i) Chairman of Council
ii) Leader of the Council
iii) Chief Executive
Minutes:
Chairman
The Chairman had had the pleasure of being able to undertake several engagements in recent weeks, making reference first to the raising of the Pride Flag, outside of the Guildhall, in celebration of Pride month.
The Chairman had also paid honour to all of the Armed Forces, on National Armed Forces Day, raising the flag alongside the Chief Executive, his Chaplain and the Council’s Member Champion for Armed Forces and recording prayers and messages on social media.
Only last Friday the Chairman had had the pleasure of joining Sir Edward Leigh at the opening of new facilities at Riseholme College – a truly amazing facility to have within the District.
Only this Saturday, alongside the Chief Executive, the Chairman had visited the very well attended Merry Olde Market in Gainsborough. It had been a pleasure meeting the stallholders, entertainers and members of the community, and all seemed to be thoroughly enjoying themselves
Leader
The Leader made the following address to Council
“Firstly I very much welcome the ability to hold meetings in person once again, both in the community and as a Council, even though the safety requirements mean they are by no means as they were before the pandemic. Huge thanks are due to all those who, through their hard work and commitment, have made this the successful process it has proven to be to-date.
Members will be aware that the District Council’s bid to the Levelling Up Fund was completed and submitted in good time, though we will not learn the outcome until the Autumn. Again, given that such a high quality application was prepared within a really challenging timeframe is a notable achievement, reflecting the ambition of this Council and the wider partnership.
Whilst recognising the amazing progress made in combatting the coronavirus pandemic, especially through the vaccination programme, considerable challenge and uncertainty remains as new variants emerge. Continued adherence to the guidance and regular self-testing remain vital tools available to us all as we strive towards the easing of restrictions on or after 19th July.
Consultation on the draft Central Lincolnshire Local Plan (Regulation 18) will begin next week and run for an eight-week period. The document contains a number of ambitious, cutting edge proposals, particularly in support of the climate change and sustainability imperative. It is vitally important that as many individuals and organisations as possible now share their views.
Two announcements have recently been made that respond to ambitions of many years standing however neither, at this stage, contains the optimal, desired, solution for West Lindsey. I’ll refer to the railway proposal under Agenda Item 11, but can advise that the Lincolnshire Wolds AONB boundary review has not been included in the first round of projects by Natural England.
Finally Chairman, whilst we should never underestimate what we have achieved so far as a Council during a time of unprecedented challenge and change, much remains to be done and will be done on behalf of those we represent. My heartfelt thanks go to each and every one of you, to our colleagues in local government and to all of our partners in the community.”
Chief Executive
The Chief Executive addressed Council and was pleased to advise the election in May had gone smoothly, paying recognition to the Elections team and the 200 plus officers involved in hosting the polling stations and undertaking the count for four different elections.
Members were advised that the Monitoring Officer would be leaving the Council on 17th August. He thanked Mr O’Shaughnessy for his support, congratulated him on his new role and wished him the best of luck for the future.
Referring Members to the programme of events to launch the Gainsborough Townscape Heritage Programme, which had started with the Merry Olde Market on Saturday 26th June. The market had been well received and was busy for much of the day between 9am and 3pm.
A further employee survey had been undertaken over the last few weeks. The Chief Executive was pleased to report that there had been a high response with 64% of employees continuing to report that they felt their needs were being catered for during the pandemic. There was a high proportion of employees looking to work from home or have a mix of office and work from home in the future. From 5 July employees would be able to book work stations within the Guildhall. This being the first phase in developing a new way of working.
That concluded announcements for the meeting.