They spent four years in opposition. Labour now has 17 councillors, while the Conservatives have 15.
Councillor Ric Metcalfe, Lincoln Labour’s leader, will head the City Council.
Cllr Metcalfe said: “We plan to reduce the size of the Executive committee to improve the effectiveness of decision-making and make financial savings.
“We will merge the ‘customer services’ portfolio into ‘corporate management’, making sure it remains a high priority, and we’ll sit ‘environment’ alongside ‘public protection’ as we feel the two go hand in hand.
“These are challenging times, but we are determined not to allow this to prevent us from trying to do the very best for the people of Lincoln.
“We have a very experienced and energetic team providing the leadership the city needs.”
A new “Community Leadership Scrutiny Committee” is being created, to “scrutinise plans, actions or decisions made by the council’s partner organisations that are responsible for services in the city.”
According to Cllr Metcalfe: “There are many things that the council does not have responsibility for, but which can have a very significant effect on the lives of the people we represent.
“If decisions are made about public transport, health services or policing in the area, we want to be in a position to scrutinise these decisions and speak up for the people of Lincoln.”
It’s expected the cabinet will be ratified at the council’s Annual General Meeting on May 24.
The new Labour cabinet
Ric Metcalfe
Leader of the City of Lincoln Council – Councillor Ric Metcalfe
Councillor Metcalfe has worked in local government and served as a member of the council since 1982.
His ‘corporate management’ portfolio means he should provide direction to the council, oversee its strategic governance including financial management, and act as the council’s leading representative and spokesperson.
Donald Nannestadt
Recreational Services and Health – Deputy Leader Councillor Donald Nannestadt
Councillor Nannestadt is a professional journalist who has been a member of the council since 1994.
He has a passionate interest in seeing sporting opportunities developed for the whole community and reaping the health benefits from increased participation in sport.
Faye Smith
Environmental Services and Public Protection – Councillor Fay Smith
Councillor Smith is a former local government officer who has been a member of the council for thirteen years and has previous experience of the ‘environment’ portfolio.
She is very keen to promote recycling and to develop significantly the council’s programme for dealing with the effects of climate change.
Social Inclusion and Community Cohesion – Councillor Brent Charlesworth
Councillor Charlesworth is a retired university teacher. He has been a member of the City of Lincoln Council since 2007, but has previous experience as a councillor in Nottingham, where he served as the city’s Lord Mayor.
He has a passion for addressing the needs of disadvantaged communities and will be leading the council’s efforts to reduce these disadvantages experienced by a number of communities in Lincoln.
Neil Murray
Planning Policy and Economic Regeneration – Councillor Neil Murray
Councillor Murray holds a senior position in a social care organisation. He has been a member of the council since 1983 and ha extensive experience in the ‘planning policy and economic regeneration’ portfolio.
He is particularly concerned about high levels of young unemployed people in the city and will see this as one of his immediate priorities. Councillor Murray said: “We must get the local economy moving again, attract more inward investment and support local employment.”
Housing – Councillor Richard Coupland
Councillor Coupland has been a member of the council since 1992 and has extensive experience of having responsibility for housing.
He said: “I am determined to address the need to increase the supply of affordable housing to rent and to improve the council’s performance as a landlord.”
Performance Scrutiny Committee – Councillor Peter West Policy Scrutiny Committee – Councillor David Jackson Community Leadership Scrutiny Committee – Councillor Karen Lee
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Lincolnshire residents are already feeling the impact of the rise in energy bills, which could soar to over £4,000 next year, with some saying they will just cancel their direct debits.
Energy bills for a typical household could hit £4,266 next year, experts warned. The higher estimate means the average household would be paying £550 a month, instead of £164 a month currently.
Two Lincolnshire MPs said they are pleased with the support being offered by the government so far, while a third sounded the alarm for extra support.
This comes after Cornwall Insight criticised regulator Ofgem’s decision to change the price cap every three months instead of six, as higher wholesale prices are also forecast. However, Ofgem said no forecast for next year could be “robust” at this stage and had “limited value”, according to the BBC.
In May, a £400 energy bill support was announced which was calculated on the basis of Ofgem’s prediction at the time that the price cap was likely to rise to £2,800, but experts now believe this will be higher. Here’s an explainer on how to access the energy grant here.
The Don’t Pay UK movement is demanding a reduction in energy bills to an affordable level, saying: “We will cancel our direct debt from October 1, if we are ignored. We will take this action if pledges reach one million by then.”
This sentiment was echoed by The Lincolnite readers, including Laura Jayne Coupland who said: “I will just cancel my direct debit because it’s an absolute joke. It’s about time the government intervened properly, if you care about the people and the economy so much, why are you allowing it? Let me guess, you will benefit from it.”
Kayleigh Dawson said: “I’ve cancelled my energy direct debits and will pay monthly what I can afford to. I’m more conscious on how much money I’m spending on outgoings and limiting them where possible.
“But, in complete honesty, who is not worried about the ever rising cost of just living and surviving? We shouldn’t be going from being comfortable to scraping by because those in powerful positions want second and third homes.”
Karl Anders said: “People seem to have no spare cash nowadays. My print business has gone from £108k during the pandemic to £5k this year. On top of this, we’ll probably be paying £300-£400 a month energy soon based on already thrifty usage.
“I don’t think many people understand how bad it’s going to get with food price rises, etc. There is a “I’ll put a jumper on” mentality currently, which will soon be shattered in October.”
Michael Basford said: “You do what our grandparents did, you cut your cloth. Our grandparents generation were amazing and very pragmatic when it came to making a little go far.
“Make do and mend as my grandmother use to say. So people should be planning for the worst case scenario now, not when it’s here and then too late. Own it.”
Peter Sykes said: “It’ll impact me by not using my heating. Probably not being able to pay my bills. Not able to buy food. Probably lead to a lot of people needlessly dying.”
Karen Price said: “Just had a bill for gas and lecky just under £3k for 8 months! British Gas put an estimate on the bill saying it will be just under £6k for 12 months next year.
“I’m not holding my breath for the October increases and tied myself in to a fixed not variable.
“Since my last supplier went bankrupt and it’s taken oven 8 months for British Gas to get us fully swapped over, it’s already increased tariff twice.
“Five years ago I was paying under £160 per month for both utilities. £2k per year, it’s now getting beyond a joke, considering three family members no longer live at home.
Ady Brodrick said: “Rising costs are a terrible thing for people, however with a change in lifestyle and some education the cost could be reduced. Sometimes it is situations like this that makes us change.”
Dennis Murray said: “Not quite sure how all this happened, except for a bit of rumouring. The country is definitely not going to survive under the current charges.
“Businesses are going to go to the wall, people on low wages are going to end up on full-time benefits, the countries tax recipes will collapse.
“There WILL be anarchy on our streets, people who have never demonstrate will now do it, crime will increase, people will cancel house, car, life, home insurance because they will not be able to afford it.
“Pensioners and other vulnerable people will turn their heating down, and some will die. Transport and personal cars will be a no no. I could go on and on. But this is reality, and what we are facing if something is not done now.”
Lincolnshire County Councillor Colin Davie said there were challenging times ahead for people on low incomes due to rising energy costs and political instability.
He said successive governments “of all colours” had “simply failed the British public on energy”.
“They haven’t planned, they haven’t invested, they haven’t built the infrastructure. So rising energy costs, which we should have been protected, are now absolutely under the whims of other people.”
He said there needed to be a balanced energy mix including solar, nuclear, wind, but that the current infrastructure was disconnected and “not secure”.
And he warned it was only going to get worse with reserves from Norway drying up and other countries having to make drastic changes over how much they export.
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