Three-million pounds of taxpayers' money is being saved by a host of public services sharing the same IT network, it has been revealed.
Uttoxeter rate-payers are no longer funding separate network charges for several councils and NHS organisations after they resolved to connect to the same service.
Staffordshire County Council and Staffordshire and Shropshire Health Informatics Service (SSHIS) are the latest to join the joint network, which also includes all the counties borough and district councils and Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service.
The move connects more than 30,000 workers across more than 500 sites.
Mike Sutherland, Staffordshire County Council’s Cabinet member for finance, said: "Working together to share services wherever possible means we get the best value we can for taxpayers.
"So far our collaboration is saving taxpayers around £3 million over five years and we anticipate further savings as we prepare to halve the number of data centres currently in use by sharing this infrastructure."
Jayne Deaville, director of finance and performance at South Staffordshire and Shropshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, said: "Historically we have been completely separate, but now hospitals, clinics and GP surgeries are linked to council offices, which offers all kinds of flexibility for the future.
"This has been a complex process but the successful collaboration means we can explore other opportunities to share systems and resources and save taxpayers’ money which can be spent on front line services."
