South Holland's deal with Boston and East Lindsey set for debate

Councillors are set to have their say on a plan to share a management team with Boston and East Lindsey.

Members of South Holland District Council are set to meet in person at Springfields in Spalding tonight (Thursday), where they will discuss a proposed ‘strategic partnership’.

The new arrangement would see senior leaders shared across all three authorities, replacing a previous deal with Breckland District Council in Norfolk.

Sharing services is seen by the council as the way to cope with huge Government funding cuts and avoid cuts to front line services.

Boston councillors discussed the deal on Monday night and agreed to proceed to the next stage - although it’s understood they vowed to carry out their own extra layer of scrutiny on the arrangement.

East Lindsey councillors were also due to have a say last night (Wednesday).

Coun Angela Newton, leader of the opposition, said she is broadly in favour of the plan as a result of the current economic picture. She said: “I think as far as shared working is concerned it is forced on us with the financial situation.

“We are going to have to do more with less and make it work.

“It just seems like the right thing to do at the moment.”

Coun Newton said that in an ideal scenario the council would have its own senior team, adding: “A lot will go down to getting the right officers in the right place, hopefully we can make sure we get good people.”

Coun Newton said she would also like to see more and more officers return to working from the office in Priory Road, especially to help residents who were not comfortable with handling queries online.

Members of the district performance monitoring and policy development panels met on Tuesday night for a debate on the recommendations ahead of tonight’s meeting.