The county council has launched a new campaign calling on government to give Lincolnshire its fair share of national funding.
The new campaign was launched at the Lincolnshire Growth Summit on Friday 15 November, attended by councillors, MPs, potential mayoral candidates and business leaders.
The event highlighted that rural counties like Lincolnshire continue to be short-changed compared to more urban areas. It also covered the additional challenges associated with delivering services in rural communities and the financial pressures facing local authorities in light of rising demand for services, such as adult care and children’s social care.
To show the scale of the challenge facing the council, this year the authority expects to spend around £350m on adult care – the equivalent of almost £1m a day – plus £130m on children’s social care and £50m on school transport.
Cllr Martin Hill OBE, leader of Lincolnshire County Council, said: “Although like-for-like comparisons can be difficult, we estimate that local government in Lincolnshire receives over £300 less per household, compared to the national average. If the county were to be given its fair share that would mean an extra £120m for our area each year.
“That additional funding would make a significant difference to our residents. For example, it could be used to pay for major road improvements, additional flood protection and better broadband across the county, providing the necessary infrastructure to boost growth.
“It would also reduce our reliance on the money raised through council tax and could potentially allow us to freeze rates, which would be particularly helpful for local families at this time of rising living costs.
“It’s long been recognised that Lincolnshire faces particular challenges as a result of its rurality and aging population, and this should be reflected in our funding. We should not have to draw on our reserves simply to balance the books each year. So, we are calling on government to level the playing field and give our residents their fair share of national funding.”
Examples of projects that could potentially be paid for by fairer funding include:
- Repairing and rebuilding our most rural, smaller roads so they are more able to cope with modern traffic, such as HGVs and farm vehicles
- Funding 100 flood prevention schemes, protecting up to 5,600 more homes
- Building on the good progress in extending access to high-speed broadband, using recent innovations to get signals to remote places
To find out more on how you can pledge your support for a fair deal for Lincolnshire, visit www.lincolnshire.gov.uk/fairerfunding