Sharing will lead to savings

Plans to make significant savings by creating a single human resources service for four East Kent councils have been agreed by the East Kent Joint Arrangements Committee.

Canterbury, Dover, Shepway and Thanet councils are set to share human resources and health and safety services, with payroll provided by Kent County Council, saving around a predicted £2.3million across the four councils over five years.

It's part of the East Kent shared services project, which aims to provide cost effective services across East Kent and make the best possible use of the councils' resources and staff expertise.

On 8 April the East Kent Joint Arrangements Committee, made up of lead councillors from each of the authorities involved, approved a business case for providing one human resources, payroll and health and safety service for the four councils.

"These proposals aim to provide a quality shared human resources service for East Kent that is both cost efficient to the taxpayer and the envy of other councils," said a spokesman for Shepway Council.

"The potential savings from this project are massive and will help with our aim of keeping Council Tax rises to an absolute minimum. Combining our human resources staff means each council will have access to a larger and knowledgeable pool of expertise for their authority, which will bring real benefits to our staff. Staff in the new team will have greater career development opportunities, while everyone will benefit from greater access to more varied and higher quality training programme that meets their needs."

Each council will also have to formally approve the project at its own council meeting.