HEREFORDSHIRE Council and Herefordshire Primary Care Trust already work closely together on a range of services. Now they want to go further and extend this policy.

It will involve removing the boundaries between who does what, bringing together the way public services are paid for, having a single management structure and combining or sharing services.

Under the proposals, both the existing council and the PCT will remain as staututory bodies. Legally it is not possible to merge, or dissolve them.

Instead they will become the main branches of a Herefordshire Public Services Trust, made up of a newly appointed single chief executive, the council's cabinet of elected councillors and service directors and the PCT's board of executive and non-executive directors.

The new board would be responsible for improving value for money, enable savings to be reinvested in providing local services, streamline how decisions are made and decide how money and resources are allocated.

Roger Phillips, leader of the council, described the proposals as groundbreaking and said the views of people were paramount in shaping a better future for public services.

Joanna Newton, chairman of the PCT, said there were increasing common agendas to improve health and well-being across Herefordshire and the new trust would give a tremendous opportunity to plan services jointly, with tailor-made ones built around individual users, rather than organisations.

Public consultations start this week and will end on Tuesday, July 31. Depending on people's views a shadow Herefordshire Public Service Trust could be set up in the autumn and be in full force next year.

Representatives of the council and the PCT will be present at public meetings to explain the proposals at the Fire Station, Peterchurch, on July 10 ; John Kyrle High School, Ross-on-Wye on Tuesday, June 26; Leominster Community Centre on Tuesday, July 3; the Public Hall, Bromyard on Thursday, July 12; Lady Hawkins Community Centre, Kington on Tuesday, July 17; Burgage Hall, Ledbury on Thursday, July 19; and the Three Counties Hotel, Belmont, Hereford. on Tuesday, July 24.

All the meetings start at 7.30pm.

A special consultation web site, with additional information on the public service trust proposal and the means to post views on-line, is set up with the address www.publicservice trust.info A summary or full consultation document is available by calling Helen Playdon on 01432 383515.