Tuesday 1st March 2011

It's now official. The historic partnership between two local councils was signed this morning at Bolsover District Council HQ.


Pictured with the Strategic Alliance agreement are (from the left) Deputy Leader of NEDDC Councillor Betty Hill, Leader of NEDDC Councillor Graham Baxter MBE, Leader of BDC Councillor Eion Watts and Deputy Leader of BDC Councillor Alan Tomlinson

The Strategic Alliance, a partnership between Bolsover District and North East Derbyshire District councils, will see the authorities aiming to reduce their costs by appointing a joint Chief Executive and senior managers.

It's estimated the move will save roughly £1.5m each year, releasing that money to allowing the authorities to protect services in the light of big Government grant cuts.

The councils are now moving to appoint a joint Chief Executive, ahead of the official partnership launch on 1st April.

However, they will keep their own separate geographical, administrative and political identities, and local people will continue to receive their services from their respective council.

Cllr Graham Baxter MBE, Leader of North East Derbyshire District Council, said: "This is a historic moment for Bolsover and North East Derbyshire. Both areas are facing unprecedented cuts to their funding, and this partnership will enable us to continue to support our communities by safeguarding the essential, high quality services that local people rely on."

Leader of Bolsover District Council, Cllr Eion Watts, said that the 80,000 households across the two districts will benefit from the Alliance immediately, with both authorities announcing that Council Tax bills will not increase on 1st April.

"Families across our region are being hammered during the recession and they need the support of their local council now more than ever," said Cllr Watts. "This partnership means we can protect frontline services and keep Council Tax bills low by cutting our senior management costs."

As well as sharing senior manager costs, the councils will look at further ways to save money without affecting the quality of services that local people rely on - this could involve joining some services together to pool resources and expertise. The authorities already operate successful shared services across a number of areas, including procurement and IT.

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