Agenda and draft minutes

The outgoing Chairman, Councillor Stephen Bunney, formally opened the meeting and welcomed Members to the second year of the four-year term and the start of the 2024 – 2025 civic year.

 

The Chairman thanked The Reverend David Cotton for his prayers prior to the meeting and asked the Chamber to have in their thoughts the Director of Resources, Emma Foy, and her family on their recent bereavement, speaking of the importance of the family and the support they offer.

 

 

 

Members may make any declarations of interest at this point and may also make them at any point during the meeting.

No declarations of interest were made at this point in the meeting.

 

 

Following which, the Chairman elected will take the Chair and make the Declaration of Acceptance of Office.

 

 

Before commencing the process of electing a new Chairman, the outgoing Chairman addressed Council and reflected on the past year in office, sharing some of the highlights.

 

Being Chair, Councillor Bunney considered, had allowed him to travel the district in a different capacity, visiting people, and not just in his own ward.  It had been fascinating visiting a number of businesses, a number of environmental projects and a number of schools but he considered there was still more to do. He was amazed by just how much was going on across the district stating that “whilst you might think we know, sometimes it was the case we didn’t” and that had been one of the real benefits and privileges of holding office. It had been the connecting and seeing the everyday people, contributing to their communities in small ways to make a great place which had been of greatest pleasure. Referring to a famous Quaker who wrote a poem ending, “the truth comes from the still small voice of calm”, he likened this to his own experience, visiting communities of the district, seeing the individual bits of what may seem small work come together to actually show what a good community the district was. Whilst it had been an honour and he had been proud of living in West Lindsey over the last 30 years, and in Market Rasen particularly, being Chairman he saw even more how the contributions made by individuals in their calm approach, shone through. It was this overriding message he had taken away from his year in Office.

 

Concluding his outgoing speech, Councillor Bunney sought nominations for the position of Chairman of Council.

 

It was proposed and seconded that Councillor Stephen Bunney be re-appointed the Chairman of Council for the civic year 2024/25, with both the proposer and seconder congratulating and thanking Councillor Bunney for his work and support throughout the year.

 

No further nominations were made and on being put to the vote the motion was carried and it was therefore: -

 

RESOLVED that Councillor Stephen Bunney be elected Chairman of the Council for the 2024/25 civic year.

 

Councillor Bunney retained the Chain of Office, signed the statutory declaration of acceptance of office in the presence of the Head of Paid Service, and resumed the Chair for the remainder of the meeting.

 

In accepting the role, Councillor Bunney advised that it was an honour to be re-elected as Chairman for the coming year and that he was looking forward to the forthcoming year in office and to meeting many more people from the district, throughout Lincolnshire and beyond. Councillor Bunney undertook to uphold the good name of West Lindsey in all the duties carried out as Chairman of the Council.

 

 

Following which, the Vice-Chairman elected will make the Declaration of Acceptance of Office.

 

 

Nominations were sought for the position of Vice-Chairman of Council, with Councillor Matthew Boles being proposed and seconded.

 

There being no further nominations it was:

 

RESOLVED that Councillor Matthew Boles be re-elected Vice-Chairman of the Council for the 2024/25 civic year.

 

Councillor Boles made and signed the statutory declaration of acceptance of office, in the presence of the Head of Paid Service.

 

The Chairman of the Council congratulated Councillor Boles on his re-appointment, inviting him to make a short address. Councillor Boles thanked those who had supported him and looked forward to another year of supporting Councillor Bunney in his role. It was an honour and privilege. 

 

There followed a round of applause.

 

 

(a)     to move a vote of thanks to those who presided over prayers, on behalf of the Chairman, at Council during the past year;

 

(b)     to receive the appointment of Chairman’s Chaplain for the ensuing year and investment of the Stole.

 

 

The Chairman made a vote of thanks to his Chaplain, The Reverend David Cotton, for presiding over his term of Office.

 

In reply, The Reverend Cotton spoke of the great honour it had been serving as Chaplain. Having sat on Council benches for 23 years, and acting as stand-in Chaplain on many an occasion, to be asked to hold the role formally had been a privilege and he had greatly enjoyed his time, including the Civic Carol Service.

 

The Chairman advised the meeting that he had asked The Reverend Cotton to continue in his capacity as Chairman’s Chaplain and could think of no-one more fitting to lead the Civic Service which would be taking place during the year to commemorate the 50^th anniversary of West Lindsey District Council. 

 

The Reverend Cotton was honoured to accept the role, with the Chairman presenting him with flowers to a round of applause from the Chamber.

 

This concluded the civic part of the proceedings for the evening with Members invited to join the Chairman for refreshments after the meeting.

 

 

 

The following nomination(s) have been received in accordance with Article 6 of the Constitution: -

 

Nominee:                   Councillor Trevor Young

Proposer:                   Councillor Stephen Bunney

Seconder:                  Councillor Karen Carless

 

 

Nominations for the position of Leader had been sought in accordance with Article 6 of the Constitution, with only one nomination having been received.

 

Councillor Trevor Young had been proposed and seconded.

 

RESOLVED that Councillor Trevor Young be elected Leader of the Council for the 2024/25 civic year.

 

Councillor Young addressed Council and expressed his thanks at having being appointed and made the following short address : -

 

“Council Members, Officers, and residents of West Lindsey District Council, I am honoured to stand before you today, as the Leader of this great Council. I express my great sincere gratitude to all those who have supported the Administration in this past year, changes in our own Administration, present challenges, and opportunities. I sincerely thank all those who have worked positively with us to ensure that we focus on new priorities whilst continuing to drive forward the existing work and projects of the Council that it undertakes. I am particularly proud that this Council is undertaking the work around the former RAF Scampton, a sign as an Administration we took a bold stance to challenge the Government when it made a sudden decision to use the site to house 2000 asylum seekers. The proposal has caused significant concern to those in our communities, and we are concerned. We were also concerned that the £300 million project could have been scuppered and the heritage assets destroyed. It was clear from the start of this project, we have the potential to transform opportunities in West Lindsey, so it's very much worth fighting for.

 

We continue to strive for excellence in all that we do from delivering essential services through fostering economic growth and development, and we have worked hard and been committed to additional funding to ensure that the project to build a new cinema and make improvements to Whitton's Gardens, the Baltic Mill and the Town Centre stays on track.

 

We are now seeing improvements to the bus station and the impact of the townscape. Heritage fund work, creating a sense of quality, restoring 20 of our heritage buildings in Gainsborough and other heritage projects across the district.

 

Our work to introduce the weekly antiques market in Gainsborough is proving popular and we are seeing footfall in the market square in Gainsborough increase, as well as the empty shops gradually being filled.

 

We also see working with key partners as hugely important to achieve the best outcomes for our communities. Several parts of our district have been badly affected by flooding and we continue to work with our partners in the Environment Agency and Lincolnshire County Council to ensure that funding is dedicated, to ensure that the devastating effects of flooding are minimised going forward.

 

Connecting with our communities and the businesses that sit within them is of key importance. Understanding those businesses and the challenges they face will continue to be a priority.  We have delivered £719,000 in grants to businesses, another £650,000 towards community grants and a further £65,000 to support  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

Nominations were sought for the position of Deputy Leader, with Councillor Mrs Lesley Rollings being proposed and seconded.

 

No further nominations were made.

 

RESOLVED that Councillor Mrs Lesley Rollings be elected Deputy Leader of the Council for the 2024/25 civic year.

 

Having been congratulated by the Chairman, Councillor Mrs Rollings was invited to address Council.  She expressed her thanks at having been appointed and made the following short address: -

 

“Thank you Chairman, and thank you to everyone who has supported us as an Administration, thank you in particular to the new Councillors that we have who have hit the floor running, got involved and been so brilliant and active in their communities, taking a keen interest, you really have been very, very committed, and that's very impressive.

 

Like the Leader of the Opposition said, our Officers have been supportive and what a great job they've been doing, and he is absolutely right that when there is a change of Administration, there's a lot of the work that is already going along, a lot of these big projects had already started off.

 

But we have supported them, in the midst of a cost-of-living crisis which has posed challenges for some of those projects in terms of some funding challenges. Despite which we have stuck with it and supported the work that had gone on in this Council previously. We are really pleased that the Officers have done us a great job. Working closely alongside Sally Grindrod-Smith in recent weeks has been impressive and we are working together to try and get things on that site [Scampton], pushing forward for more gains on that site so that we can really start using that site to develop it as originally intended. The development is going to make a massive difference, probably the biggest difference to our communities in a generation, it will be phenomenal, so it has been a real team effort.”

 

She concluded her address offering genuine appreciation for the support received from all the Officers, commenting on how they had assisted newer Members with patience and understanding and supported the new administration in bringing forward new ideas.

 

 

To confirm and sign as a correct record the Minutes of the Meeting of Full Council held on 8 April 2024.

 

 

Having been proposed and seconded, it was: -

 

RESOLVED that the Minutes of the Meeting of Full Council held on 8 April 2024, be confirmed, approved and signed as a correct record.

 

To note the Group Leaders of each Group and the number of Members to be appointed to serve on each Committee in accordance with the provisions of Section 15 of the Local Government Act.

 

 

The Chairman presented the report which set out details of the political groups on the Council, the number of Members to be appointed to serve on each Committee, and the allocation of seats on each of the Committees based on political groupings, noting the review was borne from the Council’s commitment to review the balance annually at its Annual General Meeting.  No changes had arisen within the Groups since the last review in May 2023 which would impact political balance, however notification had been received by the Head of Paid Service as to a change of Group Leader for the Lincolnshire Independents’ Group, set out at section 1.4 of the report.

 

This was a matter which had been determined by the Head of Paid Service under his delegated authority, in Consultation with the Group Leaders, and as such, there was no requirement for a vote.

 

With no questions posed, the following was DULY NOTED: -

 

(a)     the details of the political groups, as set out in Appendix A of the report,

 

(b)     the number of Members to be appointed to serve on each committee and sub-committee; and

 

(c)     the allocation to different political groups of seats on committees/sub-committees, as set out in Appendix B of the report.

 

 

In accordance with the provisions of Section 16 of the Local Government and Housing Act 1989, to appoint Members to Committees for the Civic Year, in accordance with the wishes expressed by the Political Groups.

 

 

The Chairman of the Council presented the report which set out the wishes expressed by the political groups in respect of the appointment of Members to serve on each of the Council’s formal Committees for the 2024/25 Civic Year.

 

Noting the Opposition Group had one vacant seat on the Overview and Scrutiny Committee and the Lincolnshire Independent Group had one vacant seat on the Planning Committee, each were given the opportunity to state a nomination for their respective vacancies but declined to make a nomination.

 

The Leader of the Council advised the meeting there was one change he wished to make to his Group’s nominations since the report had been published, this being to replace Councillor Jeanette McGhee on the Overview and Scrutiny Committee, with Councillor Eve Bennett.

 

It was confirmed that Council did not need to vote on this matter as the seat belonged to the Group.

 

Noting a revision to the seating arrangements in the Chamber, and the verbal amendment made by the Leader to his committee allocations, the Leader of the Opposition questioned whether the political balance of the committees was in fact correct. 

 

The Monitoring Officer addressed the meeting and advised that a notification had been received that morning which may have an impact on the political balance of the Council. Given its timing this notification would be taken into regard and a report would be submitted to Full Council in June updating the political balance of the organisation and seeking to re-appoint the Committees as necessary. 

 

On that basis having been proposed and seconded it was

 

RESOLVED that in accordance with the provisions of section 16 of the Local Government and Housing Act 1989, and the wishes expressed by political groups, and updated verbally at the meeting, Members be appointed to serve on the Council’s Committees for the 2024/25 civic year as follows: -

 

 

Chief Officer Employment Committee (9 Members)

 

Councillor Owen Bierley  

Councillor Mrs Jackie Brockway  

Councillor Stephen Bunney  

Councillor Paul Lee  

Councillor Peter Morris  

Councillor Mrs Lesley Rollings

Councillor Mrs Mandy Snee 

Councillor Moira Westley 

Councillor Trevor Young  

 

 

Corporate Policy and Resources Committee(11 Members)

 

Councillor Owen Bierley  

Councillor Matthew Boles  

Councillor Frazer Brown  

Councillor Stephen Bunney  

Councillor Ian Fleetwood  

Councillor Roger Patterson  

Councillor Mrs Lesley Rollings 

Councillor Tom Smith  

Councillor Mrs Mandy Snee  

Councillor Paul Swift

Councillor Trevor Young  

 

 

Governance and Audit Committee (9 Members)

                       

Councillor Stephen Bunney

Councillor Mrs Jackie Brockway  

Councillor Christopher Darcel  

Councillor David Dobbie 

Councillor Sabastian Hague  

Councillor Mrs Angela Lawrence  

Councillor Lynda Mullally

Councillor Roger Pilgrim

Councillor Baptiste Velan

 

 

Licensing Committee (11 Members)

 

Councillor John Barrett  

Councillor Eve Bennett  

Councillor Trevor Bridgwood  

Councillor Liz Clews  

Councillor David Dobbie  

Councillor Mrs Angela Lawrence  

Councillor Paul Lee  

Councillor Maureen Palmer 

Councillor Jim Snee  

Councillor Mrs Mandy Snee

Councillor Baptiste Velan                           

 

 

Regulatory Committee (11 Members)

 

Councillor John Barrett  

Councillor Eve Bennett  

Councillor Trevor Bridgwood  

Councillor Liz Clews  

Councillor David Dobbie  

Councillor Mrs Angela Lawrence  

Councillor Paul Lee  

Councillor Maureen Palmer 

Councillor Jim Snee 

Councillor Mrs Mandy Snee

Councillor Baptiste  ...  view the full minutes text for item 10.

Having re-appointed the Committees, the report under consideration sought to appoint Chairmen and Vice-Chairmen to each of the Committees and for Council to agree the normal commencement time for each meeting.

 

The Leader of the Council put forward an amendment to the paper, in relation to the Vice-Chairmanship of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee, seeking to remove Councillor Jeanette McGhee replacing her with Councillor Moira Westley. No counter nominations were made.

 

The Leader of Opposition noted that the report also recommended that the number of Vice-Chairmanships on the Corporate Policy and Resources Committee be increased to two and sought to understand the impact of this on the Council’s budget.

 

Referring Members to the financial implications section of the report, the Monitoring Officer advised that the allowance would be shared until the matter had been further considered by the Independent Remuneration Panel in due course and appropriate recommendations made if deemed necessary and as such had no impact on the budget currently.

 

On that basis, with no questions, having been proposed and seconded including the verbal amendment detailed above, it was

 

RESOLVED that: -

 

(a)       the number of Vice-Chairmanships on the Corporate Policy and Resources Committee be increased from one to two;

 

(b)        the following persons be appointed as Chairmen and Vice-Chairmen, for the 2024/25 Civic Year to the following Committees:

 

Committee	Chairman	Vice Chairman/men	Normal Start Time
Chief Officer Employment Committee	Councillor Moira Westley	Councillor Mandy Snee	Meetings to be convened as and when required
Corporate Policy and Resources Committee	Councillor Trevor Young	Councillor Lesley Rollings Councillor Paul Swift	6.30pm
Planning Committee	Councillor Matt Boles	Councillor Jim Snee	6.30pm
Governance and Audit Committee	Councillor Stephen Bunney	Councillor David Dobbie Councillor Velan Baptiste	2.00pm
*Licensing Committee	Councillor Jim Snee	Councillor Mandy Snee	6.30pm
Overview and Scrutiny Committee	Councillor Paul Howitt-Cowan	Councillor Jacob Flear Councillor Moira Westley	6.30pm
*Regulatory Committee	Councillor Jim Snee	Councillor Mandy Snee	6.30pm
Prosperous Communities Committee	Lesley Rollings	Councillor Trevor Young Councillor Emma Bailey	6.30pm

 

(c)       that the normal commencement time for each of the Committees be as set out in the table at (b) above.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Chairman of the Council presented the report which sought to revise the appointment of Members to serve on Working Groups and Outside Bodies, to which Council had appointed for a four-year period, at their previous year’s AGM. Specifically, it was sought to revise the appointment to the Central Lincolnshire Joint Strategic Planning Committee.

 

Council was asked to appoint Councillor Stephen Bunney to replace Councillor Jim Snee on the above body. 

 

The Leader of the Council sought to make further amendments to the wider list of bodies at appendix one of the report, and moved the following proposal: -

 

Health Scrutiny Committee for Lincolnshire

 

Councillor Moira Westley to be the Member appointed and Councillor Lynda Mullally be the appointed reserve Member.

 

Housing, Health & Care Delivery Group

 

Councillor Lesley Rollings, in her capacity as Chairman of the Prosperous Communities Committee, to be the Member appointed.

 

Lincoln Dial-a-Ride

 

Councillor Baptiste Velan to be the Member appointed.

 

The amendment was duly seconded. With no comments, on being put to the vote, the amendment was carried.

 

On that basis having been moved and seconded, as amended, it was

 

RESOLVED that: -

 

(a)    Councillor Stephen Bunney be appointed to the Central Lincolnshire Joint Strategic Planning Committee until Annual Council May 2027 in replacement of Councillor Jim Snee.

 

(b)     Councillor Moira Westley be appointed to the Health Scrutiny Committee for Lincolnshire until Annual Council May 2027 and Councillor Lynda Mullally be appointed as reserve Member for the same period;

 

(c)     Councillor Lesley Rollings, in her capacity as Chairman of the Prosperous Communities Committee be appointed to the Housing, Health & Care Delivery Group until Annual Council May 2027 in replacement of Councillor Jeanette McGhee; and

 

(d)    Councillor Baptiste Velan be appointed to Lincoln Dial-a-Ride until Annual Council May 2027 in replacement of Councillor Jeanette McGhee

 

The Chairman of Council, in his capacity as Chairman of the Governance and Audit Committee, introduced the report which had been recommended from his Committee at their meeting on 16 April 2024.

 

The Monitoring Officer’s Annual report aimed to provide an overview of governance matters. The report had historically been accompanied by the Annual Review of the Constitution, including any proposed amendments to the Financial and Contract Procedure Rules. An alternative approach had been taken for the 2023/2024 review period, details of which were in the report together with the anticipated timeline for the outcomes to be reported.

 

Finally, the report sought approval of a number of appointments to lay positions following a recruitment process.

 

The Chairman moved the recommendations which were duly seconded. With no questions, on being put to the vote it was: -

 

RESOLVED that: -

 

(a)     the recommendation from the Governance and Audit Committee be accepted and the information contained with the Monitoring Officer’s Annual Report, including the intentions in respect of the pending Constitutional Review be received and endorsed; and

 

(b)    the recommendation from the Governance and Audit Committee be accepted and the appointments to lay positions as follows, be approved: -

 

(i)      the appointment of Mr Richard Harvey as a Member of the Independent Remuneration Panel until Annual Council May 2028 (Section 5.1 of the report)

 

(ii)     the appointment of Mr Andrew Middleton as an Independent Person, assisting with Code of Conduct issues, until Annual Council May 2028 (Section 5.2 of the report)

 

(iii)    the appointment of Parish Councillor Elizabeth Hillman as Parish Councillor Representative on the Standards Committee until Annual Council May 2028 (Section 5.3 of the report).

 

 

The outgoing Chairman of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee presented his Committee’s Annual Report to Full Council. 

 

In doing so, he spoke of how the Committee had worked well together over the past year and how he looked forward to continuing successes in the new Civic Year.

 

The Committee had received presentations from several outside agencies, including the return of Everyone Active, Inspector Head from Lincolnshire Police and a very informative session from Rachel Stamp of Lincolnshire County Council regarding the continued success of the purple lidded bins.

 

The Committee had again been involved in the review of the Progress and Delivery measure set and there had been the continuation of the Performance Improvement Plans, which were implemented under the guidance of the Overview & Scrutiny Committee back in 2022.

 

The Chairman took the opportunity to highlight to wider Members, the excellent scrutiny training the Committee and any interested Members had received from Bethan Evans (Governance Training and Consultancy Ltd). The Committee had found the session invaluable. Also supporting the Committee in its role had been the introduction of a handbook developed by Officers. This had proven of great value as a training aid, and a copy was appended to the report for information.

 

Finally, the Chairman of the Committee extended his thanks to everyone involved in the Committee, both Members and Officers, as well as those the Committee had welcomed to present from outside of the Council.

 

He concluded his introduction by moving the recommendation, which was duly seconded.

 

Reference the Committee’s Operating Methodology, Opposition Members sought to understand why the number of pre-scrutiny items had been limited to four and were advised that this allowed the work plan to be managed to a degree. It had historically been two and in recent years increased to four. No changes to the number in year. Members of the Committee reviewed the Methodology annually and were at liberty to re-visit that number. In further responding the Chief Executive also highlighted to Members that as a full committee system, there was no statutory requirement for West Lindsey District Council to have a scrutiny committee, with scrutiny being undertaken at every meeting, given the politically balanced make-up of all decision-making bodies across the Council, unlike those operating in Cabinet and Executive Models.

 

On being put to the vote it was: -

 

RESOLVED that the Annual Report from the Overview and Scrutiny Committee be received and noted.

 

In closing the meeting, the Chairman advised of a number of special events and activities planned throughout the year for residents, Members, communities and staff to commemorate the 50^th year of West Lindsey. He looked forward to seeing people engage in and support the celebrations.

 

Members were again invited to join him for light refreshments.