The Voice of Spalding and South Holland
Less than one per cent of the population of Lincolnshire responded to a major consultation on devolution.
With a population of 1.1m, Greater Lincolnshire saw just 0.3 per cent of residents take part. And the biggest cohort was those aged between 65 and 74.
Members of the county council are being asked to approve the next steps on a road to devolution with a lengthy report going to members.
A special meeting was due to be held yesterday (March 13) to discuss the proposals.
The consultation closed last month and while the county council has been vocal in its support for the plan, it seems most people didn’t show any interest.
The change in governance would see a £24m annual budget for the next 30 years.
Reducing tiers of local government with support for one, centralised authority was supported, but the idea of a mayor was less popular.
“Another frequent theme raised among respondents was the view that there was no need for a mayor,” says the report into the consultation.
Despite the concerns, there are no changes to the original proposal as a mayor is what central government wants in order to achieve a unitary authority.
There was also support for the whole devolution idea to go to a public referendum.
“A decision of this magnitude should not be based on an online survey of such limited scope and of which many people are unaware,” says a response published in the report about the consultation.
A Combined County Authority (CCA) would be made up of a new mayor, two representatives from Lincolnshire County, North Lincolnshire and East Lincolnshire councils.
Four representatives from each of the district authorities would also have a vote on some matters.
The police and crime commissioner and a business leader would make up the authority.
The consultation saw 49 per cent of people disagreeing with the creation of a combined authority while 39 per cent agreed.
The final decision for Lincolnshire County Council will be made at the special meeting on March 13. North East Lincolnshire will be on Thursday and North East Lincolnshire on Friday.
All the authorities are recommended to go ahead with a final submission for devolution, despite concerns around the mayoral position.
“All three councils see this as a great opportunity to be the masters of our own destiny and not be left behind when it comes to government investment,” said county leader Coun Martin Hill.
“In response to the feedback we’ve had from the consultation, we’re including Mayoral question time sessions in the devolution arrangements. These would take place throughout the year and members of the public will be able to directly scrutinise the work of the combined authority.”
Historically, unitary authorities were based around metropolitan areas of population.
In other areas there were district or borough councils and a tier above, the county councils.
There are 62 unitary authorities, most created in the 1990s, and a few between 2019 and last year.
Those created earlier had a tendency to be single districts, such as a town or city.
Unitary authorities take over the responsibilities from both the county and district or borough authority.
There have been criticisms, including that the system hits local democracy. The ‘bigger is better’ model has also been criticised.
Lincolnshire County Council member Marianne Overton said: “They say the mayor will be more visibly accountable, but for what? Which council will be responsible for which part of transport, housing or education? There are already 19 ‘devo-deals’ covering 33 million people and no two are the same.”
According to the county council, the new authority would ‘improve the economic, social and environmental wellbeing of the people who live or work in our area.’
For more information, see www.lincolnshire.gov.uk/devolution
