i) Chairman of Council
ii) Leader of the Council
iii) Chief Executive
Minutes:
Chairman
Since Council’s last meeting the Chairman had attended numerous civic events and spoke of the remarkable people he had met and the tremendous work they did in their communities.
The Chairman took the opportunity to bring Members’ attention to the Community Award packs which had been distributed across the Chamber. The Chairman urged all Members to ensure that their respective town and parish councils, and any other community groups were aware of the Awards. He also encouraged all Councillors to nominate individuals or deserving groups known to them.
Referring to recent engagements, the Chairman took the opportunity to highlight just a few: -
· The Christmas Light Switch on, here in Gainsborough, also attended by the Mayor of Gainsborough (commenting on his moves!)
· The Civic Carol Service, held at the beautiful Hackthorn church was a memorable occasion, the choir of William Farr school performed outstandingly. He thanked Officers who had supported the evening and paid tribute to his Civic Officer for her usual efficiency in organising it.
· His “Merry Christmas” visit to the local fire Station, where he was treated to a mock rescue from an overturned car. He commented on the amazing work our emergency services do on behalf of the community with the mock training exercise being a perfect example.
· On Christmas Day the Chairman had had the pleasure of attending the annual lunch organised by the Gainsborough Christmas Day Lunch committee for those who would otherwise be alone. It had been superb and was run entirely by volunteers who willingly gave up their Christmas for others, another example of the great community sprit out there.
· The opening of our superb new facility at Lea Fields had been a very special occasion and a great privilege. He encouraged those who had not been already, to go and visit the facility, something he considered clearly demonstrated the Council’s commitment to its residents.
The Chairman closed on a more sombre note, reading the following statement, by way of marking Holocaust Memorial Day, which was being held on 27 January and supported by 46 countries around the world.
“We recognise that the Holocaust shook the foundations of modern civilisation. Its unprecedented character and horror will always hold universal meaning.
We believe the Holocaust must have a permanent place in our nation’s and community’s collective memory. We honour the survivors still with us, and reaffirm our shared goals of mutual understanding and justice.
We must make sure that future generations understand the causes of the Holocaust and reflect upon its consequences. We vow to remember the victims of Nazi persecution and of all genocides.
We value the sacrifices of those who have risked their lives to protect or rescue victims, as a touchstone of the human capacity for good in the face of evil.
We recognise that humanity is still scarred by the belief that race, religion, disability or sexuality make some people’s lives worth less than others. Genocide, anti-semitism, racism, xenophobia and discrimination still continue. We have a shared responsibility to fight these evils.
We Pledge to strengthen our efforts to promote education and research about the Holocaust and other genocides. We will do our utmost to make sure that the lessons of such events are fully learnt.
We will continue to encourage Holocaust remembrance by organising an activity to commemorate Holocaust Memorial Day. We condemn the evils of prejudice, discrimination and racism. We value a free, respectful and democratic society.
Having visited Auschwitz Birkenau, himself, he urged everyone to visit such sites at least once. They served as a stark reminder of man’s inhumanity to man, and that we should never let it happen again.
Leader
The Leader addressed Council and updated the Chamber in respect of the following matters: -
· The Leader was very pleased to see the Appointment of our new Chief Executive by the Chief Officer Employment Committee. The Committee had taken a steady and deliberate approach and had resolved a number of key issues with this appointment. He, like others, would be interested in the appointment of the senior management team in the coming weeks.
· The Leader had attended a visit to Nettleham C of E Junior School with the Chairman in mid-November. The questions from the children were some of the most difficult he’d ever faced, and it was great to see the young engaging in politics.
· The Leader had also attended the final module of the LGA’s Leadership Academy at the end of November, having now completed the course. It had been a valuable experience which had been both rewarding and helped evaluate his leadership.
· At the start of December, the Leader attended an opportunity in Lincoln at County Hall, to meet the candidates for the position of Chief Executive of Lincolnshire County Council. The County Council had appointed Debbie Barnes and the Leader was looking forward to working with her on shared priorities both for the district and Lincolnshire. He had discussed the ongoing work in Greater Lincolnshire, the County Council’s LGA Peer Review and the Director of Public Health’s Annual Report. At the end of that week the Leader had also attended the National Council Meeting of APSE in Blackpool and had volunteered to assist Dr. Peter Kenway with his research into local authorities and climate change.
· The following week, the Leader had visited the new Nomad centre in Lincoln, being run by the YMCA. This was an impressive facility and the Leader was looking forward to having meetings with members of Lincolnshire YMCA in the coming months to discuss their engagement in West Lindsey.
· On the 12th December, the Leader had attended the opening of Lincolnshire Co-operative’s new store in Sturton-by-Stow with the Chairman. The following day, the Leader had the honour of being a guest of the Chief Constable at Lincolnshire Police’s Christmas Carol Concert at Lincoln Cathedral, with our Chief Executive. He advised Members that the ‘Lincolnshire Armistice Stories’ book, that had been compiled by Lincolnshire Police, had been placed in the Members’ room, for their perusal.
· The Leader’s final duty of 2019 was to attend the Leaders and Chief Executive’s Meeting in Lincoln. Discussions had centred around the ongoing work related to Greater Lincolnshire, the County Council’s LGA Peer Review and the Director of Public Health’s Annual Report.
· New year, new decade and the first formal duty of 2020 had seen the Leader attend the opening of West Lindsey’s beautiful new Lea Fields Crematorium. It had given the Leader great pleasure to see the Chairman cut the ribbon, and meet with staff, contractors, guests and funeral professionals. The weather had been kind enabling some truly excellent images and a video of the opening to be taken. The following day the Leader had also attended the public Open Day of the facility, which was particularly well attended.
· The Leader had attended the meeting of the Central Lincolnshire Joint Strategic Planning Unit, the previous week, and whilst the meeting was fairly brief the briefings which had followed were substantive on how Central Lincolnshire’s ambition, to be the first Local Plan area to deliver a green local plan, could be achieved and consideration of the allocation of sites. The Leader noted that progress had stalled on Market Rasen Town Council’s 3 year vision, which he considered a shame as this obviously should be aligned with the local plan review. He trusted Ward Members would encourage the Town Council to make progress.
· The Leader had been in correspondence with the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government about Anti-Semitism and he had asked that Mr. Robinson and Councillor J. McNeill look at ways to incorporate this into our Constitution and procedures
· On Wednesday, 15th January, the Leader had been in London to meet with Sir Edward Leigh at the House of Commons. Whilst he understood that in the past there have been meetings at the Guildhall with Sir Edward; on the whole these had been largely about assisting Sir Edward with the needs of constituents. He considered one of the Council’s most important strategic partnerships was with Sir Edward, as the areas local parliamentarian and the Government. After all they were responsible for some significant streams of revenue for the authority.
· Since the last meeting of Full Council the Leader had had numerous meetings with Councillors, Officers, stakeholders and the media. In addition to his duties in the Chamber, he undertook to have further such meetings prior to the next meeting of Council on Monday, 2 March.
Chief Executive
The Chief Executive addressed Council, firstly indicating of his pride at having been appointed Chief Executive of West Lindsey District Council. He valued the trust placed in him to take the Council forward. The Chief Executive further advised he would be looking to meet with each Councillor over the next twelve months and would be making arrangements with each Councillor starting in April. Communications would be sent shortly to initiate arrangements.
Referencing recent flooding, West Lindsey District Council had provided grants under the government support scheme to 24 properties a total amount of £12k. This scheme was now timed out.
The Council were currently in the process of writing to residents with regards to the Flood Resilience grant. This grant helped property owners to make property improvements to mitigate the impact of future flooding, the maximum grant level being £5000.
The debrief following the recent incidents had highlighted a number of improvements which the Council would be looking to make to implement in partnership with the Lincolnshire Resilience Forum.
As mentioned earlier by the Leader, there had been a very positive meeting held with the local MP. West Lindsey had highlighted an agenda with Sir Edward, which Members and Officers alike would continue to promote with him, in an effort to ensure that West Lindsey had a voice that was heard.
Tomorrow would be the first day of the Authority’s LGA Peer Challenge, those Members who have agreed to attend a session with the peers were encouraged to advise Officers at the earliest opportunity if there were any concerns about specific appointments.
Finally, the Chief Executive was pleased to advised that the first meeting of the Environment and Sustainability Working group, chaired by Cllr Coulson, which had arisen from a motion to Council in November 2019, had been held. The Group would be looking to report to Prosperous Communities Committee in March 2020 initially.
That concluded announcements for the meeting.