Christmas: a time for family, relaxation, and those quirky little traditions that somehow end up defining every household.
Whether it’s wearing the paper hats from your Christmas crackers all afternoon, watching a holiday movie for the seventh time, being schooled in Lego construction by a pint-sized eight-year-old, or watching Granddad snooze away under the weight of a turkey-induced coma—these are the moments we live for.
While Christmas is about basking in those time-honoured traditions, New Year’s is about looking ahead, and embracing change. 2024 was an odd year. Even the new Labour Government would be the first to admit that their start has been less than ideal.
Coun Graham Jeal
It turns out that raising taxes by over £40 billion does impact on businesses, pensioners, farmers, working people and pretty much everyone in between. They’re working on it—success in 2025 depends on whether the economy feels like cooperating or not.
In case you missed it between all the festive news, there was one government announcement in December that you shouldn’t miss: a call for local authorities to consider consolidation, reorganization, and efficiency improvements. Translation: fewer councils, fewer politicians, fewer layers of government, and, if we’re lucky, more money for things like roads, social care, and leisure services. It’s the long-awaited move toward local government reorganization. Maybe this could actually save us money or allow more of our money to go towards front line services.
The idea of change doesn’t always come naturally to the people of Lincolnshire. There was a hostile reaction from members of South Kesteven District Council to the idea of change. But after the 2024 shenanigans at South Kesteven, it’s clear that we might just want to give change a chance.
After all, change could lead to better services, better decision making, less political showboating and maybe even a bit more stability in the local government. Given the recent chaos at South Kesteven—where it often did not feel like a normal council—we must be a more constructive partner towards the idea of change.
So, as we usher in 2025, let’s embrace the opportunities for change, even if that means enduring a few more council meetings that could probably have been emails. Here’s to a year full of hope, health, and working towards a little less bureaucracy. Happy New Year!