Services on move to raise cash for Cannock Chase Council

An agreement has been reached to offer more services under one roof, including the registrars, issuing of disabled badges, civil ceremonies and staff from the local health group.

The local authority is looking to save £578,000 from its budget by 2018.

The move of the Blue Badges service will see Staffordshire County Council pay an annual fee of £5,000. And the Cannock's registrars service is also poised to move into the civic centre from its current base in Victoria Street.

The county council wants to refurbish the Jack Holsten room at a cost of £27,000 to provide register office marriages at the district council base and two small offices in the reception area will also be used.

The district council will receive £4,643 annual rent from the county council and a service charge of £3,907 every year.

Council leader George Adamson said there was space and having the disabled badge service in Cannock would benefit residents.

"People have got to go Stafford or do it by post so it will be easier for them," he said. "It gives us extra income because they are paying us rent that contributes towards the budget.

Eleven members of staff from Cannock Chase Clinical Commissioning Group will also soon be moving into the civic centre, with the organisation paying rent of £4,392 and service charges of £8,500 a year.

Already, Staffordshire County Council's Independent Futures Service, with around 20 staff, has moved into the building and there have been talks with Staffordshire Police to move front-line services into the building but that proposal has since been dropped.

In a report to Cannock Chase Council's decision-making cabinet, which meets this Thursday, chief executive Stephen Brown says the district council has been looking at ways of reducing costs.

"As part of an ongoing drive to reduce costs and maximise income, the council has sought to review its public assets, rationalising and maximising potential use wherever possible with other partners in the public sector," he says. "Other public sector partners have endeavoured to do the same.

"The council's objective has been to reduce the costs and maximise its potential income from re-letting available space within the civic offices."

Bosses have already said council tax will be frozen this year for people living in Cannock. And also rent for those living in council-owned properties will also remain the same. It is the first time in more than 20 years that both have been frozen at the same time. The authority is yet to set its budget for 2015-16.