North West councils to share top legal and other senior management roles

Two borough councils in the North West have put forward plans to share two senior legal posts and a number of other management roles as part of more extensive shared service arrangements.

The legal roles that Chorley Borough Council and South Ribble Borough Council will share are Director of Legal & Democratic Services (Monitoring Officer) and Assistant Director of Legal Service (Deputy Monitoring Officer).

The two councils will also share the following posts:

• Deputy Chief Executive Officer (Shared Service Resources and Transformation)
• Director of Finance and Assurance Services (s151 Officer)
• Assistant Director of Finance and Assurance Services (Deputy s151 Officer)
• Director of Policy, Human Resources and Communications

The draft minutes for the meeting of Chorley that backed the plans earlier this month said “there was an agreed ambition to develop a close working relationship between the two authorities with the ultimate aim of developing full shared services serving two independent and sovereign councils”.

South Ribble Council was due to discuss the proposals at the behind closed doors part of its meeting last night.

The two local authorities have pooled resources for more than a decade.

Operating models for the shared functions are to be considered by the councils’ Shared Services Joint Committee in December 2017.

Chorley said there was "a small financial saving" from the proposals which would contribute towards its wider shared services target savings in the Medium Term Financial Strategy of £600,000 by 2019/20.

South Ribble meanwhile estimates that it could save £400,000 a year if the arrangements are implemented.

Speaking ahead of the meeting yesterday, Heather McManus, the new Chief Executive at South Ribble, said: “It is well documented that all local councils are facing challenging times and really need to look at the way they operate in order to continue to deliver the very best services for the residents in its borough.

“These proposals, if agreed, will transform the way we work and put regeneration and growth at the very heart of what we do. It will also help us save money so we can improve our services – offering the very best value for money possible.

“We want to create a very forward-thinking council that is fit for the future while developing a workforce that is highly skilled and highly valued.”