To confirm as a correct record the Minutes of the previous meeting held on 22 January 2018.

(a)       Minutes of Meeting held on 22 January 2018

RESOLVED that the Minutes of the Meeting held on 22 January 2018 be confirmed and signed as a correct record.

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

The Chairman of the Council advised that for the avoidance of doubt Members did not need to make a declaration in respect of the Executive Business Plan, Medium Term Financial Plan 2018/2019 – 2022/2023 report (which set the Council Tax), as this was an area in which all Councillors were granted an exemption by the relevant legislation.  

Councillor David Cotton declared a non-pecuniary interest in respect of agenda item 9 (b), Executive Business Plan, Medium Term Financial Plan 2018/2019 – 2022/23 as reference was made to burial fees, and he often took such services.

Setting out current position of previously agreed actions as at 23 February 2018.

The Monitoring Officer noted that all items due for completion were showing black, as having been completed.

A brief update in respect of the green action entitled Code of Conduct was provided. Parish Council Adoptions had commenced with several notifications of such already received.  The action was expected to be completed on target.

Officers apologised for the un-associated comment which had been included alongside the actions entitled “motion to council re housing company” and “Motion to council – Count them in Campaign”, this would be rectified prior to the next meeting.  

RESOLVED that the Matters Arising be noted.

i)              Chairman of Council

ii)             Leader of the Council

iii)            Head of Paid Service

i)          Chairman

The Chairman addressed Council advising it had been a fairly quiet period since Council last met.  The “Beast from the East” had seen a number of events cancelled across the District and surrounding area. The Chairman thanked Officers and communities for their efforts in keeping services running during this period.

However the Chairman had had the pleasure of attending a Burns Supper, a coffee morning at St. Barnabas, and a lovely function at Normanby Hall.

In the coming weeks, the Chairman would be hosting a number of events of her own, including a Flag Raising Event for Commonwealth Day on 12 March, to which she invited all Members to attend and show their support, as well as hosting Afternoon Teas for those couples across the District who had reached their milestone Diamond Wedding Anniversary.

ii)      Leader of Council

The Leader addressed Council and advised that he, along with two of the Council’s Executive Directors, had on 31 January 2018, met with Officers from Amber Valley Council, in Derbyshire, in order to share experiences as they too operated a Management Model without a Chief Executive.  The meeting had proven useful.

The Leader further advised that he had recently attended negotiation skills training, and looked forward to putting these in to practice.

The Annual DCN Conference had been held on 8 February and the Leader had been in attendance.  The Conference had a number of highly renowned speakers, including The Rt. Honourable Steven Durrell, Lord Porter and Duncan Selby, Chief Executive of Public Health England.  The Leader indicated this had been one of the most interesting and informative DCN Conferences he had attended.

Meetings had also been held with Officers of North Lincolnshire Council, reference extending the boundary of the Wolds AONB, into their area.  The process to re-designate such boundaries was a lengthy one, however, this matter continued to move forward. 

At the conclusion of the Leader’s Announcements, the Ward Member for Fiskerton, thanked the Leader for having attended at meetings of the Parish Council in reference to the Neighbourhood Plan.

iii)     Head of Paid Service

The Head of Paid Service addressed Council, on behalf on the Management Team, starting with reference to the severe weather recently experienced by the District.   Thanks were expressed to all staff who kept the organisation going when some of our neighbouring Councils had to close their offices early.   Waste collections had been suspended at the end of the previous week, however, the Head of Paid Service advised that double collections would be commencing this week to ensure the collection backlog was cleared by Friday.  It had been a testing time but, as an organisation, we had performed well.

Other general matters which were brought to Members’ attention were as follows: -

·       Commercial Training and a Corporate Plan Workshop had been held, thanks were expressed to those Members who had attended and contributed.  There would be further opportunities to contribute to the development of the Corporate Plan over the summer.

·       Emergency Planning – A  ...  view the full minutes text for item 76.

The Monitoring Officer confirmed that no questions had been received from Members of the Public.

The Monitoring Officer confirmed that no questions pursuant to Council Procedure Rule Number 9 had been received from Elected Members.

No Motions have been received for this meeting.

The Monitoring Officer confirmed that no Motions pursuant to Council Procedure Rule Number 10 had been received from Elected Members.

Consideration was given to a report which presented Members with details of key strategic activity completed during 2017/18 in support of delivering the objectives of the Corporate Plan (2016-2010). Members were also asked to note the key activities to be completed during the remainder of the Plan’s lifespan. 

The Leader of the Council presented the report and in doing so advised that the report supported the Council’s commitment to ensure that the Corporate Plan remained a live document and that progress made against its priorities were reported against.

The last year had seen major progress across a range of areas; the opening of the new Lidl supermarket, work commencing on the Travelodge Hotel, the purchase of the first commercial investment property and significant progress on the Crematorium project.

The Selective Licensing Scheme had been introduced and the Council had been successful in being awarded a contract to run the Wellbeing Service.

The Central Lincolnshire Local Plan had been approved and this now provided the Authority with a robust framework that supported development across the District.

Key partnerships had been formed to support in the delivery of the Council’s ambitions and would continue to be key in moving forward.

There was still, however, work to be done over the remainder of the Plan’s lifespan – 2020, including: -

·         Finalisation of the new Leisure Services contract and providing new facilities in Market Rasen.

·         Approval of a Housing Strategy and the appointment a strategic Development Partner to assist the Council in delivering its regeneration and growth plans for the District.

·         Specific support for the community in Hemswell Cliff would be provided and economic growth schemes would be developed for Caistor and Saxilby.

In concluding his address, the Leader indicated he was of that view that there was work still to be done to make West Lindsey a place where people want to work, live, visit and invest, but the Authority had made a strong start and remained committed to delivering its Corporate Plan.  The Leader moved the recommendations.

The Deputy Leader welcomed the report, the progress which had been made across the District as a whole and seconded the paper.

Debate ensued and reference was made to the impending new leisure centre contract, which was causing some concern. It was suggested a proper audit of all clubs operating in the District and the numbers participating would be useful.  It was also suggested the lack of a Sports Development Officer in recent years had led to clubs having difficulty in retaining or increasing numbers and this in turn resulted in them not being viable. It was suggested the lack of leadership and direction shown at a strategic level had contributed to the current situation in respect of the West Lindsey Bowls Club and the Authority was not taking active lifestyles and participation, particularly for the elderly, seriously.

The Chairman of the Governance and Audit Committee responded, and indicated that he would welcome further discussions with Councillor Rollings, to ascertain the exact requirements of any  ...  view the full minutes text for item 80.

Members gave consideration to a report which presented the Executive Business Plan and Medium Term Financial Plan 2018/19 – 2022/23.

The purpose of the Executive Business Plan was to set out the actions to be taken by the Executive to deliver the Corporate Plan over the next three years.

The purpose of the Medium Term Financial Plan (MTFP) was to set a robust overall framework for the Council’s spending plans over the next five years in supporting the delivery of the Corporate Plan and underpinned by the delivery of the Financial Strategy.  The report therefore outlined the Council’s revised financial plans, having taken into account, in the Financial Analysis, for changes in Government funding, the economic environment, local engagement and the priorities for the Council.  The plan reflected the revisions to the previous estimates and detailed the Revenue Budget 2018/19 and estimates up to 2022/23. 

The report also covered the setting of Council Tax for 2018/19, Fees and Charges for 2018/19, the Capital Programme 2018/19 to 2022/23 and the Treasury Management Strategy.

The Executive Director for Resources presented the report and in doing so placed on record his thanks to Tracey Bircumshaw and the finance team for their work in preparing the documents presented to Members.

It was also noted that 2 Parish Councils had made late changes to their precept requirements, resulting in amendments having to be made to Appendices H, I J, K, and L.  These had been circulated to Members, however, additional copies had been placed on Members’ desks for ease of reference. 

It was noted that the Executive Business Plan provided an overview of activities that would deliver the Corporate Plan and the capital investment programme as detailed at Appendix F of the report.

Despite the continued reduction of Grant from the Government, Officers were pleased to be able to present a balanced budget for 2 years but it was noted there remained a challenging funding gap which would reach £673k in 2022/23 Page 35 of the report referred.  In agreeing the budget, Members were also agreeing the fees and charges, these were set out in appendix C & D

Members noted that the budget presented did include the gain from the 100% business rate pilot that Greater Lincolnshire had been successful in bidding for in 2017. This had been recognised as a one-off gain of approximately £1.2m in the report presented.

The headline assumptions were captured on Page 16 of the report.

In light of the service cluster structure having been removed from the establishment, the budgeted expenditure reflected the approach of people, places and policies.

The impact on reserves of the plan were shown at Page 42/43 of the report – 86/87 of the pack and showed an expected balance in 2022/23 of over £12m.

Members were also asked to agree the Capital Investment Strategy, The Capital Programme and Treasury Management strategy in appendices E, F and G.

All of these strategies had been amended to comply with the revised CIPFA code for prudential borrowing  ...  view the full minutes text for item 81.