East Hampshire District Council and Havant Borough Council’s six-year partnership has been so successful that they are planning to work together on future projects.

East Hampshire District Council and Havant Borough Council’s partnership was one of the country’s first examples of local authorities sharing a chief executive and having a shared management team to manage its services when it launched in 2009.

So far, the partnership has enabled year-on-year savings of £2.5m for East Hampshire and £1.3m for Havant, say the councils.

In addition to senior management, the two councils currently share a number of ‘back office services’ and these include finance, human resources, procurement, IT and payroll.

Both councils are working to ensure they provide high quality services in the most cost effective way. But they have a different approach to how they do this through their business strategies. For Havant Borough Council, it is keen to seek others to provide its services if it reduces costs, without impeding quality – often known as a ‘commissioning’ approach to service delivery.

East Hampshire District Council (EHDC) on the other hand has a different strategy; it is keen to sell services to others where it has the expertise and capacity to do so. For example in the last year it has signed a deal to provide a ‘parking service’ to Havant. It is expected that it will save Havant Borough Council approximately £50k per year.

The two council leaders (Cllr Ferris Cowper and Cllr Mike Cheshire) are discussing how they could work together to deliver other services to compliment their business strategies whilst benefitting their customers (the local residents and businesses).

Cllr Ferris Cowper, Leader of East Hampshire District Council, said: “Our partnership with Havant Borough Council has been hugely successful and is going from strength to strength.

“It has enabled both councils to deliver high quality services – and deliver them more efficiently.

“I am keen for us to look at every aspect of the council’s business and see where we can be more innovative and creative so that we continue to provide services that are the very best that they can be.

“And where possible we are keen to provide services to others – and we will be working with Havant to see where this might be possible for mutual benefit.”

Cllr Mike Cheshire, Leader of Havant Borough Council, said: “We are delighted to be working with East Hampshire District Council. Since we formed the partnership in 2009 there have been significant financial benefits – as well as ensuring top quality services for our residents and businesses.

“The partnership is a great example of local authorities doing something differently and working together to improve the service we provide to customers, while also making important savings which can be re-invested in crucial front-line services.”