City of Lincoln Council has today confirmed it will formally ask Government to postpone the city’s local election scheduled for 2026, in light of the Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) programme.
Last month, Government wrote to the 63 authorities affected by these landmark local government reforms and scheduled to hold elections in 2026, seeking their views on postponing elections to create the capacity needed to deliver the LGR programme.
The city council has eleven wards, with three councillors representing each ward. Elections are held ‘by thirds’ where one councillor is elected to each ward every year, except in the year when county council elections are held. Running a local election this year to appoint eleven councillors would cost approximately £170,000.
City of Lincoln Council is currently in its transitional, due diligence phase, ahead of Government’s decision on how LGR will be structured in Greater Lincolnshire. It is the council’s absolute belief that reorganisation should be done once and done properly, with its emphasis on operational reality and risk management. Its focus will include the bringing together of services such as I.T, HR, Finance and council assets.
Reorganisation could involve restructuring council boundaries and responsibilities, replacing the current two-tier systems with fewer, larger unitary authorities that deliver all council services.
It is essential that the authority, or authorities, which replace the current councils in Greater Lincolnshire are built without disruption to the current services that city residents rely on every day. Creating these new council(s) requires focus, capacity, discipline, and honesty about what can be done safely and lawfully.
Avoiding the cost of the election would support the council’s ability to maintain the services residents rely on while working towards delivering LGR. It would help enable City of Lincoln Council to freeze council tax for the 2026/27 financial year.
Councillor Naomi Tweddle, Leader of City of Lincoln Council, said:
“City of Lincoln Council is the only authority in Lincolnshire scheduled to hold elections this year.
"Delivering Local Government Reorganisation to a high standard requires councils like ours to have the time and capacity to complete the vital preparation this process demands.
“We are committed to ensuring that this reorganisation delivers the best outcomes for our residents. Implementing a once‑in‑a‑generation transformation of this scale requires extensive work, planning and coordination to ensure it is delivered successfully. City of Lincoln Council is a multi‑million‑pound organisation and, to deliver Local Government Reorganisation effectively, it will be merged with other authorities that are equally complex and financially significant.
“Holding a local election is a major undertaking, requiring significant staff resources and costing more than £170,000. We believe this money would be better spent supporting the services our residents rely on, and enabling us to freeze council tax.
"With the cost of living continuing to put real pressure on households, we have an opportunity to ease that burden while ensuring reorganisation is delivered properly, and we believe that’s the right thing to do.
"In December, Government wrote to us with a straightforward, important and relevant question. We will be providing them with a responsible and evidence-based response requesting our elections be postponed, releasing capacity to deliver this transformative reorganisation. Government will then confirm its final decision over the coming weeks.”