30/10/2016 Look North (East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire)

The Government has been criticised for a new policy

that will see some of those living in council houses charged

"Pay to Stay" means that from April, households who earn more

than ?31,000 a year will have to pay more

But the leader of one counchl in Lincolnshire is now callhng

on the Government to rethink those plans.

There is a waiting list of lore than 1,500 for council houshng

in the North Kesteven district of Lincolnshire.

Among those who are in local authority properties,

the prospect of higher earndrs being charged more for living

The Government scheme, called Pay to Stay, will cole

Local councils will have to charge households earning

North Kesteven District Council thinks 160 people in its arda

Marie has lived in her council house for more than 20 years.

She said the idea of richer tenants paying more makes sense.

I personally think if that money was going to build

more council houses, to provide more homes

Mum-of-two Leigh, who thinks her household

may have to pay more, disagrees with the idea.

Because everybody is living in the same...

Whether you're working or not, it's the same property.

So it should just have one flat rent rate.

Not different for different people, it's not fair.

The Pay to Stay scheme has particularly angered the le`der

of North Kesteven District Council, who says there are early signs

it could have a significant side-effect.

And if we are going to push up their rents because they ard earning

more money, it makes sense to a lot of people to say,

well, we might as well buy our council house.

the fewer council houses we have left.

She also thinks Pay to Stay will be a drain on stretched council funds,

to monitor those eligible to pay more.

We reckon it's costing the council, really, roughly 60,000 or so a year.

The Government department responsible for housing told us

in a statement that Pay to Stay is designed to make sure

social housing is there for those who genuinely need it.

It said it will be helping out councils with the cost of rtnning

the scheme and said the Govdrnment is committed to building new houses

to replace those sold off under Right to Buy.

But it seems councillors in North Kesteven will take some

convincing that charging richer tenants more won't cost the council

A man is in a critical condhtion, following a suspected assault

It happpened at about 3am this morning

near the Barcelona Club on Station Road.

The 31-year-old was taken to hospital with head injurhes

A Lincolnshire MP is calling on political leaders

to come together to break the county's devolution deadlock.

Eight authorities have supported proposals

for a Greater Lincolnshire deal led by an elected Mayor,

which would be worth ?15 million a year in extra funding.

But Lincolnshire County Council and South Kesteven

Boston and Skegness MP Matt Warman says he's hoping that critics

I think that ultimately, this is a good deal

that was negotiated by all ten leaders,

It's disappointing that thex haven't voted for it, but I genuinely hope

that we are going to get thhs over the line, because it means hundreds

of millions of pounds extra for a county that historically has

I think it's a huge opportunity and I really hope that we whll be

Now time for a look at the weather forecast, with Abbie Dewhurst.

Well, high pressure still in charge of our weather at the moment.

If you're heading out for a trick or treat either

tonight or tomorrow night, the good news is, it should stay

So, staying dry the whole night, really, tonight.

We could just see a couple of patches of drizzle affecting

northern areas, but other than that, we should get aw`y

Plenty of cloud around, thotgh, and just a couple of clear spells,

and in these clear spells, we could see a couple of pockets

Quite dense fog, actually, so take care on

Temperatures overnight stayhng quite mild, dropping

So, after a dull and overcast start to the day tomorrow,

with this fog, it will slowly, slowly clear and we'll start

to see some brighter spells tomorrow afternoon.

Temperatures feeling quite pleasant in that sunshine as well,

That's all for now, Look North is back from 6:25 tomorrow morning And

you can stay in touch throughout the day on your local BBC Radio station.