Shared services have reached a new level in Oxfordshire, where two district councils have jointly appointed strategic directors as part of a full-scale merger of their management teams. South Oxfordshire DC and the Vale of the White Horse DC have revealed ground-breaking plans for three joint strategic directors – Steve Bishop, Matt Prosser and Anna Robinson – to run services, including IT housing, planning and environmental health for both districts. Each will be paid £96,000 a year, the cost of which will be shared by both councils. The councils' chief executive, David Buckle, who has run both councils since September, said: ‘These are three excellent appointments and they will be able to help me get on with the next stage of this process and put the new shared structure in place.' The final stage of the new shared management team – eight heads of service – will be announced on 3 March. Previously, there were 21 senior managers employed between the two councils. This has now been reduced to a shared team of 12, saving both councils £375,000 a year. The nine managers whose roles were disbanded took early retirement, new roles within the council, or were made redundant. The move is the final step to merge its top-level management into one team, which will take control of services in both districts. It is expected to save both authorities more than £750,000 a year, once all three tiers are in place. Mr Buckle said: ‘This is a very exciting move for us. By agreeing to share an entire senior management team, the Vale and South Oxfordshire will be at the very forefront of local government, and I am sure that a lot of other local authorities will be watching closely to see how this partnership works out.'
