Lincolnshire county councillors consider best way to deliver major changes
A plan to split Lincolnshire in two with a pair of new councils has been put forward in a bid to ensure major change does not 'disrupt' services in a 'mad' and 'dangerous' way.
A major shake-up is planned that would see the existing county and district authorities scrapped and replaced with larger unitary councils.
A Lincolnshire County Council overview and scrutiny management board held on Thursday June 26 saw members consider two ways of doing this.
The first option was to have one unitary council for North and North East Lincolnshire and a second county area for the rest of Lincolnshire. The second option would see North, North East Lincolnshire, East Lindsey and West Lindsey group together into one unitary authority, with a second unitary council being formed of Lincoln, North Kesteven, South Kesteven, Boston and South Holland. Several other options have also been floated by other councils in the past but these were not part of the board's discussion.
Members chose the first of the two options put to them.
Coun Richard Davies, leader of the Conservative Group at Lincolnshire County Council, said: "We've got great services that are delicately balanced and have taken some time to get there. These services can be impacted badly very quickly, so the idea of breaking them up is simply mad."
He added: "I've spent a lot of time knocking on doors and not once has a resident of Grantham ever said to me they want to get into detailed discussion with you about who empties my bins. No, what they say is, please get back to weekly bins, I don't care about who deals with it."
Coun Martin Hill (Conservative) said this proposal would avoid harming council services across the county.
The former leader of Lincolnshire County Council, who represents the Folkingham Rural division, said: "In terms of what is being presented, I would support the proposal. What matters for the residents, and I think we need to remember that here, is the big services like social care, highways, children's services and all those. To disrupt those would be highly dangerous and we know that a lot of councils are in pretty big trouble both in finance and performance because they are struggling to deliver those services."
While this motion was passed, many councillors raised concerns that the plan could make residents feel they're not as well represented locally.
Leader of South Kesteven District Council Ashley Baxter said he didn't agree with either of the proposals.
He said: "I can tell you now, having travelled up from the Deepings today, that the existing Lincolnshire (county council area) is too big. It's an awful long way from where I am and it's an awful long way from the border of North Lincolnshire and it's difficult for residents to engage with the machine at Lincoln."
Other councillors said they needed to put politics aside and consider what is best for people in Lincolnshire.
Lincolnshire County Council deputy leader Rob Gibson (Reform UK) said: "The criteria was set and given to us last year. Whatever happens this is going to the secretary of state and he will make the decision, not us. We're not here to say what's best for our district, we're here to select the best option for the county."
Coun Lindsey Cawrey (Conservative) said: "We need to set aside our personal and party-political preferences and our personal ambitions and the needs of our residents are at the heart of our decisions."
County council head of transformation Clare Rowley said: "We will absolutely be conducting public engagement as part of this process. That is absolutely key to our proposal and also assuring the government and residents do support the proposal put forward.
"We believe that option one and option two do support the devolution arrangements that already exist within Lincolnshire."
Councillors will formerly vote on the proposal on July 8.
