‘We’ve got to future-proof ourselves’: ELDC leader speaks out after Boston pulls out of strategic alliance plans

The move would have seen the authorities look to save £15.4m over 10 years by sharing their workforce, including senior officers such as the chief executive, the monitoring officer, and finance staff.

East Lindsey District Council was the first to vote to approve the plans, with Coun Leyland telling his authority the plans were an “exciting opportunity for both councils”.

He said: “It represents a good understanding of how our council saves money, provides capacity and delivers services”, and pointed to how the authority already works with Boston and South Holland councils in other areas - such as waste and CCTV.

Councillors on the other side of the chamber, however, were concerned about the amount of scrutiny that would go into the plans.

Some opponents made attempts to delay the decision, but their efforts were voted down.

Councillor Jill Makinson-Sanders felt the decision had been ‘rushed’, adding: “We need to show the public we are transparent and look at it from the start.”

Concerns were raised about the potential loss of staff and the way the risks and rewards were split.

Councillor Sarah Parkin said: “We are talking about our senior officers being shared in a way that saves money to the public purse.” 

“It’s the services that our residents really care about, not what our senior management structure looks like.”

Ultimately, 46 district councillors voted in favour of the strategic alliance, with just two councillors voting against (Couns Andrew Leonard and Terry Aldridge).

There were four abstentions (Couns Carleen Dickinson, George Horton, Ros Jackson and Steve McMillan), and three absences (Couns Tom Ashton, Sandra Harrison and Mel Turton-Leivers).

Coun Leyland said he was ‘pleased’ with the broad, cross-party support amongst East Lindsey councillors.

Following the decision by ELDC, however, just hours later Boston Borough Council put the brakes on the plans.

It is understood Councillor Nigel Welton recommended withdrawing the item altogether following two further amendments which asked for delays to the decision.

The first, for six months, was lost. However, a second vote for seven months was successful, leading to Councillor Welton’s decision to withdraw.

Councillor Neil Hastie, following the meeting, said he was not against the alliance but there had been more questions than answers. 

He called for more consultation to be carried out before any final decision is made.

He said: “My concerns regarding this alliance are that after the hard working staff at BBC have carried out there duties within the town during this difficult time we should be commending their hard work and dedication and not offering redundancies.

He added there was also disagreement over departments being based out of Louth or Horncastle, and a lack of financial information.

The outcome has already been criticised by Boston and Skegness MP Matt Warman, who called it a “profoundly short-sighted decision that risks making the council unsustainable”. He called on them to reconsider it “as soon as possible”.

Following the decision Councillor Leyland said: “It is disappointing that Boston Borough Council didn’t agree to enter into a strategic alliance.

“East Lindsey District Council is a strong, stable and successful organisation and we will continue to work hard to improve services to our communities, whilst continuing to explore further partnership working opportunities that add value to what we do.”

This afternoon, Coun Leyland added that a strategic alliance would have been ‘advantageous’ for both councils in the current situation, particularly in light of financial pressures and the potential changing of the political landscape in the months ahead if devolution proposals get the go-ahead in Lincolnshire.

Coun Leyland said: “We were criticised for doing this at pace, but the political landscape will be challenging.

“There is nothing definite in all of this, but there’s a devolution white paper in September. We’ve got to future-proof ourselves.

“I’m a pragmatist, and this is just something that we have got to deal with.”

Coun Leyland added there would be ‘quite a disconnect’ between residents and their council representatives if proposals for devolution were to go ahead, as district and borough councils are ‘more closely connected to communities’ than the county council.

Referring to Boston Borough Council’s decision last night, Coun Leyland said: “My observation is that [opposition councillors] weren’t seeing the bigger picture about what might be coming down the tracks.”

He added that he hopes the strategic alliance plans can be reconsidered by Boston councillors at a later date.

He also expressed his belief that it was a wise move for Boston’s leadership to withdraw the proposals last night rather than risk them being voted down instead - as this means that the proposals to be brought back to the table at any time in the future, rather than being forced to wait a minimum of six months.