Communities secretary Eric Pickles has said sharing staff, including planners, and merging services between councils is the future of local government.
In a speech to the Conservative Party conference in Birmingham yesterday, Pickles said that local authorities teaming up over education and planning would mean “no duplication and more productivity”.
Despite slamming …

David Lewis has left his position at Kent County Council as director of property, and has been replaced by Peter Binnie.
Binnie, who is head of operations, has been appointed as the interim director of property for the next six months, during which time a longer term appointment will be considered.
Lewis was tasked with …

Each local area should be given a pool of money from which to distribute funding for different services, according to a new report by the Local Government Association (LGA).
The LGA’s report, called Place-based Budgets, suggests that savings of £4.5bn a year could be achieved through …

Ipswich Police and Ipswich Borough Council have teamed up to buy new, joint headquarters.
The purchase – for the 60,000 sq ft nearly complete Landmark House and adjacent development land in Ipswich, from Wrenbridge and its joint venture partner Landmark East Anglia – shows how the government’s public spending cuts could …

Local authorities must not wait for central government legislation before implementing Total Place, the scheme’s architect has said.
Speaking at an event for cabinet members of local authorities in London today, Michael Bichard (pictured) urged council leaders to “maintain the momentum” of Total Place in order to “convince the new government …

The Confederation of British Industry said the government should make big cuts to its property cuts over the next five years to help reduce the impact of tax rises.
In a new policy report called Time for Action: Reforming Public Services and Balancing the Budget, the CBI gives far-reaching proposals on …

Councils now drawing up their annual asset management plans face greater challenges than usual.
Despite submitting budgets in April, they have to be reviewed, following initiatives such as Total Place. Further reviews are likely because of the uncertainty about the spending cuts planned following the election.
As a result, councils are appointing …

Today, the new government begins work cutting the country’s huge budget shortfall. Here, five public sector experts tell Nick Johnstone what they would do:
Look for a pools win
Alex Plant, chief executive,Cambridgeshire Horizons
In Cambridgeshire, we could do better with our public sector assets if we pool them all into a single, …

What it is: Support services company Interserve reports on local authority attitudes to outsourcing as they expect to make 10% cuts to their budgets in the next two years.
When it came out: 8 April 2010.
Why it is important: The research shows that, of the 152 staff members at local authorities …

Birmingham City Council’s cabinet committee has approved plans to build a hub that would combine council and healthcare customer advice at Sparkbrook in the south of Birmingham.
The joint shared services hub and PCT health centre, which was approved at a cabinet meeting last week, is awaiting final approval from the …