Job cuts: Lincolnshire County Council is looking to cut 818 jobs as the authority had over a quarter of its government grant slashed.
Lincolnshire County Council proposals will see 818 people take voluntary or compulsory redundancies, the equivalent of about 607 full-time jobs.
The council issued on Wednesday consultation documents to 3,200 members of staff (around half of all staff), but only three-quarters will remain employed by the authority.
The largest reductions are proposed in children’s services, as this is where the majority of County Council staff are currently employed.
Some staff are not included in these new proposals. Talks to decide the future of a further 1,500 people will take place in the summer.
This includes services such as ICT, Customer Services, and administrative services, collectively employing around 1,500 members of staff.
These proposals do not affect operational firefighters or staff working in schools.
A restructure of the senior management team has already taken place, with 35 senior posts scrapped in a bid to make savings worth £3.5 million.
Overall, the Lincolnshire County Council has to save £125 million over the next 4 years because of a 28% reduction in government grants and increased cost pressures.
The final budget is due to be set at the full Council meeting on February 11.
Once consultations are completed across all employee groups, the council expects to be employing around 5,500 people across Lincolnshire.
Cllr Kelly Smith, Executive Councillor for Finance and Human Resources at the Lincolnshire County Council, said:
“Difficult times call for difficult decisions and to meet a tough budget we have had to look to deliver services in a different way.
“Unfortunately staffing reductions are inevitable, however wherever possible we hope that voluntary redundancies will minimise the number of compulsory redundancies that have to be made.
“We recognise that this is a difficult time for our staff and are increasing support available to them, as well as helping them access opportunities for alternative employment in the future.
“We do not want to have to review services again as this would lead to uncertainty for our staff in the future so we are taking action promptly.”
A dramatic video shows a car engulfed in flames in the car park at Lincoln County Hospital on Tuesday afternoon.
An on-call crew from Lincolnshire Fire & Rescue attended the scene on Greetwell Road shortly before 5pm on Tuesday, April 13.
The crew used one hose reel to extinguish the fire and fortunately no casualties were reported.
The car is probably a write-off. | Photo: The Lincolnite
Dramatic pictures from the scene show the severe damage that was caused to the front of the car.
Fall in county infections but a Boston spike
There have been 50 new coronavirus cases and three COVID-related deaths in Greater Lincolnshire on Tuesday — compared to 58 cases and no deaths this time last week.
The government’s COVID-19 dashboard recorded 26 new cases in Lincolnshire, 19 in North Lincolnshire and five in North East Lincolnshire.
On Tuesday, three deaths were registered in Lincolnshire, none in North East Lincolnshire and -1 in North Lincolnshire. Fluctuations in data are usually due to some deaths in those areas being reallocated to other regions across the UK or a miscount. These figures include deaths both in and out of hospitals, as well as residents in hospitals outside the county.
NHS England has reported two new local hospital deaths at United Lincolnshire Hospitals Trust hospitals.
On Tuesday, national cases increased by 2,472 to 4,375,814, while deaths rose by 23 to 127,123.
In local news, people aged over 45 can now book their COVID vaccinations on the NHS website after the government reached its target of offering a first dose to the nine most vulnerable groups.
There were recently some technical difficulties for people accessing the NHS website, but vaccines minister Nadhim Zahawi said the issues have been fixed – book a vaccine online here and find out if you are eligible.
Over the weekend, Greater Lincolnshire’s infection rate has fallen, with a spike in Boston only.
Similarly, the England average has also seen a drop in infections, but still remains nearly half Greater Lincolnshire’s rates.
Lincoln has dropped by more than half over the weekend and now has one of the smallest rates in the UK, with just 9.1 per 100,000 of the population infected with COVID-19.
Here’s Greater Lincolnshire’s COVID-19 infection rates up to April 12:
Greater Lincolnshire’s infection rates from Apr 5 to Apr 12. | Data: Gov UK / Table: James Mayer for The Lincolnite
In national news, Boris Johnson has warned that the reduction in coronavirus infections, hospitalisations and deaths “has not been achieved” by the rollout of COVID vaccines.
The prime minister, speaking the day after the latest easing of lockdown restrictions, instead said it was the national shutdown that had been “overwhelmingly important” in driving down COVID rates.
England is giving out its first doses of the Moderna jab, the third COVID-19 vaccine in the nation’s rollout.
It will be available at 21 sites, included the Madejski Stadium in Reading and the Sheffield Arena.
Along with the Pfizer jab, it offers an alternative to the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine for under-30s, after concerns about a possible link to very rare blood clots.
Greater Lincolnshire includes Lincolnshire and the unitary authorities of North and North East (Northern) Lincolnshire.
58,772 cases (up 50)
2,184 deaths (up three)
of which 1,302 hospital deaths (up two)
4,375,814 UK cases, 127,123 deaths
There will be another Kill The Bill protest in Lincoln next week, rallying against a new government bill that diminishes protesting rights.
Protests have been rife across the country since the government’s proposed Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill was first discussed, with scenes turning violent in Bristol.
Over two hundred people peacefully took part in the city’s first march at Speakers’ Corner on April 3, including Extinction Rebellion activists and Socialist and Labour supporters.
| Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite
Now, after a post started doing the rounds on social media, another protest has apparently been scheduled for 2pm on Monday, April 17 at the same location on Lincoln High Street, as part of a national day of action.
A poster promoting a second event has been shared across social media platforms.
Protests are lawful once again after the government eased lockdown restrictions on March 29, but organisers are required to submit a risk assessment prior to any event.
| Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite
Organisers of the last protest were in close communication with police to make the event safe, and The Lincolnite has asked Lincolnshire Police if they have been made aware of another protest, but are yet to receive a reply.
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