Richard Davies: Conservative Group Leader

I am honoured to have been elected Leader of the Conservative Group on Lincolnshire County Council.

First, I want to pay a heartfelt tribute to my predecessor, Cllr Martin Hill OBE. Martin has served Lincolnshire with remarkable dedication and integrity over many years. His leadership has been a constant source of strength and stability for our county, and I know I speak for colleagues across the chamber in thanking him for his service, wisdom, and commitment to public life.

This is a time of reflection—but more importantly, a time for action. The rise of Reform UK in Lincolnshire cannot be ignored. Voters have sent us a clear message: they want to see renewed energy, clearer purpose, and stronger engagement from their elected Conservatives. And that is exactly what we intend to deliver.

As a party, we must now revitalise how we campaign, how we listen, and how we lead. That means being visible, being bold, and being grounded in the everyday realities facing our residents—from the state of our roads to the pressures on rural services, to ensuring Lincolnshire remains a safe, prosperous and proud place to live and work.

As a Conservative family, we must also come together—not just within the County Council, but across Greater Lincolnshire. We need to regroup, reconnect, and rebuild with shared purpose. So please do get in touch, get involved, and join us. Together, we can restore trust, win hearts and minds, and ensure that Conservative values continue to shape the future of our county.

Let’s get to work.

Lindsey Cawrey: Conservative Group Deputy Leader

Overview and Scrutiny Management Board

I attended the first meeting of OSMB, along with my colleagues, Cllr Davies and Cllr Dyer. Notable amongst the agenda items was the report recommending the executive on the Theddlethorpe Geological Disposal Facility and Community Partnership. I was delighted to second Cllr Davies’ proposal to recommend to the executive that Lincolnshire County Council withdraw from the process in line with the Conservative Group announcement made before the May local government elections.

After the meeting concluded, the Leadercouncil leader, Cllr Matthews, came over to shake our hands and thanked us for our proposal.

Lincolnshire Police and Crime Panel

The first meeting of the Police and Crime Panel took place on June 6. As a new member, I was invited by the chairman to a pre-meeting on June 5, along with Cllr Matthews, to discuss the format of the meetings, the remit of the panel and to ask any questions.

During the meeting, the Police and Crime Commissioner fielded questions on the most recent HMICFRS PEEL Inspection Report 2023–2025, which investigated Lincolnshire Police’s effectiveness, efficiency, and legitimacy. In summary, the report found that Lincolnshire Police requires improvement in police powers and public treatment, preventing crime, protecting vulnerable people and developing a positive workplace. Lincolnshire Police was found to be inadequate in responding to the public, investigating crime, managing offenders, and leadership and force management. There were no areas of Lincolnshire Police’s activities that HMI found to be outstanding, good, or adequate. The PCC announced that they had engaged with an external auditor to challenge some of the findings.

Growth Scrutiny Committee

The first meeting of this committee was held on June 10. The meeting was relatively short, primarily used to inform new members about the committee’s remit, introduce the Economic Development team to new members, and discuss the work programme.

Children’s and Culture Scrutiny Committee

The first meeting of this committee was held on June 20. There was a half-hour training session beforehand to inform new members about the work of the two service areas covered by the committee, which form the newly configured portfolio held by Cllr Natalie Oliver.

During the training session, members received presentations from officers outlining the work of the service areas and highlighting a recent report from the CQC, which identified Lincolnshire County Council’s Children’s Services as excellent. The presentation on culture services detailed the wider economic development contribution that our culture services make to businesses in the county, the social impact of our services – including the positive relationship between being socially active and culturally engaged – which means people are less likely to require support from our care teams with issues arising from social isolation; the direct financial contribution that our events and services have on mitigating internal budget pressures; as well as fulfilling (and often exceeding) statutory service requirements such as the core library service.

During the main meeting of the scrutiny committee that followed, two members of the Reform UK group commended our officers and services. Cllr Parkinson said our services were “brilliant”, and Cllr Oliver admitted that the services are incredibly well run and only need “tweaking”. This is very different to the broken council rhetoric repeated ad nauseam in Reform UK’s recent election literature.

As I substitute on the first sitting of the Planning and Regulation Committee, I was appalled at the statement by the Reform committee chairman that the item on a large scale solar farm be deferred for three months, as newly-elected Reform members hadn’t had time to read the agenda. I made a point of order expressing that this was unacceptable and a dereliction of duty. Cllr Vernon also intervened with a similarly strongly-worded objection to the chairman’s proposal. As a result, the proposal wasn’t seconded and the item was duly debated and voted on.

This is just another sorry example of Reform UK’s lack of understanding and application and falls well below standards expected by our communities.

Kelham Cooke – Shadow Executive Member Children’s

I was honoured to be re-elected to Lincolnshire County Council to serve Stamford East in May – thank you to everyone who placed their trust in me once again.

Following the election, I have taken on the role of Shadow Executive Member for Adults and Social Care. This is a vital portfolio, and I’m committed to continuing the great work of Cllr Wendy Bowkett in supporting some of our county’s most vulnerable residents.

I’ll be meeting with the senior officer team this Friday to get entirely up to speed on current priorities and challenges, and I look forward to contributing to the development of high-quality, compassionate care services for Lincolnshire.

Gary Taylor – Shadow Executive Member Waste & Trading Standards

In the Spalding South Division, I am addressing the numerous issues raised during the election campaign, particularly highway safety around schools and several parking permit schemes that have been requested.   These are being investigated.

I have been appointed to the Planning Committee and have attended the training.

I have also been appointed to the Eastern Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authority.  These meetings take place over the border in Nelson’s county of Norfolk.

I have been appointed to the Shadow executive with responsibility for waste and Trading standards.

The “Waste Want Not to Reuse” shop was a popular policy announcement from the previous administration.

We need to ensure that the rollout across the county continues.     The food waste scheme is set to be implemented from next year, which represents a significant change in some areas.

In the Trading Standards area, successful partnership work took place in the past regarding the enforcement of illegal activities in retail, including illegal smoking products and vapes.

We need to encourage the new county council to continue investing in this vital area of public safety and not remove funding or resources at a time when the Partnership is demonstrating its effectiveness with positive results across the county.

If you have any questions or comments, please do not hesitate to contact me.   

Jackie Brockway – Shadow Community Safety

The Community Safety Committee met for the first time on June 17 to discuss and endorse the Safer Lincolnshire Partnership’s Strategy for 2025-2028. Committee members had come prepared to scrutinise this important strategy, which will heavily influence how partner agencies handle community safety over the next three years.

The title of the strategy document is ‘Safer Lincolnshire Partnership Strategy 2025-2028,’ and the high quality of its content and presentation won much praise from committee members of all parties. The document includes links to relevant legislation, as well as insights into the project-based methodology that the Partnership will use to increase the perception and reality of safety in Lincolnshire communities over the next three years. Councillors were particularly appreciative of the paper’s inclusion of essential data, such as reoffending rates in different parts of the county, which provides insight into the placement and use of resources. Officers were subjected to detailed questioning from around the council chamber about their plans to implement the new strategy, and they provided complete answers, offering to give more detail if needed.

Martin Hill – Shadow Executive Member Resources

There have been no significant changes so far, which is consistent with the National Reform’s 3-month pause. Last year’s budget outturn will need a decision by the exec next month.

The Leader has confirmed that they will support the NHykeham Relief Road, which will require £80m of council funding, currently scheduled to be borrowed.

There’s no sign of Lincolnshire DOGE yet, although it was promised.

Much of the dramatic national rhetoric surrounding HR and terms and conditions is not based on reality and can be regarded as sound bites for the media.

Thomas Dyer – Shadow Executive Member for Growth

Portfolio Areas: Economy, Property, Procurement & Contract Management, Commissioning, Veterans

Economy

I’ve initiated a process via the Growth Committee for LCC to establish oversight of the MCCA.

Justin Brown will present a proposal at the July meeting outlining how this oversight could be implemented.

This will provide a valuable opportunity for opposition councillors to scrutinise MCCA activities.

Property

Requested data on all County Farm disposals over the past decade – currently under review alongside Savills’ guidance.

The internal “Property Board” has been closed; a new decision-making mechanism is being developed for the executive member – details pending.

Past Property Board papers have now been received in response to our request.

Awaiting data on how LCC property capital projects impact Reform UK policies.

Paul Martin – Shadow Member Environment

There is no denying that Britain needs to focus on energy costs and sustainability. But is a return to coal, gas and oil (fossil fuels) the right direction to take? Environmentally, we await the new county council leadership (Reform) to clarify their policies. The Reform Council leader stated on the BBC, “As far as climate change is concerned… I’m not interested”. Richard Tice (Reform MP) called out “Net Stupid Zero”. Yet, there is much confusion at County Hall on environmental matters. We have seen their cars vote in favour of solar farms whilst their leaders state absolute opposition. We have seen the dedicated flooding committee removed and requests for carbon-reducing road surfacing.

With Reform now openly backing fracking, it is essential to make sure this does not damage our communities and, most of all, our Lincolnshire land. I will seek a thorough understanding of the impact this will have and ensure public involvement at all stages. It is all very well to publicly oppose solar panels on farmland while supporting the pumping of chemically enhanced water into the ground beneath.

So, we await clarity on the future direction of the council’s environmental policies. Fracking, Flooding, Climate Change. More extreme views have indeed replaced the professional, sensible approach of the Conservatives.

Sue Woolley – Shadow Executive NHS Public Health

Lincolnshire Conservative County Councillors have enjoyed a good working relationship with our NHS colleagues over the past four years, and I hope that will continue under the new Reform leadership.

Most of LCC’s work with the NHS overlaps in the social care arena, and a long time ago, we realised that we should work together rather than duplicate efforts. It has also meant that we have been able to ‘sweat’ the Lincolnshire £ by combining resources where it makes sense to do so. Through the Better Care Fund, we have jointly been able to provide services, rather than each organisation having a separate offer. I hope that this way of working continues at a local level.

At a national level, more and more decision-making is being pulled back to the centre. This is disappointing as our local joint arrangements had started to show efficiencies. The Government is expected to publish its Ten Year Plan for health shortly. The three main drivers will be more prevention at the outset, care closer to home, and increased digital support. No one can argue with these statements; however, putting them into action could be another matter, especially when the ICBs nationwide have been asked mid-year to cut their budgets by 50% and when the health service as a whole can never manage to balance its budget.

GPs are often seen as the gatekeepers of our health. Practices have come under increasing pressure, and as time has passed, the ‘health family’ has expanded. The most recent addition is Physician Associates. The role is not to replace GPs but to take some of their workload. However, there is concern that this position will be seen as dumbing down the role of GPs. It has also been seen, though not in Lincolnshire at the moment, that GP locums are unable to get jobs because PAs are cheaper.

Recent changes will see the Lincolnshire ICB become part of the Derby/Notts NHS area, meaning that most NHS procurement services will continue to be East Midlands-focused. It often feels that Lincolnshire loses out to the larger East Midlands city areas, and so this will be a ‘wait and see’ situation. However, Lincolnshire Conservatives are pushing the point that whatever the new arrangement, it must be the one that is best for the residents of Lincolnshire.

Charlotte Vernon – Highways & Transport

After being successfully re-elected as the councillor for Colsterworth Rural in May, I was delighted to be appointed shadow executive member for Highways and also our Group Whip.

Highways are an area that attracts a lot of media attention, and I intend to hold Reform UK to account for the decisions they wish to take.

The first highways scrutiny meeting took place this week, and I secured a commitment from the chairman to ensure that the working group reviewing winter services should be cross-party. This is crucial and will give us a voice at the table during this process, which will lead to changes in the routes we currently cover.

There are dates in the diary for regular meetings with the executive director. Whilst these meetings have not yet taken place, they will be a good opportunity for me to ask questions about the commitment to existing projects that have already been agreed upon and to ensure that the highways spend budgeted for the year 25/26 is kept within budget but not at the expense of scrapping much-needed repairs and road improvements that the residents of Lincolnshire need and deserve.

Robert Kendrick – Lincolnshire Health Scrutiny 11th June

This was the first meeting in the new term and new members were welcomed by the chairman who along with his vice-chairman were also new appointees. Perhaps as a result the new members with one exception made little contribution to the meeting.

The two main topics discussed were a report on GP provision and the Quality Accounts.

GP Provision

Presentations were made by senior GP representatives with other health officials.

Discussions  covered a range of issues including the perennial problem of Did Not Attend (DNAs). Although the data provided show that the percentage seems quite low for Lincolnshire having been working on this with the GP practice in my Division I raised this issue.

The  Medical School in Lincoln was seen as a key element in hopefully having more GPs recruited into Lincolnshire GP srevices.

Quality Accounts

These are summaries of the quality performance of services and not financial accounts. They follow a prescribed formula and have to show for example improvements in selected areas against criteria previously announced. They are not external CQC reports.

The Committee noted that because of the County Council elections, and the timings for the return of statements, it had not been possible for the Committee to make any statements on the 2024-25 draft Quality Accounts. This raised concerns ad it was agreed to set up a Quality Accounts Working Group to look at two draft reports from the hospital and community services trusts.

The Working Group had  concerns over the way these reports were presented with some information being unclear and some thought irrelevant. One service was mentioned by the group as in need of focus and that was maternity services. By co-incidence shortly after the group met the Secretary of State announced a review of maternity services. 

On a more positive note was recognised that representatives of these trust are regular attenders at HSCfL meetings in order to present reports and take questions.

Future Work programme

As it is still early days for the new committee the next meeting on 16 July will again have introductory presentations and updates from other NHS services including mental health.