Communities and Local Government (CSR)
Debate between Clive Betts and Mary Macleod(13 years, 10 months ago)
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Mary Macleod (Brentford and Isleworth) (Con)
Does the hon. Gentleman agree that sharing services can bring about real savings to local authorities—there are definitely savings to be had from sharing chief executives—which could help local authorities to deliver better services?
Mr Betts
I do not want to give the impression that I am against local authorities deciding to share services in the right situation. My instinct is that an authority such as Sheffield probably needs its own chief executive, but perhaps some smaller authorities could reasonably share. Authorities such as Sheffield, which has very good departments—for example, our planning department —could offer services to other authorities. There is capacity for that. My point was whether such savings would be sufficient to deliver all the necessary spending reductions with no cuts in front-line services. That is not the message that I am getting from local councils of all persuasions throughout the country.