Local Government Reorganisation (LGR)
Local Government Reorganisation Decision: North East Lincolnshire Council is set to remain as a unitary authority from 2028.
Delighted elected members and senior officers at the council have today been told by Westminster that the review of Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) across Greater Lincolnshire has concluded and it is hugely positive news for the borough.
Government wants North East Lincolnshire Council and North Lincolnshire – also a unitary authority – to remain as they are from 2028. Two more unitary authorities, one covering Lincoln with an expanded geography and the other covering the remainder of Lincolnshire, are set to be created. Legislation will be laid before Parliament later this year.
The news comes after an intense period of scrutiny of Greater Lincolnshire by Government.
As part of the LGR review, all current councils across the wider county were asked to submit their own proposals – in which North East Lincolnshire presented its case to stay within its current unitary structure. This was supported by hundreds of residents and businesses during a public consultation – and has resulted in today’s decision.
You can read more on the The Greater Lincolnshire Local Government Reorganisation Hub.
Council Leader, Cllr Oliver Freeston, said: “Our concise and clear proposal has been read and listened to. In it, we outlined our strong ambition, our close links with our communities and our partners, and the huge strides we are making in key areas of Children’s Services, Adult Social Care, in creating our Marmot Town, and in supporting the economy and regeneration.
“This is the very best decision for the people of our borough, and the wider Greater Lincolnshire and South Humber regions.
“Uniquely placed along the south bank of the Humber, we are the vital link between the economy powerhouse of the estuary and the rest of Greater Lincolnshire – allowing us to contribute to the success of the whole region.
“This decision comes with a pledge from everyone here to continue our work and continue our close collaboration with neighbouring local authorities and our determination to see the Greater Lincolnshire Combined County Authority grow and bring with it benefits for all. We can look forward to the future with confidence.”
Cllr Freeston added: “I would like to take this opportunity to thank fellow elected members, officers of this council and importantly the many, many residents, businesses and voluntary organisations that supported our proposal – it was invaluable.”
The council’s proposal to remain as a unitary authority received cross-party support, and today’s decision has also been warmly welcomed by the other political group leaders:
About LGR
The Government launched LGR because it says it wants to simplify and improve local council services. As part of this, the Government wanted 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 would 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.
The Government wants to complete this process by 2028 and has said it will use legislation to ensure progress, if needed. As part of the process all councils developed and submitted their final proposals. This was done across Greater Lincolnshire including in North East Lincolnshire. A decision has now been made (16 July 2026), and North East Lincolnshire will remain as a unitary authority.
Read the Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) proposal (PDF, 52KB) .
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 were asked to submit proposals for how local government could be restructured, to be able to deliver services in the most efficient way for their communities. A decision has now been made (16 July 2026), and North East Lincolnshire will remain as a unitary authority.
During September and October 2025 we asked people for their views on the future of our borough, and they helped to shape our Local Government Proposal that we submitted to Government at the end of November 2025. The proposal was formally approved by Cabinet and was endorsed unanimously by all elected members at a Full Council meeting.
Our Proposal was part of a three-way agreed Proposal with North Lincolnshire Unitary Authority and Lincolnshire County Council, which has an overarching recommendation to keep the existing boundaries of those authority areas. There are three sections of that overall Proposal that detail the ambitions, the visions, and the aspirations of a three unitary authority model going forward.
The three-way Proposal, along with others from councils in Greater Lincolnshire, was subject to a national Government consultation. This ran for seven weeks and is now finished. For more details go to Local government reorganisation in Lincolnshire, North Lincolnshire and North East Lincolnshire – GOV.UK
Some documents may not be accessible. Paper copies are available.
The NELC Proposal was part of a three-way agreed Proposal with North Lincolnshire Unitary Authority and Lincolnshire County Council, which has an overarching recommendation to keep the existing boundaries of those authority areas.
The proposals are here:
View the rest at:
The Government launched their statutory consultation on 5th February 2025 on the submitted proposals. It is now finished. For more on this go to Local government reorganisation in Lincolnshire, North Lincolnshire and North East Lincolnshire – GOV.UK
Following that consultation, Government has now made their decisions (16 July 2026), and North East Lincolnshire will remain as a unitary authority.
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:
Pioneer Business Park: Grant monies won by the council enabled the creation of the new park which secured the future of Myenergi in North East Lincolnshire. 
Freshney Place Leisure, Food and Market Hall Scheme: When the shopping centre’s future was at risk, the council – supported by grant funding – bought it. This centre supports approx. 1,700 jobs, mostly local, and is vital to the future of the town centre. The leisure scheme, with funding support, will create a new cinema, and leisure attractions to attract families and support retail in the centre. 
Undeveloped site 
Heritage projects: Grant funding specifically for certain areas of the borough for example the Kasbah area of the Port of Grimsby and Cleethorpes’ Alexandra Road and Sea View Street has seen fantastic restoration projects. 
St James’ House: This new E-Factor business hub developed in the rundown and vacant building in St James’ Square has been supported with Towns Fund monies won by North East Lincolnshire Council. 
The new OnSide Horizon Youth Zone: This ‘game-changer’ for thousands of young people is set to open in February 2026. Grant funding won by the council enabled it to buy the West Haven Maltings site, which is now being developed by OnSide.
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.
It also offers a combined three unitary proposal for Greater Lincolnshire, which takes on board our commitment to local people and, whilst standing on its own, aligns with the proposals put forward by both North Lincolnshire Council and Lincolnshire County Council. We collectively propose to keep both existing and effective unitary councils – North and North East Lincolnshire. For the existing county council footprint, we believe that there is a strong case for merging the county and district services together to form one unitary council.
We offer a solution to government for one collective proposal across Greater Lincolnshire, which we feel creates a strong case for reorganisation and change without destabilising existing good practice. This is the most effective and efficient option for Greater Lincolnshire.
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 a Full Council meeting in July 2025, 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.
