Neighbouring councils team up for social work and education

STIRLING Council has agreed to work jointly with Clackmannanshire Council to provide education and social care services.

They say the “groundbreaking” move will offer significant benefits.

These are said to include economies of scale, efficiencies and sharing of expertise and scarce specialist capacity to provide better services and outcomes for citizens and communities.

The agreement will see the establishment of two joint head of service posts with delegated authority to manage the services across both councils, with accountability through the two chief executives.

The posts of head of social care at Stirling Council and head of education at Clackmannanshire Council are currently vacant following retirements.

Stirling Council leader Graham Houston said: “This innovative agreement meets the aspirations of both councils.

“This is the start of a journey. There is still a great deal of detail to be worked through. While others may be talking about it, we are getting on and doing it.

“We are re-evaluating how councils and communities can work together in new ways to maximise benefits for local people. Our commitment to delivering efficient, effective services remains as strong as ever.”

Stirling Council will take all decisions affecting its local services.

The two council leaders, two depute leaders and the two main opposition leaders will be involved in a steering group to take the new arrangements forward.

In addition Stirling Council agreed that its chief executive will consult its four group leaders before decisions on the implementation are taken.

Officials told councillors this week: “By working together the two councils will be able to capture the best practice found in each authority and take advantage of the larger scale of operations by employing a wider range of staff with greater depth of experience in key specialisms and by utilising assets such as ICT systems and properties more efficiently.

“The population of Clackmannanshire is 50,000. Stirling is bigger but also serves one of the smaller populations of Scottish councils at almost 90,000. Together they would serve a population of about 150,000, which is around the average for all council areas outside the cities.

“In the short term there will be savings generated for each council by sharing heads of service. Further efficiencies will be generated by an integrated management structure, joint commissioning and procurement and greater economies of scale.

“Ultimately, as practices become standardised, there will be benefits to partner organisations such as health and police.”