Westminster Council in merger talks 

A public consultation has begun on proposals to form a new “super council”.

Westminster City Council has agreed in principle to combine services with Hammersmith and Fulham and Kensington and Chelsea councils, in order to save £35 million a year.

Each council will retain its own councillors and decision-making processes. Key local services such as housing management, licensing and planning will not be combined.

Cllr Colin Barrow, leader of Westminster City Council, said: “By combining a range of services and back office functions, our three local authorities will be able to drive down costs even further for taxpayers, while ensuring that we can continue to direct funding to the local priorities that matter most to our communities.”

The proposals include merging children’s and educational services and adult social care, combining IT and HR overheads, and reducing chief executives from three to two. Leisure, highways, transport and parking correspondence will be combined, and street cleaning, CCTV, environmental health and parks management could also merge.

The consultation with residents ended on 21 April, and Westminster City Council is planning to discuss the feedback and next steps in May.

This is an edited version of an article that first appeared in Belgravia Magazine.