Pembrokeshire County Council will consider all possibile collaboration with neighbouring authorities as they arise but a formal mandate is unlikely to be put in place.

Discussions took place at a recent Partnerships Overview and Scrutiny Committee of a proposal that negotiations with Ceredigion and Carmarthenshire councils be started with a view of cutting the number of chief executives and heads of service.

The plan was put forward by Clr. Michael Williams, Tenby’s county councillor for the NorthWard via a Notice of Motion.

His motion read: “Given the parlous state of Local Government finances there must be a change of approach. I propose that immediate negotiations are commenced with Ceredigion and Sir Gar with the intention of appointing chief officers, directors, and heads of service to service the three authorities as and when circumstances allow.

“For clarification, there would be for example one CEO, and one officer for each directorate or service between the three authorities. This would give a clear indication to Welsh Government that the three LAs are actively collaborating, sharing services and recourses, and achieve considerable revenue savings.”

In support of his proposal Clr. Williams states, in his ‘personal opinion’ - “I cannot see how the present level of management can be sustainable when this happens across all three authorities, and I believe that we should be examining all possible ways of reducing these costs.

“It is ludicrous that we have twenty two authorities in Wales all employing such an expensive level of management. Frankly there is no need for more than ten to twelve LAs in Wales. We must have the courage to advocate this change.”

The issue will be brought back to Cabinet on Monday (April 16) with a report by officers recommending that the motion not be adpoted.