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Martin John Hill, OBE (born 1954) is an English local politician who has served as Leader of Lincolnshire County Council since 2005.

Early career in local politics

Martin Hill began his career in local politics as a parish councillor in the village of Heydour; he was elected chairman of council in 1991. Lincolnshire County Council's Folkingham Rural ward, which includes Heydour, had been held by a Conservative, Bruce Lee, since the council was established in 1974. Lee did not contest the seat in the 1993 election and Hill stood as the Conservative candidate in his place. He took 1,162 votes, a majority of more than 600 votes over the next candidate. At the next election in 1997, Hill received 2,705 votes against 1,572 for the Labour candidate and 1,125 for the Liberal Democrats in his ward.

Deputy leader and finance chairman

The 1997 election saw the Conservatives regain control of the council, which had been governed by a Labour-Liberal Democrat administration since 1993. Hill was elected joint deputy leader of the council (with David Mawby) under Jim Speechley's leadership. Hill was also appointed chairman of the Finance and Resources Committee, which was responsible for strategic policy, finance and resource allocation. In that capacity, he argued that Grantham Hospital should keep its maternity services (which were threatened with closure by the health authority). He also attracted media attention for scrutinising the county council's staff sick pay – which had been £2.8 million in the 1997–98 year; "We want improvements. We need to make sure people are not taking time off without good reason", he told the Local Government Chronicle. The following year, however, the council's sickness levels had increased, with Hill claiming that his committee was taking action to "address a number of issues relating to definitions of illness".

In September 1998, it was reported that the council was "facing the prospect of cuts to services" as the government reduced its funding for local authorities; the council needed £430m to cover costs in the 1999–2000 year, but only £16.4m would be government contributions; as such, maintaining services would have required raising council tax contributions. Hill was quoted saying that the "The grant settlement is a very tough one for Lincolnshire and will require difficult decisions". The following February, Hill announced that the council had cut 418 full-time staff positions (all, according to Hill, at "management level"). In March, he announced £15m of savings in the 1999–2000 budget. He claimed that the Government's settlement did not cover the extra costs that "they have laid upon us" and that savings would have to be made; "Not to do so would either have meant increasing the council tax by 25 per cent or resorting to large-scale borrowing, neither of which we are prepared to do." Hill's committee also oversaw the sale of some of the authority's property portfolio, which amounted to £3.6m for the 1998–99 year. This included the sale of county farms, land and associated buildings; Hill argued that the money could be "directed into Lincolnshire schools and invested into the county road network".

In 1999, the council awarded "the largest ever local authority contract" (at £250m) to Hyder which outsourced a decade's worth of finance, IT, personnel, property and catering services. It was estimated that this would save £50m, lead to investments in IT and in a new business centre in Lincoln. Hill argued that the contract would "transform the county council's business process and culture and stimulate the local government market"; he argued that deal would mean "everyone is a winner", including the Lincolnshire economy. In 2000, Hill announced that council tax bills would increase by 5.8% to account for increased spending on services without borrowing or using reserves. He also announced a spending increase of £24.2m, £7m of efficiencies and savings, £12m more funding for education and £1.4m for the road network. The new spending included £120,000 of funding to enable Lincolnshire's school to have full access to the internet. In 2001, the council's auditors praised its "sound financial position", Best Value initiative, modernisation and partnership with Hyder, and at the June 2001 election, Hill was re-elected and increased his vote share from 50.1% to 56.5%. In September, he spoke out against government plans to introduce a new funding formula which would potentially reduce police authority funding in Lincolnshire by several million pounds.

Party backbenches

In December 2001, the BBC reported that the council's leader, Jim Speechley, was being investigated over complaints that he had failed to declare interest in land close to one of the council's road schemes. In the meantime, the Audit Commission carried out a review of the county council's leadership under Speechley after concerns were raised by the council's chief executive David Bowles and the Labour group leader Rob Parker. The report, which the Local Government Chronicle called "damning" of Speechley's leadership, was published in May 2002. In the aftermath, Hill challenged Speechley to be leader, but was defeated and was not re-appointed deputy leader. In June, the auditors found that Speechley had breached the code of conduct for councillors; in August, Hill was reported saying that "It is no secret that I think this council should have a new leader". Speechley stood down in September, but was replaced by Ian Croft, a former ally. Hill remained on the "backbenches", according to the Lincolnshire Echo, but was regarded as a moderniser.

In late 2002, Hill criticised central government for, as he argued, decreasing funding for schooling leading to redundancies at some Lincolnshire schools. As chairman of the Finance and Resources Committee, he criticised the government's local authority funding system in 2003 for "discrimina[ing] against rural areas such as Lincolnshire", suggesting that the formula benefited the south-east disproportionately; Lincoln's Labour MP said that council had benefited from an above-inflation settlement in the previous budget. Hill attracted controversy later that year for tabling a motion in the Council calling for the government to hold a referendum on the EU constitution – a similar call to that made by the Conservative Party leader Iain Duncan Smith. Hill argued that "Most people in this country, except possibly the Prime Minister, agree that the proposed constitution for Europe is a very serious issue and something which will fundamentally alter the way we are governed". He argued that the constitution would remove aspects of local and national government's authority in a range of areas. The motion passed. By November of that year, Hill was chairman of the Police Authority finance committee; he made clear his disappointment in a 2.3% increase in the central government grant towards the authority's funding for the 2004–05 year. Despite a 3.5% increase in the 2005–06 budget, Hill reiterated his frustration that Lincolnshire Police received the third-lowest central government grant per head in the country; the authority raised its council tax precept by 6.4% that year.

Leader of Lincolnshire County Council

After Jim Speechley was jailed for misconduct in a public office the press reported that his successor Ian Croft tried to remove David Bowles, the council executive who whistle-blew in the Speechley incident. With criticism of Croft's leadership growing, Hill (viewed as a moderniser) was floated as a contender for the position in early 2004. Croft remained in office until March 2005, when he and his cabinet resigned following a highly critical Audit Commission report. On 24 March 2005, Hill was elected leader of the Conservative group and thus leader of the council. He named Barry Singleton and Bernard Theobald as his deputies (both had resigned from Croft's cabinet over his clashes with Bowles) and put together a "totally new" cabinet; he admitted that he considered having a multi-party administration, but decided against it (a move which the Labour group leader criticised). Speaking to the Lincolnshire Echo, he stated his intention to "draw a line under the past and move on". He argued that central government was under-funding Lincolnshire (relative to other counties in England) and forcing the council to raise taxes, which he viewed as unfair.

First four years (2005-09)

Hill led the group through the May 2005 local elections, which saw them lose 4 seats, but retain 45 (a seven-seat majority). Labour did not contest Hill's seat and he was returned in Folkingham with 3,013 votes, against the Liberal Democrat's 1,871. One of Hill's deputies, Theobald, lost his seat and so Hill appointed Peter Robinson in his place on the cabinet. He gave an interview with The Guardian, saying that he wanted "a fresh start" and aimed to be more inclusive of the opposition parties. Tony McArdle was announced as chief executive at the end of June. A consultation on future funding priorities was announced, with the intention of improving public relations. Hill offered support for a proposed Skegness relief road and a proposed new medical school in Lincoln. But he also claimed that under-funding from central government had left the council facing a £33m "funding hole" for social services, forcing the council to cut services or raise taxes. Later in the year, Hill endorsed a plan to increase police numbers by 100 officers at the cost of several million pounds which would be paid for partly by the local authority (potentially through a special tax levy and efficiency savings). In December, Audit Commission inspectors complimented the council's leadership for implementing improvements since Croft's resignation.

In February 2006, it was reported that council tax bills would rise by 5% (against the 1.9% rate of inflation); they were on average £1,238 per household, double the 1996 figure. This was announced alongside efficiency savings and was put down to increasing school transport, residential care and highway maintenance costs. £1.5m of extra funding was allocated to Lincolnshire Police, and further improved funding for home care, social care and youth services. Hill, however, was critical of central government's funding formula, which he argued (despite constituting a more generous settlement) still under-funded Lincolnshire by £22m. He told reporters that "Like most councils, we are faced with a tight financial position which will require some difficult decisions in balancing competing service needs, efficiency measures, some service improvements and Council Tax levels. This is a good budget within that context." The following month, the press reported that the police force had temporarily frozen recruitment to save money. In July, the council announced it would end the Stamford Endowed Scheme which funded 350 pupils' places at private schools in the town.

In late 2005, the issue of schools with "surplus" places also arose when a list of 17 proposed closures and mergers was leaked to the press and no councillors attended a meeting with affected parents and teachers. Hill claimed that there had been "great efforts to keep everyone informed", but his approach was criticised by the Lincolnshire Echo. He nevertheless argued that the council needed to determine whether it was sustainable to provide facilities for 10,000 surplus places in Lincolnshire; he also argued that it was Labour government policies which were forcing them to scrutinise such places. In early 2006, the proposals attracted further criticism, with an opposition councillor suggested that school closures were disproportionately affecting Labour wards (Hill's own ward had 200 surplus places). Hill responded by saying that the mergers were being targeted at infants and junior schools and schools across multiple sites, rather than 4-11 primary schools like those in his ward. A proposed school serving a new estate in Bourne was cancelled and, later in the year (by which time 7 schools had been closed), Hill argued parents were opting to send their children to larger schools and thus endangering smaller ones.

Honours and awards

In 2008, Hill was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire for "services to local government".