Leaders call for county-wide councils shake-up

The leaders of three councils in greater Lincolnshire have suggested reducing the number of local authorities from 10 to two.

North East Lincolnshire Council leader Philip Jackson, North Lincolnshire Council leader Rob Waltham and county council leader Martin Hill have written to Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner.

They are calling for Lincolnshire's county, district, borough and city councils to be merged, and the merger of the North Lincolnshire and North East Lincolnshire authorities.

It comes after the government published its plans for local government reorganisation to "cut wasteful duplication of bodies, reduce the number of politicians and reduce fragmentation of public services".

The letter says: "We believe that now is the time for greater Lincolnshire to embrace unitary government. This would bring together the 10 authorities operating within [the wider county] to create a more efficient and sustainable model of local government for the 1.1 million residents living here."

The letter states that the leaders are keen to work with the government on the issue and that "the preferred option of two unitary authorities for greater Lincolnshire would get support", according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Rayner previously said she wanted every region of England to get a mayor, as she outlined plans for a major redesign of local government.

She said giving regional mayors more powers over housing, transport, education and employment would help drive economic growth.

Under the proposals, the government wants to merge areas where there are two tiers of local authority - city/district/borough councils and county councils.

Waltham said: "Our only ambition is to create efficient services that are responsive to local residents and provide value for taxpayers' money.

"Devolution is a real opportunity to bring well paid jobs to the area and improve transport for residents across Lincolnshire."

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