The Greater Lincolnshire Devolution Consultation Tour has visited Skegness with the news the proposed deal includes £8 million to improve Roman Bank.
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00:00 The Greater Lincolnshire Devolution Consultation Tour has visitors,
00:03 goodness, giving members of the public a chance to ask questions.
00:07 Can you explain what devolution would mean to Lincolnshire?
00:12 So devolution, the principles of devolution are about the government devolving powers and
00:17 responsibility and resources for things that are currently managed from Whitehall
00:22 down to Greater Lincolnshire. So that is Greater Lincolnshire being a combination
00:27 of the areas of the County Council and the two unitary authorities of North and North-East Lincolnshire.
00:32 So for example, currently there are certain parameters set to how we utilise things like
00:38 the adult education budget where the outputs are set by Whitehall.
00:42 Once that budget is devolved to Lincolnshire we would establish the requirements of how
00:47 that money would be best spent to make sure that our educational providers were providing
00:51 the right courses, the right training to meet Lincolnshire's needs.
00:55 One of the other underlying principles is the importance of delivering the right infrastructure
00:59 in the right place at the right time. So rather than having to bid into central government
01:04 departments on an annual basis, a mayoral investment fund would give us greater control
01:09 to actually make our own decisions on our own priorities and deliver the type of infrastructure
01:14 that we want to actually see. So for example, in the first round of funding that's been
01:19 released there's a proposal to deliver an £8 million improvement scheme to Roman Bank
01:26 which will enhance and improve the infrastructure to access to the coast. So that's an immediate
01:32 quick win for the coastal communities of this area.
01:36 Now some people are claiming this is just going to be an extra layer of bureaucracy.
01:41 Is that right? The proposal is that the mayor, the directly
01:47 elected mayor, will be responsible for the devolved powers that are being released to
01:51 Greater Lincolnshire from Whitehall. The existing authorities, whether it's a parish council
01:56 level, district council level or county council level, will continue to be responsible for
02:01 those functions. The mayor's responsibilities are a different set or a new set of functions
02:06 and responsibilities. It's not about the mayor taking ownership or overall control of what
02:11 the existing authorities currently actually do. So the devolving of the adult education
02:17 budget, as an example, is about actually local control of new powers for Lincolnshire.
02:23 Is it going to cost local taxpayers more? The proposals at the moment include provision
02:29 for set-up costs to be funded as part and parcel of the establishment of the deal and
02:34 within the investment fund there will be the opportunity for the mayoral combined authority
02:41 to be responsible for its own costs. If there is a need for the other authorities to actually
02:46 provide funding to it, that will be something that will be subject to a democratic debate
02:51 and discussion across those authorities.
02:55 There are concerns that the coast will miss out in any funding that devolution might bring.
03:05 Do you agree with that?
03:07 No I don't. I think this is a really good opportunity for Lincolnshire to put us on
03:11 the map. As we know we're a very, very vast county. We have a rural county as well and
03:18 the deprivation on the coast is really high with our older population and people that
03:23 move here. So this is a great opportunity to get more money into Lincolnshire. We have
03:28 four district councils sitting around the table so they will be able to vote. Skagnets
03:34 already has £50 million from the townsmen that is really going to improve the area and
03:40 we're looking forward to bringing more to the, not only the coast, but everywhere, small
03:45 villages into Lincolnshire.
03:48 Mr Brooks, before you came to the devolution roadshow you had concerns. Have you changed
03:53 your mind?
03:54 I had major concerns before I came to it. I'm a little bit more persuaded after speaking
04:00 to the two gentlemen that I've just been speaking to. Maybe it won't be as bad as
04:06 what originally, but I've got the documentation and I'm going to go and read that fully and
04:11 then I'll make up a full decision then.
04:15 Do you think it's important that residents do the same, look at the survey, fill it in
04:20 and have their say?
04:22 Oh for definite. The residents need to be looking at it and seeing what they think the
04:26 benefits are going to be. I'm just a little bit concerned that the government don't
04:31 trust the councils or the MPs saying well you're not going to get any extra money unless
04:35 you have another mayor. But talking to these gentlemen I think if it is how it's said
04:41 it's going to be, it may not be as bad as what I first thought.
04:45 Some members of the public were not convinced however.
05:06 So you're not convinced having come to the presentation today that it will benefit?
05:14 It won't benefit the likes of us. There will still be no police, no road repair.
05:22 Do you know what devolution in Lincolnshire would mean?
05:26 No, I haven't got a clue. I don't even know what that actually means.
05:30 Can I ask, do you know what devolution in Lincolnshire would mean?
05:34 No, I've never heard of it.