Three lesser known problems that could be spell big trouble for Lincolnshire

But there are also a host of other issues bubbling under the surface.

While Lincolnshire County Council says it’s in a better financial position than most, authorities are facing a host of issues they were arguably never meant to deal with.

Public funding has been in short supply since the Conservative-led government’s years of austerity.

There have been calls for reform to resolve various deep-rooted issues, although they are currently being dealt with by short-term bursts of government cash.

Here are some of the lesser-known issues that politicians and health leaders across the county are worrying about.Abd

Travel costs ‘killing the budgets’

How much could a bus or a taxi cost?

If you’re transporting around 19,000 children to school and back every day then it adds up to £52m a year, and growing.

Lincolnshire County Council’s bill for school transport has doubled since the Covid pandemic, and was labelled a “significant strategic risk” last year due to its size.

It costs just over £17 to transport a mainstream primary school child per day, £6 for a secondary pupil and around £40 for a child at a SEND (special education needs and disabilities) school.

The council is facing higher costs as the number of SEND children with plans which require transport has doubled over the last eight years, plus growing numbers who have been excluded from their local schools.

The council tried to mitigate costs last year by asking pupils to share transport where possible, but there were questions about long-term future.

Councillor Susan Rawlins (Con) told an audit meeting: “We’re going to have to either restrict supply or pass on the cost.”

The council often relies on small taxi firms, meaning sudden expenses like national insurance rises get passed onto the authority, and the businesses could fold without warning.

Independent committee member Andrew Middleton said he had spoken to other councils who described these costs as “killing their budgets”.

‘Councils are left with less tax than a parish council’

An ‘interal drainage board’ sounds like an obscure piece of plumbing – but instead they are obscure yet vital organisations which guzzle up millions of pounds in council tax.

They are responsible for managing water levels in coastal or flood-prone areas, with most of Lincolnshire falling under one or another.

They can levy charges on councils to fund their work, which leads to startling amounts being handed over.

Boston Borough Council was forced to provide over half of the £4.2m on council tax it collected in 2023/24.

East Lindsey, South Holland, Lincoln and North Kesteven are also amongst the top ten in the country with the highest bills, which have gone up significantly in recent years.

Councillors have called this model unsustainable, saying it leaves cash-strapped public bodies even poorer.

Councillor Tom Ashton (Con) said: “When you take out the levies, councils are left with less tax than the average parish council.”

Christine Marshall, former deputy chief executive of Boston Borough Council, said recently: “The levy is making it incredibly difficult to balance budgets and makes finances precarious. There is a lot of activity lobbying the government for a longer-term solution.

“A small number of councils are disproportionately affected. It puts them at a significant financial disadvantage, and councils have to respond by cutting back on services.”

The government says its has provided emergency funding to the IDBs, but hasn’t said whether it will make long-term reforms to address the “out-of-kilter” system.

‘Busier than ever’ – Crisis in GP surgeries

News headlines usually focus on overflowing A&E departments and the lack of hospital beds, but a similar crisis is quietly unfolding in GP surgeries.

One senior Lincolnshire doctor said they are busier than ever, piling pressure on both patients and GPs.

“Duty doctor shifts – when we see people who need urgent help – are the most challenging due to the severity and volume,” Dr Satpal Shekhawat, who runs a practice in Kirton Lindsey, said.

“I saw more than 40 people on my last one. We start at 8am and never finish before 7pm, without a proper lunch break.”

Many GP surgeries have taken part in collective action to protest the conditions, with some putting caps on the number of appointments or stopping unpaid work like ear-syringing.

It has also been warned that the county faces a “workforce crisis” with less affluent surgeries unable to afford giving GPs as many hours as they are willing to work.

Dr Reid Baker, medical director of the Lincolnshire Local Medical Committee, said: “We know that 42 per cent of GPs are thinking they won’t be working in the next five years.

“It’s a real challenge because not only do you lose that capacity within general practice, but you lose that experience.”

At a time when more people want to see the doctor than ever before, surgeries are struggling to match that demand – passing pressure back onto hospitals an A&E departments.