Local authorities have received a timely boost from business secretary, Peter Mandelson, after he confirmed the European Services Directive should help councils achieve sizable efficiency savings for reinvestment in frontline services. A Whitehall impact study of the ESD, which the UK will implement later this year, confirms local authorities stand to gain significantly from a regime that will remove barriers to trade in most services across Europe. The system is expected to help councils meet new efficiency requirements under Whitehall's plan to find £15bn of extra savings by 2014. As well as improving competition – and lowering costs – across key service sectors, such as legal advice and consultancy, the Directive aims to improve co-operation and data sharing between UK councils. The impact study, published by Lord Mandelson's business department on 15 May, states: ‘Administrative co-operation means local authorities will find more efficient ways of co-operating with each other in the UK and EU, both in terms of speed and ease. ‘This improved co-operation is of more relevance to UK local authorities as there is much greater interaction between them. ‘There would be significant administrative savings for all local authorities arising from, for example, the simplified procedures for obtaining various licenses.'
