Malvern Hills DC and Worcester City Council have become the latest district councils to look at merging workforces and management teams. The two councils are currently looking at a number of options, including merging workforces. Other district councils have already gone down this route, including Adur DC and Worthing BC, which have merged their workforces and now share chief executive, Ian Lowrie. Councillors from both authorities are meeting on 9 June for a seminar looking at all the available options, and Worcester City Council chief executive, David Wareing, said a paper would be published at the end of July. A full business case is expected to go before both councils in the autumn. ‘All district councils are up against things financially and there are a numerous examples of district councils talking to each other over collaborative working,' said Mr Wareing. The two councils have been sharing revenue and benefits services with Wychavon DC since last summer. Mr Wareing said the council also wanted to look at enhanced working with the Worcestershire CC. ‘Given the tight financial constraints placed on local government organisations, this council needs to look for ways in which we can continue to improve and develop services without increasing the financial burden on residents,' said Malvern Hills DC leader, Serena Croad. ‘If a merger with Worcester City Council is a way of achieving that goal, then we owe it to our residents to investigate it,' added Cllr Croad. But Worcester MP, Michael Foster, said all the district councils and the county in Worcestershire should be scrapped and replaced with a single unitary. ‘The sheer confusion which crops up means there has to be a better way of organising local government,' said Mr Foster.
