When we look for examples of difficult transformation being achieved, in local government we have a tendency to swing our eyes towards the larger authorities – the unitaries, the shires, the inner-city councils.

But, away from the spotlight, two councils in Devon – South Hams DC and West Devon BC – are achieving some remarkable savings through shared services – and have just broken new ground by changing the way they recruit to focus on the behaviours they want from their staff.

Such a radical change in job descriptions also led to the inevitable impact of every single member of corporate staff at both councils being made vulnerable to redundancy at the same time, presenting further challenges.