The Voice of Spalding and South Holland
A councillor has urged the district council to take legal action against the county council over a proposed move to create a Greater Lincolnshire authority headed by an elected mayor.
The details over a potential devolution deal which would lead to another layer of local government being created are still under wraps.
District Council leader Nick Worth says even he’s been left in the dark as to the details being discussed as it can only be voted to exist by Lincolnshire County Council, North East Lincolnshire and North Lincolnshire councils.
It would involve a democratically elected mayor heading a body made up of local representatives, though Coun Worth told last week’s meeting of South Holland District Council the district councils in the area are not happy that it’s proposed few of those would have a seat on the board.
It was in response to Coun Mark Le Sage asking if the council had started legal challenges he’d suggested at a behind closed doors briefing for district councillors.
“The deal on the table is poor and the residents I’ve spoken to don’t want a mayor,” he told the Full Council last week. “Really it’s being forced on us.”
He also criticised the lack of transparency and secrecy behind the proposals.
Coun Worth responded: “All the district councils agree we should have better representation on any combined authority.
“We think the devolution is pretty ineffective to be honest so we’ve asked them to try and get a better deal.”
He later said legal action against another council would not be possible.
It’s not clear how much money is being offered by the government to set up the new tier of government that would have to be spread across the whole of the new Greater Lincolnshire.
The details of what powers it would have also not been made public even to Coun Worth, though he’d previously been told that no powers would be transferred out of the district council’s hands without it voting for that to happen.
He did say later in the meeting in responce to a question on buses and public transport: “If we do get the mayoral combined authority there’s a specific area to deal with transport and specific funding for it.”
Coun Worth told The Voice he thought a consultation on the proposals could come out in the new year as the voting authorities look to push it through before any general election which has to be before January 2024 and could take place next May.
