Agenda and minutes

Venue: Virtual - MS Teams

Contact: James Welbourn  Democratic and Civic Officer

Note: Subject to Call-in. Call-in will expire at 5pm on 28 January 2021 

Media

Items
No. Item

62.

Public Participation Period

Up to 15 minutes are allowed for public participation.  Participants are restricted to 3 minutes each.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

There was no public participation.

63.

Minutes of the Previous Meeting pdf icon PDF 239 KB

To confirm as a correct record the minutes of the previous meeting held on 10 December 2020.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The minutes of the meeting held on 10 December were approved as a correct record.

64.

Declarations of Interest

Members may make declarations of Interest at this point or may make them at any point in the meeting.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Councillor David Cotton declared a personal interest in minute items 66 and 67 as due to his role with the church, he spends a lot of time at the Crematorium.

65.

Matters Arising Schedule pdf icon PDF 170 KB

Setting out current position of previously agreed actions as at 6 January 2021.

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Minutes:

The matter relating to numbers of users of the Market Rasen Leisure Centre was discussed, as Members again queried the catchment number for the centre. 

 

After the committee were informed that the cost of including agency staff in the ‘Staff Recognition – Extra Discretionary Day’s Holiday’ report would be in the region of £3,600, assurance was requested from the Chief executive for the next meeting that all staff would now receive this benefit

 

The remaining matters arising were noted.

66.

Progress and Delivery Performance Measures and Targets 2021/22 pdf icon PDF 479 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Members considered a report on the Council’s proposed Progress and Delivery measures and corresponding financial targets for 2021/2022.

 

There had been a thorough review undertaken between September 2019 and January 2020 of all of the Progress and Delivery targets and measures with key stakeholders; these stakeholders included Members of the Corporate Policy and Resources Committee, the Progress and Delivery Working Group, the Chief Executive and senior members of staff.

 

To give the findings of this thorough review time to bed in, the Authority’s Management Team carried out a light-touch review for 2021-2022, consulting with Team Managers and the Chairmen of several committees.  This light-touch review saw each team in the Authority spoken to in isolation and where there was a strong business case to change a measure it had been included in this report. 

 

Everything contained within the report was split into the portfolios of Directors and Assistant Directors, with the exception of the Assistant Director for Change Management and Regulatory Services, as she was not in post when the review was taking place.

 

The Senior Performance Officer outlined all of the changes to measures contained within the report, and invited comment from Members.  The following information was highlighted:

 

·         It was proposed to remove the measure related to ‘IT helpdesk requests received’, as it only provided data and not a measure of performance.  However, the information on this measure would still be contained within the narrative of future Progress and Delivery reports;

 

·         The ‘number of change management requests received’ measure was proposed to be removed as again, it only provided data and not performance figures;

 

·         The ‘average time taken to action an IT helpdesk request’ was a new measure proposed to have its data tracked throughout the coming year.  At the end of the financial year the performance data would be used as a baseline for future years.  This action would be mirrored for ‘number of change management requests completed’;

 

·         The ‘time taken to progress a search’ measure under the umbrella of Local Land Charges was set at 10 days; the 10 day target was an industry standard, and a government expectation.  Currently, the Authority was not meeting this target, and was taking around 30 days to progress a search, but there were issues around staffing and the volume of requests coming into the service.

 

Additional resources had been put into this area of the Authority.  During the first Covid-19 lockdown, private companies that would usually undertake personal searches were unable to enter the Guildhall, meaning that West Lindsey District Council (WLDC) staff were having to perform 100% of the searches.  This situation had now changed, and some of the pressure on WLDC staff had been relieved; in addition manual records were being digitised to enable online access which would also result in efficiencies from time spent retrieving records manually;

 

·         The ‘percentage of all planned maintenance’ figure under the portfolio of Finance and Property was currently reported quarterly; however the majority of planned maintenance tended to take place during quarters  ...  view the full minutes text for item 66.

67.

Crematorium Garden of Remembrance and Landscaping pdf icon PDF 587 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Members considered a report proposing a capital investment for landscaping works at Lea Fields Crematorium.

 

Since its opening, the Crematorium had become popular with local funeral directors.  The management in place at the site had improved the business offering of the Crematorium, but one issue that had come to the fore was the need for a suitable area for loved ones to strew ashes; this was a statutory requirement.  To facilitate this, officers commissioned a landscaping plan, which was attached to this report.

 

Following this introduction, Members asked questions of officers present and made comment on the Crematorium and the proposals.  The following information was provided:

 

·         During the pandemic staff at the Crematorium have been excellent and fully deserve the award that has come their way;

 

·         When the site was developed officers thought that plans in place for strewing were adequate; however the Crematorium had an experienced manager in place who highlighted the need to be flexible and that people want different options for strewing ashes;

 

·         Although there was always a planned phase 2 for this project, the proposed works would bring part of this phase forward;

 

·         When looking at other large projects that the Authority was undertaking, such as the Depot and Market Rasen Leisure Centre, it would be important to use learning on this project to futureproof those sites;

 

·         There would be the opportunity to have a Book of Remembrance and a tree for relatives and friends to leave messages for the deceased;

 

·         Because of the landscaping work and green areas there would be a climate impact from the site; however this did bring with it the opportunity to plant trees and create biodiversity.

 

Note:   One Member wished to discuss the costs of the proposal, which were contained within exempt appendix 2.  Therefore it was moved and seconded that the committee move to exclude the public and press whilst this appendix was discussed, and following a vote it was:

 

RESOLVED that under Section 100 (A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public and press be excluded from the meeting for the following item of business on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act.

 

The meeting therefore moved into closed session to discuss this appendix.

 

Once the meeting reconvened into public session, there was a proposal to amend recommendation 2 by substituting the tolerance of ‘+ or – 20%’ with ‘+ or – 10%’, and this was duly seconded.  This amendment was unanimously agreed, and therefore become the substantive recommendation 2.

 

Both recommendation 1 and the new recommendation 2 were moved and seconded, and following a vote it was RESOLVED to:

 

(1)  Approve a capital investment budget and subsequent expenditure in order to implement the work detailed in the Landscaping Strategy set out in section 2 of the report;

 

(2)  Delegate authority to the Chief Finance Officer in consultation with the Chairman of the Corporate Policy and Resources committee, in  ...  view the full minutes text for item 67.

68.

Committee Work Plan pdf icon PDF 214 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The workplan was noted.

69.

Crematorium Garden of Remembrance and Landscaping - Exempt Appendix

Minutes:

The exempt appendix had earlier been discussed when committee resolved to exclude the public and press during item 67.