EFFICIENT organisation at Vauxhall’s Ellesmere Port plant has provided the council with a source of inspiration.

Cheshire West and Chester Council’s chief executive Steve Robinson says the way the plant has ridden the economic storm is a good model for the council.

Mr Robinson was addressing fears frontline services would suffer with a 10% cut in spending next year.

He says the continued survival of the Vauxhall plant due to its efficiency, despite cuts, sets a good example.

He said: “Vauxhall have had to think ‘how can we make cars in a more efficient way? How can we influence our supply chain?’

“We can learn a lot of lessons from the private sector and the likes of Vauxhall.

“I’ve toured the plant and experienced what’s going on and looked at how they completely redesigned their processes.

“The way that’s developed is very impressive. The way Vauxhall managed the downturn allowed them to retrain their staff around the new Astra model so you’re not looking at major redundancies because you’re planning ahead.”

Mr Robinson added the new council had saved £30m in its first year and had set itself up in the knowledge that cuts in funds would be made.

He said: “We haven’t cut frontline services. We cut out a whole raft of management and tried to rethink how the jobs can be done.

“We thought are there people who can do a better job for us? It’s similar to what a lot of the private sector have gone through.

“Even if the money was the same we would still make those efficiency savings.”