by political editor Paul Francis

Ambitious plans by four east Kent councils to join forces and share services have suffered a damaging setback.

The plan is for the four authorities - Dover, Thanet, Canterbury and Shepway - to develop a far-reaching programme of shared services over the next three years, potentially saving the taxpayer millions of pounds and cutting council tax bills.

But now Shepway council said it is stepping back and wanted to take stock of the latest phase before agreeing to new plans.

It voiced concerns about the costs of some elements of the partnership, saying it was putting on hold plans to link up over ICT, housing benefits, environmental health, mail and community safety.

Chief executive of Shepway council Alistair Stewart said the council wanted some answers before agreeing to go forward.

He said: "We have serious concerns and unless these concerns are satisfactorily addressed we will not be staying in this joint services project."

He said concerns included lack of clarity about set-up costs, unrealistic timescales, lack of clarity about how staff would be selected to run projects and limited involvement from councillors into setting service levels and costs.

He also cited fears that Shepway might actually lose money.

"We are also concerned that there will be financial disadvantages to councils, like Shepway, which have already started making significant efficiencies and transforming their services," he added.

A report has estimated the initiative could cut the council's combined salary bill by as much as £7million over time. At the same time, there could be potentially wide-ranging job cuts over the next three years.

Shepway's decision is a blow to what has been hailed as a ground-breaking initiative. Agreement has been reached already on sharing some services, such as rubbish collections.

Dover council leader Cllr Paul Watkins (Con) said: ""We are confident that this [joint working] will drive down costs and we will make significant savings from it. At this stage, Shepway do not think they will make enough savings. I do not think any council can stand on its own two feet without sharing services."

He added: "From our point of view, we see this as probably the only way forward to produce the savings we know are necessary."

But he accepted that some of the exact details on potential savings had yet to be calculated.

A plan for Dover and Shepway to provide a joint waste collection service is unaffected and will go ahead next year. It is expected to save £1.5million on collection costs alone each year.