SUFFOLK COUNCILS TO CONSIDER MERGING SERVICES

Babergh and Mid Suffolk District Councils are being recommended by their respective Chief Executives to move ahead with the proposals to help reduce costs, increase capacity and enable both councils to be in a position to improve service delivery.

The two councils already have a money saving joint contract with a third party contractor for the collection of household waste and recycling materials and have been conducting exploratory investigations into some other services which might lend themselves to be jointly delivered.

Both Councils are supporters of unitary reform of local government in Suffolk but if this does not proceed, the two Chief Executives are recommending that their two Councils work towards operational and managerial integration, leaving the door open for a constitutional political merger if Members of both Councils wish to achieve this.

Merging two Councils by mutual consent cannot be achieved in UK local government without the need for primary legislation. Legal change may take time to achieve, if it happens at all, but if unitary proposals are again thwarted, both Babergh and Mid Suffolk Councils see considerable common sense in building upon the trust and joint working that already takes place.

The proposals for integration are being recommended to the Mid Suffolk District Council Executive Committee on 11 January 2009, and Babergh’s Strategy Committee on 14 January 2009. ENDS