Councils hear call to share planning staff

economic and transport planning staff could be shared between councils in the Sheffield city region if money-saving proposals put forward by the Mayor of Doncaster are accepted by other authorities.
By The Newsroom
Published 2nd Feb 2011, 16:46 BST

English Democrat Peter Davies was today due to unveil measures designed to save Doncaster Council £30m, including plans to offload some responsibilities to the region’s new Local Enterprise Partnership.

The LEP has been set up in response to Government plans to axe the regional development agency (RDA) Yorkshire Forward, and includes officers from all the region’s councils and private sector members.

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Part of the LEP’s remit is to help attract inward investment into South Yorkshire and ensure that infrastructure projects previous overseen by the RDA go ahead and attract Government funding.

Mr Davies said yesterday: “Putting together this year’s budget has been more challenging than ever due to the cuts imposed on us by (the) Government.

“I have always said that there is money to be saved in local authorities and we should focus our spend on frontline services. That said, with £30m to save from next year’s budget we are all going to see changes to services at the council and difficult times are ahead.”

The mayor also wants to save cash by sharing buildings with other organisations and merging Doncaster’s planing department with a neighbouring council.

Related topics:MayorDoncasterSheffieldDoncaster Council