CHESHIRE'S councils are taking business services back in-house, affecting 330 members of staff.

A company called CoSocius was set up in May 2014 to provide business services to Cheshire West and Chester Council and Cheshire East Council with the opportunity to trade commercially.

Following a review, the Cheshire shared services joint committee has decided to bring the services back under the remit of each council.

Cheshire East Council will now provide ICT services to both councils and Cheshire West and Chester Council will provide finance and transactional human resources services.

The committee said this decision will allow the councils to review and develop their requirements in a fast changing environment ensuring they have modern and economic solutions which reflect the changing nature of councils.

Staff working in these services will be transferred to one of the two councils starting in April 2016 or sooner.

In the meantime, the company will continue to trade as normal.

Councillor Louise Gittins, Deputy Leader of Cheshire West and Chester Council and committee member, said: "CoSocius has had a number of notable successes, however, we are constantly reviewing the service to ensure we get best value for money for our council tax payers.

"Staff who transfer to one of the two councils will be protected and services will now be delivered in-house with a shared arrangement to ensure value for money."

Dave Hudson, managing director of CoSocius, said: "The committee acknowledged that CoSocius had made progress in a number of areas and contributed to the success of other areas of both councils, however the changing environment meant that many aspects of the company’s original agreed business plan had needed revisiting.

"I particularly would like to thank all the staff at CoSocius for their significant contributions and hard work over the last 18 months."