COUNTY chiefs claim that up to £250m of taxpayers’ money could be saved over 25 years in Hampshire if councils shared offices.
The county council has been involved in a Government project investigating possible savings if local authorities had joint instead of separate premises in the same towns.
A pioneer of this approach is the £2m Ringwood Gateway project which opened last year.
This public sector “hub” is a base for the county council, New Forest District Council and Ringwood Town Council.
Hampshire Constabulary, the NHS, Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service and Government departments could also share local authority buildings, say civic chiefs.
Savings would come from splitting bills for running costs. The county owns 45 per cent of the four million square metres of public sector floor area in Hampshire.
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