Reform takes aim at Lincolnshire County Council's 'bureaucratic, inflexible culture'
Lincolnshire County Council has “bureaucratic” systems which are letting residents down, a leading councillor has said.
Reform UK, which now controls Lincolnshire County Council, has promised to unveil solutions for what it sees as problems with the culture, saying it will deliver better value for money.
This is the biggest indication of plans to shake up the authority since Reform won control four months ago, saying it would fix “broken” Lincolnshire.
Councillor Liam Kelly, the executive member for growth, told a council committee on Tuesday (September 9) that details would be released soon.
He said that while individual council staff were “passionate and committed”, they were let down by the culture.
“Many systems are bureaucratic, fixed and inflexible. They have created the condition for a culture that doesn’t deliver best value for money,” he told the committee.
“At times, it stifles innovation and doesn’t promote out-of-the-box thinking common in a commercial environment.
“It should be used to reinforce efficiency while achieving value for the taxpayer.
“The last regime failed to provide leadership for innovation, value for money, efficiency, flexibility and transparency.
“Under the leader of the council, we will change this culture, and reshape constraining factors to release staff from chains holding them back.”
Coun Tom Dyer (Con) said: “You are quick to highlight problems, but you don’t provide any solutions.”
Coun Kelly responded: “Solutions will be coming in due course”, and added: “They will require buy-in from all stakeholders.”
Conservative Councillor Lindsey Cawrey also criticised the statement, saying: “[Reform] could learn a lot from the council staff’s professionalism.”
Nigel Farage’s party is also expected to audit Lincolnshire County Council with a cost-cutting ‘Doge’ unit, which it claims will eliminate wasteful spending.
The team, modelled on the Department of Government Efficiency previously run by Elon Musk in the United States, is visiting all Reform-led councils, although no date has been set for Lincolnshire yet.
However, the Conservative group, who previously ran the authority, says there will be very little waste to find.