We asked East Lindsey Council Labour Group Leader Ros Jackson about an important budget change that Labour secured at the annual budget-setting meeting in March 2025.
What did Labour change?
We persuaded Councillors that we should be spending more on three things that are important to local people: help for people in financial difficulties; solar panels for car parks; support for affordable homes.
How much extra spending does it amount to?
£250,000 more for the Household Support Fund; £330,000 for work on solar panels; £300,000 towards affordable homes.
How can the Council afford this extra spending?
Our proposals were fully funded. Alongside the proposal for additional spending, we set out savings in other areas to pay for it: £680,000 from the Corporate Priorities Reserve; and £200,000 from the Business Rates Volatility Reserve. Councillors studied our balanced budget and agreed that it made sense.
How will it help ordinary people in East Lindsey?
It represents a victory for people who are struggling with high bills, because by extending the Household Support Fund we will ensure people are supported, whether or not they are on benefits.
Installing more solar panel canopies over car parks will help to ensure the lights stay on, and at the same time we will be using urban land rather than farmland to generate energy. We have pushed for years for car parks to be used for solar generation, because this is the right place for it, especially when it is close to facilities that will use the energy.
The money for housing is vital, when so many local working people can’t get on the housing ladder, and when rents are less and less affordable. When the market won’t build enough housing for local people, it’s important that councils play their part. That’s why it was vital for us to secure this extra funding for affordable homes in the district.
Ros Jackson is Labour’s County Council candidate for Louth South.
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