Is the game up?

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Posted on This is My Truth on 9 March

For all the noise coming from Local Authorities protesting that another re-organisation is the last thing they need, Councils seem to be playing into the hands of those who want a massive re-jig

The Western Mail report this morning that:

A MUCH-HERALDED project aimed at getting councils to work together has collapsed, throwing into jeopardy the Assembly Government’s strategy to avoid huge public sector job cuts.

Nearly half the local authorities in the country were originally involved in discussions over the South-East Wales Shared Services Project, which was intended to save millions of pounds by getting councils to collaborate across a range of functions.

But after years of meetings and reports the project has now folded with the participating authorities unable to agree on a way forward

Savings of some £2 Million a year were identified by PricewaterhouseCoopers from the South-East Wales Shared Services Project. But plans to pool human resources, payroll and training service among ten Councils collapsed with "authorities unable to agree on a way forward".

In July 2006 the Beecham Review gave Councils five years the work together of face reorganisation. By my calculations they have a year left...

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