Government awards £500k as Council's plan to share more services
The Government has awarded more than £500,000 to a new project by Selby District Council and North Yorkshire County Council to redesign how public services are delivered across the area.
Politics & local government
Both council's are set to use the cash to find ways to get communities and individuals to do more for themselves at a time when funding constraints are forcing the two authorities to integrate more and more services.
In a joint press release both council's claimed the project would make for better quality services by focusing on the real needs of residents. It said the reorganisation would lead to fewer 'duplicated services' between the two authorities and would help to 'create a culture less reliant on top down delivery of services'.
Specifically, the council says it will use the money to support a number of key pieces of work. This includes providing analysis on the needs of residents as they try to better anticipate trends that will help them to plan services more effectively. This they say will help 'drive efficiencies'.
Another area where the council will be looking to change the way in which services are delivered will to help residents to better interact with the two council's online.
Both councils are also looking at opportunities to make 'better use of public buildings' in the district. It says it will create 'community hubs' to bring together services delivered by different partners under one roof.
Finally, the council says it will use some of the money to focus on integrating health, social care and housing services within the district. It does not elaborate on how it might go about this however.
Councillor Mark Crane, Leader of Selby District Council said, "These are big ambitions, so this funding will be vital to support their delivery. This is the second time in as many months in which we've received additional funding for our innovative work to transform the way we deliver services, which demonstrates the value of us working in partnership with others to raise the profile of our area.
"Ultimately this is about being able to really understand and deliver the services people need in ways that they need them. Developing online access and central points for local community services is all about us being customer focused in our approach."
The funding is part of a wider £89.4 million investment from central government to support service improvements across the country. The scheme will hopefully achieve saving of more than £900 million in the long-term.
SDC and NYCC say savings of £350,000 across Selby District Council and North Yorkshire County Council will be achieved each year as part of this programme.