March 6, 2018 1.55 pm This story is over 72 months old

Lincolnshire Future: County council to set up new holding company

The council’s Executive approved setting up the holding company.
Lincolnshire County Council Leader Martin Hill. Photo: Lincolnshire Reporter

Lincolnshire County Council has agreed to set up its own holding company which will help the authority deliver programmes around housing and waste.

The council’s Executive approved plans to create the company which will be called Lincolnshire Future Ltd at a meeting in Lincoln on Tuesday, March 6.

The company will be limited by shares and 100% owned by the county council.

Holding companies do not usually provide goods or services themselves. Instead, they own shares of other companies to form a corporate group.

The county council will use the holding company to create subsidiaries for specific purposes such as property, waste and investment.

Lincolnshire County Council leader Councillor Martin Hill said: “The holding company is just a framework so that we can trade and do other things in terms of commercial interests which we currently can’t do.

“At the moment the council is quite restricted in terms of what it can do, particularly in terms of housing. We have this extra care programme which is basically we want to provide housing for people who want to move into secure accommodation but at the same time retain their independence.

“There are other examples in waste and other things where we can look at how we can do things better with partners to actually improve the service and probably bring in more money to the council as well.”

Deputy leader Councillor Patricia Bradwell added: “This opens up opportunities to allow us to deliver different types of services.”

An alternative proposal to not set up a holding company but to create individual companies as and when required was rejected due to potential issues around duplication and paying more tax than necessary.