Pioneering drive to share civic services will be scaled back

The pioneering initiative has led to £2.6m in savings over the last three years after civic services were merged by the district councils covering Richmondshire and Hambleton in North Yorkshire.

However, the decision has been taken to separate a wave of key services following a summit meeting between the authority’s leaders and senior civil servants on Monday. The review will also see services outsourced in a move to mirror the private sector, with one of the councils given the role of leading on a specific department which can then be bought in by the neighbouring authority.

Speculation has been mounting over the agreement’s future after Hambleton District Council announced earlier this month that it was ending an arrangement where a chief executive oversaw both authorities.

A new management team will be dedicated solely to Hambleton after the former chief executive, Peter Simpson, stood down following complaints over his “abusive and dominating” behaviour.

Hambleton District Council’s leader, Neville Huxtable, admitted the saga had been one of the most testing times his authority has faced, but was adamant the new arrangements would not affect the delivery of civic services. The restructuring will mean a major overhaul in the way the services are delivered, but Coun Huxtable and Richmondshire District Council’s leader, John Blackie, stressed there are no plans to enforce redundancies.

Coun Huxtable admitted the restructuring will cost his authority in the region of £200,000, although he claimed it will be consumed in existing budgets and the savings that have already been made.

He added: “There is going to be a change in the way that the councils operate, but there will still be a close working relationship between both Hambleton and Richmondshire. This has been a testing time, but I am confident that the quality of services will remain and the public will not notice any difference.”

A timescale has been set which will mean departments including democratic services, business support and customer services will be split back to each individual authority as soon as possible from July 1.

A further two tranches will then be looked at – the last of which are seen the most difficult to separate and could remain shared between the two councils. These include waste collection, street cleaning, housing benefit and council tax services.

But service level agreements – which will act as a means of outsourcing for both councils – will be introduced. Hambleton will lead on specific areas such as legal services which can then be bought in by Richmondshire, while a reciprocal arrangement will exist for other services such as human resources.

Coun Blackie claimed the restructuring would still aim to deliver the “most cost-effective and efficient delivery of services”. But he confirmed that while links would remain with Hambleton, the overhaul would mean Richmondshire District Council could look to introduce service level agreements with other authorities if they presented better value.

Philip Morton has been appointed the chief executive for Hambleton after Mr Simpson stood down from his role as the most senior civil servant for both authorities.

But Mr Simpson will remain an employee of Hambleton District Council for the next 12 months and will be paid about £62,000 without having any dealings with the authority’s staff. He will instead work on projects for the District Councils Network.

Richmondshire District Council’s deputy chief executive Tony Clark is overseeing his authority in the interim while a senior management review is carried out.

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