Merged council services in Lincolnshire to save £30m
Two Lincolnshire district councils have agreed to merge five services to try to save £30m over 10 years.
The merger at South Holland District Council and East Lindsey District Council will include customer services and human resources.
The back office staff will still be based at the councils' existing offices in Skegness and Spalding.
The operation of the services will be handed over to a newly-formed private company owned by the two councils.
East Lindsey District Council leader Doreen Stephenson said: "We are convinced we can deliver the services more economically and give better value for money - so we will merge them and set up a new company.
"It may well be a loss of some jobs over time - but councils have been looking at this for some time," she said, adding that the council has been replacing full-time staff with agency workers over the past few years.
It is estimated that the merger will save the councils a total of £30.6m - £19.3m for East Lindsey and £11.3m for South Holland - over the next 10 years.
Under the new system, if you live in Spalding and ring up the council to ask about your benefits, then it could be that your call is taken by someone in Skegness, but councils say that this will not affect services.
Responsibility for the delivery of those services will remain with the chief executives of each council.
The existing customer services, revenues and benefits, ICT, human Resources and finance functions will be transferred to the new firm, a private limited company owned by the councils, on 1 August.