West Country Merger, London Shared Legal, RBKC, Surrey, City Deals

West Somerset looks to merge with Taunton Deane
West Somerset Council may benefit from some of the DCLG £9.2m council merger fund announced last week. The council, which the Local Government Assoiciation found would be unviable in two year’s time, is purportedly close to signing a deal with its neighbouring borough council. In a joint statement the councils said they would “welcome any government funding towards the costs of exploring and implementing ‘joined-up’ working between local authorities”. The £9.2m fund announced last week aims to support councils looking to merge management, as opposed to just sharing services.

London boroughs combine legal service
Four London Boroughs have got together to create the first combined borough legal service, with hopes to save £600,000. Kingston, Sutton, Richmond and Merton form the new shared service, which is an extension of the Richmond/ Merton agreement signed in September 2011.

Royal Borough in talks to relocate residents
The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea is in talks with Peterborough City Council over buying land in the city to build houses for people to be moved out of the borough. Sir Merrick Cockell, leader of RBKC, and Peterborough’s leader Councillor Marco Cereste have been discussing the plans for weeks, according to local press. Peterbourgh would see a £50m investment in jobs and homes as the London borough’s young and upwardly mobile citizens were invited to move to the city.

New City Deals get the go-ahead
The LGA has welcomed the next wave of City Deals. The deal proposals were invited by government last October and confirmed last week. While the news is positive, said the LGA, work must be done to “accelerate the pace and scale of devolution and make deals available to all areas that want them.”

Surrey raises council tax, saves on roads contract
Surrey County Council has decided to raise its council tax for next year by 1.99%. The Leader of the council said that accepting the government’s offer of a council tax freeze grant would create: “a £50m black hole in our budget”. Meanwhile the council has secured a 15% discount on a roads maintenance contract, saving £15m which it will use for extra repairs.