Manchester and Salford set to have a joint legal service

A joint legal service is set to save Manchester and Salford city councils thousands of pounds every year.

The councils are working together to create a single legal services department that will give both cities access to a larger legal team. This makes the most of the expertise on offer, making the team more efficient, and ultimately saving taxpayers' money.

Staff from both councils would work together based on their particular specialist areas with staff based in both cities.

The team will be overseen by Manchester's legal management team.

Both councils would then be able to access the services of the single team providing a much more efficient and cost effective service.

This collaboration is expected to act as a blueprint for futher joint working between Manchester and Salford, and although work is already underway for the councils to work together, the scheme is expected to be fully implemented by 2012.

Proposals for the joint service will be discussed at an Executive meeting in Manchester on Wednesday 1 June and by Salford's Cabinet briefing on Tuesday 14 June 2011.

Sir Richard Leese, Leader of Manchester City Council, said: "We have always maintained that Manchester would consider sharing services with other authorities and this is the first step towards creating a streamlined, more cost effective service."

Councillor John Merry CBE, Leader of Salford City Council, said: "This joint service means we can get the best possible legal services for both councils while also achieving the financial savings that come from having one team. In these difficult financial times it is important we work with our Greater Manchester colleagues to look at what we can do to get best value for money."