Greater Lincolnshire Devolution

The public consultation has now ended, and the results have been independently analysed. More detailed results can be found by accessing the full council papers, available at Greater Lincolnshire Devolution (PDF, 4489KB)

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Proposals for a devolution deal for Greater Lincolnshire have been approved by North East Lincolnshire, Lincolnshire and North Lincolnshire Councils.

The proposals, which would secure new investment of at least £720m into Greater Lincolnshire over the next 30 years, were approved by North East Lincolnshire Council’s Cabinet on Wednesday evening, before being discussed and voted for at a meeting of the full Council on Thursday evening.

Lincolnshire County Council approved the proposals on Wednesday night and councillors in North Lincolnshire reviewed and voted for the proposals on Friday 15 March. They will now be submitted to the Government.

Last year, an agreement was made between government and the three Lincolnshire lead authorities – Lincolnshire County Council, and North East Lincolnshire and North Lincolnshire unitary authorities – for extra powers and funding to be transferred from Westminster.

The idea is that local decision-makers better understand the needs of businesses and residents here and can allocate funding for things like adult education, transport and business growth. The proposal secures new investment of at least £720m into Greater Lincolnshire over the next 30 years. And this is just a starting point, with further deals and funding expected in future. It does not affect how local councils currently operate.

As part of the legal process, the full devolution proposal was taken to consultation with residents, businesses, and organisations across the whole area, with a survey and public events during December and January.

A full report was considered at three North East Lincolnshire Council meetings – Scrutiny, Cabinet, and finally Full Council – on Thursday 14 March where all members had a vote on whether the proposed devolution deal is taken forward. Similar meetings took place in Lincolnshire and North Lincolnshire.

The report gives an overview of the ambitions of the proposed deal, which it says will secure:

A Mayoral Investment Fund of £24 million per year for 30 years to invest in infrastructure and skills development totalling £720m.
A one-off £28.4m capital investment in Greater Lincolnshire’s priorities.
£2m capacity funding over 3 years.
£1m skills for jobs funding.
Local control over the Adult Education Budget from 2026.
A consolidated, multi-year transport fund, providing increased financial certainty.

The report outlines the outcome of the public consultation, with the full consultation results document also released. The latter states how the consultation received 4,101 responses, which relative to its total population of 1.1 million, means that Greater Lincolnshire achieved ‘the highest response rate across recent devolution consultations’.

Consultation results

The results of the public consultation found that from more than 4,100 responses:

53% agreed with the proposal relating to new jobs and business growth, 32% disagreed, and 15% did not know or were neutral.
57% agreed with the proposals relating to education and training, 31% disagreed, and 12% did not know or were neutral.
57% agreed with the proposals relating to roads, buses and transport, 33% disagreed, and 10% did not know or were neutral.
48% agreed with the proposals relating to homes and communities, 37% disagreed, and 14% did not know or were neutral.
57% agreed with the proposals relating to the environment, 31% disagreed, and 12% did not know or were neutral.
39% agreed with the proposals relating to governance, 49% disagreed, and 13% did not know or were neutral.

What is ‘devolution’

Councils in Greater Lincolnshire have approved a devolution proposal which means existing money and power can move from central government to decision-makers in Greater Lincolnshire.

The three councils undertook a consultation with residents in the Greater Lincolnshire area to get their views before deciding whether to submit the Proposal to government either in its current form or an amended version.

The deal approved is the most ambitious available and in exchange for this level of powers, money, and say in how we spend it, North, North East and Lincolnshire County Council must submit a proposal to government setting out how this could work through the creation of an independent body called a county combined authority, or CCA.

This level of deal would be chaired by an elected official (usually called a mayor) who you, as Greater Lincolnshire residents, would elect.

All three councils have agreed and adopted the Greater Lincolnshire Devolution Proposal (the Proposal).

If adopted, using powers and deciding how to spend money locally would improve the economic, social and environmental wellbeing of the people who live or work in our area through:

improved local transport and roads
enhanced digital services, like broadband
help improve the environment and achieve net zero
the provision of good quality housing
boosting the economy by supporting local businesses to create new, high paid, high skilled jobs
improving training to ensure local people can take advantage of the new jobs

Hear from North East Lincolnshire Council Leader, Cllr Philip Jackson, as he spoke ahead of the consultation, which has now finished.

Greater Lincolnshire Devolution Combined County Authority Executive Summary:

The proposal explains the powers, funding and flexibilities required to address long term challenges and deliver on opportunities across Greater Lincolnshire. It supports levelling up across the area with a focus improving the economic, social and environmental wellbeing of people who live and work in Greater Lincolnshire. It would see:

Local decisions and long term investment in infrastructure to turbo charge business growth and tackle low business productivity, particularly in key sectors that create high wage, high skills jobs that boost living standards
Long term strategic planning and investment to protect our environment and unlock high quality housing in our communities that meet the needs of younger workforce and supports those in later life
Local commissioning of high quality skills, training and pathways to attract and retain younger workers, meet the significant skills needs of our key industries and capitalise on economic opportunity through better alignment of skills, employment, and career opportunities across Greater Lincolnshire
A stronger voice regionally and nationally to make the case for more investment, to work closely with government on Greater Lincolnshire’s priorities and to deliver on the potential of the area from the Humber to The Wash and new green jobs
Managing water as an asset, to mitigate the threat of coastal erosion and flooding, and meet the area’s unique demands for water to support growth in agriculture and innovations in manufacturing and carbon capture.

Investing in Greater Lincolnshire:

Turbocharging business growth

Long term funding of the infrastructure that key local business needs to grow and create jobs.
Designating a key route network to speed up the movement of goods and passengers through and around Greater Lincolnshire.
Government, research and industry brought together to boost business innovation that leads to more high skill high wage jobs.
A new approach to managing water that supports local business needs and protects communities and business from flooding.

High quality skills and jobs

Students at the stalls at the Women into Manufacturing and Engineering event in Grimsby

Careers support that showcases the great opportunities in Greater Lincolnshire and helps people to get a high skill wage high wage job here.
Training in higher-level skills delivered in Greater Lincolnshire to boost access to high wage jobs in our growth sectors.
The adult education budget invested in courses that help people to achieve a fulfilling future and deliver the skills that our local businesses need to innovate and expand.
Provide extra help to those young people that need it the most, including help for care leavers to get a job.

Unlocking housing through enhanced infrastructure

Aerial shot of housing in North East Lincolnshire

Investing in high quality homes, locations and services to retain a younger workforce and support those in later life.
Investment from Homes England to bring forward the necessary infrastructure to meet the needs of local communities.
Supporting regeneration of areas, providing sustainable and affordable housing solutions for our future workforce.
A single Local Transport Authority to develop public transport improvements that connect people with homes, work, leisure and learning.

A stronger voice for our area

A new Mayor, elected by residents to champion the needs of the area and to make a strong case to the Government for more investment and to pilot new ideas in Greater Lincolnshire.
A Combined County Authority providing local accountability, transparency and capacity to use key growth levers such as transport, skills and economic development.
Enhanced working relationships with government departments to protect our coastline, natural and historic environment and boost tourism.
A new role leading the national debate on transport for rural communities to address challenges across ours and other areas.

Delivering our potential – Humber to Wash

Decarbonise the UK’s largest industrial estuary and deliver green jobs across Greater Lincolnshire in carbon capture and storage, nuclear fusion, water management and energy distribution
National recognition for the UK Food Valley supporting a new generation of high skill jobs and businesses across the food chain.
Maximising the potential of the Humber Freeport to create jobs.
Improved transport links across Greater Lincolnshire and provide a trade corridor to the East Midlands freeport and beyond.

Questions and Answers

Devolution sees central Government transfer powers and money to regions across the country. This allows people who know their areas best to decide where money is spent.

This is already happening in Greater Manchester, the West Midlands, the Tees Valley and more recently, North Yorkshire. Devolution involves the creation of combined authorities – legal bodies that bring councils together to decide on agreed issues that cross boundaries.

No. The three councils (Lincolnshire County Council and North Lincolnshire and North East Lincolnshire Councils) and the seven district councils (East and West Lindsey, North and South Kesteven, Boston Borough Council, City of Lincoln Council and South Holland District Council) will work together with a mayor on projects and schemes which cross traditional council boundaries.

A new set up would grow over time. For example, a deal in the first year would see money and control handed down in areas such as transport, skills and training, homes and communities, economic growth, and the environment. That will expand as the deal matures with more control of finances and power agreed with Government.

Benefits include an enhanced working relationships with government departments to protect our coastline, natural and historic environment and boost tourism. The authority would also take on
a new role leading the national debate on transport for rural communities to address challenges across ours and other areas.

A new authority would provide local accountability and transparency. A mayor would chair a board of 6 voting members from the three councils and other non-constituent members who are proposed to have a vote on some matters. The new authority would have wider membership from other councils, business and one of the police and crime commissioners for the area.

The mayor would champion the needs of the area and make a strong case to the Government for more investment and to encourage new ideas to be piloted in Greater Lincolnshire. The mayor is a
requirement to get the level of deal set out in the proposal. The best deals come with a mayor – it is the very best way to ensure greater control over future local decisions and brings with it the most power and most money because it brings with it the greatest accountability. This person would be elected on four-year terms and be accountable to residents and ensure a stronger voice locally, nationally and globally for Greater Lincolnshire.

An elected mayor is not a replacement for the civic mayors or chairs, which are ceremonial roles.

No. It will bring more money and power to Greater Lincolnshire.

Setting up a combined authority requires legislation to be passed.

Part of any deal would commit the Government legally to longer-term funding provision, including a 30-year investment funding allocation. Both leading parties have also committed to the principle of devolution.

A report has now been released that will be considered at three North East Lincolnshire Council meetings next week – Scrutiny, Cabinet, and finally Full Council on Thursday 14 March where all members will have a vote on whether the proposed devolution deal is taken forward. Similar meetings are taking place in Lincolnshire and North Lincolnshire.

More detailed results can be found by accessing the full council papers, which are at Greater-Lincolnshire-Devolution-PDF-4489KBicon-namepaperclip-prefixfa.pdf (nelincs.gov.uk).

Related websites

Full Devolution Proposal

Policy Paper – Greater Lincolnshire devolution deal 2023

Devolution proposal signed

Latest News

A message from the Leader of North East Lincolnshire Council

Here’s what Council Leader Cllr Philip Jackson had to say following the approval of proposals for the devolution deal.