District council go back to Breckland to share officers

Just months after South Holland District Council broke up with its counterparts at Breckland, the authorities are set to share some officers again.

In July the district council began a partnership with Boston Borough and East Lindsey District Councils after splitting with the Norfolk-based council it had shared services with for more than ten years.

A part-time head of paid services, Nathan Elvery was brought in to oversee the break up and a link up with Lincolnshire councils.

But at next week meeting of South Holland District Council its councillors will be asked to vote through a proposal to share legal services officers, procurement and contracts officers, and the environmental protection business support officer.

The report to the council states: “Whilst the existing shared management Memorandum of Agreement is now largely obsolete that agreement, as amended, allowed each council to continue to place any of the officers affected by that agreement at the disposal of the non-employing council on terms to be agreed.”

It continues: “The proposed agreement will extend some on-going shared officer arrangements and provide some certainty pending each authority finalising any future sharing arrangements.”

The report says that either authority can terminate the agreement with six months notice or at a shorter time scale if agreed by both sides.

It doesn’t say why South Holland couldn’t share the officers with its new partners in the South and East Lincolnshire Partnership.

At the same meeting a separate report asks for councillors to vote through new committees and changes to South Holland District Councli’s constitution in light of the new partnership which came into effect in July.