Councils in Lincolnshire will meet from this week to decide whether to proceed with a proposed Greater Lincolnshire devolution deal to public consultation.
The consultation would last eight weeks over December and January. But full councils of North Lincolnshire and North East Lincolnshire Councils, and Lincolnshire County Council must approve the next step.
North East Lincolnshire Council is going first, holding a special meeting on November 30, 7pm, at Grimsby Town Hall. Lincolnshire County Council holds theirs the next morning, and then North Lincolnshire Council meets on December 4, 10.30am, at Church Square House, Scunthorpe.
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On Monday, Parliamentary Secretary of State for Levelling Up Jacob Young met the three Greater Lincolnshire Council Leaders as they united to sign the greater county’s proposed devolution deal. Mr Young joined North East Lincolnshire Council Leader Cllr Philip Jackson, along with Cllr Martin Hill OBE from Lincolnshire County Council and Cllr Rob Waltham MBE from North Lincolnshire for the ceremonial event held at Scunthorpe’s 20-21 Visual Arts Centre.
At the signing, Mr Young said: “It’s fantastic to be here in Lincolnshire today announcing our devolution deal for the Greater Lincolnshire area. It comes alongside extra funding, more powers and a new directly elected mayor for the Lincolnshire area. I know it’s going to have a dramatic impact across the whole of the Lincolnshire County.”
North East Lincolnshire Council Leader, Cllr Philip Jackson, said: “This is a deal which will be fantastic for Greater Lincolnshire, from the Humber down to the Wash. It gives us a lot of extra spending power over the next 30 years, £24 million a year for the next 30 years, and some additional money straight away that we can spend on our priority areas.
“But importantly it will give us extra powers as well to make sure that we can direct that spending in areas that we know local people need it, around infrastructure, around transport, around housing, flood defence and various other areas where we know we’ve got need in the county. We know it’s going to be great for us in determining the future direction of Greater Lincolnshire.”
Meanwhile, following the visit, North Lincolnshire Council Leader, Cllr Rob Waltham, said: “It was brilliant to welcome Jacob to Scunthorpe on what is a momentous day for Lincolnshire and the 1.1m people who call it home.
“Devolution is levelling-up. It means millions of pounds – currently sitting in London – will be spent in Lincolnshire, for Lincolnshire, on the priorities that matter to residents who live here.
“From creating well-paid jobs, to revolutionising transport infrastructure, devolution will bring huge benefits to people’s lives.
“On a personal note and speaking as someone who was born and raised in Lincolnshire, it has been an incredibly special day – a day to celebrate everything that makes our county great, as we look to a prosperous future full of opportunity.”
Ahead of the full council meetings, Grimsby Live also spoke to opposition group councillors for their initial reactions. There were a mix, with the levels of investment broadly welcomed, but concerns about different elements, including the creation of a mayor.
North Lincolnshire
Labour are the only opposition group on the council. Cllr Len Foster struck a balanced initial view. “This proposal is considerably different to the original. There are some merits within it without a doubt.”
The amount of cash promised and mayoralty structure were different to what was originally outlined, he said. North Lincolnshire Labour had yet to decide its overall stance, but Cllr Foster said, “we will have a healthy debate”.
The 55-page draft deal document omits to mention Scunthorpe, or its steelworks, which Cllr Foster called “a bit disturbing”. “That’s a concern, that the whole emphasis on the direction is that of the rural aspect of Lincolnshire.”
There was plenty about infrastructure, especially transport, but he wanted detail that rural areas were not being favoured over industrial parts of northern Lincolnshire. He also wanted assurance the level of representation in the mayoral process could evolve over time. Cllr Foster added: “I want it to be to the advantage for the residents of North Lincolnshire.”
(Image: North Lincolnshire Council)
Referendum call and ‘additional layer of bureaucracy’
Independents for North East Lincolnshire Cllr Steve Holland called for a referendum to show public support for the deal. He said he was “sceptical” about the ability of consultations to do this, given the influence of question wording. The independents will have a free vote on the deal, rather than a single group position.
“This devolved deal has been pushed through by government as fast as it possibly can.” Cllr Holland worried about people’s “ability to relate to the mayor” given they would cover such a large geographical area.
There were “some excellent initiatives in the devolution deal, which could have been achieved without necessarily having another directly elected mayor”. He also had concerns about detail over the mayoral combined county authority (MCCA) powers over planning.
“We should be keeping planning very much under local control.” He said of the deal: “I would prefer to see a referendum so that this does have the clear support of residents right across Lincolnshire.”
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Cllr Nicola Aisthorpe, Liberal Democrat group leader, said they had “deep concerns” about the mayoral model, “particularly because of the amount of power in one person’s hands”. She questioned the need for an “additional layer of costly bureaucracy”.
Cllr Aisthorpe felt it was being “rushed” and was critical of only one scrutiny panel before full council considered it: “At the end of the day, we’re threatened with the risk of being further behind if we don’t accept it. The reality is, we have to be pragmatic about it.”
A worry she also had was how set in stone the £24m a year for 30 years core funding model was. She argued in future years, government could change it.
There were some potential benefits, including working with the Hull deal over the Humberside, though she wanted to re-read the detail.
Original artice: https://www.grimsbytelegraph.co.uk/all-about/scunthorpe
