Our proposal

Our proposal delivers for Greater Lincolnshire

More money, more say, better results for Greater Lincolnshire

Investing in Greater Lincolnshire

£24 million per annum for 30 years to invest in infrastructure and skills development totalling £720m.
Multi year transport budget with greater flexibility to spend the money on local priorities.
Funding for adult education to prioritise spending on the needs of people and businesses rather than national priorities.
One off £28.4m capital investment in Greater Lincolnshire’s priorities.

A stronger voice for our area

A new Mayor, elected by residents to champion the needs of the area and to make a strong case to the Government for more investment and to pilot new ideas in Greater Lincolnshire.
A Combined County Authority providing local accountability, transparency and capacity to use key growth levers such as transport, skills and economic development.
Enhanced working relationships with government departments to protect our coastline, natural and historic environment and boost tourism.
A new role leading the national debate on transport for rural communities to address challenges across ours and other areas.

Turbo charging business growth

Long term funding of the infrastructure that key local business needs to grow and create jobs.
Identify and agree key route network to speed up the movement of goods and passengers through and around Greater Lincolnshire.
Government, research and industry brought together to boost business innovation that leads to more high skill high wage jobs.
A new approach to managing water that supports local business needs and protects communities and business from flooding.

Delivering our potential – Humber to Wash

Decarbonise the UK’s largest industrial estuary and deliver green jobs across Greater Lincolnshire in carbon capture and storage, nuclear fusion, water management and energy distribution
National recognition for the UK Food Valley supporting a new generation of high skill jobs and businesses across the food chain.
Maximising the potential of the Humber Freeport to create jobs.
Improved transport links across Greater Lincolnshire and provide a trade corridor to the East Midlands freeport and beyond.

High quality skills and jobs

Careers support that showcases the great opportunities in Greater Lincolnshire and helps people to get a high skill high wage job here.
Training in higher-level skills delivered in Greater Lincolnshire to boost access to high wage jobs in our growth sectors.
The adult education budget invested in courses that help people to achieve a fulfilling future and deliver the skills that our local businesses need to innovate and expand.
Provide extra help to those young people that need it the most, including help for care leavers to get a job.

Unlocking housing through enhanced infrastructure

Investing in high quality homes, locations and services to retain a younger workforce and support those in later life.
Investment from Homes England to bring forward the necessary infrastructure to meet the needs of local communities.
Supporting regeneration of areas, providing sustainable and affordable housing solutions for our future workforce.
A single Local Transport Authority to develop public transport improvements that connect people with homes, work, leisure and learning.

Introduction

Greater Lincolnshire’s devolution deal is ambitious.

The three upper tier councils of Lincolnshire County Council, North Lincolnshire Council and North East Lincolnshire Council secured an ambitious £750 million devolution deal with government on 22 November 2023. The deal signifies unprecedented investment into the area and provides a catalyst for economic growth and improved outcomes for residents and people working in the area.

This is a time of considerable opportunity for Greater Lincolnshire and this proposal is designed to unlock significant long- term funding and give local leaders greater freedom to decide how best to meet local needs and create new opportunities for residents and those who come to Greater Lincolnshire for work or leisure.

We are at the heart of delivering on vital national growth sectors – through the UK Food Valley, our Freeport and our market leader role in offshore renewables. At the same time, we have a clear focus on delivering against the Levelling Up agenda and transforming our city towns and resorts. Devolution is essential to complement those initiatives through local powers, influence and decision making.

The key sectors of our economy are of strategic importance to the UK. Greater Lincolnshire has a unique place in the future success of the UK as a source of clean energy, carbon capture opportunities, and food security. It has a vital role in global trade, securing the nation’s supply chains in key industries:

Food, fish, seafood and food manufacturing: Greater Lincolnshire is home to the UK Food Valley. It supplies 70% of seafood consumed in the UK, 30% of the nation’s vegetables, and 18% of poultry. It had a total agricultural output of over £2bn in 2019, with a seafood processing and trading cluster worth over £1.5 billion to the economy. Greater Lincolnshire will become a world leading food cluster. It has the potential to help the UK become a science superpower through its focus on new food chain automation and digital technology and innovation.
Energy, decarbonisation and net zero: Greater Lincolnshire is at the heart of the UK’s offshore renewable energy generation, and with at least 25% of the UK’s energy production it plays a crucial role in enabling the nation to become a net energy exporter by 2040. The low carbon economy and green energy production across Greater Lincolnshire are pivotal to the UK achieving net zero. They are already worth £1.2bn per annum to the economy, employing over 12,000 people. Greater Lincolnshire has a fundamental role leveraging investment in the North Sea expanding renewable capacity and innovating in carbon capture.
Ports, logistics and supply chains: Greater Lincolnshire is the UK gateway to Europe for the Midlands Engine and Northern Powerhouse. Benefiting from prime deep water locations, its ports and connectivity advantages have supported the growth of a UK-leading logistics cluster, serving industry sectors including renewables, advanced manufacturing, food manufacturing and energy. The UK economy is highly dependent on the maritime sector, with 95% of goods exports and imports moved by sea, including nearly half of the country’s food supplies and a quarter of its energy supply. Greater Lincolnshire is supporting the next phase in the evolution of its ports and the competitiveness of its logistic sector that underpin trade and national supply chains.

However, Greater Lincolnshire is not without its challenges. Public spending per head is below average when compared against the UK. The economy has an over-reliance on seasonal jobs, whether that is in tourism or agriculture. The area has carbon-rich heavy industry which is critical to the UK, but sees challenges in terms of the green agenda. Skill levels lag behind our neighbours and the rest of the UK with only 29% of our working age residents having a level 4 qualification or above. This is 32% lower than nationally.

Whilst upper tier councils have made significant investment in local infrastructure, the area has few motorways or dual carriageways and limited public transport networks. This reduces the opportunity to travel to work, learning and leisure, contributing to greater inequality. Costs are often higher and greater investment is required. Greater Lincolnshire also has an aging population which has increased 30% faster than the rest of the UK since 2020. There is a need to both attract and retain a younger workforce and residents to enable local economies to thrive.

Elsewhere in the UK devolution has helped to improve economic performance. Areas with devolution arrangements often have additional opportunities to access new funding and initiatives enabling them to outperform those areas who are yet to enter into devolved arrangements. Now is the time for Greater Lincolnshire to catch up with the most successful areas of the UK. This will be achieved through strong local leadership and a more targeted approach to skills and training, local transport, infrastructure development and regeneration.

Government has offered a range of different devolution models with the benefits reflecting the strength of local leadership. We believe that through a directly elected mayor Greater Lincolnshire would demonstrate strong leadership and unlock the full benefits of devolution.

We propose creating a Combined County Authority with an elected mayor to bring together key partners in a long-term arrangement to manage devolved powers and some existing local transport powers across Greater Lincolnshire. Through the proposed Combined County Authority senior councillors from Lincolnshire County Council, North Lincolnshire Council and North East Lincolnshire Council will work collaboratively with the City, District and Borough councils within Lincolnshire and a new mayor elected directly by residents. Local business and the police and crime commissioners would be key partners at the table informing decision-making and ensuring the right choices are made for Greater Lincolnshire.

The Combined County Authority would direct long-term infrastructure investment, investment in local communities to help them to thrive and investment in green growth, delivering food and energy security to the UK and putting Greater
Lincolnshire in a position where it can be at the forefront of renewable and clean energy technologies and production and be a world-leading provider of food, seafood and associated technological innovation It would also support improvements in the nations supply chains and maximise the strategic advantages of our ports, transforming them into the most smart, clean and efficient port clusters in the world.

Establishing a Combined County Authority is a formal, legal step, allowing upper tier councils across the area to work more closely together on key priorities such as economic development, regeneration and transport. The proposed Combined County Authority would seek to:

Increase employment opportunities across Greater Lincolnshire
Improve business productivity,
Deliver efficient services and derive benefits from working at scale
Build strong relationships with government to draw down more funding and powers in the future
Greater control over public spending to achieve the maximum benefit
Develop long term plans to enable faster decision-making and improved performance
Speed up decision-making

The creation of a Combined County Authority would not result in the merger or take-over of councils in the Area. They would continue to deliver valuable local services to Greater Lincolnshire residents with some powers used concurrently by local councils and the proposed Combined County Authority. Transport powers would be brought together with the proposed Combined County Authority becoming the Local Transport Authority for Greater Lincolnshire.

Under this proposal the three upper tier councils, along with the city, district and borough councils in Greater Lincolnshire would continue to play an important role in relation to the powers and funding that is devolved to the area. These authorities will have specific consenting rights in respect to some of the powers held by the CCA and / or the Mayor, ensuring a strong local voice in decision making. The Police and Crime Commissioners for Lincolnshire and Humberside would also play an active role in the CCA, ensuring that the needs of local communities relating to public safety are represented.

Over the coming months local councils will be working with Government to bring forward a number of improvements for communities across Greater Lincolnshire. This will see investment in infrastructure to support travel and to create opportunities for businesses to grow and new jobs to be created.

Delivering our ambitions

Greater Lincolnshire is a diverse area made up of rural land, urban centres of differing sizes, coastal communities, and market towns. The rurality can make it difficult for some of our communities to access service centres, presenting barriers to employment, health and wellbeing.

Urban centres such as Lincoln, Grantham and Boston provide significant employment opportunities and transport linkages, with around 325,000 people living in these centres. In these areas, 15% of children live in low-income households, with 71% of people being economically active across sectors such as advanced manufacturing, food and logistics and public services. However, there are clusters of deprivation where residents suffer from fewer opportunities around work and health.

Our urban industrial centres such as Scunthorpe and Grimsby are built around heavy industry, including oil, gas, chemicals, steel, mining and renewables. Around 253,000 people live in these areas and face challenges in having the skills needed to take up employment in these and emerging industries, resulting in pronounced areas of economic activity and low social mobility. 29% of adults in Greater Lincolnshire’s urban centres have no qualifications. Improved targeting of skills and education provision will help to close these gaps.

Greater Lincolnshire benefits from over 50 miles of coastline, with many coastal communities being home to around 29,000 people. The area is at risk of flooding, there is limited infrastructure and often poor-quality housing. These areas see low wage, low skill seasonal employment, high levels of deprivation and lower than average educational attainment levels but will benefit from the targeted investment that the devolution proposals present.

Much of Greater Lincolnshire is sparsely populated with large areas of open countryside and farmland, interspersed with market towns and hamlets. Over 300,000 people live in rural settings across Greater Lincolnshire, which are often a long way from urban centres. These areas often have lower levels of deprivation but lack the infrastructure to connect them both digitally and physically. This is against a backdrop of younger people moving out of these areas, and older people moving in, placing pressure on service delivery.

Much like our places, the Greater Lincolnshire economy is diverse. It sees 48,735 businesses, with 25% of all employment being in microbusinesses. Greater Lincolnshire contributes £26bn to the UK economy and accounts for £1.36bn of exports. Greater Lincolnshire covers 7,997 sq. km and is more than six times the size of Greater Manchester City Region.

Greater Lincolnshire’s low levels of productivity and shrinking working age population create challenges for economic growth and the supply of skilled workers into the economy. The area lags behind the national skills picture with only 25% of the resident population aged 16 plus holding qualifications at level 4 or higher in 2021, compared to 34% nationally. Access to both higher and further education is hampered by poor digital connectivity, limiting the development of the skill-base needed within the population.

The journey for Greater Lincolnshire is not from a standing start. Councils and business in Greater Lincolnshire have a strong history of working together and are already collaborating to tackle common challenges that until now have held back growth.

There are a multitude of projects already underway across Greater Lincolnshire and many of our communities have benefited from investment through the Towns Fund and UK Shared Prosperity Funding – both of which help to address levelling up challenges within Greater Lincolnshire.

However short-term funding pots are not sufficient to achieve the strategic level of change that Greater Lincolnshire needs to see. Our ambitions for devolution seek to deliver the leadership required to address unique long-term challenges across Greater Lincolnshire and maximise the area’s opportunities to deliver future prosperity.

The purpose of this proposal is to provide the powers, funding and flexibilities required to accelerate progress to address long term challenges and opportunities across Greater Lincolnshire It supports levelling up across the area with a focus improving the economic, social and environmental wellbeing of people who live and work in Greater Lincolnshire. It would see local decision makers creating the conditions for more high wage, high skill jobs, and provides a catalyst to improve learning, training, and pathways into those jobs, raising living standards and levelling up through:

Local decisions and long term investment in infrastructure to turbo charge business growth and tackle low business productivity, particularly in key sectors that create high wage, high skills jobs that boost living standards
Long term strategic planning and investment to protect our environment and unlock high quality housing in our communities that meets the needs of younger workforce and supports those in later life.
Local commissioning of high quality skills, training and pathways to attract and retain younger workers, meet the significant skills needs of our key industries and capitalise on economic opportunity through better alignment of skills, employment, and career opportunities across Greater Lincolnshire
A stronger voice regionally and nationally to make the case for more investment on Greater Lincolnshire’s priorities including the UK Food Valley, energy, ports and logistics, delivering on the potential of the area from the Humber to The Wash.
Managing water as an asset, to mitigate the threat of coastal erosion and flooding, and meet the area’s unique demands for water to support growth in agriculture and innovations in manufacturing and carbon capture.

Over the next 10 themes, we set out what we would seek to deliver across our key priority areas to improve the economic, social and environmental wellbeing of people who live and work in Greater Lincolnshire if this proposal is approved.

1. Infrastructure which supports the movement of people, goods, and ideas

Greater Lincolnshire is a large geography combining urban, rural and coastal areas. Whilst constituent councils have made significant investment in local infrastructure a step change is needed to deliver the strategic infrastructure critical for growth and jobs.

To level up Greater Lincolnshire we will prioritise investment in infrastructure that can boost growth in key sectors of our local economy, this includes the UK Food Valley, Energy, Ports and logistics, all of which have been identified as priorities for the Greater Lincolnshire and wider UK economy.

As an area vital to supply chains and specialising in logistics, transport infrastructure is essential to maximise the benefit and growth of these sectors.

Identify and agree new key route network to accelerate the movement of goods and passengers through and around Greater Lincolnshire and work with the Government to secure improvements to key priorities for growth identified within the network, including:

Regionally the Trans Midland Trade Corridor is recognised as a priority and north of Lincoln it is of national significance as a strategic north-south transport and economic corridor connecting the Humber ports in the north to the wider network in the south via the A46 and A1 at Newark. The current performance of this corridor holds back productivity and is also a barrier to future growth.
The A1 corridor, and it’s links to the A16, A17 and A52, also has a key economic role within the East Midlands, particularly for agri-food, logistics, manufacturing and tourism, with very significant levels of proposed housing (up to 100,000 units) and employment growth – in addition to the potential ‘STEP Fusion’ Facility at the West Burton Power Station site growth.
The circulatory road around Lincoln is also a recognised priority to serve the Humber Ports and east coast visitor attractions.

A multi–year transport infrastructure settlement will provide greater funding certainty to deliver local priorities for road, rail, freight and public transport to boost growth in the Greater Lincolnshire economy and keep our residents moving. The settlement will enable us to plan for road maintenance and potholes over the longer term, with delivery of these functions provided by the constituent councils and funding distributed proportionate to existing budgets.

Investment in both physical and digital infrastructure is critical to drive business confidence and green growth, but often relies on bids to government and its various agencies.

Bidding processes are frequently based upon nationally set priorities, there is limited certainty over future funding and locally determined priorities are not necessarily joined up or met.

We will work with Midlands Connect and Transport for the North which received Government funding to develop a regional Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure strategy. For Greater Lincolnshire, other alternative low carbon fuels, such as hydrogen, will play an important role, particularly for large vehicles that require longer ranges and faster refuelling. We will work with the Sub-national Transport Boards and a new mayoral rural transport group to explore this.

We will encourage further investment in digital infrastructure such as ultrafast broadband and 5G that the area needs for the future, ensuring rural areas are not left behind.

2. Modern transport services that connect people to learning, business opportunity, jobs, and services

Greater Lincolnshire has few motorways, dual carriageways and limited public transport networks. These reduce the opportunities to travel to work, to learning and leisure, and contribute to greater inequality.

Despite the geographical challenges we face, Greater Lincolnshire has been at the forefront of demand responsive transport, developing innovative services that we intend to expand further as we create a transport network which breaks the link between poor transport connectivity and the skills gap.

A rural transport group will be established that will lead the national debate on transport in mayoral rural areas, chaired by the Mayor of Greater Lincolnshire. The group will bring together other rural combined authorities to champion innovation and work in partnership with the Department for Transport to identify pilot projects to address rural connectivity and accessibility.

Locally our proposal would create a single Local Transport Authority for Greater Lincolnshire. This would establish clear transport policies to guide future investment in all forms of transport including bus, cycling and walking to improve travel choices across the area.

The mayor and members of the combined county authority will work together across Greater Lincolnshire to develop a joined up local transport plan for our area that addresses our challenges and guides future transport investment through a consolidated transport budget.

Recognising the challenges that rural areas face in the delivery of high quality, sustainable bus services, we will develop a rural bus pilot to connect communities and residents to training and employment. Subject to a funding proposal to Government the pilot will act as a policy test bed for other rural areas.

We will also work to integrate existing bus service improvement plans to streamline contractual and delivery arrangements for bus services across the area. We will explore bus franchising and provide local accountability for spending of the Bus Service Operators Grant.

Rail freight is nationally significant, with a quarter of the UK’s freight passing through Greater Lincolnshire. Increasing rail capacity is important to expanding businesses in Greater Lincolnshire and to avoid lack of capacity acting as a constraint on future growth.

Rail services provide vital connectivity for residents with services linking communities and providing access to higher education and leisure activities. Passenger services will, by the nature of our large and predominantly rural area, be less well used than in major urban areas and this could lead to decisions being taken by operators on the basis of simple market forces.

Greater Lincolnshire needs a much stronger voice to articulate the local context to influence and inform provision.

We will seek a new rail partnership with Great British Railways, once established, so that our priorities for passengers and freight can be taken into consideration in future decisions regarding the rail network. The Government will consider Greater Lincolnshire alongside existing devolution areas as a priority for these agreements which will provide the ability to influence local rail services.

Priorities locally include:

Cleethorpes to Manchester (South Pennine Corridor) line speed improvements are a priority for Greater Lincolnshire. Transport for the North is supportive of the ambition. Further work involving Northern Rail and Trans-Pennine Express is required to develop the business case.
Cleethorpes to London service is a priority for Greater Lincolnshire, providing access to opportunities and supporting a growing economy. The Department for Transport is considering the case for direct London North East Railways services to and from both Cleethorpes and Grimsby to London, with an opportunity to implement them should the business case be value for money, and funding be available to address timetabling, infrastructure and operational factors.
Line speed improvements between Lincoln and Nottingham, to deliver journey time savings on the route are important for growth in our historic city and for the visitor economy along the east coast.

3. Investing in high quality homes and communities

The provision of high quality, affordable and well-connected housing is essential to meeting the current and future needs of Greater Lincolnshire residents, as well as the success of our economy.

We need to have the right housing in the right locations to recruit and retain the younger workforce that our businesses need to grow, to offset a shrinking labour pool and our significant ageing population. New and existing residents expect housing to be high quality and energy efficient and this is also important for improving health outcomes and life chances of residents, particularly in our coastal and more vulnerable communities.

Delivering new high-quality housing requires development sites to get the right infrastructure at the right time and requires a new approach which enables housing delivery at a pace linked to economic growth. It requires wider infrastructure investment such as from power suppliers whose plans do not always adapt quickly enough to local need and the commercial realities of site development whether for housing or other uses. We will strengthen communication between local areas and the energy providers.

We will develop a meaningful role in planning our future energy system for net zero and explore how local energy plans could steer strategic network investment in Greater Lincolnshire. We will work with government to explore the potential benefits of and design options for a place-based approach to delivering retrofit measures, as part of the government’s commitment in the Net Zero Strategy to explore how we could simplify and consolidate funds which target net zero initiatives at the local level where this provides the best approach to tackling climate change.

The cost of delivering major housing schemes in Greater Lincolnshire, mitigating against risks of flooding and addressing gaps in utility supply, mean that there are numerous uneconomical/unviable sites and subsequently fewer homes are available for our communities. Funding is required to intervene, bridge, de-risk and accelerate housing and employment sites.

We will work with Homes England to overcome viability challenges and the barriers to housing delivery, regeneration and wider housing growth through the development of a pipeline for our area and a clear action plan for delivery.

Homes England and the government will explore the potential for investing in the delivery of this pipeline through current and future funding streams, including the Affordable Housing Programme.

With Homes England and the Government we will identify how wider measures – including viability assessments and the planning system – could better support Greater Lincolnshire plans to increase much needed rural affordable housing supply, and in partnership test how Homes England through its strategic plan could assist in this.

Combined County authorities and Mayoral Development Corporations (MDCs) have powers to acquire, develop, hold and dispose of land and property and have powers to facilitate the provision of infrastructure and have been instrumental in unlocking growth in other areas.

The directly elected mayor will have the power to designate a Mayoral Development Area and to create Mayoral Development Corporations, which will support delivery on strategic sites in Greater Lincolnshire. The mayor and combined authority will also be able to use powers of compulsory purchase to support development, where they have the consent of constituent councils and local planning authorities.

Where appropriate we will acquire and dispose of land to build houses, commercial space and infrastructure, for growth and regeneration, including investing £8.4 million in brownfield developments.

Culture, heritage, sport and the visitor economy all play a strong role in supporting places and communities to thrive – and that this effect is maximised when individual decisions take into account the wider context of other plans and decisions being made for an area.

We will establish a new collaborative partnership, supported by Government and VisitEngland, to share expertise and insight across culture, heritage, sport, communities and the visitor economy in order to maximise the impact of funding and policy decisions, supporting 28,000 workers in the culture and tourism industry.

4. Raising awareness, inspiration, and access to support our residents to train and upskill for the job they want

Greater Lincolnshire has a clear vision for our future where our residents benefit from the significant career opportunities presented across our geography and we are pivotal in providing food, energy and supply chain security for the UK.

There are fantastic career opportunities in Greater Lincolnshire, but often the pathways to achieve a good quality career are unclear.

In order to meet the significant skills demands predicted from our game changing sectors we will support our residents to understand, and access, a variety of pathways into these highly skilled career opportunities no matter their age or starting point.

We want to inspire young people in Greater Lincolnshire to seek a career here by raising awareness of the range of new industries and exciting opportunities which many of them do not know about.

We want all people living in Greater Lincolnshire to be able to access a high quality careers service so that they can receive information, advice and guidance to access training and development opportunities available to succeed in their career goals.

They are often unaware of what is available, finding the skills system difficult to navigate because of the inconsistent and the “stop start” nature of the funding, often from multiple pots and agencies. Having a single long-term strategic approach aimed at all ages will enable us to overcome those challenges and take people through these arrangements seamlessly.

We will provide long term funding to the Greater Lincolnshire Career Hub to provides high quality, local industry led, face to face careers information, advice, and guidance for all ages.

We will work with the government and partners within Greater Lincolnshire to ensure a shared focus on careers education and advice for young people. This is particularly crucial given the ageing population of Greater Lincolnshire and the need to increase awareness of new high skill high wage career opportunities across the area and the pathways available to residents to achieve a good quality career locally.

We will convene local, regional and national stakeholders to bring business, careers and skills together and align careers provision with devolved adult education commissioning activities to ensure a more place-based and joined- up approach to careers education locally.

5. Growing skills capacity for the future

A proportion of our working age population left school with few, if any, qualifications, often working in seasonal and casual roles. We have lower levels of young people progressing into a traditional higher education pathway, with families needing or choosing to earn rather than learn.

We will reverse this trend by connecting learning to the career opportunities across Greater Lincolnshire, getting more young adults to develop the skills and qualifications that are needed most:,

Providing clean energy for UK homes through a multitude of decarbonisation projects and the growth of our world leading offshore wind farms will only be possible if we can develop a skilled workforce for the future.
We need a pipeline of young people and adults to drive forward the rapid technological innovation in the food sector; whether that be seafood, poultry or fresh produce.
Our ambition to secure the nation’s supply chain through our ports and transport network can only be realised if our residents know about, and are able to access, the bespoke technical training required.

We will take responsibility for the devolved Adult Education Budget (AEB) from academic year 2026-2027. This will provide the freedom to flex and focus funds on local skills and training priorities in a way which is difficult to achieve with regional or national commissioning.

Devolution of this funding will provide certainty to local providers when they take a risk to address local problems without being sure that there will be a long-term market for that provision. Devolution of AEB will also enable us to fund specialist providers, linking to key industries and being flexible to different opportunities (for example, the construction phase of major investments will require different levels and skills of staff to the operational phase) and to ensure that learners have the building blocks needed to progress and succeed in higher level learning, leading to better paid jobs.

Free Courses for Jobs (FCFJ) offer level 3 qualification designed to help improve job opportunities and could lead to applicants earning a higher wage. Funding for these courses will also be devolved as part of a local joined up approach to learning.

We want the provision of skills in Greater Lincolnshire to be flexible and able to respond to gaps in the labour market, particularly where these restrain growth in our game changing sectors. We intend to build on our expertise to provide a more responsive skills offer that meets the needs of business and residents.

We will work with the Government, employers and education providers across Greater Lincolnshire to deliver on Local Skills Improvement Plans that sets out the current and future skills needs of employers and how local
provision needs to change to help people develop the skills they need to get good jobs and increase their prospects.

As a member of the joint Department for Work and Pensions and Department for Education Mayoral Combined Authority Advisory Group we will work together on our strategic priorities for employment and develop the links between job centres and very local job opportunities.

6. Investing to achieve net zero, to drive productivity and to grow jobs

Greater Lincolnshire is at the forefront of the UK’s offshore energy production, hydrogen production and innovation and the development of decarbonisation for heavy industry. This offers significant opportunities for local businesses and supply chains to expand and create more high value jobs for Greater Lincolnshire’s residents. Growth in these technologies and industries requires new infrastructure such as the energy grid capacity, water supply and pipelines.

We will work with the government to commission studies for infrastructure improvements that would be needed across the whole of Greater Lincolnshire to support growth in green jobs, major energy production sites and a geological disposal facility if it were to be sited in Greater Lincolnshire, including flood defences and transport links.

Greater Lincolnshire’s energy and low carbon sectors are national leaders, and our geology provides significant opportunities for further growth. Taking advantage of these opportunities requires input from several different government departments and from global business, higher education, and local authorities.

We will use a commitment from Government to bring these stakeholders together to agree a plan for developing the unique infrastructure required in Greater Lincolnshire to transform the energy intensive industries which are typically found in northern Lincolnshire, enable carbon capture and storage and other green growth as long as it is compatible with the natural environment. The Humber Energy Board would have a key role to play in this.

With these in place we will establish the UK’s first net zero carbon industrial cluster by 2040 which will capture and store around 10% of UK carbon dioxide emissions and develop blue and green hydrogen infrastructure, production and associated technology.

Growth in green industries across Greater Lincolnshire is also dependent upon having a skilled workforce that can help business to innovate and expand, creating more high skill high wage jobs. As we establish the UK’s first net zero carbon industrial cluster, we will provide residents with the opportunity to develop the skills needed to obtain new green jobs and be part of what has been described as the next industrial revolution.

Through a greater role in delivering devolved funding streams and devolution of the Adult Education functions and administration of funding from 2026, we will train people at a local level in the skills needed to obtain green jobs.

7. Investing to take advantage of our unique natural environment in a responsible way, whilst protecting our communities from climate change impact

With coastal and low-lying regions, our diverse geography is vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, with high risks from flooding impacting on homes, communities and limiting coastal tourism to the warmer seasons. Inland our ambitions for the UK Food Valley, UK food security and growth in green industries are dependent upon on the supply the water needed for agriculture and the growing demand for water for decarbonisation.

Water management is a crucial aspect of both climate resilience and economic growth for Greater Lincolnshire.

We will establish a new enhanced partnership for water that works with Government and seeks to protect the country from food shortages caused by floods and droughts. Our partnership will co-commission flood prevention and water management programmes to support agriculture, tourism, green growth and new housing.

The Greater Lincolnshire Coast is home to important nature reserves including the Lincolnshire Coronation Coast National Nature Reserve, the Queen Elizabeth Memorial Lincolnshire Coastal Country Park and a variety of sand dunes, saltmarsh, mudflats and freshwater marshes (some of which attract Site of Special Scientific Interest status), which support many breeding and wintering birds, natterjack toads, special plants and insects.

It is also an important energy centre – with the Prax Lindsey Oil Refinery, gas power stations at South Killingholme, Immingham and South Humber, the Viking Link interconnector with Denmark and the Orsted offshore wind farm hub which includes the Hornsea 1 and 2 sites. Hornsea 1 being the largest offshore wind farm in the world.

Government and partners in Greater Lincolnshire have long held the ambition to form a strategic coastal partnership to manage the relationship between nationally significant energy infrastructure and the protection of the natural environment and achieving local benefits for the key wildlife sites along the coast – maintaining their importance for tourism and the minimisation of the recreational disturbance of nature.

We will convene a Coastal Partnership which will ensure that the nature, culture and heritage of the Lincolnshire Coast are given a voice and consideration to ensure that tourism and economic development can take place in parallel with the restoration of the natural and historic environment. Relevant government departments and their arm’s length agencies will attend as full members. The Coastal Partnership will run from the Humber to The Wash.

Greater Lincolnshire is a largely rural, low-lying landscape including nationally important natural treasures such as lime woods, chalk streams, saltmarsh and the only area of outstanding natural beauty (AONB) in the East Midlands covering the Lincolnshire Wolds. Farmland forms an important part of our working rural landscape. Its protection for agricultural use is hugely important for a significant proportion of jobs in food production, processing and logistics across the area and our ambitions to deliver on UK food security.

Devolution provides the opportunity to work even more closely with Government to identify environmental priorities that could be incorporated into new environmental land management schemes – such as protection for top grade farmland across the UK Food Valley in Greater Lincolnshire. We will work with DEFRA and the farming community to develop a new approach that ensures an appropriate balance between sustainable food production and climate and environment outcomes, including considering possible place-based research.

Our long-established and collaborative Local Nature Partnerships with a tradition of working co-operatively provide us with the opportunity to accelerate the drive towards nature recovery, to tackle both climate change and biodiversity loss.

We will work with government and local partners to implement a local nature recovery strategy to promote a balance between biodiversity and growth, strategic natural flood prevention and enable creation of new habitats to offset developments and to attract private investment into nature’s recovery within our area.

8. Driving innovation, enterprise and adoption of new technologies

Greater Lincolnshire has a long history of innovation and is known for nationally significant sectors in food and agri-tech, defence and low carbon energy. We want to keep up the momentum of our advancement in renewables, robotics, digital logistics, seafood processing and food agri-tech by increasing the level of innovation, investing in our innovation eco system and by attracting and placing more graduates to work across our growing clusters and contribute to the UK’s ambition to become a science superpower.

We want more businesses across Lincolnshire to access innovation programmes and be supported to compete for funding through streamlined processes that can unleash further creative innovation in our key sectors and places.

We want more people to progress into further and higher education and more businesses to take up the opportunities of working closely with a college or university on innovation and technology. We will promote and build on the Graduates into SMEs schemes, further reinforcing the links between education and knowledge transfer whilst also addressing cost and return within smaller business enterprises.

Innovation and growth in our game changing sectors of Food and agri-tech, low carbon energy and decarb, ports and logistics and Defence will add significant economic value to UK plc and the local area. However, Greater Lincolnshire has a high population of micro businesses, who whilst agile and entrepreneurial, often do not have the capacity to engage on innovation competitions and can find bidding for UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and other innovation competitions restrictive and a constraint on innovation in fast moving industries.

Our analysis shows that there are significant business investments in innovation which in turn will often drive their supply chain’s own investment in innovation. These investments are underpinned by programmes such as productivity Hub, Catapult, Made Smarter, and Freeport Innovation Partnerships. Businesses can also access R&D tax credits, and their motivation to innovate can be driven by legislative changes rather than by business leaders identifying productivity gains. The picture of innovation support and motivation is complicated.

We will develop a new place-based Innovation Board, which will bring together local leaders with representatives from research organisations and industry to develop a clear innovation strategy, and provide a single voice to strengthen engagement with government and its delivery bodies , and ultimately improve access to support and explore opportunities for local businesses. This will develop closer long-term collaboration with The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and other Government agencies.

The government recognises the nationally significant role that Greater Lincolnshire plays in maintaining food security. The region produces one eighth of England’s food and has nationally significant clusters in food production, food processing, fresh produce and seafood processing. Greater Lincolnshire is home to the UK Food Valley an initiative which seeks to provide economic benefit to the area based on the food sector’s strength whilst also strengthening domestic food supply.

Greater Lincolnshire is home to Europe’s largest food agri-tech, automation and robotics research cluster, attracting businesses which are investing heavily in automation. Recognised by the Department for Business and Trade as a High Potential Opportunity (HPO), to design, manufacture and commercialise automation and robotics technologies, growth in these tools will reduce the need for hard to fill low wage seasonal jobs in agriculture and replace them with high skill high wage roles. The area is leading national efforts to reduce carbon emissions from food production and manufacturing, with a focus on how new technology and skills, new energy sources and production processes can be used to reduce the carbon emissions from production, processing, transport, and storage of food.

We will support further growth in the agri-tech sector through an agricultural growth zone, creating a centre to support agriculture and developing a skills pipeline to attract the next generation into the industry. We will work with the Government to ensure an appropriate balance between sustainable food production and climate and environment outcomes, including considering possible place-based research and to deepen engagement with food and drink manufacturing SMEs

We will establish a UK Food Valley Board focus to support the sector and attract the right skills needed to deliver new food chain automation and digital technology and wider innovation within the food valley that supports the UK’s ambition to become a science superpower. The board will produce a clear and measurable strategy for UK Food Valley. Defra will meet annually with the board to discuss key topics of value to its members.

9. Increasing employment opportunities through recruitment pathways and work-based training into higher skilled employment

We want to maximise the potential of all of our residents in Greater Lincolnshire supporting them whether they are leaving one sector to retrain in another, moving from economic inactivity into training or work, or to train to progress in their existing employment.

As society changes, we know that many jobs across Greater Lincolnshire will be affected in some way, either by being made obsolete, or by the role changing through the introduction of new technologies. It is vital that we develop pathways that help businesses and the workforce to overcome barriers to accessing the wide range of training that Greater Lincolnshire has to offer.

Unlocking the potential and harnessing the knowledge and experience of our residents who are not currently working can also help grow our economy. We need to offer more support to get those of working age to be economically active and provide an appropriately skilled and available labour pool.

We will collaborate with the local Department for Work and Pensions Jobcentre Plus and regional DWP Strategic Partnership Managers to develop local programmes that meet local needs and complement national employment provision.

We want the provision of skills in Greater Lincolnshire to be flexible and able to respond to gaps in the labour market, particularly where these restrain growth in our game changing sectors. To address some of our employment and skills issues and opportunities, we will commission activity which complements, but is not funded by, mainstream programmes.

We will support Greater Lincolnshire businesses by providing Skills Bootcamps to quickly raise skills levels in those occupations which have hard to fill vacancies in critical roles.

We will develop and deliver targeted local programmes through devolved funding streams such as the UK Shared Prosperity Fund and the Adult Education Budget to address the unique and diverse challenges across the region.

10. Creating a ‘whole system’ approach to getting more people into better paid work

Everyone, irrespective of their background, should be able to get the help that they need to get the job that they want. Greater Lincolnshire is a diverse area where social mobility is extremely polarized. This means that people born into low-income families, regardless of their talent, or their hard work, do not have the same access to opportunities as those born into more privileged circumstances.

The constituent councils in Greater Lincolnshire are responsible for caring for the most vulnerable in society, and evidence shows that young people who leave care and transition into good quality employment will often thrive successfully.

All public bodies in greater Lincolnshire create jobs, and can support young people leaving care to achieve a positive start to their careers and adult life.

We will work with the Department for Education to maximise the number of care leavers in employment. This will include encouraging public bodies across Greater Lincolnshire to provide ring-fenced apprenticeships and work-experience opportunities for care leavers. We will also work with DfE’s delivery partner for the care leaver covenant (Spectra) and local businesses to encourage them to offer employment opportunities to care leavers.

Beyond the Deal

If our proposal is supported, we will be only the second Mayoral Combined County Authority to be established in the UK and one of 11 mayoral areas.

We will use this as a platform to broaden and deepen devolution opportunities for our Area. We will seek additional powers, funding and influence to address identified and emerging challenges, maximising available opportunities that come our way, continually maintaining and building momentum.

The proposed Combined County Authority would work with government and partners across the Area to strengthen collaboration, improve outcomes for the people who live and work across Greater Lincolnshire and demonstrate the ability to take on further powers to deliver for residents and business. This includes seeking to become a rural testbed for future government policy, putting Greater Lincolnshire firmly at the front of the queue for investment that is tailored to our needs.

We will be seeking to work collaboratively with Government at the earliest opportunity to:

Strengthen transport connectivity, building on the potential offered by Network North and the consolidation of the existing core local transport funding into a multi-year integrated settlement
Strengthen the local visitor economy, creating an attractive and vibrant cultural and creative sector
Accelerate the creation of a nationally recognised cluster of innovation-focused defence companies, making Greater Lincolnshire the first-choice destination for defence related industries
Co-commission future investment plans with Government, National Grid, Western Power and Northern Power Grid that will underpin our strategy for growth
Test alternative approaches to rural bus provision, enhancing access to services for residents and visitors
Create further investment into green energy and decarbonisation activities, to maximise growth opportunities in these industries and capitalise on the strategic capabilities within the Area
Co-commission with Government and Innovate UK, activities to further enhance innovation capabilities and outcomes for businesses, protecting their competitive advantage and sustainability
Seek further devolution of funds for programmes led by DWP, DfE, and other government sponsored training provision to a local level so that they can be commissioned and managed in line with our economic opportunities and are targeted on local need.
Develop a Greater Lincolnshire Skills Investment Revenue Fund and bespoke apprenticeship arrangements that tailor support to businesses to increase apprenticeships across Greater Lincolnshire and overcome barriers to engagement.
Seek new trailblazer powers where we can evidence their benefit to Greater Lincolnshire and a single long term funding settlement that is fair and supports levelling up.

Governance and transparency

Local Councils already work collaboratively across Greater Lincolnshire but through this proposal would see greater responsibility being passed from Government making it necessary to formalise these arrangements and to make them open and accessible to those that live and work here.

Coming together as a Combined County Authority would provide greater visibility and transparency for this work across Greater Lincolnshire and give us the necessary capacity to use key growth levers such as transport, skills, economic development, and regeneration. It would enable focus on the things that will make the biggest difference to the lives of our residents and the businesses within Greater Lincolnshire.

The Constituent Councils have worked collaboratively with the City, District and Borough councils and the two police and crime commissioners to develop governance arrangements for a proposed Combined County Authority. These arrangements would ensure transparency of decision-making, effective collaboration between all parties and a strong local voice in all that we do.

To secure all the powers and funding we need in Greater Lincolnshire would require the most robust level of local accountability and so the Combined County Authority will also include a mayor elected by and accountable to all the residents of the area.

The mayor would work with the members of the Combined County Authority to deliver the purpose and outcomes set out within this proposal. They would establish a strong relationship with businesses, skills providers such as our universities and colleges, along with other stakeholders to understand and address local challenges. They would also be a champion for Greater Lincolnshire at regional and national levels, ensuring that our voice, and our needs are heard alongside those of the West Midlands, South Yorkshire and Hull and East Riding.

Name and area

The Combined County Authority (CCA) would be formally known as the Greater Lincolnshire Combined County Authority (GLCCA). It would cover the geographical areas of the Lincolnshire County, North Lincolnshire and North East Lincolnshire Unitary Councils, which together would form the Constituent Councils of the CCA.

Membership of the CCA

The Combined County Authority would have up to 13 Members in total, comprising:

The directly elected Mayor;
6 Constituent Members (Members appointed by the Constituent Councils, with each Constituent Council appointing a Lead Member (expected to be the Leader or their nominee), and one further member from its elected members)
4 Non-Constituent Members nominated by the City, District and Borough Councils within the Area
Up to 2 further Non-Constituent or Associate Members. One of these will be one of the police and crime commissioners for the area and the other is expected to come from a business background.

The Mayor

The Combined County Authority would have a directly elected Mayor who will be elected by the electorate within the Area every four years. The Mayor would be a member of the Combined County Authority, as well as having a number of powers and functions which may be exercised exclusively by the Mayor (see below). The first mayoral election is expected to take place in May 2025.

City, District and Borough Councils

There are seven District and Borough Councils within the area of the proposed Combined County Authority. The City, Districts and Boroughs would be empowered to nominate four individuals as non-constituent members of the Combined County Authority.

The Constituent Councils have worked closed with the City, District and Borough Councils to agreed that their nominations would be through the use of a joint committee of the City, District and Borough Councils. The City, District and Borough Councils will all be voting members of the Joint Committee and would nominate four Non-Constituent Members.

The joint committee will also be used as the mechanism for the City, District and Borough Councils to nominate additional individuals as substitutes and representatives on the Overview and Scrutiny Committee, and Audit Committee, who may come from different Councils than the nominated Non-Constituent Members.

The inclusion of a mechanism by which the City, District and Borough Councils can have a key role on the CCA ensures that the identities and interests of all of our local communities are fully reflected on the CCA. It is intended that Greater Lincolnshire’s City, District and Borough councillors would have the greatest involvement of any Combined County Authority in the country.

Strong voice for local business

The voice of business will be a critical component in the future Combined County Authority, given that a key area of focus will be economy, our key sectors, innovation and productivity. It is expected that the proposed Combined County Authority would consider appointing an Associate Member who can represent the views of business.

The Greater Lincolnshire LEP function would be integrated into the Combined County Authority. The Government guidance is that integration be achieved via the establishment of a business focussed Advisory Board. Whilst the Advisory Board would not be a formal committee of the Combined County Authority, it would be part of the formal governance arrangements and would exist to provide advice to the Combined County Authority on all issues of business and economy relevant to the Combined County Authority. The Combined County Authority could then appoint the Chair of that Advisory Group to the Combined County Authority as an Associate Member representing the views of business on the Combined County Authority.

Police and crime

The proposals see the two Police and Crime Commissioners working closely with the Combined County Authority to ensure public safety is considered as part of policy development, and that where appropriate strategies, policies, and action plans can be aligned. The two Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner (Humberside and Lincolnshire) would be invited to nominate a Police and Crime Commissioners as a non-constituent member of the CCA and the other as a substitute.

CCA functions

The majority of the functions of the proposed Combined County Authority will be exercisable by the Combined County Authority as a whole.

The proposed functions, powers, consent and voting for the Combined County Authority are set out in full as an appendix to the proposal. These would include:

The duty to set a budget for the CCA (including funding for the functions of the CCA)
Economic development and regeneration functions, including the preparation of an economic assessment for the area; to embed a strong, independent, and diverse local business voice into local democratic institutions and to carry out strategic economic planning that clearly articulates the area’s economic priorities and sectoral strengths
Adult education and skills functions
Transport functions, including to identify, agree, set up and coordinate a Key Route Network (KRN) on behalf of the mayor, including traffic regulation, permit schemes and highway, bridge or transport works across the KRN
Housing supply, regeneration and place-making functions, along with provision of housing and land, land acquisition and disposal and the development and regeneration of land functions
Power to borrow up to an agreed cap for all functions
Data sharing with the Constituent Councils in areas relating to the MCCA functions Power to establish joint arrangements
Incidental powers in relation to its functions (the power to do anything which is incidental to the exercise of its functions)
A functional power of competence (this means that the CCA will have the power to do anything reasonably related to the exercise of their functions).

CCA decision-making and voting

The Members of the Combined County Authority would be the main decision-making group of the Combined County Authority. The Combined County Authority would have the power to establish committees to exercise Combined County Authority functions.

It is expected that the Greater Lincolnshire Combined County Authority would establish three committees known as boards to develop policy, review performance and delivery, scrutinise proposals and take decisions in relation to matters within their remit:

Greater Lincolnshire Transport Board
Greater Lincolnshire Skills and Employment Board
Greater Lincolnshire Business and Infrastructure Board.

It is expected that the membership of the Boards would include at least two members nominated from each Constituent Council and at least 4 members would be nominated by the City, District and Borough Councils. Only full Combined County Authority members of the Committee (and their substitutes) will have voting rights on the Committee.

Whilst the proposed Combined County Authority’s Constitution will set out voting requirements for the CCA and its committees, the following principles will be applied:

All of the Constituent Council Members and the Mayor have a single equal vote.
None of the Non-Constituent Members automatically have a vote, but the CCA is able to confer voting rights on Non- Constituent Members and the Constituent Councils are committed to the right to vote being available on some topics for Non-Constituent Members.
Associate Members do not have and cannot be given the right to vote.
Each member of the Combined County Authority will nominate two substitutes who will have the same voting rights as the member they are substituting for.
The quorum for meetings of the CCA will include the mayor and one member from each of the constituent councils. The quorum for committees will be set in the Constitution.
The majority of decisions taken by the CCA will be subject to a requirement for a simple majority in favour, with the additional requirement that the Mayor must vote in favour.
Certain decisions will additionally require the Lead Member of the relevant Constituent Council to vote in favour, specifically this includes agreeing the CCA budget, agreeing any levy, any decision to compulsorily purchase land by the CCA, agreeing routes for inclusion in the KRN and any decision of the CCA which would lead to a financial liability falling directly on the Constituent Council. Further instances in which there will be a requirement for the Lead Member of each Constituent Council to vote in favour will be set out in the CCA Constitution. Where consent is required for a decision, this will be given at the meeting where the decision is to be taken.
The CCA can amend the Mayor’s budget, if a 2/3 majority vote to do so or, if a 2/3 majority is not reached, if 3/6 Constituent Members (or substitute members), including 2 of the 3 lead members entitled to vote do so.
The CCA can amend the Mayor’s transport strategy if a 2/3 majority vote to do so.

The decision of the CCA which would lead to a financial liability falling directly on the Constituent Council. Further instances in which there will be a requirement for the Lead Member of each Constituent Council to vote in favour will be set out in the CCA Constitution.

Mayoral functions

Some of the functions of the proposed Combined County Authority will only be able to be exercised by the elected Mayor, and this will be prescribed in the Establishment Order.

Functions, powers, consent and voting for the Mayor are set out in full as an appendix to the proposal. The main Mayoral functions are as follows:

Duty to set a Mayoral budget for the cost of exercising the Mayoral function and any mayoral initiatives (subject to any CCA vote to amend the mayor’s budget).
Power to impose a business rate supplement on non-domestic ratepayers in the Area to fund Mayoral functions/ initiatives as part of the Mayoral budget (subject to a ballot of business);
Power to set a precept on council tax on behalf of the CCA (a precept is an amount added to council tax) to provide funding for mayoral functions in the area;
Power to provide relief from non-domestic rates in areas covered by a Mayoral Development Corporation;
Power to pay bus service operator grants and to franchise bus services;
Power to create a Mayoral Development Area, and to form a Mayoral Development Corporation to take responsibility for planning functions in the part/s of the Area covered by the Mayoral Development Area (the exercise of these functions is subject to the consent of the Constituent Councils and the Local Planning Authorities for the areas included);
Housing and land acquisition powers to support housing and regeneration (the exercise of these functions is subject to the consent of the Constituent Councils and Local Planning Authorities for the areas included);
Power to draw up a local transport plan (subject to any CCA vote to amend the local transport plan) and power to direct over KRN
Functional power of competence (this means that the Mayor will have the power to do anything reasonably related to the exercise of their functions).

Mayoral decision-making

The elected Mayor would be required to appoint one of the Members of the CCA as their Deputy Mayor. The Deputy Mayor must act in the place of the Mayor if for any reason the Mayor is unable to act, or the Office of the Mayor is vacant. The mayor will draw advice from and be supported by members of the combined county authority, all of whom are supported by appropriate officers.

The Mayor is able to arrange for the exercise of any of their Mayoral functions by:

The Deputy Mayor
Another Member or Officer of the CCA
A committee of the CCA, consisting of members appointed by the Mayor (which need not be Members of the CCA)

UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UK SPF)

The proposed Combined County Authority would be the lead authority for the planning and delivery of the UKSPF from 2025/26 if there is a continuation of the Fund and the delivery geographies remains the same. If the delivery model remains the same as the previous Spending Review period, it is anticipated that the CCA will have overall accountability for the funding and how the Fund operates in the area, with wide flexibility to invest and deliver according to local needs. In carrying out this role the Combined County Authority would engage Constituent Councils, city, district and borough councils and passport an allocation of funding to each based on the existing funding ratio.

Advisory panels

Both the CCA and the Mayor, may choose to establish advisory panels. Advisory panels are formally constituted groups which form part of the operation of the CCA, but which have no decision-making power.

The Constituent Councils intend that the CCA should establish a Greater Lincolnshire Economy Advisory Panel to provide a strong business voice in decision-making. The Combined County Authority would consider whether additional Advisory Panels focussed on other issues are required. The role of any advisory panel established would be to advise the CCA, and possibly also the Mayor, on the exercise of functions in their areas of expertise.

Member allowance

The statutory instrument which would create the proposed Combined County Authority would set out the position on members allowances. It is proposed that no remuneration is to be payable by the Combined County Authority to its members, other than allowances for travel and subsistence paid in accordance with a scheme approved by the Combined County Authority.

The Combined County Authority may establish (or use an existing constituent council) independent remuneration panel to recommend a scheme to the Combined County Authority regarding the allowances payable to the mayor and the Deputy Mayor provided that the Deputy Mayor is not a leader or elected mayor of a constituent council; and any independent persons who are members of the combined county authority or its committees.

Overview and Scrutiny Committee

The proposed Combined County Authority would be required to have at least one Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

The role of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee would be to monitor the decision-making of the Mayor and members and officers of the CCA to ensure that the decision-making is appropriately focussed on community needs, and that high quality delivery is taking place for the benefit of the area.

In accordance with The Levelling Up and Regeneration Act 2023 and given the role of the Committee its membership must involve different individuals than those who are Members of the CCA. The constituent councils, City, District and Borough Councils would be represented on the Overview and Scrutiny Committee and the Combined County Authority would consider how and whether to represent other bodies on the Committee.

At least two members of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee would be nominated from each Constituent Council of the Combined County Authority. At least 4 members would be nominated by the City, District and Borough Councils. Any members of the Committee not drawn from the Constituent Councils would not automatically have voting rights on the Committee but could be given voting rights by the CCA. The Constituent Councils are committed to the right to vote being available on some topics for Non-Constituent Members

There would be a requirement for political balance on the Committee so that members of the committee taken as a whole reflect so far as reasonably practicable the balance of political parties for the time being prevailing among members of the Constituent Councils when taken together.

The Overview and Scrutiny Committee must be chaired by a person who is independent of the CCA and the constituent councils or is not from the same political party as the mayor or (if the mayor is not a member of a political party) the party with the most constituent council representatives on the CCA.

Audit Committee

The proposed Combined County Authority would be required to have an Audit Committee. The role of the Audit Committee is to support and monitor the authority in the areas of governance, risk management, external audit, internal audit, financial reporting, and other related areas to ensure that the financial and governance decision-making position of the Combined County Authority and the Mayor is sound.

The Combined County Authority would ensure that the Audit Committee has the right people to ensure effective oversight of the adequacy of the CCA’s overall assurance arrangements, and scrutiny of financial decision-making by the Mayor and the CCA.
It is expected that two members would be nominated from each Constituent Council. Further members would be appointed to the Audit Committee based on appropriate best practice guidance such as that issued by CIPFA on the composition of audit committees.
Members of the Audit Committee must not be the same individuals as those representatives who are members of the CCA and there is a requirement that one member of the Audit Committee be an independent person.

Membership of the Committee taken as a whole would be required to be politically proportional by reference to the balance of political parties prevailing among members of the Constituent Councils taken together at the time the MCCA appoints the members to the Committee.

Joint arrangements for the Humber

Strong, credible and effective governance arrangements including a clear business voice are integral to the success of Greater Lincolnshire and the development of evidence based proposals for cross estuary working on clean growth, ports and the Humber Freeport.

The existing Humber Leadership Board (a joint committee of the four Humber Local Authorities) will be enhanced to include broader membership comprising of the Greater Lincolnshire mayor, the Leader and one Executive Councillor from Lincolnshire County Council as a Greater Lincolnshire constituent council, the Humberside Police and Crime Commissioner on behalf of both the Humberside Police and Crime Commissioner and the Lincolnshire Police and Crime Commissioner, the Humber and North Yorkshire Integrated Care Board and strengthened business representation.

The intention would be to see these collaborative working arrangements develop further to include similar Combined Authority membership from the north bank of the Humber, should a Devolution Deal be entered between the Government and Kingston upon Hull and the East Riding of Yorkshire Councils.

Creating a Combined County Authority

To deliver our ambitions for Greater Lincolnshire we will seek to organise our resources in the best possible way. We proposed to pool some resources into the combined county authority to enable delivery of its key functions for:

Economic development and regeneration
Adult education and skills
Transport
Housing supply, regeneration and place

This proposal is not merging or reorganising local councils.

Rather, by working at the right level, sharing data and insight, advancing joint ambitions, and focusing on the powers and functions that have been devolved to it, the proposed Combined County Authority has the ability to improve outcomes for Greater Lincolnshire and ensure joined up decision making.

Work is currently underway to define the ‘Operating Model’ for the proposed Combined County Authority which will describe how it would work, the functions, people, processes, systems and organisational structure.

The following principles will guide our development of the operating model.

1. Efficient use of public resources:

The Combined County Authority would be a small strategic body overseeing the effective delivery of growth priorities, working collaboratively with Constituent Councils, non-Constituent Members and other stakeholders. The Combined County Authority would assume the functional powers outlined in the table at Appendix A and best value will be sought for residents in the delivery of these functions.

To discharge its functions effectively and legally, there would need to be sufficient capacity and resources. Funding has been secured as part of the deal from central Government towards the financial years 2024/25, 2025/26 and 2026/27. The Mayor would have powers to bring in additional funding and the Combined County Authority would have powers to borrow. It is expected that the running costs of the authority will be met through future central Government support and equal funding from the Constituent Councils.

2. Local Enterprise Partnership Integration:

Local councils currently invest in a Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) that brings together local business and council leaders. As set out in the Devolution Deal, the functions of the LEP would be integrated into the Combined County Authority. These functions include business growth, innovation, skills strategy and regeneration. In addition there is also a commitment to include an independent business voice, as is currently represented through the LEP Board. Funding for the LEP would be pooled to support the operation of a combined county authority that delivers value for money and can gather the evidence base and business cases required to secure future investment in Greater Lincolnshire. The proposed Combined County Authority will require a high level of partnership working ensuring any arrangements are efficient and proportional and avoid unnecessary duplication. The operating model design will be built upon a foundation of partnership working and inclusion of a strong business voice.

3. Drawing on constituent council expertise:

The proposed Combined County Authority will require a range of capabilities to discharge its functions effectively. This will include 3 groups of officers and may include the pooling of some roles from constituent councils to deliver those functions which will be led by the combined county authority:

The statutory officers which are legally required to operate a local authority: Head of Paid Service; Chief Finance Officer) and Monitoring Officer.
Officers directly responsible for delivering the core functions (transport planning, regeneration etc).
Officers responsible for supporting services, such as: commissioning and contracting, research, intelligence and policy development, finance, human resources, democratic governance and legal services, technology and data, and communications.

In developing the operating model we will not assume that these roles will be directly employed by a Combined County Authority. This will be an option considered alongside others including employment by partner organisations (including Constituent Councils) or contracting from third parties.

4. Concurrent delivery through constituent councils:

Where powers are held concurrently with the Constituent Councils, the Combined County Authority will not seek to duplicate service delivery where existing arrangements are already in place. The Combined County Authority will distribute funding for any such functions – including highway maintenance and potholes – proportionate to existing allocations to enable continued delivery for Greater Lincolnshire’s residents.

5. A shadow Combined County Authority:

to prepare for the establishment of a Combined County Authority, transition arrangements would be set up in 2024. This would not be a legally constituted body, but instead individuals from existing bodies (largely Constituent Councils) will be selected by the Constituent Councils to work collectively. During this time, it will be important that specific individuals are accountable for delivery and have sufficient capacity and support to do so successfully, working with the political Leadership of the three Constituent Councils, as well as working alongside the three Chief Executives of the Constituent Councils.

The establishment of the formal Combined County Authority will be as seamless as possible, ensuring transition arrangements reflect as closely as possible the future structure of the fully established Combined County Authority. The constituent members will elect one of their number to chair the Combined County Authority until the first mayor is elected in 2025.

A detailed design of the future operating model will be developed subsequently.

Next steps

Delivering on our Proposal would involve the completion of a number of steps. Some of these will be managed from Greater Lincolnshire, others will require action from Government and Parliament.

We will consult on the Proposals from December 2023 to 29 January 2024.

Consideration of consultation responses and review of the Proposal to be completed by end of February 2024.

Further formal decision making in the light of the consultation and if the final Proposal is approved, submission to Government in spring 2024.

Consideration and approval by Government leading to the laying of an Establishment Order in summer 2024.

Transition to a formal CCA would follow three stages:

Stage 1: Establishing transitional arrangements, including those for transport functions which are expected to take no
more than 18 months - by summer 2024
Stage 2: Formal establishment of the CCA – late 2024
Stage 3: Election of a Greater Lincolnshire Mayor – May 2025

It is important to note that transition to the CCA is dependent on a number of factors including this Proposal being approved and submitted to the Government following public consultation and the final Proposal then being accepted by Government.

Required powers and functions

Set out below is a table of the powers which the Constituent Councils are proposing are available to the CCA and/or the Mayor. The powers are those which the Constituent Councils believe are needed to enable the CCA/Mayor to deliver the purposes outlined in this proposal. In considering our proposal the Government, and in particular, specialist legislative counsel, will review the table below and some of the detail set out may be subject to change as the establishment order is drafted.

Greater Lincolnshire Powers table

Defined terms

MCCA / CCA: Mayoral Combined County Authority / Combined County Authority
The proposed model of Governance for Greater Lincolnshire Constituent Councils Lincolnshire County Council, North Lincolnshire Council, North East Lincolnshire Council

GLCCA: Greater Lincolnshire Combined County Authority
The Deal Greater Lincolnshire Devolution Deal signed on DD MM 2023

FEA: Functional Economic Area
Areas that share a number of similar economic factors with boundaries that ideally reflect the drivers of the local economy. Greater Lincolnshire is a FEA covering the communities and economy of Lincolnshire, North Lincolnshire and Nort East Lincolnshire

GLA: Greater London Authority

GLLEP: Greater Lincolnshire Local Enterprise Partnership

GVA:Gross Value Added
This is the measure of the value of goods and services produced in the area, industry or sector of an economy

MCA/ CA: Mayoral Combined Authority / Combined Authority
A similar model used in other areas such as North Yorkshire but not applicable in Greater Lincolnshire

The Area / CCA Area
The Area covered by the proposed Greater Lincolnshire Combined County Authority

LEP(s): Local Enterprise Partnership
Partnerships between local authorities and businesses to help determine local economic priorities and undertake activities to drive economic growth and create local jobs