A new working partnership deal for Gloucester City Council and Gloucestershire County Council has been signed.
This Friday (15th) saw the leaders of both councils come together to sign a Memorandum of Understanding which will focus on joint working between the two bodies.
Meeting in Shire Hall on Friday afternoon, Cllr Mark Hawthorne and Cllr Paul James agreed the ground rules for a shared programme to provide joint back office services. This co-operation would help to reduce inefficiencies and costs, while allowing front line services to continue focussing on the things that really matter.
Though the councils have a long standing working relationship, and have already pursued a number of joint initiatives, this partnership marks an official agreement. Public consultations revealed a desire for as many services as possible to be retained and the agreement helps both authorities to deliver savings and still provide important services.
Cllr Mark Hawthorne, Leader of Gloucestershire County Council said: “This is an agreement that will help us to build on the work we have done in recent years to make our money go further and focus on the services that people told us were important.
“I am delighted that Paul and I have had this opportunity to formalise our council’s working relationship, and am certain the residents of Gloucester and the county as a whole will benefit as a result.”
Cllr Paul James, Leader of Gloucester City Council, said: “The public rightly expect the two councils to work closely together and that is what we are doing more and more. The purpose of the Memorandum of Understanding is to set out clearly the roles and responsibilities of both councils and allow us to develop our joint activities.
I’m sure we can learn an awful lot from each other to help us to deliver quality services for all our residents.”
Part of the agreement includes the appointment of a joint post of managing director for the city council and commissioning director for the county council.
Jon McGinty, currently deputy chief executive of Aylesbury Vale District Council, will take up the post in July.