North Lincolnshire Council

North Lincolnshire Council is the local authority of North Lincolnshire, a local government district in the ceremonial county of Lincolnshire, England. The council is a unitary authority, being a district council which also performs the functions of a county council; it is independent from Lincolnshire County Council.

North Lincolnshire Council
Type
Type	Unitary authority
History
Founded	1 April 1996
Leadership
Mayor	Carol Ross, Conservative since 15 May 2025[1]
Leader	Rob Waltham, Conservative since 16 January 2017
Chief Executive	Alison Barker since 1 November 2023
Structure
Seats	43 councillors
Political groups	Administration (27)   Conservative (27) Opposition   Labour (16)
Elections
Last election	4 May 2023
Next election	2027
Meeting place
Church Square House, 30–40 High Street, Scunthorpe, DN15 6NL
Website
www.northlincs.gov.uk

The council has been under Conservative majority control since 2011. It is based at Church Square House in Scunthorpe.

History

The district of North Lincolnshire and its council were created on 1 April 1996. The new district covered the whole area of two former districts of Glanford and Scunthorpe, and part of Boothferry district, all of which were abolished at the same time. They had all been lower-tier districts within the county of Humberside prior to the 1996 reforms, with Humberside County Council providing county-level services to the area. Humberside had only been created in 1974; prior to 1974 this area had been part of Lincolnshire.^[2][3]

The way the 1996 changes were implemented was to create both a non-metropolitan district and a non-metropolitan county called North Lincolnshire, but with no separate county council. Instead, the district council also performs the functions that legislation assigns to county councils, making it a unitary authority.^[4]

At the same time, the new district was transferred for ceremonial purposes back to Lincolnshire, but as a unitary authority the council has always been independent from Lincolnshire County Council.^[5][6] The district was awarded borough status with effect from 16 December 1996, allowing the chair of the council to take the title of mayor.^[7]

In 2025 the council became a member of the new Greater Lincolnshire Combined County Authority, along with North East Lincolnshire Council and Lincolnshire County Council.^[8] The combined authority is chaired by the directly-elected Mayor of Greater Lincolnshire.^[9]

Governance

As a unitary authority, North Lincolnshire provides the local government services of a non-metropolitan county council and non-metropolitan district council combined.^[10] Some functions are still delivered covering the whole of the former county of Humberside, notably the Humberside Fire and Rescue Service. Such functions are managed by joint committees of the four unitary authorities which now cover the area.^[4] Much of the borough is covered by civil parishes, which form a lower tier of local government. The only part of the borough not covered by civil parishes is Scunthorpe, which is an unparished area.^[11]

Political control

The first election to the council was held in 1995, initially operating as a shadow authority alongside the outgoing authorities until coming into its powers on 1 April 1996. Political control of the council since 1995 has been as follows:^[12]

Party in control		Years
	Labour	1996–2003
	Conservative	2003–2007
	Labour	2007–2011
	Conservative	2011–present

Leadership

The role of mayor is largely ceremonial in North Lincolnshire. Political leadership is instead provided by the leader of the council. The leaders since the council's creation in 1996 have been:

Councillor	Party		From	To
Ian Cawsey[13][14]		Labour	1 Apr 1996	May 1997
Nic Dakin[14][15]		Labour	May 1997	May 2003
Don Stewart[16][17]		Conservative	May 2003	Nov 2004
Alan Holgate[18][19]		Conservative	9 Dec 2004	2006
Liz Redfern[20]		Conservative	2006	2007
Mark Kirk[21]		Labour	2007	May 2011
Liz Redfern[22][23][24]		Conservative	25 May 2011	15 Jan 2017
Rob Waltham[24]		Conservative	16 Jan 2017

Composition

Following the 2023 election, the composition of the council was:^[25]

Party		Councillors
	Conservative	27
	Labour	16
Total		43

The next election is due in 2027.^[26]

Premises

Civic Centre, Scunthorpe: Council's headquarters until 2019

The council is based at Church Square House in the centre of Scunthorpe.

Until 2019 the council's main offices were at Scunthorpe Civic Centre on Ashby Road. The Civic Centre had been completed in 1962 for the former Scunthorpe Borough Council.^[27] In 2019 the council extended its existing town centre office at Church Square House to become its main offices. The civic centre was then converted to become a campus of North Lindsey College, an associate college of the University of Lincoln.^[28]

Elections

See also: North Lincolnshire Council elections

Since the last boundary changes in 2023 the council has comprised 43 councillors representing 19 wards, with each ward electing one, two or three councillors. Elections are held every four years.^[29]

Wards and councillors

There are 19 wards, each represented by between one and three councillors. Following the 2023 election the councillors were:^[30]

Parliamentary constituency	Ward	Councillor	Party
Brigg and Goole constituency	Axholme Central	David Robinson		Conservative
		Tim Mitchell		Conservative
	Axholme North	John Briggs		Conservative
		Julie Reed		Conservative
	Axholme South	David Rose		Conservative
		Judy Kennedy		Conservative
	Brigg and Wolds	Carl Sherwood		Conservative
		Nigel Sherwood		Conservative
		Rob Waltham		Conservative
	Broughton and Scawby	Janet Lee		Conservative
		Carol Ross		Conservative
	Burringham and Gunness	Josh Walshe		Conservative
	Burton upon Stather and Winterton	Elaine Marper		Conservative
		Helen Rowson		Conservative
		Ralph Ogg		Conservative
Cleethorpes constituency	Barton	Chris Patterson		Conservative
		Keith Vickers		Conservative
		Paul Vickers		Conservative
	Ferry	David Wells		Conservative
		Peter Clark		Conservative
		Richard Hannigan		Conservative
Scunthorpe constituency	Ashby Central	Mick Grant		Labour
		Andrea Davison		Labour
	Ashby Lakeside	Max Bell		Labour
		Judith Matthews		Labour
	Bottesford	John Davison		Conservative
		Margaret Armiger		Conservative
		Janet Longcake		Conservative
	Brumby	Len Foster		Labour
		Steve Swift		Labour
		Susan Armitage		Labour
	Crosby and Park	Naseer Ahmed		Labour
		Christine O'Sullivan		Labour
		Helen Yates		Labour
	Frodingham	Darryl Southern		Labour
		Tony Ellerby		Labour
	Kingsway with Lincoln Gardens	Helen Rayner		Labour
		Tony Gosling		Labour
	Messingham	Neil Poole		Conservative
	Ridge	David Garritt		Conservative
		Trevor Foster		Conservative
	Town	Lorraine Yeadon		Labour
		Mashook Ali		Labour

Arms

Coat of arms of North Lincolnshire Council

Notes Granted 7 September 1998 by the College of Arms. Crest Issuing from a mural crown Vert a Lincoln Red Bull rampant Gules supporting a blast furnace Argent enflamed Or. Torse Argent and Azure.[31] Escutcheon Or on a fess enarched Vert between three fleurs-de-lys Gules as many cornucopiae Or replenished Proper a bordure engrailed Azure. Supporters Dexter an angel Proper habited Argent winged and crined Or wreathed about the temples Argent and Azure about the waist a rope tied in a figure of eight knot Or holding in the exterior hand a trympet bendwise bell downwards also Or sinister a representation of John Wesley Proper habited Sable with the cuffs of his shirt and bands Argent gown hat and stockings Sable his shoes also Sable buckled Or holding in the exterior hand a Bible Proper bound Or holding in the interior hand a chain of five links also Or.