North Lincolnshire Council is to withdraw their Car Loan Scheme whereby eligible employees can recieve financial assistance towards buying a car. North Licolnshire Council's Headquarters North Lincolnshire Council (NLC) has always operated a scheme whereby eligible employees could receive financial assistance towards the purchase of a car. In times past, the interest rate charged by the NLC was considered favourable when compared with private finance rates. However, competitive interest rates may be found elsewhere through various private finance companies. The rate of interest charged by NLC is set on 1st April each year and is normally equivalent to the Bank of England Base Rate. However, the current rate set by NLC is 5.25% as no adjustment was made on 1 April 2009 to reflect the current Bank of England Base Rate of 0.5%. Inevitably the number of loans being taken out by eligible NLC employees had for some time been reducing. It has been reported the number had gone down from 42 at April 2007 to 22 today, primarily because of cheaper alternative sources of finance. The car loan scheme run by NLC is discretionary, and is not essential to meet council priorities. The existence, and ready availability, of cheaper sources of finance gave NLC clear evidence that the activity can be provided by non-state providers and was seen as further justification for the withdrawal of the scheme.