Your views will shape the local council's jigsaw

The Government is reforming local government across England and has asked councils to suggest options for how it should all fit together locally, with fewer, larger unitary councils, each delivering the full range of local authority services.

This means the current district, borough, city and county councils – of which there are 11 across Greater Lincolnshire and Rutland – will no longer operate in their current form. This change is known as Local Government Reorganisation (LGR).

Greater Lincolnshire is a large area and Local Government Reorganisation is complex issue, with diverse views on how best to reorganise. Options include one large council for Lincolnshire, expanding Lincoln, or dividing the county across two or three councils; with potential for mergers with councils in Humberside and Rutland. A summary of these can be found at www.n-kesteven.gov.uk/LGR

In order to help inform the proposals that North and South Kesteven district councils put forward in November for how LGR might fit together for the whole area from 2028, they have commissioned a short anonymous survey accessible at www.n-kesteven.gov.uk/LGR

Through this they would like to hear further from people living and working across the Greater Lincolnshire and Rutland area; asking what you value most about the area and community connectivity, how important it is that a council is ‘local’ to an area, the most and least important aspects of council functions, and priorities for future councils.

North Kesteven District Council Leader Cllr Richard Wright said that following on from successful face-to-face engagement at the Heckington Show in July, it was now the ideal time for people to consider – in their own time – what they felt were the most important considerations for the shape and function of local government going forward.

“Like others, we’ve been asked by the Government to present a bid for what we see as the best idea for our area; for how we see local government shaping up for Greater Lincolnshire and what we can do to make sure we’ve got the best form of governance for our people and places,” he said.

“In the Government’s drive to reduce the number of councils, it’s not just about getting rid of district councils as some have said, but about reshaping the scope of local authorities completely. That means the county council, potentially the existing unitaries in the north, and the district councils that make up Lincolnshire.”

Working together on a joint approach in response to the Government’s request, the North and South Kesteven councils are responding to the six priorities that have been set and putting together the necessary data sets and all the information required to submit a proposal to Government by November 28.

“As part of that process we are asking you what you see as important, which will help shape our response. However, we’re not going out and asking people to pick their best idea or their preferred model. That’s not what the Government wants us to do and it’s not what they’ll be doing,” said Cllr Wright.

Emphasising that there is no change at the moment and no expected outcome on the Government’s decision on the way ahead until late spring or summer next year, Cllr Wright said: “We’re still working away on your behalf; we’re still doing what we should be doing, we’re still ambitious for the local area, we’re still building homes, and we’re still investing in the area.

“But alongside that we are working to make sure that, with our partners, we present what we think is the best idea for reorganisation. Should that be, as it’s been suggested, two or three local authorities working together, or merging such as North Kesteven, South Kesteven, South Holland, and potentially Rutland, or maybe something different, that’s what the data will show. And your feedback will form a part of that essential data, so please do have your say.”

The survey that can be accessed at www.n-kesteven.gov.uk/LGR remains open until October 12.

You might have already fed into other surveys relating to other councils’ LGR proposals. Please don’t let that stop you from sharing your thoughts through this one as it is separate to those others and ensures full consideration of all options.