WEST Somerset district councillors will be asked next week to formally agree a link-up with Taunton Deane in a move which could save the authority at least £307,000 a year.

However, there will be no long term gain without short term pain as the initial stages of joint working will involve redundancies at senior management level and cost the council £10,600 a year in additional wages.

But the leaders of both West Somerset Council, Cllr Tim Taylor, and of Taunton Deane Borough Council, Cllr John Williams, maintain sharing staff and services will be a win-win situation for both authorities.

The two councils would retain their democratic independence, neither would subsidise the other and each would continue to be led by their own democratically elected councillors.

The link-up would provide greater resilience, a louder voice at local and national level and greater capacity to deliver priorities, including benefits from the proposed new power station at Hinkley Point.

Because West Somerset has trimmed back its managers in recent years, the initial stages of the link-up would see its managerial wage bill rise by just over £10,000 a year.

Extra managers are seen as crucial to the success of the scheme, which should eventually reap savings once all staff and services are brought under the new management struture.

Additionally, West Somerset currently spends just over £20,000 a year to secure the services of a part-time finance chief from Somerset County Council, and that service would be brought back in-house and become a full-time role.

In a foreword to a business case outlining the case for the link-up, Cllrs Taylor and Williams said: "Members are at the heart of this proposal; we simply seek to derive benefits that will enable the councils to continue to serve your communities and businesses well in the future.

"This will be achieved by creating one officer team, which will support both councils.

"We have already agreed to share a chief executive, saving both councils money.

"We already share some services and the time is right to extend this across the councils.

"This will save us money, increase our resilience and overall capacity to face our challenges."

Current Taunton Deane Borough Council chief executive Penny James will take over at the helm of both councils next month.

Under proposals for a joint management team - which will be discussed by councillors in Williton and Taunton next Thursday - West Somerset's current corporate director Bruce Lang would be second in command as assistant chief executive and monitoring officer.

While Mrs James would be on a salary of just over £100,000, Mr Lang would receive £63,500 - somewhat less than the £80,000 proposed for the three directors who would serve under him.

These could include Shirlene Adam who is proposed as director of operations and Brendan Cleere as director of growth and development.

No-one has yet been nominated for post of director of housing and communities and all but one of the seven assistant director roles, which would each attract a salary of £60,000, also remain vacant in the new structure.

Councillors will be told the bulk of the positions could be filled internally, with only a handful of jobs likely to have to be advertised externally if the business case is approved.

West Somerset's current chief executive Adrian Dyer will remain with the authorities as an executive director until March next year before taking voluntary redundancy.

Steve Watts, West Somerset's current corporate director for environment, customer and community would also take voluntary redundancy alongside two Taunton Deane directors if the business case wins the support of councillors.

Members of both authorities' scrutiny committees will consider a report on the shared management options next Thursday, before a final decision is taken by all councillors next month.

If approved, the senior management team would be in place by January, the middle management team by next summer with all staff working in the shared structure by April 2015.

According to figures in the business case, by next year the total combined savings for the two councils could be as much as £400,000, rising to an ongoing saving of £1.89 million a year thereafter.

Upfront investment would be needed to cover IT, programme and staff termination costs, but the project, as a whole, would start to reap net savings within two years.

But it is emphasised that while cutting costs, the business case alone would not solve either council's future financial challenges.

Cllrs Taylor and Williams said: "We need to deliver savings and increase our income because of the financial pressure facing both councils.

"These pressures will only grow so we are clear we have a duty to act now and we need support in delivering this business case as part of the solution, a solution that protects democratic representation, our ambitions and the services we offer our communities.

"The opportunity to work together on our mutual challenges cannot be wasted."