North Kesteven District Council has published its initial response to Government plans for Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) in Lincolnshire.
The recommended proposal is a merger of North and South Kesteven together with South Holland District and Rutland County.
The proposals will be presented to an Extraordinary Full Council meeting tomorrow, Tuesday March 18.
A White Paper published in December last year asked district/borough and county councils across England to submit their initial LGR proposals by Friday, March 21. Following consideration by Full Council, North Kesteven District Council’s preferred proposal will be submitted and further developed into more detailed plans by November 2025, in line with Government expectations.
The Government wants to replace the current system of counties and districts with unitary authorities to complement the newly devolved Greater Lincolnshire Mayoral Combined County Authority.
The proposals also outline preferred options for local government across the rest of Greater Lincolnshire which would result in three unitary authorities:
- Unitary 1, population 405,519: South Kesteven, North Kesteven, South Holland, Rutland (which has previously been a member of the Greater Lincolnshire Local Enterprise Partnership)
- Unitary 2, population 417,932: Boston, East Lindsey, West Lindsey, City of Lincoln
- Unitary 3, population 328,422: North Lincolnshire, North-East Lincolnshire
North Kesteven District Council Leader, Cllr Richard Wright, said: “This is the most significant change to Local Government in a generation. The process that we are being asked to commit to is one that will fundamentally define how services are delivered in the future and who delivers them. In reaching the proposal that I am recommending to Council, we have considered all of the factors required by central government. These include population growth, economy, deprivation, council tax and other important factors such as place identity.
“Our balanced proposal looks at all of these to form a submission to present to Government. On March 18, Council will be asked to debate the report, and councillors will be asked to vote to endorse the preferred option, which mirrors that being presented to South Kesteven’s councillors for debate at the same time.
"Our approach has been data driven to shortlist what we believe is the best option to provide the highest quality services to the residents of Lincolnshire for many years to come.
“In preparing our interim proposal we have actively engaged with all other Greater Lincolnshire councils and recognise the essential need for ongoing engagement with residents, communities, businesses and stakeholders to inform our final submission.”
The interim proposal can be seen in full at:
Agenda for Council on Tuesday, 18th March, 2025, 5.00 pm | North Kesteven District Council