Council Leader Philip Jackson has demanded an apology from the local Liberal Democrats party for misleading residents in North East Lincolnshire.
He criticised the party for circulating a four-page leaflet that wrongly claimed: “Now this year the Conservatives are set to raise our bills again by a shocking 4.98% – just 0.01% short of the maximum allowed before a local referendum is triggered.”
“This is wholly wrong and incorrect,” said Coun Jackson, “and it is very wrong of the Liberal Democrats to distribute such a leaflet about a week before the budget was discussed by North East Lincolnshire Council. This is misleading local residents, and I demand that they should circulate another leaflet correcting the mistake and apologising to residents for the inaccurate information.”
Coun Jackson brought the leaflet to the council chamber at Grimsby Town Hall and publicly made his comments during the recent budget-setting meeting, where a total increase of 3.98% for council tax and adult social care – one percent lower than anticipated – was approved.
Coun Jackson told the chamber: “As an administration, we are very aware of the cost-of-living challenges currently faced by our residents, so I am sure a smaller rise in council tax will be very much welcomed, especially when around three quarters of upper tier councils are levying a full 5% overall increase for 2023/24. 3.98% is also less than half of the current official inflation rate of 10.1%.
“This budget very much focuses on our children and young people. As well as investing in the transformation and improvement of children’s social services, we continue to be ambitious in the regeneration of the borough, delivering physical transformation which will encourage growth in business, raise aspiration and improve community confidence. We must continue to enable growth and investment in key industry sectors which will drive future employment opportunities, especially for our children and young people. We want them to be able thrive here in North east Lincolnshire, with good jobs and careers available without them having to leave the area.
“Through the capital investment programme, the council is continuing to take a more commercial approach and projects will make a significant contribution to our strategic objective of enabling the growth of a strong and sustainable local economy. Growth of the local economy will also provide more income for the council by way of business rates, council tax and new homes bonus, making us more sustainable and enabling the delivery of better local services. Indeed, in 2023/24 we have seen the council tax base grow by 503 band D equivalents, yielding an additional £900,000 in council tax. We have also been awarded £296,000 in New Homes Bonus.
“The net zero and decarbonisation agenda is also a key council priority, reinforced by the council’s adopted 2030 net zero ambition and underpinned by our approved Carbon Roadmap. We are committed to reducing our own carbon footprint alongside our continued support to our key sectors and the reduction in the borough’s overall carbon footprint. To facilitate this, we are proposing an ambitious property rationalisation programme to deliver efficiency savings, reduce our carbon footprint, support new ways of working, drive footfall in Grimsby town centre by focusing our staff accommodation there, and generate capital receipts that can be applied to support our wider transformation programme.
“Turning to children’s social care, we still have a long way to go to be able to provide the right support to vulnerable children and their families. What has become apparent over the past year is the chronic and long-standing nature of the deep-rooted problems within our children’s services and the need to improve our early help offer. We also have far too many children in the care of the local authority but we are, at last, starting to see this number being safely reduced. The 2023/24 budget will ensure that we continue to provide the finances to support and transform children’s services in North East Lincolnshire. We have about 45 new permanent social workers, which means, over the next few months, we will be able to significantly reduce our reliance on expensive agency social workers, as well as providing an improved and more stable service to our children and families. We are also working hard to repatriate children who are currently out-of-area. This is better for the children and their families as well as saving money.
“Turning now to regeneration and the proposed capital programme. The council is committed to affordable capital investment and prudential borrowing will be undertaken for the right investments. A significant project may add to financing costs in the short term but, on completion, generate revenues which contribute positively to our bottom line.”
Councillor Jackson went on to remind the chamber of the grant funding the borough has received for regeneration in Grimsby and Cleethorpes, which is reflected in the future years’ capital programme:
- £20.9m Towns Fund for six project is Grimsby town centre.
- £3m towards Corporation Bridge refurbishment, work which will continue well into the next financial year.
- £7.5m towards two new schools.
- £8.4 m towards the repair of the three bridges and resurfacing of the A180 between Pyewipe and Riby Square.
- £3.4m from the Environment Agency for the Grimsby and Immingham Flood Alleviation Scheme.
- £17.4m FHSF monies used, with Government approval, to purchase Freshney Place.
- £18.4m Levelling Up funding for three projects linked to the Cleethorpes Masterplan.
“In Grimsby town centre, the regeneration of Riverhead Square has now commenced, and work has begun on converting St James’ House into a business and conference centre,” Councillor Jackson continued. “We have planning consent for the Freshney Place leisure scheme, incorporating a cinema to be operated by the Parkway group, and a new market hall and food hall, as well as other potential leisure and food and beverage offerings. This is all part of the wider Grimsby Town Centre Masterplan, designed to breathe new life into a diversified town centre. Incidentally, it’s good to see that next year’s budget includes a £1.5m contribution from Freshney Place, nett of costs and charges. Work is also about to commence on the Horizon YouthZone project which will bring the long-derelict West Haven Maltings back into use.
“In Cleethorpes, the £18.4m Levelling Up funding will enable us to commence work on three projects that feature in the Cleethorpes Masterplan: the refurbishment of Pier Gardens and Cleethorpes Market Place and the construction or a new, iconic building on Sea Road, which already enjoys planning consent. These projects will help to inject further confidence into an already high-performing resort, attracting extra private sector investment and helping Cleethorpes become an all-year-round resort.
“The 2023/24 budget also provides the investment we need to maintain first-class frontline services. This includes continued improvements in the waste collection and recycling services introduced by this administration, with recycling rates continuing to improve.
“I want to thank officers for putting together the nuts and bolts of this budget, finance and business plan against a very challenging backdrop, both locally and nationally. It is both balanced, in all senses of the word, and ambitious.”
