Lincolnshire County Council‘s leader says budgeting for the future will be “difficult” despite additional funding from central government.
Communities secretary and Newark MP Robert Jenrick announced a £2.3bn increase on the money government was giving to local authorities this year in a bid to tackle issues caused by the pandemic, a total of £51.3bn.
LCC has received £112 million of the cash but Martin Hill, despite welcoming the additional cash, said longer term solutions to the one-year settlement were needed, particularly fairer funding.
“The pandemic has underlined the vital role played by local councils in supporting our communities. It’s only right that the government recognises this and provides the funding we need to deliver the services our residents rely on,” he said.
Alongside the settlement the council will be able to keep around £20 million it receives from local business rates, alongside several smaller sums of grant money including a £7 million rural services delivery grant and ring-fenced cash including around £112 million more for adult and children’s social care, plus public health.
Mr Jenrick said it would give councils the resources they need to continue to deliver services, support communities during the pandemic and protect residents from “excessive” tax increases.
He added it would also “play a crucial role” in recovery efforts.
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A senior lecturer recently celebrated the news that East Midlands Railway will increase its train capacity on what he felt was an “overcrowded” service between Lincoln and Leicester.
Amir Badiee lives in Loughborough and for the past seven years has been commuting to his job at the University of Lincoln, but over the last two years he believes the train service has got worse. When he complained back in March he said he didn’t receive any response, but he believes his recent concerns aired in The Lincolnite helped to prompt a positive outcome.
Schools and universities in Lincolnshire recognise the potential benefits, but also the concerns, over the use of artificial intelligence.
The results of the government’s first ever Call for Evidence on Artificial Intelligence in Education’ report were published on Tuesday, November 28. It was open for 10 weeks and closed on August 23 this year, with 567 responses received during that time. Most respondents were “broadly optimistic” about the use of GenAI in education.
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