A plan for partnership working between Guildford and Waverley councils in Surrey has moved forward after both authorities discussed these options further and agreed to make a decision on the next step in July.
In February, Executive Committees at Guildford and Waverley councils endorsed working more closely together and with the support of the Local Government Association (LGA) have been exploring potential options for combining services and administrative functions.
Throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, both councils have worked hard to maintain essential services, help vulnerable communities and support their local economies.
However, the additional costs of responding to the outbreak have impacted on already stretched council budgets.
A report into local government reorganisation and collaboration, published earlier this year, highlighted a clear need for neighbouring authorities across Surrey to consider the expansion of existing partnerships.
This was recommended in order to reduce the duplication of services, increase efficiency and provide better value for money.
In February, the LGA was engaged to carry out a scoping report on potential savings for partnership working between the councils and it provided the background for the latest discussions.
The options could potentially lead to savings and better, as well as more sustainable local services for residents under two separate democratic councils.
Savings could include those achieved by sharing a single senior management team, economies of scale in the delivery of some services and increased purchasing power when negotiating with suppliers and contractors.
Commenting, Leader of Guildford Borough Council, Councillor Joss Bigmore said:
"We are exploring closer working with Waverley Borough Council as a way to future-proof and protect our services to our residents and businesses and keep them local.
“Our joint budget challenges mean we must explore ambitious plans.
“A merged set of officers supporting two separate groups of councillors is a model that has been implemented in councils across the country, delivering increased resilience in service and cost savings to budgets and is one of the options councillors will now decide on 6 July.
“At Guildford we need to find £6m over the next four years and recent changes by the government restrict our abilities to act in the commercial world to offset a substantial reduction in government funding.
"We keep 9% of Council Tax and around 5% of the business rates we collect and despite being on target to achieve £8m of cost savings from our Future Guildford Transformation Programme, we need to make more savings.
“I think this organisation has performed amazingly well to maintain the services we provide when considered against this brutal funding environment and with the additional response to the pandemic.
“But it is not enough and we must continue to explore all options.
“There are natural synergies between Guildford and Waverley, in our communities and geography and we are excited to progress looking at greater partnership working.
"It is time for councillors to make some challenging decisions.
“I am now confident we can be certain there are significant tangible benefits for both councils and our respective communities to progress further partnership working and to do this at a pace."
Leader of Waverley Borough Council, Councillor Paul Follows added:
"Local authorities have been forced to manage significant cuts to their funding from government for over a decade now.
“Most are reaching the limits of what can be achieved on their own, without having to make some really tough decisions about cutting local services to make ends meet.
“Even before the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, Waverley Borough Council had embarked on an ambitious programme of measures to deliver cost savings and to maximise the use of our assets to increase income.
“However, we still have a residual budget shortfall of £7.8m over the next four years, so we continue to explore a range of options, including collaboration.
“The report stressed that joint working is the way forward and it is clear that doing nothing is simply not an option.
“Cooperation with our neighbour Guildford could enable us to make financial savings while protecting and even helping us to improve our services, even as other areas are having to contemplate cuts to theirs.
"Local government reorganisation has been high on the government's agenda for many years now and it appears a reasonable possibility that at some point there will be a move to a unitary council structure in Surrey.
“Guildford and Waverley would make a logical core for any such organisation covering our area and closer cooperation could help demonstrate the effectiveness of that arrangement.
“Ultimately, we hope to achieve a highly successful partnership that other local authorities in Surrey will want to use as a model or even join."
