The Greater Lincolnshire Combined County Authority (GLCCA) is the proposed combined county authority for the county of Lincolnshire, for the local authority areas of Lincolnshire, North Lincolnshire and North East Lincolnshire in the East Midlands and Yorkshire and Humber regions of England. The first election for the Mayor of Greater Lincolnshire, who will chair GLCCA, is expected to take place in May 2025.
A Greater Lincolnshire devolution deal was announced on 13 November 2023. The deal proposes to devolve certain powers, i.e. housing, transport, education and skills as well as environmental matters to GLCCA. As well as increased local decision-making, the deal included and an extra £24 million in funding per year transferred from the UK government over the next 30 years, the budget to be overseen by a directly elected mayor.
The first Mayor of Greater Lincolnshire is expected to be elected in May 20255, and the new mayor will be a member of the Mayoral Council for England and the Council of the Nations and Regions, that speak directly to central Government on behalf of their local areas.
Successive Governments have made clear that they intend to channel significant future funding and new powers down closer to local communities, through Combined Authorities. Regional Mayors therefore have significant opportunity to improve local infrastructure, transport and connectivity, skills and training, and investment in to their local areas.
Increasingly in the future, it seems likely that Mayoral Combined Authorities will also have more sway over other local services, such as health and care, policing, or education more widely. Government is set to publish further details of their plans for this in the winter of 2024/5.
