Greater Lincolnshire devolution finally starting to take shape

Like the Loch Ness Monster, UFOs and the Wolds Panther, devolution is a mythical beast spoken about but never seen by the wider Lincolnshire public.

In February 2022, a renewed early bid was turned down by government, but that hasn’t stopped council leaders from gearing up for the next opportunity.

Under the latest devolution deal, a new layer of authority led by a directly-elected mayor would be created over the top three upper tiers of Lincolnshire, North Lincolnshire and North East Lincolnshire.

A previous bid failed in 2016 after two councils voted it down, but leaders of the big three are confident they can get it right this time.

in December, LCC Conservative leader Councillor Martin Hill said the county was at “increasing risk that we will lose out”.

Norfolk and Suffolk were recently given deals which will see them receive not just new powers, but also £20 million a year extra in funding.

He told the county’s full council that Lincolnshire “must be seen as ready, willing and able”.

Cllr Martin Hill, leader of Lincolnshire County Council. | Photo: Daniel Jaines

“There are still difficult conversations to be had around governance, but I’m hopeful we will get there in the end,” he said.

However, despite reporting businesses being on side, convincing the district councils continues to be a stumbling block.

There are a number of concerns, particularly that the latest deal appears to offer less representation for the lower tier authorities.

East Lindsey District Council leader Craig Leyland. | Photo: Daniel Jaines

East Lindsey District Council leader Conservative Councillor Craig Leyland criticised the deal for only giving voting rights to upper tier authorities.

He said district councils would “not sign off or agree” to the bid until a fairer governance was agreed.

“If we do not hold our ground on this matter, we will be doing our residents a disservice,” he said.

“Voting rights on the Mayoral Combined Authority need to be proportional to the population of the respective participants.”

Leaders also fear that once the Greater Lincolnshire authority is settled, it would not just draw powers down from the government.

Instead, they worry it would take powers from the districts, leading to an argument about how much those lower-tier authorities were needed and whether Local Government Reorganisation should dissolve them.

Labour leader Councillor Ric Metcalfe | Photo: CoLC

City of Lincoln Council Labour leader Councillor Ric Metcalfe said districts “keep reasserting we’re very happy to cooperate if it benefits our area.

“We’ll even swallow this crazy idea of a directly-elected mayor, if it will give us some more powers to do things that we can’t currently do.

“Obviously we’re looking for the benefits, but we are also very guarded about this being used as a stalking horse to reorganise local government in a way that wouldn’t be acceptable to us.

“We know our local area, we’re close to it, we know how to respond and organise services on the ground.”

His point was supported by Conservative city councillor Hilton Spratt who said “too much power has been concentrated in the centre,” adding the pandemic had demonstrated “the local council were able to deliver for local people to local needs”.

Residents, however, just fear another layer of red tape taking even more of their hard-earned cash through council tax, especially when many feel they already pay quite enough for very little.

Whether Lincolnshire and its allies will get devolution will be a running topic in 2023.

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