Council leader warns of cuts to services

The leader of Lincolnshire County Council has warned of cuts to services in a bid to save more than £25m in the next financial year.

It is part of the medium-term financial plan, approved by the full council, which seeks to make £25.4m of savings in 2026/27, rising to £55.6m in 2028/29.

Reform UK's Sean Matthews said the authority would need to make "difficult decisions" because of a lack of central government funding and increased financial uncertainty.

A Ministry of Housing, Communities, and Local Government (MHCLG) spokesperson said it was "taking action to fix the foundations of the [local council] sector".

The figure was revealed during the authority's scrutiny and management board meeting on Thursday.

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, Matthews said proposals to make the savings would be set out later this year.

"We are having to make these cuts because of the lack of funds coming from central government. We have got to save £25m," he said.

"There are going to be cuts to services and there are going to be difficult decisions to make."

However, the leader of the Conservative group, Richard Davies, said the council was well managed under the previous administration.

He said: "In the time that we were running the council, we were able to save £400m. It is very telling that when people get here they realise there are no easy answers."

Davies said that, while some council services were already stretched, efficiency savings could be made without compromising on the quality of service.

Matthews told councillors the savings would be carefully considered.

"Reform was elected on the mandate to cut waste. I can assure everybody that this will be done in accordance with the constitution and in a safe and legal way," he added.

The MHCLG spokesperson said: "We inherited councils in financial crisis across the country, which is why we are taking action to fix the foundations of the sector to provide security and certainty to local leaders.

"We provided £69bn of funding for council budgets this year, and this includes £740.3m for Lincolnshire County Council – a 5.4% increase in core spending power on last year to keep vital services running as part of our Plan for Change."

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