The South Holland Council Cabinet was scheduled to meet on Tuesday, 6 May 2025, to discuss and allocate a budget for the development of a final plan for Local Government Re-organisation (LGR) for submission to the government. The meeting was also to cover the proposed governance arrangements for the project.

Local Government Re-organisation

The Cabinet was scheduled to discuss the allocation and authorisation of a budget for developing a final plan for Local Government Re-organisation to present to the government. Councillor Charles Nicholas Worth, Leader of the Council, Portfolio Holder for Partnerships, was identified as the relevant Portfolio Holder for this matter. James Gilbert, Assistant Director - Corporate, prepared a report on the matter.

Greater Lincolnshire is one of several areas invited by the Minister for Local Government to submit a proposal for LGR. East Lindsey District Council and South Holland District Council jointly submitted an interim proposal to the government on 21 March 2025. This proposal suggested creating two unitary councils in Greater Lincolnshire:

1. The existing South and East Lincolnshire Councils Partnership sub-region, along with South Kesteven and North Kesteven.
2. The City of Lincoln, West Lindsey, North Lincolnshire, and North East Lincolnshire.

The government's feedback on this interim proposal was expected in early May. Following this feedback, the councils would decide whether to proceed with developing a final proposal for submission by 28 November 2025.

To prepare for this, an indicative budget allocation of £175,000 was requested to engage external expertise to support the development of the final proposal. The report pack noted that working with East Lindsey District Council, and potentially other interested councils, could offer opportunities to share and reduce costs.

The report pack stated that the government had confirmed in a Ministerial Statement on 24 March 2025 that it would allocate £7.6 million to support the development of LGR proposals, to be shared by 21 areas. However, the exact allocation method was not yet clear. Despite this funding commitment, allocating a budget now would position the council to act quickly on developing a final proposal once feedback on the interim plan was received. Greater Lincolnshire was earmarked by the government to implement its new arrangements in April 2028.

The recommendations for the Cabinet were:

1. To approve the allocation and use of £175,000 to support the development of a final proposal to the government for LGR.
2. To note the proposed governance arrangements.

The report pack stated that the requested budget would enable the council to secure the necessary skills and expertise to produce a high-quality submission to the government, alongside any other councils that support its proposal. It also noted that relying solely on potential government funding was risky due to the uncertainty of receiving a grant allocation or its value.

The report pack included a summary of a letter from Minister McMahon, dated 5 February 2025, which outlined the government's ambition to create simpler, more sustainable local government structures. The letter formally invited leaders in Greater Lincolnshire to collaborate on developing an LGR proposal based on specific criteria, including:

• Establishing a single tier of local government for the whole area.
• Ensuring unitary local government is the right size to achieve efficiencies, improve capacity, and withstand financial shocks.
• Prioritising the delivery of high-quality and sustainable public services to citizens.
• Demonstrating how councils have sought to work together, informed by local views.
• Supporting devolution arrangements.
• Enabling stronger community engagement and delivering genuine opportunity for neighbourhood empowerment.

The report pack stated that the interim plan submitted to the government on 21 March 2025 by East Lindsey and South Holland proposed splitting Greater Lincolnshire into two Unitary Councils:

• A Northern Unitary comprising the City of Lincoln Council, North East Lincolnshire Council, North Lincolnshire Council, and West Lindsey District Council.
• A Southern Unitary comprising Boston Borough Council, East Lindsey District Council, North Kesteven District Council, South Holland District Council, and South Kesteven District Council.

The report pack stated that the model proposed by East Lindsey and South Holland in their interim plan aimed to build on the foundations already developed by the South & East Lincolnshire Councils Partnership, which had delivered savings of £40 million over the past three years through a joint service delivery approach.

Should the councils proceed with developing a final proposal, they would need to commission expert support due to a lack of in-house skills and capacity. The indicative budget of £175,000 would allow for the procurement of necessary expertise to develop the final proposal, including:

• Developing the final proposal document, including data and financial analysis.
• Undertaking a programme of communications and engagement/consultation with residents, businesses, and wider stakeholders, including public sector partners.
• Project management and support.

The report pack estimated that the budget would be apportioned as follows:

• Approximately £35,000 for project management.
• Approximately £140,000 for proposal development, including the evidence base, financial analysis, governance arrangements, and community/stakeholder engagement.

The budget would be funded from the forecast outturn variance or reserves if needed before late May.

The report pack proposed a governance structure to support the development of a final proposal, with a report to be brought forward by a Working Group for final decision-making once the proposal was developed.

The report pack concluded that allocating the budget now would place the council in the best position to develop a robust final proposal to the government regarding LGR.

The report pack noted that if the council proceeded with developing a final proposal based on the geography within the interim plan, it would build on the existing South & East Lincolnshire Councils Partnership sub-regional model. It also stated that LGR would impact the workforce, and the council was committed to keeping colleagues and Trade Unions fully informed.

The report pack identified a risk that the government had stated its intention to reorganise all two-tier local authority areas within this Parliament, and that in preparing for this, councils were expected to work together to develop the best local government structure for the area. The report sought to ensure the council could work with partners to submit a high-quality proposal to the government by 28 November 2025, should it choose to do so.

The report pack stated that there would be a requirement for a detailed programme of engagement/consultation with the community and wider stakeholders to inform the final submission to the government.

The appendices to the report included:

• Appendix A: Local Government Re-organisation – Interim Plan
• Appendix B: Local Government Re-organisation – letter from Minister for Local Government

The interim plan included in the report pack proposed two unitary authorities for the Greater Lincolnshire region: a Northern Lincolnshire Unitary Council and a Southern Lincolnshire Unitary Council.

The Northern Lincolnshire Unitary Council would cover the areas of North Lincolnshire Unitary Council, North East Lincolnshire Unitary Council, West Lindsey District Council, and City of Lincoln Council, with a total population of 531,000.

The Southern Lincolnshire Unitary Council would cover the areas of North Kesteven District Council, South Kesteven District Council, Boston Borough Council, East Lindsey District Council, and South Holland District Council, with a total population of 574,000.

The document also noted that those authorities submitting this proposal would also support splitting East Lindsey District Council according to the parliamentary boundary. This would place part of the area covered by East Lindsey District Council into the Northern unitary and part into the Southern authority. In this scenario, the population would be:

Northern Lincolnshire Unitary Council: Covering the areas of North Lincolnshire Unitary Council (170,000), North East Lincolnshire Unitary Council (160,000), West Lindsey District Council (97,000) and City of Lincoln Council (104,000) and part of East Lindsey District Council (Louth and Horncastle Constituency) (77,000)

Total population size= 608,000

Southern Lincolnshire Unitary Council: Covering the areas of North Kesteven District Council (120,000), South Kesteven District Council (144,000), Boston Borough Council (70,000), South Holland District Council (95,000) and part of East Lindsey District Council (covered by Boston and Skegness Constituency) (68,000)

Total population size: 497,000

The interim plan stated that the Northern unitary contains the three largest conurbations in the region including the only city, Lincoln, and brings together council areas that naturally look towards the north of the region towards the Humber. The Southern unitary contains most of the region’s coastline and brings together places towards the south that more naturally look towards Nottingham, Peterborough and Cambridge.

The interim plan anticipated that a Trust would be established to deliver Adults and Children’s Social Care services on behalf of the whole of the Greater Lincolnshire area.

The interim plan stated that the proposed local authorities should help councils work together to deliver the significant housing targets placed upon them.

The interim plan stated that Councils across Lincolnshire are already demonstrating a commitment to delivering the best possible value for money and efficiencies, such as through the South and East Lincolnshire Councils Partnership, which is on track to deliver £42m of efficiencies by working together at sub-regional level.

The interim plan stated that the proposed approach will involve the creation of a “Social Care Trust” which will see the delivery of Children’s and Adult social care transfer to a single organisation which will cover Greater Lincolnshire.

The interim plan stated that the proposed model supports a range of council services to become more sustainable and better able to adapt to the future needs of local authorities, and that this includes ICT.

The interim plan stated that the development of the devolution proposal in Lincolnshire involved a level of engagement with the local community, with a particular focus on certain groups, which include the business community.

The interim plan stated that the proposal will support the existing Devolution Deal for a Mayoral County Combined Authority (MCCA) within Greater Lincolnshire and the transition to a Mayoral Strategic Authority as part of the devolution framework, with the intention of moving to an Established Mayoral Strategic Authority in due course.

The interim plan stated that the Lincolnshire 2050 Vision characterised Lincolnshire as a ‘place of places’.