After halting (in March) its public consultation on a new and expanded selective licensing scheme, West Lindsey council's prosperous communities committee has set up a working group of councillors and council officers to look into the concerns that caused the consultation to be halted. The working group has been tasked with providing a progress report to the committee at its meeting set for 19th July.

Concerns had been raised in the consultation feedback that the expanded scheme would not be fair to good landlords in wards not previously included in the original licensing scheme in the south west ward of Gainsborough which had come to the end of its 5 year term. The progress report will look at the question of what "fair" would mean in the context of a new and larger scheme; what, if any, alternative options to selective licensing could be considered; and, whether the new scheme's fee structure and financial projections were workable: Cllr. John McNeil, a vice chair of the committee said that they needed to know "whether the costs of the scheme can be met in other more imaginative or fairer ways" as concerns had also been raised, as pointed out by Cllr. Stephen Bunney, that landlords would put the licence fee cost onto the rent paid by their tenants. The whole committee agreed on the importance of ensuring access to decent quality housing as the objective of any future scheme. A webcast of the committee meeting can be accessed (item 6f) here.