Agenda item

Questions submitted by Members under Procedure Rule No.9 will be published by way of supplement following closure of the deadline.

 

 

The Chairman advised the meeting that three questions pursuant to Council Procedure Rule No.9 had been submitted to the meeting.  These had been circulated to all Members, separately to the agenda and published on the website.

 

The Chairman invited, Councillor John McNeill, Ward Member for Market Rasen, to put his question to the Leader as follows:-

 

"Leader

 

The equipment that makes the current landline network run is not fit for the future and needs to be upgraded. The technology currently used to make calls on telephone landlines, called ‘analogue’, is being replaced with an internet-based version, called an ‘IP network’ (which means Internet Protocol Network).

 

The changeover has been mandated to happen by December 2025, as this is when the old technology will stop working. Everyone who has a landline will move over to the new system. Phone providers have already started work on switching over the network, but residents and businesses in West Lindsey do not need to do anything until their provider gets in touch with them.

 

Landlines will still exist, and it will still be possible to have a telephone line in our homes and businesses - but the system that underpins it will be different. Phone and broadband companies are leading this change. The Government and Ofcom (the communications regulator) are supporting it.

 

For lots of people, the change will be as simple as plugging their phone into their broadband router and in most cases residents and businesses will be able to keep their current phone numbers.

 

However, if a phone handset is very old, it might need to be changed. Phone providers will be able to advise their customers on this. Also, things that currently use the landline network - like telecare, personal alarms, burglar alarms and fax machines - will be affected by the change. If a device is relatively modern, it should still work fine - but older devices may need to be reconfigured or replaced, again providers should be able to advise their customers on this.

 

As the new system runs off the internet, residents and business will not be able to make calls without an internet connection at their home or place of work.

 

BT, which provides most landlines, have committed to not raising prices above inflation for ‘voice only’ customers – those who do not have home broadband. This commitment is for at least the next 5 years and will mean that whatever technology a customer’s landline uses, the old system or the new, their bill should not rise significantly.

 

As the new system will work off the premises' electricity supply, if there is a power cut it will mean that residents and businesses cannot make phone calls. In these instances, phone companies are advising that residents and businesses should use a mobile phone as a backup. If residents or businesses do not have a mobile or are located in an area where there is no or poor signal, or depend on their landline, for example because they are disabled, their phone provider should offer them a solution like a battery-operated handset. This will mean that residents and businesses can make emergency calls during a power cut."

 

Was the leader aware of this change to a vital part of the infrastructure in West Lindsey? Is he able to confirm what, if any, proportion of the district has already been switched over to the new system? If this change has not yet commenced, is he able to confirm when it may begin? This change is likely to have several direct effects on West Lindsey’s operations, what assessment has been made of this and do we know what, if any, direct costs will be attributable to this change?

 

Thank you.

Councillor John McNeill”

 

The Leader of the Council responded as follows : -

 

“Thank you for your question and yes this matter is on the horizon of Officers.

 

The digital switchover from analogue telephone services to Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) Technology will happen on a telephone exchange by exchange basis, not on a regional basis (which was the case during the switch from analogue to digital television).

 

The first stage of the switchover process is for Openreach to issue ‘Stop Sell’ dates for specific telephone exchanges. Once a ‘Stop Sell’ date has passed, communication providers will be unable to order any copper based products if a fibre solution is available at the customer’s address.

 

Openreach have identified 581 priority telephone exchanges that will be the first to receive ‘Stop Sell’ notices.

 

There are 23 telephone exchanges serving West Lindsey. All of these exchanges are fibre enabled (including fibre to the cabinet and fibre on demand), however, none of the exchanges servicing West Lindsey have been identified as a priority by Ofcom. Instead, these exchanges form part of Ofcom’s nationwide ‘Stop Sell’ date of September 2023, which includes withdrawal of wholesale line rental for analogue services.

 

Both DCMS and Ofcom are working together with the industry to ensure all users are protected during the upgrade process. This includes ensuring power resilience in the case of a loss of power so that no user is disadvantaged / disconnected due to a loss of power. Additionally, all communications providers have a duty to ensure that vulnerable customers are identified and provided with a back-up line that allows 999 voice calls as a minimum. “At risk” customers will also be provided with a battery back-up solution.

 

Specifically, Openreach and Virgin Media are making provision for rural areas during the switchover. Openreach are making Fibre to the Premises (FTTP) available to over 6.2 million premises in rural areas. Where this doesn’t happen, single order ethernet, or Fibre to the Cabinet will be available which will ensure resilience in case of poor mobile signal or loss of power supply.

 

The Local Government Association has established a Local Government Switchover Working Group, which includes three Council representatives for each region in England to share issues, opportunities and good practice relating to the digital switchover. End communication providers will contact their customers in advance to notify them of the switchover details and what this means for each individual customer. Openreach and Virgin Media have stated that costs to Councils will be “very low” depending on the contract that each Council has with their own Communications Provider and also for other suppliers of Council services such as switchboards, lift alarms or fire alarms for example.

 

No direct assessments have been made to date -  as advised initial indication  from wider providers is that costs to Councils will be “very low”  as of yet we have not received information from our providers. The Council does have contingency funds for such matters and should costs be considerable, relevant reports will need to be taken to the Corporate Policy and Resources Committee.”

 

No supplementary question was posed and the second questioner, was invited to put his question. In the absence of Councillor Snee, the question was posed by Councillor Matt Boles, on his behalf, as follows: -

 

“Chairman - Why are we still waiting for the “Opening” of the Riverside Walkway (June 13th 2022), when we the Council have clearly indicated to the members of the public that this project would see a completion date of September 21.

 

The Communications team have made further announcements, December 21 and March 22 indicating that opening was imminent.

 

After numerous contacts with the CEO and Officers, chasing up and constantly raising concerns over the lack of contract management, could the Chairman please advise what the current status is with regards to this project and provide an opening date.

 

Can the procurement team please reassure members that when we award contracts to companies, due diligence is followed and that mechanisms are in place to ensure everyone is accountable and transparent in their actions.

 

I look forward to your response.

 

Councillor Matt Boles on behalf of Councillor Jim Snee.”

 

The Chairman of the Council thanked Councillor Snee, in his absence, for his question and responded as follows: -

 

“Thank you for your question on this important matter.

 

I am delighted to inform the Chamber that the Council took handover from the contractors last Wednesday – 29^th June and the new stretch of walk was opened to the public from 30^th June. Whilst regrettably the project experienced delays, which during the early stages was as a result of lead times on materials, the challenging nature of the site lead to difficulties for the contractor in laying tarmac to the standards required. The first site inspection happened in July 2021 and subsequent remediation proposals and works took longer than anticipated.

 

The Council’s procurement process, contracting and contract management procedures allowed the council to work with the contracting company to resolve the issues and bring the project to a successful completion.

 

As with all projects a stage 4 project completion review will now be undertaken and lessons learnt will feed in to future projects.

 

I have been very pleased to hear about our local community being able to enjoy the new walk this weekend and I look forward to visiting soon as we plan for our public opening, which of course our local Ward Members will be invited to”

 

The third and final questioner, Councillor Lesley Rollings, Scotter and Blyton Ward, was invited to put her question, to the Leader, as follows: -

 

“The decision by Lincoln College to cease providing Post 16 education at Gainsborough College has come as a shock and disappointment to many of us who have worked in Education in Gainsborough over the last 30 years. 

 

For the elected Members from the Gainsborough wards, who see first-hand, the impact education has on the life chances of its residents, such a decision appears to demonstrate a complete disregard for the people of Gainsborough – in particular, its young people.

 

Made in Gainsborough

 

West Lindsey District Council has done a brilliant job leading on the Made in Gainsborough project – giving local young people the opportunity to take up apprenticeships with Gainsborough manufacturing and engineering companies. Instead of building on this project, establishing a manufacturing base in Gainsborough, it appears that Lincoln College have decided that it is more cost effective to simply expect the learners to travel into Lincoln and forget Gainsborough.

 

Alternative provision on the Gainsborough College site

 

The proposal to make money on the site by renting the facility out to an alternative provision company, is, quite honestly, the very last thing Gainsborough needs. Bussing in large numbers of young people with the most challenging behaviour and attempting to keep these young people on site, can only create additional social challenges in the town. 

 

The Levelling up agenda

 

Post 16 Education and Skills sit at the heart of attempts to create greater equality in our communities, yet the decline in local provision, in public transport links and failure to provide free transport for all 16-19 learners, means that only the most privileged and aspirational access education. Too many young people fall by the wayside.

 

Without effective Post 16 education provision, the Levelling Up agenda is really just an expensive gimmick.

 

Post 16 GCSE courses, Automotive engineering, Construction, Hair and Beauty, Hospitality, Performing Arts, Sport, Health and Social Care.

 

All these courses could take place in Gainsborough, indeed Lincoln College has run some of these courses at Gainsborough, in the past, and dangled the possibility of starting others only to pull out just before the courses were due to start, leaving learners in an uncertain position.

 

The narrow constraints of how the funding can be used, leaves it highly unlikely that the huge gaps in post 16 education and Adult education will not be met by Levelling Up funding.

 

What can be done about this?

 

Other towns in Lincolnshire are linking with Lincoln University.  Is this not a possibility in Gainsborough?  Why have Lincoln College been allowed to build up its provision in Lincoln at the expense of running down its provision in Gainsborough?

 

We have a grammar school in Gainsborough. Are we not exploring the possibility of them taking over the running of vocational courses on the Gainsborough College site?

 

Whilst I very much appreciate the support that West Lindsey District Council has always given to education in Gainsborough. Can the Leader outline to the Chamber what involvement he has had to date? What actions, the District Council have taken to date and plan to take in the coming weeks?  Leader is it not time we invited the Chief Executive of Lincolnshire County Council to account for the lack of provision in Gainsborough, I would welcome your view?

 

Thank you

Councillor Lesley Rolling”

 

The Leader of the Council responded as follows: -

 

“Thank you for your question Councillor Rollings.

 

Can I start by being clear that this Council is extremely concerned and disappointed with the emerging plans of Lincoln College Group to relocate post 16 provision away from Gainsborough.

 

Over the past five years, the Council has committed significant Officer time and financial assistance to support the College. This includes the Made In Gainsborough programme, which was designed to address employer recruitment challenges and retain talent within the local area.

 

Both the Manufacturing and Construction sector provide more than 20% of total employment within the district. To lose this provision at such a crucial time for the economy is extremely concerning. It is also frustrating for all those companies in the town who have invested significant time and resource into the provision.

 

The district needs a supply of good quality, higher level, further education provision and that is why skills and employment are included in the Council Corporate Plan. It sets out the strategic aims for the district, which includes the ‘creation of a highly educated and skilled workforce, that meets the present and future needs of the local and wider economy.

 

As part of the Levelling Up Agenda our emerging UK Shared Prosperity Fund highlights the challenges we face across the education and skills sector and I quite agree with you we face a challenge in relation to making best use of available resources.

 

We recognise that education and skills, whilst not being the main stay of our work as a District Council, it is actually everyone’s business. We are one of only a handful of districts across Lincolnshire to have a successful Employment and Skills Partnership, and I thank all members of the partnership for their continued support and work on this agenda.

 

Since the College made the Council aware of these plans, we have sought to find alternative options to continue the delivery of current provision in the town. This has included working with property agents across the town to find vacant premises that may be suitable. To date this has proven unsuccessful. We have invited the College to brief all Members early next week and today I have been advised that a Member workshop will now be organised for 11 July at 4:45 via MS Teams – invites have been issued to all.

 

In the meantime, I have tasked Officers with establishing a Further Education Taskforce – to bring together all key partners, including the College, County Council and the University to consider a way forward.

 

I shall obviously be ensuring that Members are well represented on the Taskforce and I look forward to working with you on this important issue.”

 

On hearing the response and with the permission of the Chairman, Councillor Rollings made further statements indicating the Leader’s response offered some reassurance but again outlining how vital it was that the town retained provisions, recalling the thriving offer of previous years and to see that disappear was of great shame.  Furthermore given the huge skills shortages in certain parts of the economy, the example being construction, to undertake such apprenticeships candidates needed a GCSE in maths and there were many people that didn’t attain that at school, for a variety of reasons. As a fundamental basic such courses needed to be on offer within the Town and it was therefore vital Lincoln College and others partners continued to be engaged about this matter. There were concerns the site had been systematically run down over a long period, the town needed to have the infrastructure and services to offer opportunities if it was to grow and be a place people succeeded. Members and Officers had invested time and energy in to Gainsborough being a success and good educational offer was vital to that.

 

The opportunity to speak with Lincoln College, outlined by the Leader was most welcomed but Councillor Rollings considered engaging the County Council at the earliest opportunity was also vital given they were lead authority for education.  Further assurance was sought from the Leader that he would endeavour to ensure the “the right people were around the table”.

 

In responding to Councillor Rollings supplementary statement, the Leader again acknowledged the importance of post education courses.  He spoke of the need to work in partnership with organisations that had influence in this area to ensure aspirations were raised, met and fulfilled throughout the District, recognising it was in all of our wider interest, especially for the medium to longer term. 

 

In closing he encouraged all Members that were able, to join the session which had been organised for the following Monday.