Lincolnshire County Council

Council Spending and Efficiency · drafted 2026-07-02 · accepted · 8 finding(s)

← council-level findings on this theme

6 Jun 2025The only 'recruitment freeze' language found in the Lincolnshire corpus concerns Lincolnshire Police (overseen by the Police and Crime Commissioner/Panel, not the County Council), where members raised concerns about the impact of a prior police-officer recruitment freeze on workforce balance — this is a policing-body staffing matter, not a Lincolnshire County Council cabinet/budget decision. [1]

26 Jun 2025At Overview and Scrutiny Management Board (26 June 2025), Members sought clarity on the decision-making process for any external support brought in as part of efficiency reviews; the Leader committed only that any such engagement would be legal, safe and constitutionally compliant -- no external firm, DOGE-style unit or formal commissioning decision is recorded at this meeting, only a governance assurance about a possible future engagement. [2]

26 Jun 2025In June 2025 Lincolnshire's Overview and Scrutiny Management Board was told officers were working to a minimum £25 million savings target for 2026/27 (against a projected £25m budget gap in 2026/27, rising to £55m by 2028/29), ahead of the annual budget-setting process; OSMB unanimously endorsed the report for Executive decision on 8 July 2025. [3][4]

8 Jul 2025Lincolnshire County Council's Executive (8 July 2025) noted the progress of an ongoing internal review of the Council's finances and that further supplementary efficiency reviews may be required, with authority for any such reviews resting with the Chief Executive or the Deputy Chief Executive/Executive Director of Resources under existing powers -- this is an internal officer-led review process, not a named DOGE unit or a commissioned paid external audit. [5]

6 Jan 2026Lincolnshire's Executive formally approved the Council Budget 2026/27 initial proposals on 6 January 2026 (Decision I036259), including the budget savings and cost pressures for 2026/27 set out in Appendix B; at the same meeting the Chief Finance Officer confirmed a headline £62.7m savings figure over the Medium Term Financial Plan as the current identified position. [6][7]

29 Jan 2026No formal Cabinet/Executive or full-Council decision to cut, cap, or tighten reporting of consultancy or agency/interim-staff spend was found in Lincolnshire's published minutes. The closest related record is budget scrutiny (Overview and Scrutiny Management Board, 29 January 2026) discussing 2026/27 budget proposals, where officers noted a £2.7m investment in 'product teams' leverages £30m of savings from a new IT partnership and 'supports embedded, sustainable adoption rather than one off consultancy' — an officer explanation during scrutiny discussion of the budget, not a decision setting a reduction/cap target on consultancy or agency spend. [8][9]

29 Jan 2026Lincolnshire County Council's draft 2026/27 budget proposals (considered by the Overview and Scrutiny Management Board on 29 January 2026, ahead of Executive decision) listed 'vacancy management' as one of several savings assumptions alongside pension reductions and digital efficiencies, but officers stated this was 'subject to governance' and that full details of the underlying efficiencies had been withheld from reports specifically 'to avoid pre-empting formal decisions' — i.e. no formal recruitment/hiring freeze or vacancy-control decision had been taken as of that scrutiny meeting. [10][11]

20 Feb 2026Lincolnshire County Council formally adopted the Council Budget 2026/27 (including the Council's Financial Strategy at Appendix D of the Budget Book) at full Council on 20 February 2026; the budget was introduced and moved by Reform UK's Councillor T Catton, seconded by Councillor S Matthews, and the original motion as amended was carried by recorded vote 38 for, 20 against, 1 abstention. [12][13][14][15]

References (15)
  1. Minutes, 6 June 2025 “Members raised concerns about the impact of recruitment freezes and the need for a balanced workforce.”
  2. Minutes, 26 June 2025 “Members requested clarity on the decision-making processes for any external support being brought in as part of efficiency reviews in line with the Council’s Constitution. The Leader of the Council committed that any such engagement would be legal, safe, and constitutionally compliant, supported by officers.”
  3. Minutes, 26 June 2025 “He explained that officers were working on proposals to deliver at least £25 million in savings through service-level reviews, contract efficiencies, and administrative reforms.”
  4. Minutes, 26 June 2025 “Further questions were raised surrounding the £25m savings target. Officers stated £25m was a minimum target and that heads of service had been asked to prepare scenarios for 5–25% reductions.”
  5. Minutes, 8 July 2025 “the progress on the ongoing review of the Council’s finances and that further supplementary efficiency reviews may be required that fall under the powers of either the Chief Executive, as Head of Paid Service in relation to staffing matters, or the Deputy Chief Executive and Executive Director of Resources, as s151 Officer responsible for financial administration and affairs of the Council, be noted.”
  6. Decisions, 6 January 2026 “That the following elements of the budget for 2025/26 as its initial proposals subject to further consultation and scrutiny, be approved, namely:  The budget requirement as detailed in Table A2 of Appendix A.  The budget savings and cost pressures covering the 2026/27 financial year, as detailed in Appendix B.”
  7. Minutes, 6 January 2026 “On the headline £62.7m savings over the Medium Term Financial Plan, the Chief Finance Officer confirmed this was the current identified position, with further efficiencies”
  8. Minutes, 29 January 2026 “Members asked for clarification on the £2.7 million investment in product teams, including whether it funded consultants, IT hardware or other elements”
  9. Minutes, 29 January 2026 “the funding leverages savings from the £30 million generated by the new partnership, supports embedded, sustainable adoption rather than one off consultancy”
  10. Minutes, 29 January 2026 “Officers assured that savings included vacancy management (subject to governance), pension reductions and digital efficiencies, with transformation support now embedded.”
  11. Minutes “these efficiencies arose from ongoing work with Heads of Services on vacancy management, contract reviews and similar measures, but that full details have not been included in reports to avoid pre-empting formal decisions”
  12. Minutes, 20 February 2026 “Councillor T Catton introduced the budget and moved the proposals as set out in the report, which was seconded by Councillor S Matthews.”
  13. Minutes, 20 February 2026 “Original Motion by Reform UK Group, as amended Following a discussion, the original motion, as amended, was put to the vote.”
  14. Minutes, 20 February 2026 “FOR: 38 Those voting for: Councillors Baxter, Bean, Beecham, Bridgwood, D Brookes, J Brookes, Carey, Catton, Cheyne, Clegg, Condell, Cullen, Daish, East, Edgoose-Zagorskiy, Findley, French, Gibson, Hastings, Hume, Kelly, King, Litchfield, Lock, Matthews, McGonigle, Oliver, Parkinson, Redfern, Reeve, Roberts, B Robinson, R Robinson, Sheard, Sneath, Whitaker, Wimhurst, Woods AGAINST: 20 Those voting against: Councillors Bamford, Brockway, Carrington, Chapman, Christopher, Clarke, Cleaver, Cooke, Davies, Dilks, Dyer, Hill OBE, Kendrick, Lee, Martin, Mrs Overton MBE, Taylor, Vernon, Woolley, Wright ABSTENTIONS: 1 Those abstaining: Councillor Bunney”
  15. Minutes, 20 February 2026 “approves the Council's Financial Strategy contained in the appended Budget Book (Appendix D – Financial Strategy)”