Cambridgeshire and Peterborough councils have announced plans to share more of their top personnel in order to make efficiency savings.

The plans involve a new joint executive director joining Gillian Beasley, who has held the post of joint chief executive of both councils since 2015.

Under the proposals, the new role will lead place and economy work while a senior role in each council will be deleted.

The existing Cambridgeshire CC roles of director of business improvement and development, and director of corporate and customer services have also been extended to cover both authorities.

These changes are expected to deliver efficiency savings of £90,000 across both councils, as well as more streamlined working.

The move means Cambridgeshire CC and Peterborough City Council have reduced the number of officers they pay more than £100,000 from nine to two in the last four years.

Cambridgeshire leader, Cllr Steve Count, said: ‘This proposal sees us building on the success we have already achieved with Gillian Beasley as our joint chief executive driving forward an ambitious plan to share expertise, efficiency and effective practices.

‘We know how to do this sort of join up well, and driving down costs and reducing duplication is of enormous benefit for our residents and the partner agencies we work with.'

Peterborough leader, Cllr John Holdich, added: ‘While our management team is shared, we are confident that this will not damage or diminish the sovereignty of either council.

‘We retain our separate identities and while we share an ambition to improve overall outcomes for our area and our residents, as politicians, we remain focused on the particular issues each of us face.'