There were ten in the bed and  the little one said  ... roll over ...

There was understandable consternation and concern after Lincolnshire County Council’s leader, Martin Hill, appeared on BBC’s Look North late one night before Christmas (a good time to bury bad news perhaps?) to declare that that the county should take over the running of Lincolnshire from the current district authorities.
Apparently, this works in Cornwall, where six former authorities have been subsumed at a projected saving of £25 million a year – which seemed to be enough by way of justification for Councillor Hill.
Local commentators have warned that should such a proposal ever get the go-ahead, areas such as Boston would most probably end up with poorer, rather than improved, services.
They were also quick to point out that whenever County Hall says jump, our local Conservative “leaders” at Worst Street simply ask  - how high?
There are also obvious implications with the concept of a single authority  as far as representation is concerned.  Lincolnshire County council has 77 councillors, of whom just seven look after Boston’s interests – when they turn up, which some haven’t done too often in recent months.
Boston Borough, on the other hand, has 32 councillors. which implies a good chance of decent representation at ward level ...  theoretically at any rate - as we have noted to our disappointment..
Viewed as a councillor to voter ratio, county councillors each have an average of 9,129 of Lincolnshire’s 703,000 residents under their wing, whilst Boston’s 32 councillors each represent an average of 1,844 residents.
Clearly, if Lincolnshire County Council took on the running of the entire shebang, we would be unlikely to get any more local councillors, which is reason enough to conclude that such a merger would not be a good idea.
But how realistic is it?
Until recently, we would have said that the odds were fairly long – until we heard of plans to bring more county staff to work out of the borough council offices.
In an e-mail to staff, Boston’s Head of Housing, Property and Communities -  Andy Fisher - tells them to be prepared to breathe in a bit to make room for new arrivals from Lincoln.
He tells them: “As part of our Transformation Programme, I have been working with colleagues internally and externally to see how we can use the Municipal Buildings as a real asset for the Council. In conjunction with the Leader, we have had numerous discussions with the County Council about the potential of hosting more of their staff here and creating a more effective one stop shop and public service centre for our customers.
“Although no deal has been signed and sealed, we are working up a model which could see LCC occupy all of the first and second floors of our COOP building.
“Achieving this would obviously mean moving some of our own teams around but the additional income we could generate and the reduction in utility costs we could achieve would be significant given our current financial position.
“The full details of where the teams who will obviously be affected would go are still being worked on and other teams may also have to change or shrink their existing accommodation take to help facilitate such major moves. As soon as all practical options have been evaluated, the proposals of where people may go will be sent out for everyone’s consideration.
“This is a great opportunity for us to look more closely at how we use our entire office resources and what other options there may be for us to become more effective and efficient; home working, touch down desks*, shared resource rooms and so on.”
What we don’t understand is why  -in an age when the need for face-to-face transactions is reducing -Boston is thinking of bringing what sounds like vast numbers of county staff to Worst Street.
Not only that. The tone of the e-mail suggests that there will not be enough room for the new arrivals.
And is it fair to inconvenience loyal, local, existing staff simply in the name of cash generation? Many local government jobs are bad enough, without having to endure cramped conditions or degraded facilities.
And on the business of income, will the County Council pay a going rate? Usually, deals  between local authorities are done at token costs.
Where will all these people park?
The list of questions is endless – but one thing is sure.
It is certain to fuel speculation that Boston Borough Council is piloting a scheme that one day might see County Hall take over the district.


*touch down desks  ...  Nothing to do with rugby. Touchdown spaces are simple workspaces with a few basics needed for doing business, which may include a 'phone and some type of internet access. A desk, chair and overhead lighting may also be provided.
Sounds ideal.

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