Date: 06/08/2009
Two councils are to save the taxpayer nearly £203,000 a year by contracting the maintenance of their buildings to Derbyshire County Council.
Starting next month (September), the arrangement has been put in place by High Peak Borough Council and Staffordshire Moorlands District Council, which forged a strategic alliance in June last year.
The agreement will include the management of all council-owned property plus architectural, design and engineering services. Around five staff will be retained in house for asset, energy and project management.
Derbyshire was chosen because it has expertise in the professional management and maintenance of property. As a large organisation responsible for 1,300 properties, it has a wider range of skills than High Peak and Staffordshire Moorlands, as well as more capacity to get work done. The authority is also able to buy in specialist services at reduced cost.
High Peak and Derbyshire are already running a joint estates management service.
Major economies will arise from the shared use of Derbyshire. For example, Staffordshire Moorlands' property services used 113 suppliers in 2007/08, and receives around 100 invoices a month. Under the new arrangement, there will be just one invoice per authority per month.
A total of 40 employees from High Peak and Staffordshire Moorlands will be transferred to Derbyshire with their pay, conditions of service and pension rights protected. The agreement with Derbyshire will run for five years and then be reviewed.
Said High Peak council leader Tony Ashton: "This innovative approach to service delivery will produce very significant savings through lower management costs and larger contracting arrangements".
The shared property arrangement is the latest in a series of combined services set up by the strategic alliance to improve quality and value for money. Other joint services include environmental health, grounds maintenance and a Clean Team that tackles litter and fly tipping. The two councils also have a single management team. By the end of its third year, the alliance is expected to be saving £1.2m a year.