Lincoln council leader fiercely rejects plans for unitary authority referendum
City of Lincoln Council Leader Ric Metcalfe has said a referendum on whether county and district councils should be dissolved in favour of a unitary authority would be “nonsense”, accusing the county council of a “siege mentality”. Lincolnshire county councillors will be asked to vote on whether the current council system with county, district and borough councils should be…
Leader of City of Lincoln Council Ric Metcalfe. Photo: The Lincolnite
City of Lincoln Council Leader Ric Metcalfe has said a referendum on whether county and district councils should be dissolved in favour of a unitary authority would be “nonsense”, accusing the county council of a “siege mentality”.
Lincolnshire county councillors will be asked to vote on whether the current council system with county, district and borough councils should be scrapped for good at a meeting on February 24.
If approved, a referendum would take place on May 4, the same day as the Lincolnshire County Council elections.
Lincolnshire currently has one county council and seven district councils: City of Lincoln Council, North Kesteven District Council, South Kesteven District Council, East Lindsey District Council, West Lindsey District Council, South Holland District Council, Boston Borough Council.
I will be asking the council to hold a public referendum on whether we should ask to go to unitary council status in Lincolnshire
The announcement was made by county council leader Martin Hill on Monday, January 23 on Twitter. He indicated the move could save the county up to £150 million over five years.
The notion is one which has been tabled previously, with Cornwall, Wiltshire and Northumberland given as unitary examples.
Ric Metcalfe, leader of City of Lincoln Council told The Lincolnite: “The county council didn’t consult us as district councils. I’m not sure that any one of the district councils in Lincolnshire are really entitled to just decide it’s going to hold a referendum off its own back.
“It’s a bit like me deciding to hold a referendum in Lincoln about whether we should have a county council.
“It’s nonsense. What will a county-wide referendum mean? If the whole of Lincoln (and I think there will be a large majority) does not wish to be governed by a unitary county, where does that leave any proposal county wise to do away with the City of Lincoln Council.
“I’m not entirely surprised by the announcement. This is the county acting like a rogue council I’m afraid to say, because I think it’s in a financial crisis. I think this is where this is coming from.
“The county council have long had an aspiration to see a county unitary, but it isn’t a view shared by most district councils and certainly isn’t one shared by ourselves in Lincoln.
“What will be the referendum question, the rules and interpretation depending on turnout? How binding would it be?
“There is a significant cost of course in the county in mounting a referendum. Referendums don’t come cheap. The administration of them is quite expensive.”
“My question regarding statements of saving the county money is ‘to whom will these saving accrue?’ The fact is the seven district councils have got a sustainable budget for the last five years. It’s the county who are in more serious financial trouble.
“What they’ve got their eye on is to redistribute the funds that currently go into a range of other services in favour of the social care budget that is so acutely under pressure.
“A county unitary authority would be a very remote tier of government. The county is regarded as somewhat remote and not especially democratically accountable. The seven district councils are local, they are known by their communities, there is a strong democratic accountability, and that’s what we should be striving for.
“You can’t have it both ways. Services still need to be provided at a local level.”
Council leader Metcalfe added that despite the county council’s recent rejection of a proposal for £450 million of devolved government funding and powers, the city council retains ambitions to strike a collaboration deal.
“The county council have just turned down £450 million worth of devolution moneys that would have placed us in a much better position to address the problems of the county and are now turning to a siege mentality; ‘Let’s solve our problems not by collaboration, let’s do out own thing’.
“I can’t read the county council’s mind. I can only on what others do and that is to speculate that there was some sort of agenda in the longer term about a preference for a county unitary rather than a combined authority.
“Collaboration is still on the table as far as I’m concerned and I think we’d be far better off seeing whether we can salvage a devolution deal, with or without the county council frankly.”
The Lincolnite welcomes your views. All comments are reactively-moderated and must obey the house rules. Please stay on topic and be respectful of other readers.
The Lincolnite welcomes your views. All comments are reactively-moderated and must obey the house rules. Please stay on topic and be respectful of other readers.
Grimsby welcomed back the Fishermen’s Memorial Statue as it was put back in place at St James’ Square.
The statue was removed from its usual home as part of a transformation at St James’ Square in the town, and is now back after a spruce-up.
It was brought back on Friday, January 15 and lifted carefully into its position, this time facing towards the Minster.
St James’ Square was closed for a major makeover, as the £1.8m overhaul is set to create a family-friendly space for Grimsby.
The majority of works at the square will be completed by the end of January 2021, with new furniture, planting, lighting and CCTV being put in place.
The return of the memorial also allows for plans to be made for the annual Lost Fishermen’s service to come back to the Minster and the square this year, in honour of those who lost their life at sea.
The event was cancelled and instead went virtual in 2020 due to COVID-19 restrictions, with a recorded event made available to people online.
The memorial facing the Minster means that crowds can gather away from the main footpath during the service, in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
Gill Ross, chair of the Friends of Grimsby Fishermen’s Mission, said: “To have the statue is an opportunity for us all to be reminded of those who risked their lives for our national dish and for us to say thank you for that.
“The square is the perfect location for it, and we all look forward to the service returning there.”
Lincolnshire County Council has been told to pay over £2,000 to a mother after failing to provide a “suitable education” for her daughter, who could not attend school due to health problems.
The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman said the council caused unnecessary distress, disadvantaged the daughter educationally, and a further £200 was paid for the “time, trouble and […] financial costs pursuing [the mother’s] complaint.”
The council was at fault for its failure to provide alternative education between October 2019 and February 2020 for the daughter, who had to leave school due to a medical condition that causes fatigue, anxiety, and panic attacks
The daughter’s school referred her to the council for alternatives as it couldn’t provide her with a suitable full-time education.
However, after screening, the council said she did not meet the criteria due to medical evidence not being robust enough to explain why she was too unwell to attend school. The council said it was in line with its policy.
In January 2020, after the mother showed the council a GP letter, it decided to reconsider referral for the daughter to go to a specialist school.
Denied again, the council asked for a more recent report from the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS), who had previously supported the daughter.
As a result, the mother complained to the council that her daughter hadn’t received an education since October 2019.
The council told the mother it made two requests to specialist schools and these were both refused, so they deemed the daughter’s absence from school unauthorised.
After receiving a warning about her daughter’s attendance from school, the mother sought the help of a solicitor who approached the council and said it was in breach of its duty to provide the daughter with an education.
The council considered the CAMHS report provided a month earlier and decided the daughter was eligible for a specialist school.
Since the report, the mother was happy with the support provided by the school.
The £2,000 is hoped to go to the “educational benefit to acknowledge the loss of education” and amounts to £400 for every month the daughter received no education.
The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman said: “Councils are responsible for providing education to children who cannot attend school by reason of illness, exclusion from school or otherwise may not for any period receive suitable education unless arrangements are made for them.”
John Coupland Hospital in Gainsborough will make local history this weekend as it becomes the first place to administer a COVID-19 vaccination in West Lindsey.
The first vaccine appointments have been scheduled for Saturday, January 16 at the hospital, as part of the nationwide rollout of the vaccination programme.
It is one of the 21 community vaccination hubs announced across Greater Lincolnshire, and the first in West Lindsey.
West Lindsey District Council is urging people to remember that the NHS will make contact with residents when it is their turn to receive a vaccine, reiterating the point that there is no need to contact your local GP.
Despite the difficult weather conditions over the last few days, all vaccination centres scheduled to open in Lincolnshire will continue to operate.
Leader of West Lindsey District Council, Cllr Owen Bierley, said: “This pandemic has been a dark time in the history of our district, and it is by no means over yet, but I am overjoyed to know that some of our residents will be provided with some form of protection over the next few days and weeks.
“This is the beginning of our district’s fightback against this torrid virus.
“I want to express my sincere thanks to everyone at the NHS for the work they are doing at incredible speed. Our district will forever be grateful.”
Whatsapp
