The Reform UK Mayor of the Greater Lincolnshire Combined County Authority (GLCCA), Dame Andrea Jenkyns, is aggressively inflating bureaucracy and ballooning political office spending, even as the supposed benefits of devolution remain nowhere to be seen for residents.
In recent weeks, the Reform-led GLCCA has advertised a raft of senior posts, including:
- A chief executive on £130,000 plus a £10,000 performance bonus
- A director of resources on £95,000 plus bonus
- A director of strategy and operations on £90,000 plus bonus
- A head of governance (monitoring officer) on up to £85,000.
At the same time, the Reform UK mayor has proposed more than doubling her office budget from £115,000 to £262,000, citing a lack of support.
However, this overlooks previous staff seconded from member councils, which provided flexible capacity without permanent costs. The current decision replaces these with a permanently funded mayoral office, shifting the authority to ongoing high administrative expenses.
The Mayor has claimed that this increase is necessary because she has “zero people” supporting her and is personally dealing with a large volume of correspondence.
However, this claim omits a key fact.
The Mayor previously had staff seconded from member councils, providing support without creating permanent posts or locking in long-term costs. The decision now being taken by Reform is not about creating capacity from scratch; it is about replacing flexible, shared arrangements with a permanently funded mayoral office.
That is a political choice.
This expansion of staffing and budgets comes as the Reform-led combined authority is also asking central government to step in and cover a £630,000 overspend on the mayoral election, which cost an estimated £2.3 million, well above the approved £1.7 million budget.
The overspend alone represents around five per cent of the authority’s £24 million annual devolution funding.
Reform UK campaigned on shaking up politics and doing things differently. Yet the first visible actions of the Reform mayoralty are to build a large senior management structure, introduce performance bonuses, and double the Mayor’s office budget, all before residents can point to a single improvement delivered.
There is a clear contradiction.
On the one hand, the Reform mayor says money should be directed to local projects.
On the other hand, her administration is committing the authority to high, recurring administrative costs at the very start of its life.
Residents were promised that devolution would mean better outcomes, not bigger bureaucracy. Local taxpayers now deserve clear answers and accountability from Reform UK.
The public should demand transparent explanations for the rapid expansion of senior staffing and political office budgets. Reform UK must explain why seconded staff from councils could not suffice temporarily, and justify locking in permanent costs before value for money is demonstrated.
Residents should insist that these questions are addressed directly and promptly.
Devolution should be about real results. Under Reform, administration – not delivery – has clearly taken 3precedence.
Lincolnshire County Council Conservative Group
