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July 24, 2017

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Local services

North Yorks & City of York councils join forces for health and safety advisory service

North Yorkshire and City of York councils

Two councils in the north-east of England, North Yorkshire County Council and City of York Council, have created a shared advisory service to build on the success of their health and safety strategy.

The move, which the local authorities feel is crucial following the fire at Grenfell Tower, will see a shared advisory service which provides information to the two councils on health and safety.

It is also available to other public bodies and educational institutions, who can buy-in the team’s expertise.

Advice and support covers a range of areas, including civil engineering and construction, facilities management, health and safety in schools and fire risk assessments.

Efficiencies

Uniting the two councils’ services also aims to bring efficiencies through streamlined processes and structures, and will also bring resilience, allowing for specialisation and to increase capacity.

North Yorkshire County Councillor, Gareth Dadd, deputy leader of the council, said: “We believe in the importance of health and safety, and this importance has been strikingly brought into the spotlight following the horrendous events at Grenfell Tower.

“Health and safety remains a political and a professional priority. This shared service is a pragmatic solution in the harsh financial landscape in which we work. It will build resilience and capacity across both authorities and will help us to retain skilled and experienced staff by providing more opportunities for career development and specialism.

“This will enable the team to build on its provision, which is valued by organisations beyond the two authorities, to develop its commercial aspect.”

True service value

City of York Councillor Andrew Waller, executive member for environment, said: “My father was a health and safety officer in the petro-chemical industry on Teesside, so I see the true value in it as a service.

“It is a sign of the times with local council budgets that we are looking to work this way. However, this shared service is a way of making sure we are more resilient and make the best use of the expertise available.

“We cannot emphasise the importance of that too much. Council budgets are getting tighter, but this is a council service that cannot be compromised.”

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Safetylady
Safetylady
6 years ago

Why should the local authority (however it is arranged) sell services commercially to the outside world? If they have excess staff, then cut down, and cut costs to the taxpayer. Do not step on the toes of local consultancies whose livelihood can be affected by this subsidised competition. It is both ‘ultra vires’ and unethical. Councils are full of the ‘lets make it pay for itself’ ethos but lose sight of the fact that this H&S service is for THEM, and will be an operational overhead. Most of the school H&S provision these days is to schools outside local authority… Read more »