Transforming culture, leisure and community through evidence, partnership and bold leadership.
Client case study by Lesley Potts, Director of Communities, North Lincolnshire Council
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North Lincolnshire Council: Transforming culture, leisure and community through evidence, partnership and bold leadership
Setting the ambition
Like many councils across the country, North Lincolnshire faced increasing financial pressures alongside rising demand for services. The challenge was not simply to reduce expenditure, but to redesign services in a way that protected what mattered most to residents while creating a financially sustainable future.
Rather than viewing culture, leisure and community services as discretionary spending, the Council recognised their significant contribution to improving health, reducing isolation, supporting families, strengthening communities and creating pride in place. The ambition was to understand how these services could become even more effective as part of a wider prevention and neighbourhood-based approach.
To support this work, North Lincolnshire Council partnered with IMPOWER as its resilience partner, combining local knowledge with external challenge to create a robust evidence base for future decision-making
Building an evidence-led understanding of value
The programme began by bringing together operational, financial and customer information across the Council’s leisure, culture and community portfolio for the first time.
Rather than focusing solely on cost reduction, the work examined:
- How services were used.
- Who benefited from them.
- The outcomes they delivered.
- The cost of providing each service.
- The contribution each asset made to wider Council priorities.
This enabled leaders to move beyond traditional financial reporting and consider both the economic and social value generated through each service.
Importantly, the work recognised that some highly valued community services deliver benefits that extend far beyond income generation, contributing to healthier lifestyles, stronger communities and reduced demand on statutory services.
Putting people at the heart of transformation
Transformation was not developed behind closed doors. Managers, frontline employees and service specialists were actively involved throughout the programme. Their knowledge helped validate the evidence, identify opportunities and ensure recommendations reflected the realities of delivering services across North Lincolnshire.
Alongside financial analysis, the Council considered the lived experience of residents, recognising how leisure centres, libraries, museums, parks and cultural venues support people throughout different stages of life—from young families accessing affordable activities to older residents maintaining independence and tackling loneliness.
This strengthened confidence that future decisions would be based upon both evidence and community need.
From reducing subsidy to maximising community impact
The programme fundamentally changed the conversation. Rather than asking: “How much does this building cost?”
The Council began asking: “What contribution does this place make to healthier communities, stronger neighbourhoods and better outcomes?”
This shift enabled a more balanced approach to investment decisions, ensuring resources could be targeted where they generated the greatest public value.
The evidence identified opportunities to:
- Optimise the use of assets.
- Redesign services around customer need.
- Strengthen commercial performance.
- Increase partnership working.
- Create more flexible workforce models.
- integrate services with wider health and wellbeing priorities.
Collectively, these opportunities provide a clear route towards significantly reducing the Council’s subsidy while protecting, and in many cases enhancing, services for residents.
Creating a platform for long-term sustainability
Perhaps the greatest achievement has been creating a stronger organisation.
The Council now has a consistent evidence base linking finance, operational performance and community outcomes, enabling leaders to make informed decisions with confidence.
This approach has strengthened governance, improved transparency and created a framework that will support future transformation across other service areas.
Equally important, the programme has reinforced a culture where change is undertaken with staff rather than to staff, creating ownership, trust and shared commitment to delivering better outcomes for local people.
Impact and outcomes
The programme has enabled North Lincolnshire Council to:
- Establish a comprehensive understanding of the performance and value of every leisure and culture asset
- Identify significant opportunities to improve financial sustainability while protecting community outcomes
- Strengthen commercial thinking across the portfolio
- Improve integration between culture, leisure, public health, children’s services and adult services
- Support the development of neighbourhood-based prevention services
- Provide Members and officers with a robust evidence base for future investment decisions
- Create greater organisational resilience through improved data, governance and decision-making.
Most importantly, the Council has demonstrated that financial sustainability and improved outcomes are not competing objectives. When supported by strong evidence, effective leadership and meaningful engagement, they can be achieved together.
Learnings for Local Government
North Lincolnshire’s experience offers several lessons for councils embarking on similar journeys.
- Lead with outcomes, not budgets. Financial sustainability is more likely to be achieved when services are redesigned around the outcomes they deliver for communities.
- Use evidence to build confidence. Combining financial, operational and customer insight enables better decisions and more constructive conversations.
- Engage people throughout the process. Staff and managers bring invaluable expertise that strengthens both analysis and implementation.
- Think beyond individual services. Culture, leisure and community services play a vital role within wider prevention, health and neighbourhood systems.
- Focus on long-term resilience. Sustainable transformation is about creating better organisations, not simply delivering short-term savings.
Looking ahead
This programme has become an important foundation for North Lincolnshire Council’s wider transformation journey.
As the Council continues to develop its neighbourhood model and strengthen community-based services, the evidence, relationships and confidence established through this work will continue to inform future decisions. The result is an organisation that is better equipped to respond to financial pressures while remaining focused on what matters most delivering better outcomes for residents, businesses and communities.
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