Lincolnshire County Council and South Kesteven District Council outline local government reorganisation proposals ahead of March 21 deadline

Council bosses are hoping the government will help cover the cost of reorganisation in what has been dubbed the biggest shake-up of local government in 50 years.

Interim proposals on how Greater Lincolnshire should be divided are set to be submitted by this Friday (March 21), reducing the number of councils from 10 to as few as two.

Government criteria require each unitary authority to serve at least 500,000 people, minimise service disruption, and stay within county boundaries.

Lincolnshire County Council outlined two main options ahead of an Overview and Scrutiny Management Board meeting yesterday (Monday, March 17). One proposal merges North Lincolnshire and North East Lincolnshire into a single northern authority, with the rest of the county forming another council.

The second option combines North Lincolnshire and North East Lincolnshire with West Lindsey and East Lindsey, while Lincoln, North Kesteven, South Kesteven, Boston, and South Holland would form another authority. Both proposals are set to be discussed at a full council meeting this Friday.

The first of these is estimated to cost £27 million and is expected to save £250 million over its first 10 years. While option two would cost an estimated £42 million, with a projected 10-year saving of £246 million.

When asked about the cost of such a big change, Coun Martin Hill (Con), leader of Lincolnshire County Council, said: “Local government reorganisation will certainly mean some upfront costs, that we would see paid back in efficiency savings in the following years. Having two councils for Greater Lincolnshire instead of 10 would see ongoing savings every year - from fewer senior managers and fewer councillors as well as more streamlining of work. And residents will benefit from having a more straight-forward council system.

“If the national modelling is applied to Lincolnshire, depending on the model chosen and how it was implemented, we could see the initial cost being between £27m and £45m. This could be paid back in anything from a few years to seven years. Any proposal will require further detailed work as a final business case is prepared - the more councils and division of services, the more likely it is that the transition costs would be higher.

“As reorganisation is now a requirement, we would hope that a government contribution to some of the costs would be made. We manage our finances very carefully as a county council and would continue to be prudent with any decisions relating to funding reorganisation.”

On Tuesday (March 18), South Kesteven District Council approved its proposal to split Greater Lincolnshire into three unitary authorities and merge the southern areas with Rutland.

The proposal outlines:

* South Kesteven, North Kesteven, South Holland, and Rutland – population 405,519

* Boston, East Lindsey, West Lindsey, and the City of Lincoln – population 417,932

* North Lincolnshire and North East Lincolnshire – population 328,422

Ahead of the meeting, Richard Wyles, deputy chief executive and section 151 officer, said: “Reorganisation would necessitate the costs and funding of all current local authorities within scope of the proposed new authority to be re-aggregated into the proposed model. This will require detailed and intense analysis of the finances structures to fully understand whether the new authority would provide the financial resilience that is being required under LGR.

“Therefore, it is important that extensive due diligence will be required so that the council has as good an understanding as possible with regards to the financial position of the councils that may be included in the final submission.

“The cost of change is likely to be significant and the council will need to resource in due course unless government funding is provided. Further decisions regarding the allocation of resources to fund LGR may be required at a later date once Government has fed back on the initial submission.”

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government Press Office has been approached for comment.