Lincolnshire County Council leader Martin Hill discusses funding and education

In his latest column, Lincolnshire County Council leader Martin Hill talks about funding and education.

Every year the county council manages a budget of around £1billion to provide essential services and fund vital projects which benefit the residents of Lincolnshire.

Over the past four years, the South Kesteven district has seen an investment of more than £60m – a huge amount, and in addition to the money we spend on ‘everyday services’.

These include looking after the elderly, providing fire and rescue services, disposing of waste and recycling, making sure young people have the best possible start to their lives, and many other vital services.

And the extra funding ensures that our communities have the infrastructure they need so our people and families can thrive.

A significant amount of this investment has gone towards improving and expanding school buildings, and also a brand new school being constructed at Grantham with £8.4m being spent to build the new Poplar Farm Primary School.

Children and families at Market Deeping will also benefit in the years ahead thanks to a £1.2m development to expand and improve the town’s Community Primary School.

In Bourne, we have invested more than £1m to expand the town’s Elsea Park Academy. This investment has enabled us to construct new school buildings, a multi-purpose hall, offices and outside areas and additional parking.

And this is in addition to the £6.5m that we have just agreed to improve special needs education in the area with the expansion of Willoughby Academy, near Bourne, which will see the capacity of the school increased from its current 84, to 148 pupils aged from two to 19.

This will be achieved with the construction of a block with six new classrooms and some remodelling of the existing buildings, with the car park also due to be extended.

In addition to the significant improvements to schools and academies across the county, we have also been investing in major roads projects to reduce and improve the journey times of thousands of motorists.

In South Kesteven, almost £35m has been invested, much of it being ploughed into the new Grantham Southern Relief Road, which will connect the A1 to the A52 at Somerby Hill and hopefully eradicate the frustrating delays motorists in the Grantham area have experienced in recent years.

What do you think? E-mail your views to: news@bournelocal.co.uk