In November four local councils are launching a ground-breaking partnership which promises to deliver better local services for residents.

Cotswold District Council, Cheltenham Borough Council, Forest of Dean and West Oxfordshire District Councils have created a new company, Publica Group Ltd, to deliver more efficient and improved services.

All employees from the four councils (apart from those in statutory roles) will transfer to Publica and continue to provide services for local residents. However, individual councils will still be responsible for the standard of services provided, as well as setting strategy, policy and making decisions.

The move is designed to improve efficiency and reduce costs, while at the same time improving services. The new company will reduce the cost of management and administration and provide the opportunity to share workloads, learn from each other and benefit from shared expertise and knowledge.

The benefits of partnership and shared services aren't new to the councils. In 2012, the four councils joined to create Gloucestershire & Oxfordshire Shared Services (GO Shared Service) to provide a shared human resources, finance and payroll function. Last year, this was extended to include ICT, public protection, building control, legal, property and customer services.

Over the last five years, the councils have learned how to make the most of collaboration and partnership and have seen the savings they can generate while benefiting the services they offer. Forest of Dean District Council alone has saved £1.35m.

That is why the four councils have created Publica to deliver the savings required of local authorities, without services and local people suffering.

Residents will not see a difference in the way their services are delivered, who they contact and how they contact them.

Existing council employees will be transferred to Publica in November. They will be transferred under special arrangements that safeguard them and protect their terms and conditions.

The councils together are expecting to see savings of around £5.6 million per year by 2020, and £41 million in total over the next ten years.

For more information about Publica, visit the new website www.publicagroup.uk