Agenda item

Report of the Head of Paid Service/Director: Outcomes.

The Head of Paid Service/Director Outcomes submitted a report asking Council to support:-

·       the terms of a proposed devolution deal for Greater Lincolnshire,

·       a draft proposal for the creation of a new Greater Lincolnshire Combined County Authority to give effect to the devolution deal and

·       the carrying out of public consultation to inform a later decision whether the Council should submit a formal proposal to the Secretary of State under the Levelling Up and Regeneration Act 2023 for the creation of a Greater Lincolnshire Mayoral Combined County Authority. 

The Head of Paid Service/Director in her report explained that ‘Devolution’ provided an opportunity to seek the transfer of a range of powers and budgets from Government that could be targeted to local need, used to boost growth in the local economy and level up communities. It also provided the opportunity for some current local authority powers to be exercised on a wider footprint.

In December 2022 the three upper tier councils of Lincolnshire County Council, North Lincolnshire Council and North East Lincolnshire Council, agreed to engage with government officials to secure a devolution deal for Greater Lincolnshire; agreed in principle for devolution to a mayoral county combined authority for Greater Lincolnshire; and for continued engagement with key stakeholders to put Greater Lincolnshire in as strong a position as possible to secure a deal. The report to that meeting set out the stages when Members would be asked to formally consider progress at key decision points including:

(i)              Seek a deal and enter into negotiation with government (December 2022 meeting of the Council)

(ii)             Consult on a draft devolution proposal following negotiations with Government (this meeting of the Council)

(iii)           The final proposal and to establish a mayoral county combined authority (future report to a future meeting).

The report detailed the second decision point for Council and provided for  consideration of a draft proposal for the creation of a new Greater Lincolnshire Combined County Authority to give effect to a Greater Lincolnshire devolution deal.  Decision making to agree the draft proposal and to consult on the draft proposal was an Executive function of the Council. In accordance with the process set out in the December 2022 Council report, the Leader of the Council was seeking the support of the Council before taking/reaching a decision.

The attached report and appendices set out the proposed decision and advice to the Leader of the Council (appendix 1) and steps required to implement the deal and to progress the process for creation of a Combined County Authority covering Lincolnshire, North Lincolnshire and North East Lincolnshire in accordance with the Levelling-Up and Regeneration Act - as the only mechanism for delivering on that deal. The report’s recommendations also enabled the upper tier councils to progress the next stages of the process including ensuring that appropriate consultation was undertaken, and comments sought from stakeholders and were considered prior to consideration of approval of a final proposal.

The report asked Council to consider and support the proposed decisions as set out in the Executive (Leader of the Council) report and the appendices to the report which included:

·       Devolution Deal for Greater Lincolnshire (Appendix A)

·       Draft proposal for a Greater Lincolnshire mayoral combined county authority and for devolution to Greater Lincolnshire (Appendix B)

·       Consultation on the draft proposal (Appendix C)

·       Equality Impact Assessment (EqIA) (Appendix D)

Members of the Council had also received a full briefing on the above proposals at a briefing meeting held on 27 November 2023.

Moved by Councillor Waltham MBE and seconded by Councillor R Hannigan –

That Council supports (a) the devolution deal document attached at Appendix A; (b) the draft proposal for the creation of a Greater Lincolnshire Combined County Authority attached at Appendix B (“the Proposal”) for the purposes of public consultation in accordance with the Levelling Up and Regeneration Act 2023; (c) the carrying out of public consultation on the proposal in accordance with paragraphs 26 to 30 of the Executive (Leader of the Council) Report and the Consultation document at Appendix C, and (d) that delegated authority be given to the Head of Paid Service/Chief Executive to approve any minor amendments to the draft proposal or consultation arrangements. This delegation to be exercised in consultation with the Leader of the Council and be conditional upon agreement to such amendments by the other Constituent Councils.

At the request of members and in accordance with Procedure Rule 1.22(d) the names of members voting for, against and abstaining from the motion are as follows –