If Lincolnshire can’t find a way to divide the county for reorganisation, central government will, says the leader of the county council.
A final decision on the shape of the county has yet to be made, but council leader Martin Hill is warning that if the county fails to submit proposals by March 21, the reorganisation will be done without it, writes Local Democracy Reporter James Turner.
A north-south divide of the county could be a way forward, said Coun Hill.
He stressed the need for flexibility, particularly because the government criteria requires district councils to be used as the ‘building blocks’ for a new authority.
“Let’s say Lincoln is in South Lincolnshire, and West Lindsey in North Lincolnshire, that would mean some of the peripheral villages would no be in the same council area,” he said.
Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner set out plans to introduce a directly elected mayor for every region and to abolish all two-tier councils in the country – ending areas served by both county and district authorities.
“The government has made it clear that they have a timescale within this parliament that they want the whole country to go unitary,” said Coun Hill.
“Government has also made it clear what the criteria are and that is minimum 500,000 population, not cross mayoral combined authority boundaries, try to minimise disruption to services .
“If you look at those criteria together, the poppulation of Greater Lincolnshire is 1.1 million, the minimum size of unitary being 500,000 – we’ve got to have more than one council. So, inevitably that leads to two unitary councils in Lincolnshire.
“If you’re going to mess about and put a proposal in for Great Grimsby, let’s say, it’s going to fail because you haven’t read the criteria. You’ve got to be pragmatic here.
“If we don’t put anything in, some civil servant will decide what they think is best for Lincolnshire. I’d rather we decide.
