Five new unitary authorities have been given approval by the Local Government Minister John Healey. He’s also set out dates for the first elections to the new councils and the measures to ensure they are all in operation by the beginning of April 2009. It is expected that the replacement of existing structures in the five areas could save more than 75 million pounds a year which will go towards the improvement of front line services or cutting council tax bills. 

The first detailed look at how well local authorities are doing in countering global warming has found that they could help to cut carbon emissions by 150 million tonnes to contribute to the national target of a 32 per cent reduction by 2020. The report, from the Local Government Association’s Independent Climate Change Commission, has found that if all councils made their buildings and vehicles carbon neutral they could save 5.5million tonnes of CO2 every year. 

Despite the pressure for local councils to follow the lead of the private sector and develop shared service and partnership arrangements, the barriers in terms of culture, differences in priorities across councils and lack of experience are formidable. Yet this is the most likely source of meeting government targets for reduced overheads and improved organizational effectiveness.