ONE of Worcestershire's biggest ever public sector money-saving schemes is about to launch - resulting in serious benefits for taxpayers.

Worcestershire County Council's Conservative leadership has opted 'in' to the creation of a radical new company aimed at sharing building costs.

It has also emerged that the project is being viewed upon within Whitehall as the most advanced of its kind in the UK.

The deal, which you Worcester News first revealed was on the cards in September, will result in councils, police and the fire service teaming up.

A new report on the so-called 'Joint Property Vehicle' has been published outlining the financial benefits to the county council for the first time.

Under the forecasts:

- The council will save £14.7 million within a decade, which can be ploughed back into front line services

- The major savings over that period include £1.6 million on maintenance, £1.3 million on energy, £860,000 on rates and £1.4 million on rent

- A staggering £400,000 will be saved from cleaning costs, and £127,000 on water bills, while property sales will also be factored in

Under the plan, all seven organisations will focus on 'bulk buying' in areas like electricity and heating to save cash.

The savings, when added up among each partner organisation, are forecast to top £100 million over the decade.

It will result in job losses though, with the county council planning to transfer 105 staff into the new company from April before a restructure takes place by September.

The report on the costs says most job cuts will be "senior management" roles which will overlap once the changes kick in.

The company will take on a number of workers from each partner before shedding around 35 jobs by September, and another 30 over the next decade, as an estimate.

A dedicated team will be set up to identify the "worst performing buildings", mainly the most costly to run and with those with the most spare legroom, to sell them off.

The county's crown jewels will be protected, and each body will have representatives that can veto any potential sale.

Councillor John Campion, cabinet member for transformation and commissioning, said: "No sovereignty is being released because of this, we’re not giving away any assets, I want to make that message absolutely clear.

“But what it will do is mean we’ve got a vehicle for understanding what assets we’ve got across a particular area, and it’s vitally important we move towards this.

“How security is provided, how we buy electricity, how caretaker services are managed, all of these things can be looked at.

"We should be under no illusion that this is an 'exemplar' scheme which the Cabinet Office is taking a great interest in and supporting us with.

"Sleepy Worcestershire is once again leading the way, I believe people expect us to be doing this anyway, but in the layers of bureaucracy it doesn't always happen, other councils are aspiring to do this but are failing to get it off the ground.

"This isn't about 'how many of our assets can we flog', it's about managing our assets the best way we can, like any responsible householder would do."

Councillor Adrian Hardman, county council leader, added: “The public don’t see the difference between public estates, it’s just one ‘public estate’ to them.

“This is a project to drive the absolute best result we can, to save considerable sums of public money, and hopefully capital receipts (sales).”

He also told the chamber Cabinet Office minister Francis Maude had been holding up Worcestershire’s Joint Property Vehicle as an example to the rest of the country.

The six expected partners include Herefordshire Council, Warwickshire and West Mercia Police, the fire service, and district councils in Worcester and Redditch.

The door is still open to other organisations who want to jump in, even after the company launches.

Cllr Campion said he was confident more bodies "will be clambering over themselves" to be a part of it.