Category Archive News

Calling all teachers, former teachers, and individuals with a background or interest in education!  North East Lincolnshire Council is seeking volunteers to become School Appeals Panel members, hearing cases from both the school and the parents or carers.

Not all children secure a place at their preferred school so it is important that there is an independent body to consider appeals and make balanced judgements which make a difference.

The role is voluntary, with reimbursement for reasonable travel and lunch expenses. New panel members will receive the necessary training and support to be able to fulfil this responsibility and have the opportunity to exercise their skills and meet like-minded people along the way.

NELC particularly wants to hear from people who are educationalists who can also bring their expertise to the panel, but each panel consists of individuals with a background in education and individuals without, so please do not be discouraged from applying even if your experience lies in a different sector.

There are no set requirements for minimum availability, and the role can work around existing commitments. The average panel member participates in 10-15 hearing dates a year.

If you’re interested, and you have some time to spare, please get in touch as this is a very worthwhile role.

To find out more, visit: www.nelincs.gov.uk/volunteering-opportunities- external site , email: amy.woodhouse@nelincs.gov.uk or call: 01472 324011.

Article from NELC.

Work started this week to refurbish the current sports court in Grant Thorold Park.

The Grant Thorold ‘PlayZone’ multi-use games area (MUGA) will deliver the full refurbishment of the existing tarmacked sports area in the park, and will include basketball hoops, benches, goals, fencing and LED floodlighting.

The PlayZone Programme is aimed at tackling inequalities in physical activity and access to facilities.  Its aim is to focus on funding community-led spaces, with an emphasis on refurbished safe and accessible mini pitches that will allow groups to be more active.

With a pitch size of approximately 30 by 20 metres, the PlayZone will have line marking for football and basketball games. 

The emphasis is on ‘free to use’ community access, with a booking system to ensure fairness and safety.  The PlayZone will also offer the opportunity for more formal sessions to be held, where groups can book for a small fee.

The current sports court will be taken out of use for the duration of the works. Site deliveries are expected in the first week, and ground works and construction thereafter. Heras fencing will be installed around the site while works are ongoing for safety reasons.

Additionally, in the early weeks, the large tree that currently overhangs the court will have the canopy lifted to allow room below for the new fencing and floodlights. Checks will be done before any works are done to the tree to make sure there are no nesting birds.

The planning application for this development was approved earlier this year.

If you have any further questions about the plans, please email projectmanagementteam@nelincs.gov.uk

Article from NELC.

As final preparations are made for Cleethorpes Armed Forces Weekend, North East Lincolnshire Council has reminded people that more public toilets than ever will be available – both for that weekend and the on-coming holiday season.

Ahead of the new development, which will include permanent toilet facilities, 23 portable toilets, including two facilities for people with disabilities are being brought into Cleethorpes on Thursday ahead of the resort’s highlight event of the year next weekend. They will remain for the summer.

The facilities will be provided by local company Lincs Loos, who will also be responsible for daily emptying and cleaning.  They will be placed in Pier Gardens, near the old toilet block on Sea Road, which has been closed ahead of demolition as part of the redevelopment of that area of the resort.

The toilets in Grant Street have also been recommissioned and re-opened, so along with the Sea Road temporary facilities, there will be more toilets than before.

For Armed Forces weekend, there are other toilet facilities being brought in by other private businesses, as well as some at the rear of Knoll St Car Park.

People are reminded there are also public toilets are also available at St Peter’s Avenue, Kingsway and the Boating Lake. Many food and beverage outlets also have facilities that can be used by paying customers.

Article from NELC.

A NEW initiative to encourage fostering by North East Lincolnshire Council has seen its first school join.

Waltham Toll Bar Academy has agreed to become a ‘Foster Friendly’ employer, committing to support staff who are already foster carers, or those who may choose to become so in the future. 

The scheme was launched during the recent Fostering Fortnight activities, encouraging businesses and organisations across the borough to support foster carers.

A member of Lincolnshire Gateway Academies Trust, the academy, as with others signing up to the initiative, will offer benefits to include additional annual leave for appointments and training.

Principal of Waltham Toll Bar Academy Nigel Whittle said: “We are pleased to support North East Lincolnshire Council’s campaign and proud to become the first ‘Foster friendly’ school in the borough.

“We are aware of the shortage of foster carers and, as an employer, are committed to promoting their much-valued work and supporting colleagues who wish to take on such important roles.

“Foster parents can provide the stability a child needs and transform their life chances. It can also be a rewarding experience, knowing you’ve made the difference to a young person’s prospects. 

“We wish the campaign every success and reiterate our willingness to be involved and partner North East Lincolnshire Council in initiatives that benefit children across the area.”

Martin Brown, the Trust’s Chief Executive Officer, said the initiative would be rolled out to its other schools, which include Cleethorpes Academy, Reynolds Academy, also in the resort, and Pilgrim Academy in Immingham.

North East Lincolnshire Council’s Children’s Services Director, Ann-Marie Matson, welcomed the announcement: “I’m delighted Waltham Toll Bar Academy has become the first ‘Foster Friendly’ school, and hope that other academic settings across the area will follow suit, supporting staff who are also foster carers.

“Foster carers provide homes for vulnerable children and young people. Many of these young people need support whilst they adjust to their new environments, and this can require the need for additional support from our foster carers.  If they have jobs elsewhere, they may need additional time and support to help these children, which is where a ‘Foster Friendly’ organisation could prove vital.

“We welcome Waltham Toll Bar Academy and the wider Trust to the scheme.”

Director of Children’s Services, Ann-Marie Matson, with Principal of Waltham Toll Bar Academy, Nigel Whittle, discussing the announcement of Waltham Toll Bar Academy as the area’s first Foster-Friendly School.

Interested in becoming a foster-friendly business? Get in touch with the Fostering team at North East Lincolnshire Council. Email: fosteringandadoption@nelincs.gov.uk.

To find out more about becoming a foster carer in North East Lincolnshire or to discuss how you apply to be a foster carer, visit www.nelincs.gov.uk/fostering, or call 01472 323966.

Article, image and video from NELC.

A new Tourist Information Centre has recently opened in Cleethorpes in time for the thousands of visitors to the resort this Summer.

At its peak, Cleethorpes can attract 30,000 visitors a day, many of which may have never visited the resort before. Situated along the Central Promenade next to Brenda’s Chippy, the centre is full of helpful leaflets and other facilities to make sure visitors enjoy their time in Cleethorpes. It offers Radar Keys for those who need access to disabled toilets; local attraction vouchers; Slipway registrations; Bus timetables; daily/yearly fishing permits and bait digging permits.

Additionally, two resort ambassadors have recently been employed to help run the centre and make sure there is always someone available should they be needed. The team will work alongside the Beach Resort team to help the day to day running of the area.

Coun Hayden Dawkins, Portfolio Holder for Culture, Heritage and the Visitor Economy, said: “Since taking on the role as portfolio holder in June 2023, one of my ambitions was to reinstate tourist information facilities in Cleethorpes, and I’m pleased to say that that has been fulfilled.

“It is imperative that we have a place to go for not just tourists, but also for the local people to see what’s on in the area.”

The new centre will be open from 9am to 6pm during the Summer months (April-September) and from 9am to 4pm the rest of the year. Alternatively, you can call the centre on 01472 323356.

Alongside the new centre, a free drinking water fountain and refilling station has been installed to help reduce the amount of plastic waste in the resort.

The unit has been funded from the Sea-Changers Coastal Fountain Fund and Bunzl, the fund sponsors.

A spokesperson for Sea-Changers said: “We are delighted to support the installation of a Coastal Water Fountain on the Resort Information Office in Cleethorpes.

“Our fund aims to tackle the increasing problem of plastic bottles, left behind along the coast as marine litter, which damage sensitive marine environments and the species that live there.

“Since we started the Coastal Fountain Fund we have funded 39 fountains to be installed right around the UK coasts.

“We hope this fountain will significantly reduce the numbers of non-reusable plastic drinks bottles found on Cleethorpes Beach and also protect nearby areas of environmental importance. Well done to all involved in the installation.”

The water bottle filling station will directly sit within the boundary of the SSSI and in the main visitor area.

Other ongoing initiatives include sculptures like Hammy the Haddock and the globe along the sea front, where visitors can deposit plastic bottles, and which are emptied and recycled regularly as part of the Council’s cleansing programme. That’s alongside the 328 standard waste and recycling bins throughout the resort!

The water bottle refilling station is taking the other opportunity to reduce waste in the first place – not just collect it at the end.

Scott Snowden, Resort Manager, is thrilled with the new Tourist Information Centre. He said: “It’s great to be able to offer such a brilliant facility to the visitors of our resort.

“We have a range of leaflets and offers available for anyone who visits and one of our team will always be here to help you.

“We encourage people to come down and speak to us to see what we can offer them during their time in Cleethorpes.”

Speaking about the new water fountain, he added: “We have lots of cafes and restaurants in the resort, as well as plenty of retail outlets, but sometimes, you just need a quick refill of water to keep hydrated. It just makes sense to have it at the Resort Office, where people naturally come to for information, first aid and general help.”

You can find the location of this and other free refill stations on the Re-Fill app, available to download via  www.refill.org.uk- external site 

Article and images from NELC.

This is the key message of the manifesto launched by the borough’s Conservative group in the run-up to this year’s local elections.

It is the only party locally to publish a manifesto, which sets out the extensive progress made since the last local election, exciting projects currently taking place to improve our area, and ambitious plans for future development. The document, with a forward from North East Lincolnshire Conservatives leader Philip Jackson, also outlines pledges to residents as polling day, Thursday, May 2, approaches – highlighting that his party continues to promote progression and growth for the area, not standing still or looking backwards.

“Five years ago, the people of Grimsby, Cleethorpes and Immingham elected North East Lincolnshire Council’s first majority Conservative administration,” said Coun Jackson, who is also leader of the council. “We were elected on an ambitious manifesto, and we have already delivered many of its pledges. We continue to focus on some of the long-term ones and make some fresh pledges in this manifesto.

“We have a common sense, value-for-money approach to running the council. Nationally, councils are cutting services and even declaring bankruptcy. In contrast, the Conservative administration in North East Lincolnshire is improving services and maintaining sound finances.

“We have listened to what you have been telling us you want, whether it be via email, telephone conversations, talking on the doorstep, or meeting you at regular Conservative councillor ward surgeries. We have hosted Meet The Cabinet sessions for members of the public to discuss issues and ideas face-to-face with Cabinet members. These are widely appreciated, and we will continue holding them regularly.

“We have a Conservative council, two Conservative MPs and a Conservative Government committed to ’levelling up’ towns like Grimsby, Cleethorpes and Immingham. The Government has confidence in what we are doing in North East Lincolnshire and is demonstrating this by providing record amounts of investment to support our ambitious growth and regeneration plans.

“Further evidence was the 2023 round of Levelling Up Funding (LUF); many local authorities received nothing, while we had two successful bids totalling £38 million. “Grimsby is also a Long Term Plan For Towns Fund trailblazer and last autumn was awarded a further £20 million of Government grant funding to be spent over the next 10 years.”

Pledges made in the2024 manifesto include:

• Continued support for the growing renewable energy sector, the Humber Freeport, and other key industry sectors in the borough.
• Keeping North East Lincolnshire moving forward through better jobs and growth.
• An undertaking through the Greater Lincolnshire devolution deal negotiated with the Government to bring almost £750 million in funding to the area and more powers locally over the next 30 years.
• A long-term assurance to continue tackling nuisance issues such as fly-tipping, illegal parking, and littering, and to also make further improvements to the area’s streets, parks, and green spaces – again, to make North East Lincolnshire better for everyone.

The manifesto also states the group’s renewed commitments to more efficient waste and recycling collections, in particular by introducing a kitchen food waste service in 2026; a robust focus on Children’s Social Services and building on the improvements already made; building on a track record of highways and transportation successes; placing education and skills as a key priority for future generations to prosper; maintaining North East Lincolnshire’s reputation as a national leader for adult health and social care;  committing to the Carbon Roadmap for a sustainable, greener borough; and a pledge for more and better homes in the right locations.

Coun Jackson said: “As Conservatives, we are encouraging people and communities to make their own decisions and be self-reliant. We want everyone to progress and prosper and we will always try to help those who help themselves.

“Over the past five years, we have delivered many of our manifesto pledges, improving services and making major strides forward with economic development and regeneration of the borough.

“This manifesto summarises our achievements and explains how we will continue improving North East Lincolnshire. We want to make it a place where our children and young people thrive and have good jobs in adulthood.

“We hope you will continue to support us in the local elections on Thursday, May 2.”

Read the manifesto here.

Do you want to help shape the future creativity of North East Lincolnshire?

ONE woman arrested for a serious crime, nine Fixed Penalty Notices handed out for cycling and one for littering, three parking tickets issued and support for rough sleepers – all in an afternoon’s work for a new taskforce in Grimsby town centre.

The first stage of the review of library and archive services across North East Lincolnshire is coming to a close at the end of this week with nearly 600 people already having contributed their views.

The current statutory library service and archive service is operated by Lincs Inspire Ltd, from four key sites across the borough, Grimsby Central Library, Cleethorpes Library, Immingham Library and Waltham Library. The Archives service operates from within Grimsby Town Hall.

Cllr Hayden Dawkins, Cabinet member for Culture, Heritage and the Visitor Economy, explained: “We know that post-Covid, the way people use our archives and libraries is changing. We also know that although in person visits are returning gradually, last year, they were around two thirds of previous levels. Alongside this, we also know that many local people do not currently visit our archives and libraries or are unaware of the services that they offer.”

“We want to understand how people currently use the libraries and archives, or indeed why they don’t use them so that, with Lincs Inspire, we can help shape services for the future that fit local needs.”

As previously reported, this consultation will be carried out in two main stages throughout 2024.

In the first stage, which ends on 22 March 2024, the Council is asking both users and non-users of library and archive facilities about the service in order to understand what’s important to them, how they use, these services and indeed, if they are aware of the full suite of services offered and what they view as the opportunities for the services in the future.

This review will support the Council and Lincs Inspire in:

• Understanding how current user behaviour has changed and what are service delivery requirements for the future.
• Understanding what residents want from the service for the future, covering both user and non-user public consultation.
• Looking at how the area’s demographics may change demand for services.
• Considering the strategic fit of library and archive provision and how it complements wider outcomes and collaboration with other services such as health, business / resident support, internal council services and leisure.
• Understanding trends and our approach to library and archive service delivery, and how this compares to industry practice.
• Understanding the future local priorities for funding resources and how this is best utilised across the library and archives service.
• Developing a long-term plan for the future of library and archive services.

The results of the first stage of consultation will inform proposals about how the services may look in the future, which will be the subject of the second stage of consultation, likely to be released in the late spring or summer of 2024.

To take part in the consultation, visit www.nelincs.gov.uk/have-your-say- external site  and give your views by 22 March.

Article and image from NELC.

“Under this Conservative administration, we are in receipt of record grant-funding for regeneration projects, clearly demonstrating the Government’s confidence in us.” 

The Leader of the Council, Coun Philip Jackson, highlighted a raft of projects, initiatives and improvements happening in North East Lincolnshire during his speech to the latest meeting of the Full Council.

Addressing the chamber at Grimsby Town Hall, he said: “So many positive things are currently happening within North East Lincolnshire around regeneration, the local economy, business and jobs, service improvements, and progress with delivery against strategies and plans that I can only talk about the highlights tonight.

“Before I do that, let me address head-on one particular matter – the independent Nurseries Consultation Review Report.  All members have received a copy, and it has been considered by Scrutiny. This report vindicates my decision, as Leader of the Council, to halt what was clearly a flawed public consultation. I subsequently requested the Chief Executive to commission the report to determine how this unnecessary and damaging situation arose, and how we can ensure it is never repeated.

“It is clear from the report that council officers failed to adequately communicate with both the Cabinet and ward councillors regarding the challenges associated with the three nursery settings, and the proposed course of action and did not comply with normal governance processes. These issues must and are being addressed but, more importantly, while some focus their energies on political posturing, the Cabinet and officers are now working closely with the three settings to try to ensure their ongoing viability and sustainability so they can continue to serve parents and children within their communities.

“On a more positive note, for the first time in many years, we now have a team of permanent Service Directors and Deputy Directors in Children’s Services to support our new Director of Children’s Services, who joined us last December. Having a permanent leadership team in children’s services, particularly in children’s social care, is something that we haven’t had for several years and provides much-needed stability. We are now finding it much easier to recruit permanent social workers, which is so important for providing stability and continuity to children and families.

“Another positive is the safe reduction in our numbers of looked-after children – down from a peak of 629 in September 2022 to 476 as of March 14 – a reduction of 24%. The number of looked-after children in externally funded provision has reduced from a peak of 283 in November 2022 to 203, a very welcome reduction of 28%. While we are clearly now on the right road with Children’s Services, we recognise that there is still a long way to travel.

“While on the subject of a better future for our young people, the new Youth Zone, named Horizon by local young people, is a step closer to becoming a reality as work at the Garth Lane site continues to gather pace. I visited the site a couple of weeks ago to view the progress. Members may well have noticed the steelwork being erected for the new sports hall. Expected to open in 2025, the state-of-the-art youth centre will provide thousands of young people with opportunities to engage in activities and access support from skilled youth workers, helping them to develop their skills and reach their full potential. It will be open to young people aged between eight and 19 (up to 25 for those with additional needs), seven days a week, for just 50p a visit. Members will have access to an indoor climbing wall, a four-court sports hall, training kitchen, music room with a recording studio, a fully-equipped gym, a dance and drama studio, a 3G kick pitch, an arts and crafts room, and an enterprise and employability suite.

“Also in Grimsby town centre, work has begun on the NHS Community Diagnostic Centre (CDC) within Freshney Place. This will occupy five retail units – that’s more than 18,000 sq.ft of space – and it is expected to open in the summer. The acility will provide the local community with better access to NHS services through its central location, providing a range of non-urgent test facilities, including non-obstetric ultrasounds, electrocardiograms, and X-rays. It is aimed to provide 150,000 additional health checks a year and will remove the need to attend acute hospital sites. The addition of the CDC to Freshney Place emphasises the aspiration of the council to create a mixed-use destination for the community, combining retail and leisure with services within central Grimsby, increasing footfall and boosting the town centre economy.

“Preparation work continues on the cinema and leisure scheme at the western end of Freshney Place, as well as on the conversion of St James House into a business and conference centre, all adding to the diverse offer in the town centre. Work on Riverhead Square is also resuming.

“Grimsby is one of 55 town centres around the country that were allocated ‘Long-Term Plan’ money from the Government to help transform it into a central hub for people and families to visit and enjoy. The £20-million scheme, with money to be spent over the next 10 years, will look at tackling issues like anti-social behaviour, graffiti, and other issues that, once addressed, will help people feel and be safe when visiting the town centre. The Government has also announced that Grimsby has been nominated as one of 10 towns to take part in a High Street Accelerator pilot scheme to help improve the town’s future. We have been invited to take part in a pilot programme to build on the work of the Town Centre Task Force, which has been meeting regularly over the last six months, to agree a long-term vision for the town centre, and we have been given an allocation of £237,000 to put initial interventions in place.

“Turning now to regeneration in Cleethorpes on the back of the Cleethorpes Masterplan and £18.4-million of Levelling Up funding. We should be able shortly to announce who will be leasing the new landmark Sea Road building, which already has planning consent, with construction commencing later in the year. Public consultation has now started on the refurbishment proposals for Pier Gardens and Cleethorpes Market Place, with very positive engagement.

“There have been several announcements about business and industrial investments. Good news for Stallingborough and Immingham, with the announcement that DFDS, which employs more than 1000 people on the Humber, has taken the first steps in creating a new combined commercial office by purchasing seven acres of land on Pioneer Business Park. The plan will create a modern and sustainable building to consolidate several of DFDS’s current office-based colleagues from various sites within the Humber into one collaborative and central location. This comes on the back of the recent sale of land at Pioneer Business Park to Associated British Ports to accelerate the development of the site.

“Further signs that the local economy is booming are the most recent Office for National Statistics published earnings figures, using data from the Annual Survey for Hours and Earnings. These show that, for 2023, the average gross weekly earnings in North East Lincolnshire, Yorkshire and the Humber, and England as a whole, are £663, £632, and £683 respectively. For the first time in many years, earnings in North East Lincolnshire are higher than in Yorkshire and the Humber and are 97% of the England average. All good news for our families and the local economy.

“The most exciting announcement must be the awarding of almost £120-million of Local Transport Fund monies to North East Lincolnshire to bring transformational change to transport within the borough. This is our share of the money released from the scrapping of the northern leg of HS2, a project I never supported, and which would have brought little or no benefit to our borough. Funding will be available from April 2025 and provided on a yearly programme until 2032, with a £20-million limit on individual projects. Cabinet has approved the start of a planning journey which will see a mapping out of how these significant monies will be invested. However, at the top of our priority list will be a new transport hub – bus station – in Grimsby town centre, for which we have already acquired the land. This will give a major boost to public transport, encouraging more people to use buses and improving connectivity.

“Continuing on the theme of public transport, the Department for Transport has permitted North East Lincolnshire Council to use Bus Service Improvement grant monies to allow once again those with bus passes to travel free on our buses before 9.30am. We are currently in discussions with Stagecoach as to how this will be implemented. It is many years since this concession was withdrawn and it is a Conservative administration restoring it. It will encourage greater bus patronage and more people into the town centre, especially once the new Community Diagnostic Centre opens.

“Turning now to waste and recycling. Following a big increase in recycling rates following this administration’s introduction of the new recycling bins and on the back of a successful food waste collection pilot, North East Lincolnshire Council has received £1.2-million from the Government to help implement separate collections of food waste for recycling throughout the whole borough.  The funding is to be used for procuring the bins and caddies, and the vehicles to help collect them.  We are currently assessing how the scheme will operate, with a view to providing an update in the autumn and implementation by April 2026.

“Under this Conservative administration, we are in receipt of record grant-funding for regeneration projects, clearly demonstrating the Government’s confidence in us. We are implementing improvements to services and public transport. We are seeing major investments from a whole range of private sector companies, bringing new jobs to the area, and a more buoyant economy with improved wage rates improving the lives of our residents.”