Plans for North and North East Lincolnshire councils to enter into a shared agreement to jointly provide local taxation and benefits services could save taxpayers £1.3m, mainly by getting rid of 20 full-time equivalent posts.
The agreement, which will cover housing and council tax benefits administration, collection of council tax and non-domestic rates and other shared functions such as systems control, development, scanning and indexing, is expected to go live by July 2012. The new entity will operate across both Council’s sites, with employees remaining at their existing locations while working as a single team.
Liz Redfern, leader of North Lincolnshire Council, said: "The partnership we are about to create between ourselves and North East Lincolnshire council signifies a major step forward to providing a more ‘joined up’ approach to providing key services. It will not only see both councils working more efficiently, but will provide a better service to the people of North and North East Lincolnshire."
Sharing services in this way will mean that more than 20 full-time equivalent posts are no longer required. Affected employees will be offered retraining and redeployment options within each of the councils. Designated employees will also gain immediate access to any necessary data in accordance with the Data Protection Act, although each body will maintain their own records.
