i) Chairman of Council
ii) Leader of the Council
iii) Head of Paid Service
Minutes:
Chairman
The Chairman addressed the Council, referencing briefly some of the events which he had been involved and attended since Council last met, in what had been a busy period.
The Chairman had had the pleasure of attending Word Fest in Market Rasen, whilst the weather had been terrible, the event was successfully moved indoors and the Trinty Arts on Tour production of Peter Pan proved very popular and great value for money.
It had been an honour to be part of the Gainsborough in Bloom judging, seeing the tremendous efforts of those striving to improve their communities. Similarly, the Chairman had been honoured to attend the Skills Fayre in the Market Place and the same day a 24hour music event at the X-Church, noting he had not attended for the full 24 hours.
Many a garden party had been enjoyed at both Middle Rasen and Market Rasen, raising money for charities, and the food festival held in Market Rasen only the last weekend had been a much-enjoyed event. The support offered by the District Council was welcomed and the Chairman indicated he would like to see similar events extended across the District.
An afternoon at the STEP Fusion project had been most interesting, with this being the first project of its kind, and was most impressive.
The end of July had seen the return of the DN21 Business Awards in conjunction with Marshalls Yard, at which the Chairman had had the pleasure of attending, speaking to entrants who had welcomed the event, supported by the District Council.
Finally, and of a more sombre tone, the Chairman referenced two critical policing incidents seen in the District in recent weeks. Whilst it was not appropriate to discuss those in detail, the Chairman did wish to recognise the tremendous work of the Police, a force which was known to be short of resources. He indicated that he would be requesting the Civic Office to write a letter of thanks to both the Chief Constable and the Police and Crime Commissioner for the way they had served the District during those incidents.
Leader
The Leader made the following address to Council: -
Firstly, in respect of RAF Scampton, Members will recall, I wrote to the newly appointed Labour Government the day after the general election. It is extremely disappointing that eight weeks later, despite all their election promises, there is still not a decision regarding the future of the site, clearly, this is not good enough, leaving many of the small communities around Scampton, with the continued uncertainty about the future use of the site. We will continue trying to have dialogue with the Government over the next few days and hopefully get announcement soon.
Secondly, Chairman and Members will be aware that we have had two critical police incidents in the District in the past week, which is a very unusual event, I will not go into the details of the incident, but, like you Chairman I pay tribute to the bravery of the police officers involved. They do a thankless job in terms of protecting the community, and I support your thoughts in terms of writing to Inspector Head.
Finally, the Deputy Leader and I had the pleasure of visiting several parts of the District over the summer period, and I must highlight how wonderful Caistor’s floral displays are, truly magnificent. It's a credit to the strength of the community and clearly one of the most attractive towns in the county. I would encourage all Members to go across and just see what actually can be achieved in a small town. I would really like to see more of this. Credit to the team who has been involved and well done to everyone.
Chief Executive
The Chief Executive addressed Council and was pleased to advise Members that the Authority had been successful in its bid to the Local Authority Housing Fund, round three. The Council had been successful in drawing down £1.4 million to develop 11 properties across the district, seven for temporary accommodation and four for resettlement.
The Chief Executive further advised that Council would be holding an event called the Golden Awards. This would be a staff awards ceremony to mark the 50th anniversary of West Lindsey District Council. The event was being held on 16 October at the Trinity Arts Centre.
Members were updated on both Central Government consultations in which the Authority had recently engaged and of current consultations the Council was hosting.
Central Government were currently consulting on changes to the National Planning Policy Framework, a Members’ briefing and discussion was planned for Wednesday 18 September with Members encourage to attend.
The Council was currently consulting residents on its green garden waste scheme, the Chief Executive was pleased to advise that the Council had piloted its new approach to engagement and consultation. The new Strategy for which would be submitted to Committee in October. Over 7,000 responses had been received, and 26,000 e-mails sent, with a current return rate of 26%, which was considered excellent for surveys of this nature. Of further note over 1,100 responses had been made by way of paper return. Officers would be analysing the responses and findings would be reported to Committee in October.
A Member briefing was to be held on 9 September, to allow Members to consider the budget consultation document for the year. This would provide Members an opportunity to help develop how the Council approached residents and businesses about the budget for future years.
In addition, and with agreement of the Leader and Leader of the Opposition, on 23 September, the Chief Executive would be providing an all members briefing on the extensive forward plan for the administrative year. This briefing had been well received at Leaders Panel and extending it to all Members was considered useful. Member Briefings would be held on-line to, reducing travel requirements and enabling Members to engage more easily. Again, Members were encouraged to attend.
The Chief Executive highlighted a new mentoring scheme for Officers which had been launched, whereby officers could request a mentor from within the organisation to help with personal development and support.
Finally, Members were advised that the Authority was currently in the process of setting its progress and delivery performance measures for 2025/26. This again would involve members and would be led by the Change Management Team. An approved set of measures provided the Council with information to learn and improve the services offered. Information regarding the forming of a review Group had been included in the most recent Members Bulletin those interested were requested to contact the Change Management Team Manager.
This brought announcements to a conclusion.