Two councils in Hertfordshire have agreed to expand the number of services they share.

Stevenage BC and East Herts DC already share their revenue and benefits services and will now merge their information and communications technology, business improvement, and print and design departments.

The move was announced after Stevenage's executive yesterday followed its counterparts in East Herts, which approved the recommendation last week.

East Herts' executive member for economic development Cllr Paul Phillips said the main objectives of sharing services were ‘delivering efficiencies, strengthening resilience and increasing capacity to support ongoing service development'.

Cllr Phillips said he was ‘confident' that each authority's strategy document would allow them to move forward if there were any disputes.

The partnership will be launched this summer, when current East Herts staff will transfer to Stevenage's employment.

Stevenage leader Cllr Sharon Taylor said: ‘To enable our councils to deliver excellent frontline services to our communities, we must ensure we have professional and resilient support services to rely on.

‘Working in partnership with East Herts will strengthen both our support services and give all our council tax payers better value for money.'

East Herts leader Cllr Tony Jackson added: ‘East Herts and Stevenage have already established an effective partnership working arrangement through the shared revenues and benefits service.

‘Broadening the scope of the services offered by working together allows us to focus on providing first-class services to our customers while keeping back office costs to a minimum.'