SOUTH Warwickshire councils are looking at how they can work together to benefit residents.
Early discussions between Stratford District Council’s cabinet and Warwick District Council’s executive included the possibility of a new joint core strategy or local plan and jointly procuring contracts.
The meeting into how local government could evolve was ahead of an expected announcement by government on devolution later this year.
The two council’s already work together on some health, tourism and crime partnerships, and leaders say they share a number of characteristics, while a number of residents live in one authority and travel to work in another.
In a statement Warwick District Council leader Andrew Day and Stratford District Council leader Tony Jefferson said: “As we look to the future of our communities across south Warwickshire now is the time to capture the lessons learnt from the current coronavirus crisis and review the way our councils could better meet the needs of our residents, taking advantage of new opportunities that are emerging for our communities and businesses.
“Like so many other organisations at this time, our councils are looking to be more agile and efficient, to address the emerging economic challenges and capitalising on the issues around the climate emergency, all the while providing the best possible services. There are also a number of opportunities which could be developed quickly including jointly procuring contracts, addressing a number of vacancies at senior officer level that could lead to the possibility of sharing posts across the two management teams, as well as the possibility of producing a joint core strategy or local plan for our communities to secure long-term benefits.
“These initial discussions are at an early stage and would need to be subject to formal decisions at both authorities.”
