There shouldn't be any compulsory job losses under plans to develop a bigger council partnership, bosses say

The South and East Lincolnshire Councils Partnership recently announced plans to expand to include West Lindsey District Council, in addition to the existing Boston, South Holland and East Lindsey councils arrangement.

Officials say the proposed merger would help them to make significant savings and improve services for residents across the four areas – but details of how the arrangement would work are not yet known, with staff left pondering what it may mean for their future.

A spokesperson for the South & East Lincolnshire Councils Partnership said: “Friday’s announcement on the creation of a new partnership of councils involving West Lindsey District Council, Boston Borough Council, East Lindsey District Council, and South Holland District Council was purely a statement of intent.

“Next month, elected members from all four councils will consider the opportunity and, if approved, will recommend progress to a formal business case early next year where more details will be included.

“What we can say at this stage is, that since its creation in 2021, the existing South & East Lincolnshire Councils Partnership has proved that councils working together can achieve substantial savings by delivering shared services to residents.

“Not only were these savings achieved with no enforced job losses, but by investing in staff development programmes and nurturing the talent the councils already had.

“There is no reason why a new partnership of councils in Lincolnshire can’t deliver the same efficiencies of scale to residents and provide existing staff all the opportunities to develop their careers.

“And, if implemented, be part of a council partnership that will be the largest in the country: something everyone – residents and staff – can be rightly proud of.”

The plans will be discussed in more detail by the four councils over the coming months.