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Two London boroughs have outlined a plan to boost efficiency drives by merging their education services departments. Hammersmith and Fulham LBC and Westminster City Council claim their efficiency programmes will save £55m and £54m respectively over the course of the next three years. The joint education team is expected to yield savings of around 20%, and is also aimed at improving standards. In a joint statement, the councils said the move would also improve their capability to intervene effectively when a school was failing and commission providers, which could effectively deliver free schools. Stephen Greenhalgh, leader of Hammersmith and Fulham, dubbed the move a ‘radical revolution'. ‘We will be tough but fair. Merging our education services will reduce duplication, that is all too common in local government, and drive out needless cost while improving school standards. It is about delivering more for less,' he said. The move mirrors comments made last month by former chair of London Councils, Sir Merrick Cockell. Writing in The MJ (17 June), he called for more London-based services to be pooled. Sir Merrick is leader of Kensington and Chelsea RLBC, which currently shares legal and highways departments with Hammersmith. But the move has been slammed by the Trades Union Congress (TUC). Bert Schouwenburg, president of Hammersmith and Fulham TUC, said the proposals were far from radical. He pointed towards the Inner London Education Authority (ILEA), which administered the service for all 12 boroughs. The ILEA was abolished in 1990. Mr Schouwenburg said: ‘[This] not only destroyed the democratic framework of London's education system but eliminated the economies of scale that will be further eroded by Conservative plans to take schools away from local authorities.'

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WHITEHALL

London boroughs to merge school services

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