ONE chief executive could be running Colchester Council and Braintree Council next year.

The authorities have agreed to set up a joint working group to look into the advantages and disadvantages of sharing their top management staff.

Early estimates suggest the move could save Colchester Council alone £150,000 a year, while protecting frontline services.

Colchester Council leader Anne Turrell said the plans were just the start of attempts to share more services Although she added Tendring had rebuffed any talks of sharing senior officers.

She said: “It will help bring new skills and experience. This is about delivering better value to our residents.

“I would have loved to have joined with Tendring, but we were just not getting anywhere.”

She was backed by top Tory councillor John Jowers.

He said: “Joining together and trying to save services is the only way we are going to survive in the role we have got.

“It is in our common interest.”

The working group will spend the next three months looking at whether sharing chief executives, and possibly other senior staff, is feasible.

If so, a full business case will be drawn up by September and the changes could be in place by April 2012.

Kevin Bentley, leader of Colchester Council’s Conservatives and a working group member, said he was fully in favour of the link.

He said he would be looking at how much the new boss would be paid after new rules were introduced by Communities Secretary Eric Pickles that councillors could vote on whether to allow salaries of £100,000 or more.

In 2009/10 Colchester’s chief executive Adrian Pritchard was paid £117,107 while in the previous year his Braintree counterpart Allan Reid took home £119,000.

Mr Bentley said: “I’ll be making the point this is a chance to review it and to make sure we pay the proper salary.”

Nigel Brown, Tendring Council’s communications manager, said the district needed its own full-time chief executive. He said. “It was felt with the many challenges and issues Tendring faced it required its own chief executive.

“However, we have talked to a number of authorities, including Colchester, over the possibility of shared services options for the future.”