services, including face to face and telephone
Before any service goes into the project, a business case will be proposed and agreed that needs to show at least a 10% saving in the first two years. This will also have to show what level of service the new arrangement will deliver. The decision on which services progress forward will be made by each council. The project could generate up to £3.5 million of savings over the next four years for the councils involved.
Deputy Leader of Thanet District Council, Cllr. Roger Latchford, said: "We believe this project is in the interest of local people and the public purse. As a council, we need to find over £5 million of savings over the next five years. We have to use our resources even more effectively, especially with government funding for councils likely to reduce. If we don't change the way we work and make significant savings, cuts to services are inevitable. We firmly believe sharing services with our neighbouring councils is the best way to deliver both the best possible service and achieve significant savings for our residents."
The decision for the three councils to move forward came despite the news that Shepway District Council is taking a step back from these plans. Shepway remains part of the plans to share human resources, waste and recycling collections and landlord services with Canterbury, Dover and Thanet and, in due course, may wish to consider joining for other services in the future.
Cllr. Latchford added: "We fully respect Shepway's views on this project and the fact that the savings may not be as great to them, as they will be to us. Each council has to do what it feels is right for its residents. We believe this is the right way forward for Thanet and remain fully committed to this project."
No comments:
Post a Comment
Please note comments that may be libellous, comments that may be construed as offensive and anonymous derogatory comments about real people will be deleted. Also note the facility to leave anonymous comment will be turned of during periods when I am unable to monitor comment, this will not affect people commenting who are signed on to their blogger accounts.
Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.