Councils to share services?

SHARING services? Oldham could team up with Rochdale

Oldham and Rochdale councils could share a raft of services if plans going to next week’s annual meeting are passed.

Members of both authorities have been getting together over three months to discuss the possibilities of joint working and to identify the best areas to start.

Rochdale Council approved the idea of setting up an advisory joint committee on Wednesday, and next Wednesday, the item comes up for discussion at Oldham Council’s annual meeting.

If approved, the committee would meet for the first time on June 13, and send its first reports to both councils in July.

The committee would make suggestions to each council for shared services, then if they are agreed, it would take control of those functions.

There has already been a suggestion that both councils could share one chief executive, after Rochdale’s senior officer Roger Ellis decided to stand down to save his council money.

In February, the then-Oldham Council leader Howard Sykes told the Chronicle that he had been approached about the idea by the leader of Rochdale Council.

The two boroughs both face major cost cutting programme - Oldham slashed £41 million off this financial year and Rochdale aims to save £82 million over two years- and are already collaborating on a number of schemes including a multi-million street lighting project.

They also share a private-sector provider, Mouchel, which provides their back office schemes such as a joint call centre.

Oldham Council declined to comment on the plans before the vote is taken next week.