Shared officers must become "default position", says Welsh local government minister

The default position when a senior officer leaves a local authority in Wales should be for the council to seek a joint appointment with a neighbouring authority or another public sector organisation, the Welsh local government minister has said.

Arguing that shared officers should not be treated as “just one possibility”, Carl Sargeant told delegates at the Welsh Local Government Association conference in Llandudno: “When you consider how to save money – how to deliver a service more efficiently – I want you to investigate the option of joint delivery with other local authorities or other public bodies, or indeed both as your very first consideration.”

The minister insisted that this was “the only way” frontline services could be preserved, according to the BBC. “And their need will be greater in the coming years than it has been for a very long time,” he added.

Another minister in the Welsh Assembly Government, Jane Hutt, said there would be tough times ahead but warned Welsh councils against implementing cuts too soon or top-slicing every budget.

The Minister for Business and the Budget said: ““The bleak messages coming out from London are unmistakable and no-one will be under any illusion about the tough challenge ahead.  I have already set out some hard-hitting planning assumptions for the Assembly Government’s 3-year budget planning round - 3% year on year reductions for revenue spending and 10% year on year for capital.”

The Assembly Government’s Cabinet would review these plans in the light of the UK government’s emergency budget on 22 June, Hutt said, adding that her main priority would be to ensure that Wales had the best possible deal on public expenditure.

The minister said she would decide shortly whether to reduce spending this year or defer to next year all of the £185.4m required by the Chancellor.

A report from the WLGA and Deloitte has suggested that local authorities in Wales could face deficits of hundreds of millions of pounds within four years. Large councils could see shortfalls of £120m, while smaller councils could have £30m deficits.