Agenda item

Motion by Councillor C Pain

It was moved and seconded that:-

'Lincolnshire County Council, in common with other parts of the public sector is faced with continuing reductions in funding with increased demands on many services.  We must, in particular, explore options that maximise impact on finances whilst minimising adverse impact on the people we all serve.

One of those options is to explore unitary local government for the county.  Recent experiences have shown that considerable savings can be made.  For example, Wiltshire's unitary council (which is smaller in area and population than Lincolnshire) estimates that it has saved £100million from 2009-2013 with transition costs of £18million and improvements in several services.  Equivalent savings for Lincolnshire could be up to £25 million every year even after transition costs are taken into account. 

We cannot ignore such an opportunity, so I propose that Council sets up a Select Committee to look closely at the potential benefits, risks, costs and savings from having a single unitary authority for our county and make recommendations back to full council in December.'

An amendment was proposed to the motion to delete the final paragraph and to replace it with the following wording, and was moved and seconded.

'The Council accepts the potential for large financial and other benefits to the county area by going to unitary status.

It also notes that reorganisation could be disruptive and divisive in the short term.

It also notes that local government structure has to be decided by parliament and that the current government has clearly indicated that it will not legislate in this current parliament.

The Council therefore recommends that councillors, either individually or through their groupings, lobby MP's and political parties to include in their manifesto proposals for the long term sustainability and effectiveness of local government'

The amendment, upon being put to the vote was carried.  This became the substantive motion.

The amended motion, upon being put to the vote, was carried.

Motion by Councillor Mrs M J Overton

It was moved and seconded that:-

'Work is currently underway to develop the Central Lincolnshire Core Strategy.  The housing numbers proposed are disproportionately large, are not based on the needs of the people of Lincolnshire and will require housing permissions being given faster than we can support.  There are insufficient controls on the rate of housing development to ensure that adequate infrastructure and services are funded properly.

We propose:

            A        Developing a mechanism to ensure that the rate of house      building is in keeping specifically with the local needs of the    people of Lincolnshire (including realistic projections of             employment) and that the necessary funding for infrastructure        and services are identified before each phase takes place. This may require renegotiating housing targets with             central            government.

            B        To reduce the target for renewable electricity generation by 2026      from    60% to a more realistic 30%-40%, closer to national       guidelines to             reduce pressure on land use.

The effect of this motion would be to retain some development but ensure that it is in keeping with the needs of the people of Lincolnshire and what we can afford, without damaging our rural county.'

Upon being put to the vote, the motion was lost.

Motion by Councillor A Bridges

It was moved and seconded that:-

'The rural fuel rebate pilot scheme offers a 5p per litre discount on pump prices and currently applies only to the Scottish islands and the Isles of Scilly. At the 2012 Autumn Statement the government announced that it was considering whether to seek EU approval for an extension of the scheme to other remote parts of the UK which are likely to display similar cost characteristics to the islands. As part of this work, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander MP announced on 1 August 2013 the start of a Call for Information, which invites fuel retailers in remote rural areas across the UK to submit data on petrol and diesel prices in the last quarter of 2012. 

The Call for Information has been restricted to counties in which the costs of transporting fuel are considered to be significantly higher than the UK average, and in which a low population density means that the fixed costs of running a service station are spread across a small number of customers.

The County of Lincolnshire has not been included in the list of areas which have been invited to submit data.  Having reviewed the statistics, I believe that Lincolnshire compares very favourably with North Yorkshire & Herefordshire, two counties which are on the list.

Pump prices in rural filling stations in Lincolnshire are as high as those in North Yorkshire and Herefordshire, and therefore should not have been excluded from this Call for Information.  Furthermore, North Yorkshire has 46 rail heads and Herefordshire has 28 - far more than Lincolnshire.  This means that the use of a car is far more essential in Lincolnshire than in either North Yorkshire or Herefordshire.  Lincolnshire should therefore be included in this list.

The Council therefore resolves:

That LCC Members support a letter signed by the Leader and the Chief Executive to Danny Alexander MP, following his initiative on fuel discounts, that Lincolnshire should be included in the list of counties that may apply for fuel discounts of 5p per litre in rural communities.'

Upon being put to the vote, the motion was carried.