A SENIOR councillor has hit out after the latest round of managers were appointed in a partnership between two councils.

Weymouth and Portland Borough Council’s spokesman for community safety Ian James claims his officers have lost out following the appointment of senior managers for the Westwey partnership with West Dorset District Coun-cil.

The two councils have agreed to work together with officers working closely across the two authorities. Of the 16 senior managers appointed, 11 were previously at West Dorset District Council compared to just five from Weymouth and Portland Borough Council.

Last year WDDC chief executive David Clarke was also appointed ahead of his counterpart at WPBC Tom Grainger as chief executive for the two councils.

After the latest appointments were revealed, Coun James said: “It appears to look like a takeover by West Dorset and if I’m honest I was very disappointed.

“Weymouth and Portland has some very good officers and they didn’t get chosen.”

Coun James accepted that the council had agreed to the selection process to appoint the new managers and that there had been input from councillors in the steering panel. However, he said: “Had I known it would have turned out like this I would have looked at it differently.

“Needless to say I’m disappointed and I feel for the people that weren’t selected, especially from Weymouth and Portland, who now face an uncertain future.”

Coun James said he felt ‘a little bit guilty’ because he believed WPBC’s decision last year to restructure from a four-tier management, like WDDC, to a three-tier system had cost his officers during the appointment process.

He said: “Had I known then what I know now I would never have gone for a three tier system.”

The Westwey Partnership hopes to achieve savings of £8.5million over the next five years and the number of senior managers across the two bodies has now been more than halved, from 45 in the original structure to 22 in the joint working model.

Overall the partnership has now identified posts with a total value of more than £600,000 across the two authorities, which are being held vacant pending their removal in the new structure.

The exact total of savings achieved by the latest reduction in manager posts has not been identified, as those managers who were unsuccessful will have a chance to reapply for other positions within the organisation.

Chief executive Mr Clarke said: “The directors and I are confident that, after a fair and competitive process, we have the right team in place to meet the challenges facing us, and we are looking forward to working together to further shape the partnership in the interests of both Weymouth and Portland and West Dorset councils.”