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Hertfordshire Council predict savings of £10m following its latest streamlining programme
A long with other local authorities across the country, Hertfordshire County Council has been forced to review and streamline senior management as part of an on-going efficiency drive, and has predicted achievable savings of around £10m.
As well as making the management structure as efficient and effective as possible, the council’s Business Transformation programme will look at whether services could be better organised or delivered in different ways, for example by communities or the voluntary sector.
Frances Button (pictured), executive member for Business Transformation, said: “We are reducing the number of layers between frontline staff and senior managers to help us deliver better value for money while maintaining our high performance.
“We are also reviewing how we work with our partners, so we look at every possible way of delivering services more cheaply.”
Among the areas being scrutinised is community safety. The transformation programme will look at how Trading Standards, the Fire and Rescue Service and SERMU (Safety Emergency Risk Management Unit) can work more closely together to provide even more protection to our communities.
Also as part of the efficient and cost effective drive, Hertfordshire County Council has reviewed its highway licences to bring them in line with those charged by other local authorities.
Local authorities are allowed to charge for licences for skips, scaffoldings and hoardings, and other services related to making alterations to the highway (such as vehicle crossovers). However, the legislation does not set the amount that can be charged. A number of the current charges used by Hertfordshire County Council have not been reviewed in recent years, so the rates do not take account of changes in staff costs or the effects of new legislation.
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