Dear Sir I write further to the article you carried dated 2 July 2014 about proposals that Clackmannanshire and Stirling councils explore developing their approach to sharing education and social services.

Shared services is an issue which has consistently attracted political consensus, not just in one council but in two. Elected members are very clear of the principles surrounding any integration of services and fundamental among those principles is the independent governance of Clackmannanshire. No elected member of any political persuasion is in the business of giving away control and, equally, no elected member will sign up to a business case which disadvantages Clackmannanshire.

I have been particularly disappointed by recent statements on the matter by trade union representatives in Clackmannanshire. Trade unions have been fully consulted on the issue of developing shared services further and there have been a number of meetings since March which they have attended with chief officers and elected members. Only this month, I chaired a meeting of elected members from the two main political groups of the council and the trade union representatives to clarify what is intended in terms of the full business case which is to be carried out and to provide assurances on a wide range of matters of legitimate concern.

Part of the reason for both councils wishing to pursue deeper integration is that the benefits of sharing have reached a plateau. Unfortunately, some trade unions have been rigid in their approach and have consistently put barriers in the way of any attempts to improve services across both areas by creating a more flexible workforce. The full lead authority model offers the opportunity to achieve much better outcomes for the people of Clackmannanshire and Stirling by creating a framework which removes these barriers.

While the trade unions continue to claim that they are not opposed to shared services, their ongoing actions might suggest otherwise. How representative of their members the trade union statements are is not clear. There has been extensive engagement with staff of both education and social services. Far from being in “uproar” as your headline would suggest, practitioners are keen to move to a more effective model of integration as they can see the significant potential that offers to improve services.

The role of elected members is to serve Clackmannanshire and to do what is best for Clackmannanshire. Your readers can be assured that councillors in Clackmannanshire will carry out that role stringently in respect of shared services.

Yours faithfully Cllr Gary Womersley Leader of Clackmannanshire Council