With the ambitious aim of achieving almost £40m in savings over the next decade, four councils – Cheltenham Borough Council, West Oxfordshire District Council, Cotswold District Council and Forest of Dean District Council – have agreed to expand their shared services.

The four councils already share HR, finance and payroll service. ICT, building control, legal and customer services have now also been added as part of the deal.

The project is part of the “2020 Vision” programme target, which aims to achieve savings of £38m across the four districts, taking into account the support of a £3.8m grant from central government. Patrick Molyneux – the leader of Forest of Dean District Council – has publicly acknowledged that this initiative “makes a lot of sense”, since it enables the councils to provide efficient services while saving money over the coming years.

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