Deadline for having you say on how services will be run

Time is running out for residents to have their say on how their services will be run in the Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) for Greater Lincolnshire.

The deadline to take part in the consultation on the various options for how the county’s local government will be divided is tomorrow, March 26 at midnight.

The Government believes unitary councils can lead to better outcomes for residents and save large sums of money that can be reinvested in public services so has launched the biggest reorganisation of local authorities since the 1970s.

It wants to see new unitary councils of the right size to achieve efficiencies, improve capacity and withstand financial shocks. For most areas this will mean creating councils with a population around 500,000.

Greater Lincolnshire is one of the areas impacted and is currently made up of Lincolnshire County Council, North Lincolnshire Council, North East Lincolnshire Council, Boston Borough Council, City of Lincoln Council, East Lindsey District Council, North Kesteven District Council, South Holland District Council, South Kesteven District Council and West Lindsey District Council.

All of the authorities listed were invited to make their recommendations for LGR – six were submitted with four being chosen to go forward and a summary of these is published below.

• The proposal by City of Lincoln Council to create two new unitary authorities across the area currently covered by the two-tier system in Lincolnshire – a Lincoln City Unitary and a Rural Lincolnshire Unitary. The proposal recommends that North East Lincolnshire and North Lincolnshire remain as existing unitary authorities, with the potential to combine as one unitary authority in the future.

• Lincolnshire County Council, and the two unitary authorities of North and North East Lincolnshire have submitted a ‘three-way’ proposal. This has an overarching recommendation to keep the existing boundaries of those authority areas. There are three sections of that overall Proposal that detail the ambitions, the visions, and the aspirations of a three unitary authority model going forward.

• Making the case for a new council combining the Kestevens with the neighbouring South Holland district. Boston, Lincoln and East and West Lindsey would form a separate authority of a similar size. North and North East Lincolnshire Councils would remain as they are for now, but with a view to a potential merger.  

• The South & East Lincolnshire Councils Partnership proposal, brought forward by East Lindsey District Council, South Holland District Council and Boston Borough Council, replaces ten councils with two authorities of a similar size - one in the North, one in the South.

See all the detailed proposals at www.GreaterLincolnshireLGRhub.org   

Submit your views at https://consult.communities.gov.uk/local-government-reorganisation/lincolnshire-nlincolnshire-nelincolnshire/

All of the proposals and supporting appendices plus an overview of the LGR process can be found at www.greaterlincolnshireLGRhub.org