“Black holes” in North East Lincolnshire budget as tax rises approved

City of Lincoln Council’s leader said there are “no quick or easy fixes” to the authority’s financial woes as councillors approved a 1.9% rise in council tax on Tuesday evening.

The meeting of the full council voted in favour of the increase, which will see Band D properties pay an extra £5.31 a year – a total precept share of £285.39 as part of the budget for 2021-22.

Council bosses predict a budget gap of £1.75 million by 2023/24 due to reduced central government funding.

They said that although the budget looked to “rebuild the foundations” there were “still financial challenges ahead”.

Labour leader Councillor Ric Metcalfe said the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent restrictions had “led to significant additional costs and a dramatic drop in many traditional sources of income”.

Due to the pandemic’s impact on government funded reliefs, empty properties and business closures, the authority estimates it will only retain £5.1 million of the £42 million of business rates generated in the city.

“For an authority like ours that historically has been extremely well managed financially, we have had to work hard to be able to stabilise our position,” said councillor Metcalfe.

“There are no quick or easy fixes, we will not be able to do all of the things that people have come to expect the council to provide as a matter of course,” he said.

“Our financial problems did not begin with COVID-19, nor will they end with it,” he added.

“We did an outstanding job in very difficult circumstances and it was a reminder of how important this council, and others like it are to their local communities.”

He said council leaders had “ambitious” plans for the future, including their Vision 2025 programme, the Western Growth Corridor and tackling climate change.

Council housing rent will increase by an average of 1%, while council garage rents will increase by 3%.

As part of the plans, allotment charges will also see most tenants pay between £58.70-£78.30 per year from 2022, an increase of between 38p and 51p per week.

Opposition leader Conservative Councillor Thomas Dyer called for the council to consider a more “diversified investment plan” with a variety of local revenue streams, noting a decline in car parking income during the pandemic.

He also called for further conversations around local government reorganisation.

He said his party “reluctantly” supported the council tax rise, but said it should only be done as a last resort.

Councillor Dyer warned the council to “proceed with caution”, however, over potential plans to close public toilets.

“We must ensure that our high street is accessible and support businesses and residents alike,” he said.

Councillor Dyer called for more to be done over housing, electric vehicles and public transport.

Opposition amendments including: increased enforcement fines for litter and dog fouling; car parking charge freezes; one hour free parking at Lincoln Central; freezing office rents and staff pay above £30,000; establishing a City of Lincoln Big Clean; increasing discounts for Christmas Market stalls to be plastic free and a new play park in the Brant Road area were all rejected.

A YouTuber filming near Boston police station was arrested and issued with a coronavirus fine.

Ryan Dales, known on YouTube as Ryan Rampage, uploaded a video entitled ‘Arrested and COVID fined at Boston Police Station (Corruption at its finest)’ on February 16.

It has since attracted over 8,300 views and over 300 comments. He even included a link to his PayPal in the video description for anyone who wants to help him pay his COVID fine.

Ryan, whose life was saved by a police officer when he was two-years-old, starts the video with an introduction where he points at that it is “legal to film in a public place” and how police made him “really angry, it’s so corrupt, this is what you call brutality”.

*Be advised – there is some strong language in this video*

He walks around outside the police station and into the car park before two female members of staff come and ask what he is filming and where he has travelled from.

Ryan simply says he is in Boston on “official business” and is allowed to film in a public place. After a conversation the staff go back inside.

He continues filming outside the police station before Chief Inspector Trafford quizzes the YouTuber about why he is filming officers in their private cars.

The chief inspector said he is concerned for the security of police officers, but when asked why he is filming, Ryan said “because I can, for my own benefit”. He said “I am here and about for a reason” and when asked what that reason is, he simply replied with “it doesn’t apply to you”.

He believed he has a reasonable reason to be out, but the chief inspector didn’t agree, saying: “I’m going to give you one opportunity now, your final opportunity, to leave this area otherwise I’m going to consider you in breach of the COVID restrictions, and consequently you’ll be fined and you’ll be issued a ticket.”

Ryan claims he’s waiting for someone to pick him up, but is told to wait elsewhere or he will be fined. He becomes increasingly angry at police and as they come towards him he says “don’t surround me, you’re alarming me”.

He refuses to provide his details when asked and told that he has not “given a reasonable excuse for being there”. He is then arrested and taken into the station.

He is issued with a COVID fine and told not to return near the police station or he will get re-arrested. He then goes to the local train station and also films one of the officers getting into her car, who asks if he’s “fishing for another COVID ticket”.

Lincolnshire Police were contacted for a response.

This is Ryan’s second YouTube account and has over 370 subscribers, including another brush with the law and a video claiming the “COVID testing site choose to be bullys [sic]”.

His other YouTube account with nearly 700 subscribers includes several urban explorer videos.

He’s not the first YouTuber to get in trouble with Lincolnshire Police and get fined over filming outside a station. Here is another recent example from Lincoln.

Councillors have given a Chapel St Leonards bar owner a strict warning after a business meeting which “turned to more socialising”.

Walter Sheeran, director of Teen Spirit Limited and premises licence holder at Miller’s Bar, appeared before East Lincolnshire District Council’s licensing committee behind closed doors on Monday.

It followed police attending the premises due to loud noises, and finding six people they said were not engaging in social distancing or wearing face coverings and which CCTV showed drinking, getting a food takeaway, drinking shots, watching football and dancing.

A report of the proceedings by ELDC said police officers told committee members the meeting “had been described to them as a business meeting, but in their view the meeting had gone on far longer and some of the attendants were intoxicated and some dancing had taken place.”

Defending the owner, Sarah Clover said it was a meeting, however, “she acknowledged that it may have turned to more socialising”.

She said there had been a “celebration of someone joining the company towards the end” but that those participating “had been talking about business on and off throughout”.

She told the committee all six were on the payroll at the time or were added after and three of them lived in the same household.

The people all worked together on a daily basis and no members of the public were in attendance, she added.

“Miss Clover made representations that the coronavirus regulations did not require business meetings to be concluded as quickly as possible, and there was nothing to prohibit the consumption of alcohol and food whilst in the business meeting,” said a report of the meeting.

She added that the risk factor did not increase “simply because the business element of the meeting finished” and said that businesses were allowed to be open for staff to access for cleaning throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

She added that social distancing and face masks were “not law but in fact guidance”.

In a statement following the meeting Michael Kheng, director of Kurnia Licensing Consultants Limited who represented Teen Spirit Limited, said he was “pleased” by the decision.

“In our mind the licence should never have been called into review and the cost to the company and public purse has been huge. Teen Spirit Limited were simply having a meeting and evidence to prove this was shown to the subcommittee.

“The company cooperated with the investigation throughout and are upset that they felt the police had treated them like criminals for simply trying to run their business and have a legitimate business meeting.”

He said evidence showed “no COVID-19 regulations had been broken”.

Teen Spirit Limited operate several premises in and around Skegness and in almost 30 years Their operations have never been called into question.

Michael Kheng added that he felt far too often reviews of premises licences were being applied “wrongly”. “The overall costs for all parties are huge,” he said.

“The hospitality industry has suffered enormously over the past 12 months and to have to face an unnecessary review is another pressure on a business.”