North East Lincolnshire Council: local authority assessment

Demographics

North East Lincolnshire is a unitary authority located on England’s eastern coast, south of the Humber estuary. It includes the port towns of Grimsby and Immingham, as well as the coastal resort of Cleethorpes, covering approximately 192 square kilometres.

The borough has an estimated population of 158,335. The majority of people identify as White British (96.2%), with smaller proportions identifying as Asian or Asian British (1.6%), Black or Black British (0.5%), Mixed or Multiple ethnic groups (1%), and Other ethnic groups (0.7%).

Approximately 21% of the population are aged 0–17 years, 57.56% are of working age (18–64 years), and 21.43% are aged 65 and over.

North East Lincolnshire has an Index of Multiple Deprivation decile score of 7 and is ranked 51 out of 153 local authorities in England (with 1 being the most deprived). Deprivation was concentrated in specific areas, particularly East Marsh and West Marsh, which fall within the most deprived 1% nationally.

Life expectancy in the borough was below the national average. Healthy life expectancy at birth was 55 years for males and 58 years for females. There was a significant disparity in life expectancy between the most and least deprived areas. Women in the most deprived areas live 10 years less, and men 12 years less, than those in the least deprived areas.

North East Lincolnshire is part of the Humber and North Yorkshire Integrated Care System (ICS), which also includes East Riding, Hull, North Yorkshire, and York. The main hospital serving the area is the Diana, Princess of Wales Hospital in Grimsby, operated by Northern Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Foundation Trust.

The council is Conservative led with no overall control, with 42 elected members representing 15 wards across the borough.

Since 2004, the local authority and NHS have operated under a Section 75 agreement, enabling formal delegation of functions and responsibilities to meet Care Act duties. This arrangement supports joint commissioning, pooled funding, and integrated health and social care services between North East Lincolnshire Council and the Humber and North Yorkshire Integrated Care Board (ICB).

Services are commissioned through three Community Interest Companies (CiCs): Navigo (mental health), Care Plus Group (community services), and Focus Independent Adult Social Work (Care Act duties). All three CiCs contribute to the Single Point of Access (SPA). Focus delivered 100% of its services under Care Act duties, while Navigo and Care Plus Group deliver approximately 10% of their services under this function. Throughout this report, references to frontline teams and staff working across these CiCs will be described as the local authority under delegated responsibility.

Financial facts 

• The local authority estimated that in 2024/25, its total budget would be £254,517,000. Its actual spend for that year was £269,566,000, which was £15,049,000 more than estimated. 

• The local authority estimated that it would spend £62,052,000 of its total budget on adult social care in 2024/25. Its actual spend was £63,147,000, which was £1,095,000 more than estimated. 

• In 2024/25, 23.43% of the budget was spent on adult social care. 

• The local authority had raised the full adult social care precept for 2024/25, with a value of 2%. Please note that the amount raised through ASC precept varies from local authority to local authority. 

• Approximately 2750 people were accessing long-term adult social care support, and approximately 455 people were accessing short-term adult social care support in 2023/24. Local authorities had spent money on a range of adult social care services, including supporting people. No two care packages were the same and varied significantly in their intensity, duration, and cost.  

This data is reproduced at the request of the Department of Health and Social Care. It has not been factored into our assessment and is presented for information purposes only.