Local Government Reorganisation (LGR)
Watch on Youtube – The public engagement survey mentioned in this video is now closed. However, we have kept this video up as it is a good explanation about Local Government Reorganisation and how it could impact North East Lincolnshire.
Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) means the government is looking at changing how some councils work, including those across Lincolnshire. This could mean change for us here in North East Lincolnshire and we want to know what you think.
Right now, from Grimsby to Cleethorpes, Immingham to the Wolds, North East Lincolnshire Council is led by its local elected members, making the decisions that shape our communities. We’re a smaller unitary authority, which means we run all your local services. We do it here, in your borough, with all the local councillors knowing our streets, schools, parks and neighbourhoods.
But, the Government thinks bigger will be better. It says having unitary councils that are larger would be more efficient, be financially stronger and be able to adapt to situations and change. This could mean North East Lincolnshire Council becomes part of a much bigger unitary authority. Our council has a different view and believes staying smaller is of much greater benefit as we look to effect positive change within our communities and our economy.
During September and October this year we asked people for their views on the future of our borough and they helped to shape our Local Government Proposal that we must submit to Government at the end of this month. The proposal has now been formally approved by Cabinet and was endorsed unanimously by all elected members at a Full Council meeting. Read the proposal (PDF, 48KB) .
The Government has launched LGR because it says it wants to simplify and improve local council services. As part of this, the Government wants to replace all two-tier systems – where services are split between county and district or borough councils – with new unitary councils. It means the county and district councils will no longer exist and brand-new organisations will be created. The Government also wants to review some unitary councils, where there is either evidence of failure, or where their size or boundaries may be hindering their ability to deliver sustainable and high-quality public services because Government considers them too small. Government has suggested a guideline of a population size of 500,000 residents as a guideline.
The Government wants to complete this process by 2028 and has said it will use legislation to ensure progress, if needed. It has asked for all councils to develop and submit final proposals for local government reorganisation by November 2025.
Greater Lincolnshire currently has seven district and borough councils, and one county council in a two-tier structure, with two northern unitary authorities:
- Lincolnshire County Council
- Boston Borough Council
- City of Lincoln Council
- East Lindsey District Council
- North Kesteven District Council
- South Holland District Council
- South Kesteven District Council
- West Lindsey District Council
- Unitary authority – North East Lincolnshire Council
- Unitary authority – North Lincolnshire Council
As part of the Government’s plans, all 10 councils across Greater Lincolnshire have been asked to explore and submit proposals for how local government could be restructured, to be able to deliver services in the most efficient way for their communities.
This may include the creation of one or more new unitary councils to replace the existing two-tier arrangements, with the goal of delivering simpler, more effective local services. The two unitary authorities (North and North East Lincolnshire) are required to put forward proposals too.
Following the submission of initial proposals and a formal response received from Government, councils across Greater Lincolnshire are now carefully reviewing the available options.
All the 10 councils must submit their preferred options for LGR to Government by Tuesday 28 November 2025. We are now ready to submit ours by this date.
Government is not committing to when it will make a final decision once it has received those submissions. However the LGA website states how the Government will follow the established assessment and decision-making process, with a view to undertake elections in May 2027 ahead of the establishment of new local authorities in April 2028.
The process is set out further at: Summary of the local government reorganisation process.
What other councils across Greater Lincolnshire are doing:
North East Lincolnshire Council is a unitary authority covering 192-square kms. This means it delivers all the services for the 158,335 people who live in the borough. These services are vast and include:
Our people:
Children’s care, adult support, improving peoples’ health & wellbeing, supporting community groups and involvement, housing support, keeping people safe, skills.
Our strong links with community groups and projects has enabled us to support a whole host of projects, including:
- The support of events, such as Festival of the Sea, and the Paint Our Town Proud murals
- The purchase and renovation of homes in the East Marsh by the community group East Marsh United, (EMU).
- The re-energising of the Family Hubs across the borough.
- The use of grant funding to support community projects and groups in North East Lincolnshire including Centre4, ConnectNEL, holiday activities for young people, Age UK North East Lincolnshire,
Our place:
Support for our businesses, leisure & things to do, transforming our towns, promoting and improving our resort of Cleethorpes, looking after our parks & green spaces, emptying bins and the environment, repairing and maintaining our streets and roads, parking, planning, supporting jobs, training & volunteering.
The work the council does, the grant money it has attracted, and the change it has supported includes:
North East Lincolnshire Council’s Local Government proposal 2025 is called Building a Strong Economy and Stronger Communities. It outlines in detail a ‘compelling argument’ for retaining the borough’s existing boundaries. This has been approved by Cabinet and was endorsed unanimously by all elected members at a Full Council meeting. Read the proposal (PDF, 48KB) .
This followed a meeting of July’s Full Council, where members of North East Lincolnshire Council voted to approve the following with regards to this authority’s position on LGR:
- That the preference is for North East Lincolnshire to remain within its current administrative boundaries;
- That this option is promoted across Greater Lincolnshire;
- That the authority continues to explore opportunities to work closely with North Lincolnshire and Lincolnshire County Councils on any Greater Lincolnshire submissions to government.
These recommendations had been taken to Full Council, following discussions at meetings of the Local Government Reorganisation Working Group. Group Leaders from across the Council sat on the group, which was supported by the appropriate officers.
Further reading:
What is the difference between Devolution and LGR?
Devolution and LGR are separate but related processes. Devolution involves transferring powers and funding from central government to local areas. This is usually done through mayoral combined authorities like the Greater Lincolnshire Combined County Authority.
LGR focuses on simplifying local government by replacing two-tier systems with unitary authorities. For more on the work of the GLCCA go to Greater Lincolnshire CCA.
