Sharing of services in Cannock and Stafford sparks council control fears

Cannock Chase District Council and Stafford Borough Council plan to bring environmental services together which covers licensing, fly-tipping, food safety and contaminated land.

But the opposition leader at Stafford Borough Council William Kemp said: "The thing about controlled services is that gradually the control of the service moves away from the one authority towards the other and although we are told the service is exactly the same, it doesn't seem to be working that way.

"We are concerned about shared services.

"It is very obvious services are being cut and staff are being reduced. They do say that frontline service is not affected but there has been quite an obvious example of services not being properly dealt with."

This is not the first move of its kind by the two authorities as they have been sharing services since 2011, including human resources and information technology, which has led them to save £558,000 per year each.

Councillor Angela Loughran said: "I think the general opinion is that they are transcending services from Stafford to Cannock but they won't have any services left.

"It really is the depleting Stafford Borough Council and the services they will be providing for the Stafford borough.

"At the end of the day, is saving money the most important thing to residents in the area? That is one of the fundamental questions and you need to look at the whole picture.

"The area of Stafford Borough Council is much larger than Cannock Council and in my opinion it is putting additional strain on the officers who are working in Cannock Chase as they are 'to-ing and fro-ing' from Stafford."

Under the agreement, they also agree to merge pest and dog control services which will be under the control of the borough council.

But the leader of Stafford Council rebutted the claims, saying they were 'simply political mischief.'

Councillor Patrick Farrington said: “Both councils remain separate entities. There is not one iota of truth behind any suggestion that control is shifting from one authority to another - and any such suggestion is simply political mischief making of the lowest form.

“Shared services have saved around £580,000 each year of tax payers money. Our work on sharing services was praised by the then government watchdog – the audit commission.

"Our key objectives when sharing services is to maintain or enhance the service, protect jobs, and save our taxpayers money.”