Leaders voice support for council shake-up option

Two senior councillors have voiced their support for proposals to reduce the number of councils in Greater Lincolnshire from 10 to two.

Eight proposals have been submitted outlining how the county should be divided, including splitting up the north and south.

Nick Worth, leader of South Holland District Council, along with the leader of East Lindsey District Council, Craig Leyland, said this option would give residents a "stronger voice" in how services were run.

The reorganisation aims to merge councils into bigger unitary authorities, expected to be established in 2028, with projected savings of £2bn nationwide.

The northern council would be made up of North Lincolnshire, North East Lincolnshire, East Lindsey and West Lindsey, with Lincoln, North Kesteven, South Kesteven, Boston and South Holland merging to create a southern council.

Worth said the proposal would remove the "confusing" current two-tier structure, which includes Lincolnshire County Council.

"Services are delivered by 10 different councils, creating duplication, inefficiency and confusion," he said.

Leyland told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that the two unitary councils would be more accessible to local people.

"It's built on a simple idea that services work best when they're joined up, are easily accessible and accountable to local people," he said.

Lincolnshire County Council previously said its preferred option was for a single unitary authority coving the whole of Lincolnshire, with district councils abolished and North and North East Lincolnshire amalgamated into a second separate authority.

Councils will need to send their plans to the government by November before a decision is made.

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