A parish council has publicly complained about South Holland District Council allocating £175,000 to spend on consultants.
The district council and East Lindsey District Council have both allocated ‘up to’ that amount to get advice on their joint bid for a new ‘unitary council’.
The new authorities will take on the roles of both district and county councils and district council leader Nick Worth says the consultant fees are vital to help the district councils with roles it doesn’t carry out like highways and adult social care.
Following its meeting last week, Long Sutton Parish Council released a statement criticising the spending by outlining areas it felt money should be spent in the district.
“The council felt if SHDC needed to seek such advice then they were not in a position to make such a bid and SHDC should clarify the justification for spending such an amount of public funds in the present financial climate,” the statement says. It lists ongoing complaints over waste collection, lack of street maintenance and concerns over the state of the disabled care facility in the town.
“It has been mooted by South Holland that they would seek to pass down responsibility of play areas etc to parish councils if they do become a unitary authority without any consultation with the parishes and they continue to disregard the parish councils in the outlying towns/villages and remain resolute not to adopt a community infrastructure levy to help the parishes they serve.”
South Holland and East Lindsey are looking to persuade central government to create a new authority that would also cover Boston, North and South Kesteven districts.
In a statement in response to Long Sutton Parish Council, Coun Worth said: “Jointly with East Lindsey District Council, we have submitted an interim plan for Local Government Reorganisation.
“We strongly believe this is the right model for Greater Lincolnshire which not only meets the needs of our residents and communities, it fulfils all the criteria set by Government.
“While we await further feedback from the government on this initial plan, we are now seeking external expertise to support the development of the final proposal which has to be submitted in November.
“We need specific expertise in areas outside the district council’s remit, especially adult social care, children’s services and working with the NHS, police, fire and rescue services as well as government departments, especially the treasury.
“To ensure the council is in the best position to develop a robust final proposal, it is essential the council seeks expertise to undertake this work ahead of the November deadline.
“This will include developing the final proposal document, the evidence base that supports it, as well as consulting and engaging with residents, businesses and key stakeholders so they have their say in shaping the proposal.
“By working with East Lindsey District Council, and any other councils interested in supporting the proposal, there is an opportunity to share and reduce the costs, should the budget allocation for the proposal be required.”
