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Buckinghamshire to save £20 million a year with a unitary authority

Over £20 million a year could be saved by streamlining the county’s five local authorities into one, according to a report commissioned by Buckinghamshire Business First.

Buckinghamshire’s business community recently crowd-funded the £25k needed to produce an independent research paper looking at the cost of local government.

The research, conducted by Ernst & Young, concluded that annual savings of £20.7 million could be made, as well as a potential five year net saving of over £58 million.

The research centred around four possible alternatives to the current system, including streamlining into two councils.

There would be upfront costs to implement a unitary authority, the biggest being the cost of redundancy. These, and other costs, would be repaid after one and a half years according to the research, with net cumulative savings across the first five years of over £58 million.

Guy Lachlan, owner of Jones & Cocks and spokesperson for the Buckinghamshire Business Group, said: “There is a growing desire from businesses and residents in Buckinghamshire to get involved in decision making that affects where they live and work.

“The fact that the business community contributed £25,000 to finance the research shows the strength of feeling on this. This report does not look to predetermine a solution but rather to inform the debate.”

“The publication of this independent research paper has reinforced what the business community has been saying for a number of years.

“Our local authorities need to look to rationalise their organisations and make the best use of taxpayer’s money for the benefit of businesses and residents alike.

“This issue can no longer be swept under the carpet and needs to be given serious consideration by local politicians, especially in an election year.”

The full report and an infographic outlining the report’s key findings can be found at the Buckinghamshire Business First website.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ellen Forster .