North East Lincolnshire Council leaders predicted “black holes” in their budget, which could see council tax rise by nearly 5% due to COVID impact on finances.
The authority’s cabinet on Wednesday passed proposals to increase council tax by 1.98% and the adult social care precept by 3% in 2021/22, along a new “COVID-19 reserve” in order to tackle ongoing pressures.
The authority managed to balance its funding this year, but predicts that nearly £9.3million of savings will need to be made by 2023/24.
Portfolio holder for finance and resource Councillor Stan Shreeve told members that a “considerable” amount of time had been spent putting the budget together.
“Despite the obvious difficulties presented, this draft budget still reflect in both revenue, and capital expenditure terms, this administration’s determination to improve our borough, and the lives of our residents through the provision of first class, efficient, services.
“It does not mean that there will not be hard decisions – of course there will be, but officers and cabinet colleagues are united in our aims to meet both strategic priorities: have stronger economy, and stronger communities.”
Portfolio holder for finance and resource Councillor Stan Shreeve
He added: “The media has focused on what it calls black holes in finances because that’s exciting, but, as was said at the time, a shortfall in areas was to be expected and stages, two, and three, of this draft still signpost for future financial challenges.”
The tax rise will equate to a rise of £92.81 to a total of £1,956.57 for a Band D property – an increase of £1.78 a week.
North East Lincolnshire Council leader Councillor Philip Jackson said the budget, which was started several months ago, had been a “long and torturous process.”
It will now go before scrutiny committees and out to public consultation before Full Council in February.
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Lincolnshire’s patch of sunshine could be about to end, with forecasts of thunderstorms in the county this week.
Yellow warnings of thunderstorms have been listed for the majority of England and Wales from Wednesday until Saturday by the Met Office.
There are also expected to be very high pollen levels this week, not good news for hay fever sufferers.
Very high pollen levels and thunderstorms could be on their way. | Photo: Met Office
Highs of 26°C have been forecast for Wednesday, dropping below 20 for the rest of the week, with showers predicted for Thursday and Sunday.
Overnight the temperature will still be in double figures for degrees celsius, and the mornings will be incredibly humid, sometimes over 90% in the early hours.
With the thunderstorm warnings come small risks of flooding and damage to buildings, as well as power cuts and potential road closures if the weather gets particularly bad.
The vast majority of England is at risk of storms. | Photo: Met Office
England’s eagerly anticipated Euro 2020 match with Scotland on Friday night has heavy rain forecast throughout the evening, so you might want to find somewhere to watch the match indoors.
Sixteen cancer nurses from Lincoln will take on a 26 mile ‘Mighty Hike’ for charity and have already gone above their initial target by raising over £5,000 for Macmillan Cancer Support.
Lincoln woman Polly Johnson, 39, and her colleagues from the Waddington Ward at Lincoln County Hospital wanted to do something positive after surviving one of the most stressful years of the their career.
Many of the group know someone affected by cancer and some were even treated on their own ward, so it is a cause close to their hearts.
They will take on the ‘Mighty Hike’ across the Lake District for Macmillan Cancer Support on Saturday, June 19 – make a donation here.
Polly Johnson (right) with some of her nursing colleagues training for the ‘Mighty Hike’.
Polly said: “We chose Macmillan because we work with a lot of Macmillan nurses and have two on our walking team, so we see the benefits of the Macmillan funding. Quite a few of our nurses have loved ones who have been affected by cancer and some have even been treated on our ward, so it is a cause close to our hearts.”
“The last few months have been extremely difficult for all healthcare workers. We’ve had a lot of very poorly patients and a lot of our nurses have recovered from COVID too. So training for this walk has been good for our wellbeing and mental health as well. It has been a great bond for us all at a difficult time.
“Taking on this challenge has embedded walking into our lives. Some of the group have done triathlons, some of us have never really walked before so we have varying levels of fitness. It’s been lovely training together, we’re really excited to be doing something positive.”
The 16 nurses have been training together over the past few months.
The Macmillan Mighty Hike 2021 series is being held in coastal and mountain locations across the UK between June 5 and September 11.
COVID-19 forced the cancellation of Mighty Hikes in 2020, losing the charity fundraising income, and Polly and her colleagues were among those participants who were forced to defer their entry for 2021.
Nurses from the Waddington Ward at Lincoln County Hospital have already raised over £5,000 for Macmillan Cancer Support.
Helen Hancock, Macmillan Mighty Hikes Senior Programme Manager, said: “Mighty Hike season will be a time of renewed optimism with people seizing every opportunity to get out there and live their life and make a difference. This is what Macmillan Mighty Hikes are all about.
“We are determined to make this a success for the thousands of Mighty Hikers who were forced to cancel or defer their 2020 places – and for everyone who is joining us for their first Mighty Hike.”
Lincolnshire health bosses have said the government’s decision to delay the lifting of COVID restrictions was the “right decision”.
Andy Fox, Lincolnshire County Council’s director of public health, said he understood people were “fed up” after more than a year of lockdown and delays to freedom, but said this time it was different – allowing more time for vaccinations, rather than just supressing case numbers.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced on Monday that there would be a four week delay in the final stage of lifting restrictions until July 19 in order to get more people vaccinated and slow down or stop any rise in hospitalisations.
Despite seeing an increase in COVID-19 rates, Lincolnshire remains “still far lower” than other areas of the country with an infection rate of 28.5 per 100,000 population, compared to the England average of 67.1.
Mr Fox said: “It is the right thing to do to delay further loosening of restrictions for a few weeks at this point in order to get more vaccinations, in people’s arms.
“Unfortunately we have seen a sharp rise in cases in some areas of the country associated with this delta area and we do need to react to that.
“It wouldn’t be wise to continue with the relaxation. Hopefully this pause will give us additional time to increase uptake of vaccination especially in some of the younger age ranges, and that will mean that the peak of any wave that is coming will be lower and lives will be saved.”
Boris Johnson speaking on June 14.
He said the county had not yet seen a sharp rise, but added that once figures start going up they have had a historic tendency to then accelerate.
On Friday, Lincolnshire celebrated having given out its 500,000th first dose, meaning more than 80% of the county has now been jabbed at least once.
This morning 23-24 year olds are being invited to take up their vaccinations, while the second doses for the Over 40s are also being brought forward.
Mr Fox said that with all the good news, he understood why people might be “fed up” of the delays. In response to the announcement on Monday #ImDone and #EnoughIsEnough were trending on Twitter and anti-COVID sentiment has increased in response to news stories.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has been incredibly hard for everybody, and it’s been a massive impact upon all our lives so I completely understand that people want to be done with it. We’ve all echoed that sentiment, we absolutely want this to be over, but it’s very clear that the disease is not going to go away overnight.”
Lincolnshire’s coronavirus case date up to June 14.
Without the measures he said there would be “far more hospitalisations”.
“It is a stark choice, it’s one the government has really wrestled with. Nobody wants to be in these restrictions at all, unfortunately the alternative is even worse.”
He praised the work residents had done so far, and urged people to continue to take-up the vaccine.
Not doing so, he said would only jeopardise further restriction relaxations.
Derek Ward, Director of Public Health, added: “Of course, the balance with supporting businesses by opening up the economy is a difficult one and many people will be disappointed but we don’t want to open up and then have to go into reverse and shut things down again.
“A clear benefit of the vaccine programme is that although infection rates are rising due to people mixing together more freely and the Delta variant taking hold, hospitalisations and deaths remain low.
“Vaccines work and give you protection against illness from Covid-19 as well as protecting others around you. But no vaccine offers 100% protection so please remember the basics – hands, face, space and fresh air are still our first line of defence in the battle against Covid-19.”
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