Budget and council tax proposal 2023/24

As an ex-pro in the Social Care sector, I know that financial decisions are a workaround the Big Taboo, which I have supported since I first heard it in the 1980s: social care will be a huge financial headache unless and until there is a National Care Service in parallel with the NHS. That said, your option B strikes the best balance. Whatever you do, keep up the effort with highways & potholes etc.- that affects everyone, including those going by road to a care home, or to care delivery in the client's home!

It’s essential to future proof so understand the options proposed. It’s also essential to understand the genuine pressures on local people so I think option B helps balance the books, doesn’t move the pressure to individual households and demonstrates compromise/meeting in the middle. Alternatives must be looked at to avoid reliance on government grants and a constant need to increase local council tax burdens. I am grateful that consideration and funds are being given to services that most need them.

I don't agree with any of them, the pensioners will get a pay raise and then they have to pay more on Community tax, so basically gaining nothing. Community tax should be looked at, I thought everyone paid the same, but certain parts of the Country pay a lot less than ELDC banding is, I think the Council themselves needs to look at saving money, stop their high pay raises, and other expenses. District/country councillors should be paid for what they achieve and how many meetings they actually attend,

I think option A as people are struggling enough at the moment, without additional financial burden.

Would prefer option C. There are many elderly people in the area who lived & lost in WW2 = we owe these people a decent standard of care in their last years.

The situation will remain very difficult for several yer. option A is "attractive" short term in view of the cutest pressure on households but will result in increased pressure in subsequent years. Option B seems to be the least bad choice for the moment

I think that the cost of living crisis is having such an impact on household budgets that it warrants dipping into Council reserves for this next year. Anything that can help consumers should be considered. I know it isn't a long term solution but it does feel like the country is facing a unique crisis at the moment.

Option D would allow more money to be spent on potholes which are a danger to all residents in Lincolnshire causing accidents which impose on our hospitals and police.Less money should be spent on Quango meetings within social care which expect more money than the Prime Minister for doing less work.The Police Crime commissioner is a drag on Police finances and his powers should be decreased and pay reduced acccordingly.This would leave more money for the important expenses within the county. Council expenses should be carefully audited by outside auditors.

Option C would be my choice.
The disparity between senior officers holiday entitlements needs to be addressed . Senior officers need a reduction in their leave entitlements .

Education needs more autonomy within a devolved budget making them responsible for education welfare provision .

The post of police commissioner needs slimming down and savings diverted to beat officers/ community .

Option A. The country is facing an economic crisis as not seen for a generation. Households have generally seen their real incomes fall at an unprecedented rate over the last 12 months. Ideally no increase should be put upon the public at this time & the reserves should be used. If not at this crisis time when else should reserves be used? Increased productivity at every level of the council should be inreased to obtain better value for money from our public services. As others have alluded too, the Senior Management seem to think they have more important jobs than the Prime Minister as they pay themselves more. Scandelous. Looking at road and path maintenance workers, perhaps they could explain why it takes 5 times longer to complete a task in Lincolnshire than it does in London? As for Adult social care, when our family needed support from the Council for my father-in-law, not a single penny was forthcoming from the Council as he was one of those conscientious individuasl who had worked his whole life and saved only to have it all taken back in Care Home fee's without any local government support whatsoever. I for one, begrudge paying into a system that is never going to offer me or my family anything in return.

I support a rise of £5 as the Council does a great job and I understand about rising costs

I retired in 2008, but every single year (up until 2022), my income has gone down due to reducing interest rates. No doubt that will not be of interest to councillors, but it still means that any and all increases have a massive effect on my position. I would suggest that continuing to operate on principles such as poor quality of road maintenance is only going to cost more in the long run (i.e. the substructure of roads is now being severely undermined by lack of maintenance - and that will cost a lot more to fix later). Another classic example of short term solutions with long term consequences is not clearing drains - - we will all suffer from that silly decision before long with climate change under way. The long term effects of short term slip-shod solutions should be thought through much more thoroughly before implementing any budget changes, but without doubt just shoving up council tax without dealing properly with waste first (on all fronts), is just bad management. None of us can afford for councillors not to use pure common sense on every decision rather than the other mis-guided priciples currently being used. Go for option B this year and then deal with mis-guided principles before next year's budget review.

In my opinion the most appropriate option would be Option C so that council services can be maintained and even enhanced. For too long Lincolnshire County Council seems to have been proud to claim that it has one of the lowest council taxes in the region. Indeed I was told at a meeting that to be otherwise would be a vote loser....so be it if it is.

I would prefer choice A, whilst I appreciate the council have less disposable income, so do the general public.
I have had to leave work due to disabilities, I need heating and hot water but I'm using less due to cost and yet the bill is two and a half times last year's, every penny is accounted for, to have too much of a raise in council tax could be the straw that breaks the camel's back.
We don't get expenses etc paid like councillors.

With regret, I go for Option C. I agree with the use of reserves, but the shortfalls over the medium term exceed the given amount of reserves.

I also agree with the comments about top-heavy management, and non-jobs.
Pay the workers, and remind the councillors they are performing a public service, not riding a gravy train.

Do road repairs properly the first time, don't waste money on repeated bad jobs.

I trust LCC to do their best. None of us would agree with everything they do or spend but overall I think they do a good job in difficult circumstances. I go for Option B

None of these: many people are experiencing great hardship at the moment as prices, mortgages, food, home heating costs rise inexorably and many will expect to lose their jobs or businesses in the coming year as the recession deepens. LCC needs to cut its management structure, stop wasting money on bureaucratic exercises, reduce its headcount, cut councillors' allowances, contributions to external Quangos and NGOs. Instead it should concentrate on its social care responsibilities (and again, cut the bureaucracy and management); concentrate on repairing the county's lamentable and dangerous roads; and consider every aspect of its expenditure and if necessary, subsidies. It should decrease its precept on tax bills and urge the Police and Crime Commissioner (a true waste of every penny sent there) to cut his demands and to take more from reserves (which is what they are there for). The overall bill has got to go DOWN, not up: people can no longer afford to subsidise this bloated bureaucracy and the lifestyle of its employees and participants.

Option D - no increase at all - the PCC increased our council tax last year we dont want another increase

Option A would seem to be the best of a bad deal. In the current financial crisis I think a zero increase would be another option. There appears to be so much money wasted on projects that are of no benefit to anybody except the people being paid to do the research, the council should look at reducing the number of managers at the top of the tree.

I select option A, 2% +0.99%, but there should be options in weighting on the distribution funds to other areas too. I'm disappointed that the "plans includes:" section did not give some sort of brief or reference to the stresses of those areas listed with values or point us into an area that identifies the details that lead support the decision, the impact and numbers; it seems deliberate and no help to the public to provide effective feedback due the lack of quality informed information. I don't think the weighting reflects the situation now, for example our highways are in a right mess but due to the lack of informed content how can we see that it should be higher and another area lower or not etc.