South Kesteven District Council agrees re-organisation proposal

Members agreed during an extraordinary full council meeting on Tuesday (March 18) to propose dividing the region into three unitary authorities, merging with Rutland in the south.

Local authorities have been invited to submit initial proposals for reorganisation to the government by Friday (March 21), with criteria including each unitary covering a population of 500,000, minimising disruption to services, and preferably not crossing county boundaries.

Lincolnshire County Council is due to discuss two main options on Friday – one suggesting merging North Lincolnshire and North East Lincolnshire councils into a single northern authority, with the rest of the county forming another single council, and the second suggesting North Lincolnshire and North East Lincolnshire join West Lindsey and East Lindsey, while Lincoln, North Kesteven, South Kesteven, Boston, and South Holland would be combined into another authority.

The proposal from SKDC, however, includes combining South Kesteven, South Holland, North Kesteven, and Rutland under one unitary authority, combining Boston, East Lindsey, West Lindsey, and the City of Lincoln under another, and North Lincolnshire and North East Lincolnshire under a third. North Kesteven District Council also put forward this proposal at a meeting the same evening.

District council leader Ashley Baxter (Ind), moved the proposal, stressing “the numbers on this work,” pointing out that the unitaries would serve populations of 405,519, 417,932, and 328,422, respectively.

However, he criticised the idea of reorganisation in general, adding: “We shouldn’t be doing this in the first place. It ain’t broke, we shouldn’t be fixing it.”

Nevertheless, he warned members that if they didn’t prepare “sensible solutions,” it would end with civil servants “drawing lines on a map”.

“This is going to get done to us if we don’t take an active role,” he said.

The inclusion of Rutland divided members, with Councillor Tim Harrison (Ind) proposing an amendment adding a “plan B” proposal without Rutland. He argued that the people of Grantham would receive no benefits from having Rutland under the same authority.

Coun Richard Cleaver (Ind) pointed out the plan had been “constructed deliberately” so that Grantham would be the largest town in the southern unitary.

The amendment was ultimately shot down, but a second amendment proposed by Coun Lee Steptoe (Labour) completely removing Rutland from the plan was then brought forward, arguing its inclusion was “wishful thinking”.

“This isn’t about party politics, this is about making the best of a dog’s breakfast that we have been given by national government,” he said.

Coun Steptoe pointed to Lincolnshire County Council’s proposal of a north-south divide as leader Councillor Martin Hill’s “preferred option” and hinted that LCC and the two upper-tier authorities in northern Lincolnshire would “take the lead” on proposals.

After another debate, this amendment was also voted down, leaving members to agree on the original proposal.

This plan was welcomed by Rutland and Stamford MP Alicia Kearns (Con), who said on social media that it would “maximise benefits of scale,” but was dismissed by Coun Hill, who argued it does not meet any of the criteria from government.