How Can We Help?
< Back

North Lincolnshire Council is the local authority of North Lincolnshire, a local government district in the ceremonial county of Lincolnshire, England. The council is a unitary authority, being a district council which also performs the functions of a county council; it is independent from Lincolnshire County Council.

The council has been under Conservative majority control since 2011. It is based at Church Square House in Scunthorpe.

History

The district of North Lincolnshire and its council were created on 1 April 1996. The new district covered the whole area of two former districts of Glanford and Scunthorpe, and part of Boothferry district, all of which were abolished at the same time. They had all been lower-tier districts within the county of Humberside prior to the 1996 reforms, with Humberside County Council providing county-level services to the area. Humberside had only been created in 1974; prior to 1974 this area had been part of Lincolnshire.[1][2]

The way the 1996 changes were implemented was to create both a non-metropolitan district and a non-metropolitan county called North Lincolnshire, but with no separate county council. Instead, the district council also performs the functions that legislation assigns to county councils, making it a unitary authority.[3]

At the same time, the new district was transferred for ceremonial purposes back to Lincolnshire, but as a unitary authority the council has always been independent from Lincolnshire County Council.[4][5] The district was awarded borough status with effect from 16 December 1996, allowing the chair of the council to take the title of mayor.[6]

Governance

As a unitary authority, North Lincolnshire provides the local government services of a non-metropolitan county council and non-metropolitan district council combined.[7] Some functions are still delivered covering the whole of the former county of Humberside, notably the Humberside Fire and Rescue Service. Such functions are managed by joint committees of the four unitary authorities which now cover the area.[3] Much of the borough is covered by civil parishes, which form a lower tier of local government. The only part of the borough not covered by civil parishes is Scunthorpe, which is an unparished area.[8]

Political control

The first election to the council was held in 1995, initially operating as a shadow authority alongside the outgoing authorities until coming into its powers on 1 April 1996. Political control of the council since 1995 has been as follows:[9]

Party in control Years
Labour 1996–2003
Conservative 2003–2007
Labour 2007–2011
Conservative 2011–present

Leadership

The role of mayor is largely ceremonial in North Lincolnshire. Political leadership is instead provided by the leader of the council. The leaders since 2006 have been:[10]

Councillor Party From To
Liz Redfern Conservative 2006 2007
Mark Kirk Labour 2007 25 May 2011
Liz Redfern Conservative 25 May 2011 15 Jan 2017
Rob Waltham Conservative 16 Jan 2017

Composition

Following the 2023 election, the composition of the council was:[11]

Party Councillors
Conservative 27
Labour 16
Total 43

The next election is due in 2027.

Premises

Civic Centre, Scunthorpe: Council's headquarters until 2019

The council is based at Church Square House in the centre of Scunthorpe.

Until 2019 the council's main offices were at Scunthorpe Civic Centre on Ashby Road. The Civic Centre had been completed in 1962 for the former Scunthorpe Borough Council.[12] In 2019 the council extended its existing town centre office at Church Square House to become its main offices. The civic centre was then converted to become a campus of North Lindsey College, an associate college of the University of Lincoln.[13]

Elections

Since the last boundary changes in 2023 the council has comprised 43 councillors representing 19 wards, with each ward electing one, two or three councillors. Elections are held every four years.[14]

Wards and councillors

There are 19 wards, each represented by between one and three councillors. Following the 2023 election the councillors were:[15]

Parliamentary constituency Ward Councillor Party
Brigg and Goole
constituency
Axholme Central David Robinson Conservative
Tim Mitchell Conservative
Axholme North John Briggs Conservative
Julie Reed Conservative
Axholme South David Rose Conservative
Judy Kennedy Conservative
Brigg and Wolds Carl Sherwood Conservative
Nigel Sherwood Conservative
Rob Waltham Conservative
Broughton and Scawby Janet Lee Conservative
Carol Ross Conservative
Burringham and Gunness Josh Walshe Conservative
Burton upon Stather and Winterton Elaine Marper Conservative
Helen Rowson Conservative
Ralph Ogg Conservative
Cleethorpes
constituency
Barton Chris Patterson Conservative
Keith Vickers Conservative
Paul Vickers Conservative
Ferry David Wells Conservative
Peter Clark Conservative
Richard Hannigan Conservative
Scunthorpe
constituency
Ashby Central Mick Grant Labour
Andrea Davison Labour
Ashby Lakeside Max Bell Labour
Judith Matthews Labour
Bottesford John Davison Conservative
Margaret Armiger Conservative
Janet Longcake Conservative
Brumby Len Foster Labour
Steve Swift Labour
Susan Armitage Labour
Crosby and Park Naseer Ahmed Labour
Christine O'Sullivan Labour
Helen Yates Labour
Frodingham Darryl Southern Labour
Tony Ellerby Labour
Kingsway with Lincoln Gardens Helen Rayner Labour
Tony Gosling Labour
Messingham Neil Poole Conservative
Ridge David Garritt Conservative
Trevor Foster Conservative
Town Lorraine Yeadon Labour
Mashook Ali Labour

References

  1. ^ "Lincolnshire (North Part): Diagram showing administrative boundaries, 1972". National Library of Scotland. Ordnance Survey. Retrieved 14 July 2024.
  2. ^ "The English Non-metropolitan Districts (Definition) Order 1972", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, SI 1972/2039, retrieved 14 July 2024
  3. ^ a b "The Humberside (Structural Change) Order 1995", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, SI 1995/600, retrieved 14 July 2024
  4. ^ "The Local Government Changes for England (Miscellaneous Provision) Regulations 1995", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, SI 1995/1748, retrieved 6 March 2024
  5. ^ "Lieutenancies Act 1997". legislation.gov.uk. The National Archives. 1997 c. 23. Retrieved 25 February 2024.
  6. ^ Bulletin of Changes of Local Authority Status, Names and Areas, 1 April 1994–31 March 1997 (PDF). London: Department of the Environment. 1997. p. 9. Retrieved 14 July 2024.
  7. ^ "Local Government Act 1972", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, 1972 c. 70, retrieved 4 July 2023
  8. ^ "Election Maps". Ordnance Survey. Retrieved 4 July 2023.
  9. ^ "Council compositions". The Elections Centre. Retrieved 11 August 2022.
  10. ^ "Council minutes". North Lincolnshire Council. Retrieved 11 August 2022.
  11. ^ "Local elections 2023: live council results for England". The Guardian.
  12. ^ Historic England. "North Lincolnshire Council Offices formerly Scunthorpe Civic Centre, Ashby Road (Grade II) (1323702)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 4 July 2023.
  13. ^ Robinson, Calvin (8 February 2019). "Plans to transform Civic Centre into new university campus set to be given green light". Grimsby Live. Retrieved 4 July 2023.
  14. ^ "The North Lincolnshire (Electoral Changes) Order 2022", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, SI 2022/1139, retrieved 4 July 2023
  15. ^ "Electoral wards".
Categories
Table of Contents