March 6, 2012 7.48 pm This story is over 144 months old

Council approves £4m recession budget

More funding: A plan to tackle the recession issues in Lincoln have been approved by the City of Lincoln Council.
The deteriorated Grandstand will benefit from the plans

– Update on March 12 at 12pm: The City of Lincoln Council’s five year strategic plan and two year delivery plan have now been published online, available to members of the public.

The City of Lincoln Council approved plans to spend £4 million on tackling the effects of recession in the city at a Full Council meeting on Tuesday evening.

The five-year plan, plus two-year delivery plan, aims to introduce 98 different projects to help with unemployment, housing issues and social wellbeing in the community.

Around £2 million will provide mortgage indemnity for first time home buyers in Lincoln, and the council will act as a guarantor for new home buyers purchasing a home in Lincoln worth around £100,000.

Another £10,000 per year will be invested into the Visit Lincoln Partnership, and £30,000 will be used to reduce Lincoln’s carbon footprint.

City Hall will have its facilities improved, such as new public meeting rooms and interview space, with £175,000.

Apprenticeship schemes at the council and partners will get £75,000 per year, focusing on young people not in employment, education or training.

Some £150,000 will be passed onto small business or social enterprises as a support programme, aiming to stimulate the economy and job market.

Meanwhile, £125,000 will establish day care centres for the homeless, in the hope of reducing public anti-social behaviour.

Around the city, the Grandstand will get £100,000 in maintenance, but this funding will also help reduce future deterioration, a new cemetery will be created costing £700,000 (starting cost), and allotments will receive £75,000 as part of the upcoming new allotment strategy.

Money will also be provided to study the Western Growth Corridor in Swanpool, with the intention to build homes and create jobs, and a city-wide version of Neighbourhood Management.

However, in order to free some of the funding, leisure and IT schemes will take a cut, plus the council’s workforce could shrink.

The plan came to fruition after the council acknowledged the 3,242 on Jobseeker’s Allowance, 3,000 people on the housing waiting list and 25% of children living below the poverty line in Lincoln.

City of Lincoln Council Leader, Ric Metcalfe, said: “We take the problems facing Lincoln very seriously and have spoken to the people and stakeholders in the city and are addressing their issues with evidence based decisions from thorough research.”

Some of the projects will be implemented as early as April 2012.