Agenda

To confirm and sign as a correct record the Minutes of the Meeting of Full Council held on 27 January 2025.

Members may make any declarations of interest at this point and may also make them at any point during the meeting.

Setting out the current position of previously agreed actions as at 21 February 2025.

i)               Chairman of Council

ii)              Leader of the Council

iii)            Head of Paid Service

Questions, if received, under this Scheme will be published by way of supplement following closure of the deadline.

Questions, if received, under this Scheme will be published by way of supplement following closure of the deadline.

Questions now attached

Motion 1 -  Back West Lindsey – Stop a Mega-Council

“This Council Notes:

1.     The Government’s English Devolution announcement in December 2024, which included reference to supporting local government reorganisation.

2.     The proposals being considered by some counties to merge existing district councils into large, county-wide unitary authorities, as seen recently in North Yorkshire.

3.     The significant concerns of residents, businesses and the third sector across Lincolnshire regarding the negative impact a mega-council would have on local democracy, accountability, and the effective delivery of public services.

4.     The financial situation of mega-councils created in recent years such as Somerset and North Northamptonshire have not improved post-unitarisation. The financial crisis in local government has not been solved by unitarisation.

This Council Believes:

1.             Decisions affecting West Lindsey should be taken in West Lindsey.

2.             In its 50 year’s of existence West Lindsey has been a successful council responding to the needs of its community.  This level of localised action would be lost in mega-council, one county unitary.

3.             Whilst the current two-tier system presents some challenges, the solution does not lie in the creation of vast and remote mega-councils that would diminish local voices and accountability.

4.             If unitarisation is to be implemented in Lincolnshire, it should be based on smaller, more localised areas that are aligned with existing communities and their identities, rather than a single, county-wide mega-council.

5.             That any restructuring of local government in Lincolnshire must be driven by the genuine needs and preferences of local communities, and should not be a top-down imposition that disregards local concerns.

This Council Resolves:

1.       To reject the creation of a large, county-wide mega-council for Lincolnshire.

2.       To call upon the Leader of the Council to write to all Council Leaders in Greater Lincolnshire and the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government to inform them of West Lindsey’s wish to remain West Lindsey, and request that they abandon any plans for a county-wide mega-council.

3.       We instruct officers to ensure that the continuing identity of West Lindsey District as a major contributor to Central Lincolnshire is at the forefront of any thinking and planning that they undertake from now on

I so move

Councillor Matthew Boles”

To resolve that under Section 100 (A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public and press be excluded from the meeting for the following item of business on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act.

Appendix 3 Continued – Exempt Fees and Charges relating to Building Control.