MORE than half a million pounds has been granted to redesign how Selby District Council works.

The funding has been granted from the Government to look at how the authority works in partnership with North Yorkshire County Council, and how that collaboration affects the public.

A statement from Selby District Council said the funding would "make the most of our diminishing resources", by giving more funding to public groups to carry out services on a local level, which would previously have been provided by the authority, and said the changes were "about giving people real power about their own services in their own community".

Council leader Mark Crane said: "Ultimately this is about being able to really understand and deliver the services people need in ways that they need them. Developing online access and central points for local community services is all about us being customer focused in our approach."

Around the country, £89.4m is being given to local authorities, in the hope they can save a combined £900m in the long-term. By passing some services to public groups, Selby and North Yorkshire are expected to save a total of £350,000 per year.

The funding will be used to carry out research among residents to find out their needs, and also to take early action in some areas of public services to prevent later need for work in the community.

Both councils are also looking at using public sector buildings as community hubs or networks to bring together services from different partners in one place.

Chief executive of the council, Mary Weastell, said: "This comes off of the back of a separate grant of over £130,000 to help us deliver significant improvements to our website and customer relationship management system.

"This is a significant achievement, and demonstrates yet again the impact of our work recently to raise the profile of our district and our council. The project also supports closer working between our district and the County Council, which supports the principles of the Better Together project. This is about giving people real power about their own services in their own community."