Serco has beaten rival provider Agilisys to win a £70 million contract to provide back customer-facing and back office functions for Lincolnshire County Council.

The five-year contract will cover ICT in addition to finance, human resources and customer relations services.

The council believes the contract will save it more than £14 million over the course of the contract, which has an option to extend for two further two-year periods.

Martin Hill, leader of the council, said: “We are pleased to have signed this important contract with Serco and look forward to them delivering a better deal with more savings, as well as creating additional local employment opportunities.”

Jonathan Prew, managing director of Serco’s public sector BPO business, said: “By introducing new technology and ways of working, we will help improve services and drive efficiencies for the council.

“However, the most important thing is a smooth transition with no drop in service for citizens and Council staff.”

The ICT element of the contract will cover ICT Infrastructure and Support, using ITIL standards, including professional advice, management and support of software applications, implementation and management of an ERP system, provision and management of data and voice networks, server, desktop and storage provision, a helpdesk and miscellaneous projects.

Serco will start work on the contract from April.