BURY and Bolton councils are to increase ways of working together in a bid to save cash.

Each authority’s executive meeting has now approved proposals to form an alliance, with the two bodies set to sign a memorandum of understanding which will promote a closer partnership.

The two organisations will look at how they can work together on services they both provide, which could also give them stronger purchasing power.

One of the first areas that will be explored is the transport services bought and managed across both authorities.

Bury’s executive agreed to support the idea last Wednesday, followed by members of Bolton’s executive on Monday.

Cllr Bob Bibby, leader of Bury Council, said: “This joint working initiative builds on the work we are already doing with other public sector services in Bury as part of Team Bury and with other local authorities in Greater Manchester.

“The results of this initiative will allow us to produce benefits for the local community which are beyond what we can do as an individual authority.

“We want to make sure that the two councils share intelligence and key data so we can learn together how improvements can be made to services.

“This is an exciting project for Bury to be involved in and I look forward to working closely with my colleagues in Bolton.”

Bolton Council has stressed the move is not a first step towards a merger of the two councils.

Sean Harriss, chief executive, said: “The two councils will always remain two separate authorities.

“We know we are going to have to save significant amounts of money of the next three to four years. I don’t think it will provide the majority of the savings, but it will make a contribution.”

Cllr Cliff Morris, leader of Bolton Council, added: “We realise that there are benefits from both councils for sharing and potentially combining information, skills and efforts to deliver on the priorities for both Bury and Bolton.

“We know that partnerships are successful and significant benefits can be delivered to the local population by ensuring that there is joined-up thinking between different organisations.

“From working with Bury we want to take this one step further and develop a relationship which has positive and innovative outcomes for the residents of both boroughs.”