Greater Lincolnshire businesses are being asked for their views on Devolution – a concept that would see funding and decision-making powers transferred from central government to the county.
The Greater Lincolnshire Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) will lead a consultation with businesses on behalf of 10 local authorities.
A deal is expected to be submitted to the government by the end of the year.
It is not the first time Lincolnshire has been asked to debate the idea of Devolution.
Lincolnshire County Council and South Kesteven District Council rejected a settlement offer from the government in 2016, declining to have an imposed mayor.
The county was missed out of the first round of talks on the latest plans revealed in February, but Prime Minister Boris Johnson told The Lincolnite the government is keen for Lincolnshire to have its own deal – and it won’t need a mayor.
Those wishing to find out more, or to submit their views, can visit the website and complete the online survey from Wednesday, May 11 2022.
Pat Doody, Chair of the Greater Lincolnshire Local Enterprise Partnership, said: “We were pleased to be asked by the councils to lead an independent engagement programme with the business community and we would like to encourage people to get involved, look at the website and take the survey.
“A devolution deal could give Lincolnshire more powers, more money and more say over public sector funding and can promote local decision-making across many public services that are important to the people, businesses, and communities of Greater Lincolnshire. This in turn should lead to better outcomes and greater prosperity for our area.
“A devolution deal for Lincolnshire could also be important to the business community. For example, it could mean that local leaders have more say to get Lincolnshire businesses the right education, training and apprenticeships to meet their needs – both now and for the jobs of the future.
“It could also mean that decisions are made locally rather than nationally on the best infrastructure to better connect people to jobs, freight to ports, or energy to facilities, ensuring that local priorities are met. This is the first stage of a long conversation about devolution for our area, and I encourage you to get involved and have your say.”
Last year, the Government invited civic leaders to bring forward plans for devolving powers to local areas and to work together to help level up the UK.
The Government’s Levelling Up White Paper provides a framework for devolution and council leaders across Greater Lincolnshire are working together to develop plans to enable Lincolnshire to reach its full potential.
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.
Nominations are open for schools and education settings to be recognised in the 2022 Lincolnshire Education Excellence Awards.
The event is organised by Stonebow Media, publishers of The Lincolnite, to celebrate the best school and teachers in Greater Lincolnshire.
The headline sponsors making the awards possible are Lincoln College Group.
Twelve categories are now open for nominations. The deadline for nominations is June 3, with a judging lunch scheduled for June 7.
Nominations are open from parents, carers, friends, families or education settings themselves, so if you know someone who deserving of winning now is the time to vote!
The awards ceremony will be held at the Engine Shed on July 7.
It’s been a week since the controversial statue of Margaret Thatcher was installed in Grantham’s St Peter’s Hill.
The £300,000 bronze monument immediately caused a stir and debate from both supporters and opponents of the first female Prime Minister of the UK.
Within hours of its 7am installation last Sunday, it had already been egged by a man later revealed to be 59-year-old Jeremy Webster, a deputy director at the Attenborough Arts Centre at the University of Leicester.
Mr Webster’s mother-in-law recently described his actions as “childish”.
Quoted in the MailOnline she said: “Margaret Thatcher lasted a long time in power. She was a trailblazer as the first woman prime minister and she had such energy, even though I know she slept very little.
“I’m very surprised to hear about all of this [egg throwing]. I’m going to have to call my daughter. I wouldn’t have thought Jeremy would be the sort of person to do this. It seems very childish to me – he has a responsible job.”
There have been reports of other antisocial behaviour taking place including people urinating up the statue, but investigations into these are yet to be confirmed by officials.
Away from the statue itself, others took to social media to react to the new monument.
Twitterer @BolsoverBeast thought Mr Webster’s actions should be expanded as a way to… get more people involved?
I think it would be a good idea to put Thatcher’s statue on a low loader and tow it slowly around the country so that we all have a chance to throw something at it. pic.twitter.com/uftMqr0LgR
— Chloe Schlosberg (@ChloeSchlosberg) May 19, 2022
Some called back to the fate of other statues
@Irritatedllama called back to the fate of slave trader Edward Colston who was thrown into the Bristol Harby in June 2020.
It's absolutely disgraceful that people are throwing eggs at the Margaret Thatcher statue in Grantham! We need to deploy a taskforce to give it jolly good wash!#Granthampic.twitter.com/RKftKUls4u
It wasn’t long before a parody account of the statue was set up on Twitter – nor before “she” was interacting with other parody accounts.
It was awful. I could see almost all of Grantham
— That Statue of Thatcher (@thatcher_statue) May 18, 2022
A… positive view?
There were supporters of the statue, however, Darren Grimes from GBNews was one of the few popular posts calling on people not to “give in to threats of petty vandalism”. He later posted the statue should be in parliament – where it was previously rejected from.
I honestly think Margaret Thatcher would have found this first round of petty vandalism of her statue to be utterly hilarious.
The statue looks absolutely glorious.
Almost a decade on from her passing, she’s still winding them up!
Some, like @Jonnyhibberd were more measured in their response.
I don't see a problem with a Thatcher statue and I also don't see a problem with people throwing eggs at it. Thatcher is an important part of our history, and so is what a lot of people thought about her.
— Jonathan Hibberd 🇺🇦 (@Jonnyhibberd) May 18, 2022
Whatsapp
