Union members protest against budget and job cuts back in December 2010.
Update @ 1.55pm on May 11
Unison staff at Lincolnshire County Council have voted against a strike, but they will still take industrial action against their bosses.
Over 68% of members balloted voted to “work to rule”, with 35.3% voting to strike.
John Sharman, Unison Branch Secretary for Lincolnshire, said: “This result comes as no surprise. Unison members have made it clear throughout that they will not take the cuts lying down. The work to rule will be a massive managerial headache for the County Council.
“Our members will stop working unpaid overtime, stop taking on additional responsibilities above their paid duties, and insist on proper rest breaks. The council relies on the good will of its staff – this vote says that goodwill has been lost.”
Over 800 trade union members are currently working to rule in Adult Social Care in the county. Today’s result means that they will be joined by colleagues in all parts of the council, including Children’s Services where over 500 people are being made redundant.
Sharman continued: “The fact that over a third of voters do want to strike sends out a clear message for the future. Lincolnshire simply does not have a history of local strikes, so although we haven’t got a majority this time, a marker has been set down. Not only does the County Council face industrial action now, it has to expect an escalation in times to come.”
Original @ 11.02am on May 11
Lincolnshire County Council staff are being balloted over strike action, after redundancy talks between the council and unions broke down on Monday night.
Discussions were facilitated by the dispute resolution service ACAS. The council did not uphold the unions’ dispute.
Unison is currently balloting its 2,500 members on strike action.
A joint statement from Unison secretaries John Sharman and David Forbes said: “Representatives of the three unions involved were disappointed that the council refused to budge from the position it has held since its budget proposals were first published.
“Even aside from the national argument that the government’s attack on public services is unjustified, the council has refused to alter its stance that its own staff must take a disproportionate hit at the start of the four-year budget cycle.
“The trade unions remain convinced that the scale of planned redundancies is not necessary, that information provided for the worst hit service areas is inadequate for meaningful consultation, and that detrimental changes to conditions of service, immediate and threatened, are unwarranted.
“We are sorry that the council has not taken this opportunity to avert industrial action. We are also confident that members will support that action, as the only course left to fight the cuts.”
David O’Connor, LCC’s Executive Director of Performance and Governance, said: “At a special meeting of the council’s Joint Consultative Committee (JCC) on Monday, the formal trade union dispute was not upheld.
“Talks will continue between the council and the trade unions however the dispute procedure itself has been concluded. Therefore the implementation of the council’s proposals for restructuring will now continue.
“There were no alternative proposals put forward by the trade unions during the dispute on how the council’s budget should be allocated, except that job losses should only occur through natural wastage.
“The council has managed vacancies over the past few years, and not filling posts has saved the authority around £6 million. However, we are currently in a situation where we need to save £57million this year.”
The Unison ballot closes on May 11. A result will be announced soon after. Unison’s Branch Council meets on May 12 to decide its next steps.
Photo: Peter Barton
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Emergency repairs to the A16 near Crowland have been completed just over 48 hours after the road had to be closed due to a dramatic lorry fire that melted the surface.
Lincolnshire County Council’s highways department was forced to close the A16 south of Crowland on Friday, following a lorry catching fire the day before on the road.
The temperatures from the blaze were so high the road surface melted, with various materials from the lorry itself welding to the road as a result of the heat.
A before and after of the road. | Photo: Lincolnshire County Council
It happened across both sides of the road, within metres of a busy roundabout, though thankfully no casualties were reported.
The road was closed over the weekend to allow for emergency repair works, and after 48 hours of intense, frantic action, it is now open again thanks to a rapid response.
The ruined road surface was removed and the damaged sides were rebuilt, with an entire new top layer of the A16 laid down, treated and painted in just one weekend.
It means the road was closed for just over 48 hours, as the road reopened to the publicly 10pm on Sunday.
An unbelievably quick turnaround given the severity of the damage caused from the fire. | Photo: Lincolnshire County Council
Councillor Richard Davies, executive member for highways, said: “What a great effort by everyone involved to get this section of damaged road up and running.
“The damage to the road surface was so intense that smaller repairs were out of the question and a full resurface of the road was the only option we had.
“We worked extremely hard to get this road stripped back and rebuilt as quickly as possible and the results can be seen for themselves.
“I want to thank everyone involved in this swift repair and I also want to thank all road users for their patience whilst we carried out the work in a very short timeframe.”
A Lincolnshire stonemason who failed to supply memorial headstones to his customers after getting into financial trouble has been given a suspended jail sentence, Lincoln Crown Court heard on Monday.
Julian Karl Gaunt, 53, from Spalding, admitted failing to supply ceremonial works to four customers in 2016 after his memorials business collapsed.
Gaunt also pleaded guilty to the theft of one memorial headstone from a supplier in Tadcaster, near York, which he failed to return after his company went under.
Lincoln Crown Court heard Gaunt did not set up his business with a fraudulent purpose but got into difficulties after he was “crippled” with a number of problems.
John McNally, mitigating, said Gaunt lost the services of a trusted secretary who then set up against him, and had to let other staff go after he was confronted with HMRC and VAT demands.
His business finally collapsed in July 2016 after his banking facilities were withdrawn, the court heard.
Mr McNally explained: “At that point Mr Gaunt buried his head in the sand.
“His marriage collapsed, he lost his home, he managed to get some employment, but was then signed off because of his health.”
Mr McNally said Gaunt was not motivated by any financial motivation for himself, but should have put better systems in place as the director of the business.
The court heard Gaunt had intended to return one memorial stone to a supplier in North Yorkshire, but failed to get round to it after his business collapsed.
Gaunt, formerly of Queens Road, Spalding, but now of Beech Avenue, Spalding, admitted four charges of consent or connivance in a fraudulent misrepresentation between April 28 and July 22, 2016.
He also pleaded guilty to a single charge of theft of a memorial headstone from Tadcaster, N Yorks, between July 1 and December 31, 2016.
Gaunt was sentenced to nine months imprisonment suspended for two years, and must also obey an electronically monitored curfew between 7pm and 7am for four months.
Passing sentence Judge John Pini QC told Gaunt he accepted that he was not motivated by fraudulent motives and had not targeted his customers.
But Judge Pini said there was a point where it should have been “crystal clear” that he could not fulfil the orders for which he had taken money in a sensitive business.
“You took orders for memorial works and failed to supply those works,” Judge Pini added.