A NEW company established by Cotswold District Council and three other councils has officially launched, despite concerns over ‘democratic accountability’.

Yesterday, 98 per cent of employees at CDC and staff at councils in Cheltenham, the Forest of Dean and West Oxfordshire were transferred to Publica Ltd, a company set up by the four authorities.

The creation of the one company aims to streamline services and reduce costs associated with management and administration.

Speaking at a full council meeting last month, Joe Harris, leader of the Cotswold Lib Dems, said the creation of Publica Ltd was “a total revolution in the way that we know councils and the way that we know how they operate.”

He added that he “welcomed the move” but said there were “cross party concerns” which included a lack of “democratic accountability.”

Fellow Lib Dem and Cirencester Mayor Nigel Robbins said: "As elected members, one of our duties is to make sure you are getting really good value for money for the public services run by the District Council.

“What I want to know about this company is, are we going to have the same direct access to the people responsible at whatever level who are running the services, or is there going to be some elaborate protocol?”

“How, as a council, are we going to measure the effectiveness of Publica?” he added.

However, leader of CDC, Conservative councillor Mark Annett said: “This is an exciting time for us as we take the next step of our journey with our partner councils to create a jointly owned public company.

“Publica is a creative and enterprising solution to our modern day challenges and I am confident that our communities will benefit from the continued shared experience and expertise this brings together from staff across all four councils.”

For more information on Publica, visit publicagroup.co.uk