i) Chairman of Council
ii) Leader of the Council
iii) Head of Paid Service
Minutes:
i) Chairman of the Council
The Chairman addressed Council advising it had been a very busy period. Over recent weeks she had had the pleasure of attending a number of Events and Civic Services, including her own for which she thanked those Councillors who had attended. Reference was also made to the following: -
· Attendance at the Scampton Airshow, which had proven to be a great success
· The Annual Remembrance Service at Hemswell Cliff, which was very well supported
· Lincolnshire County Council’s Civic Service
· An opportunity to view the promotional film for the Wolds at the Kinema in the Woods in Woodhall Spa
· Gainsborough Town Council’s Civic Service
· The Annual Aero Club Presentations at Hemswell
· The dedication of a cross to commemorate the Beechey Brothers, at Freisthorpe. These were eight brothers, five of whom had died in WW1, this had been particularly moving.
· The Annual Armistice Commemoration in Gainsborough Market Place, thanks were again offered to those Councillors who had supported the event.
· The Remembrance Service and Parade in Caistor. Organisations from Beavers and Brownies through to the Royal British Legion were present in force
It was also with sadness that the Chairman advised that she had represented the Authority at two funerals, those of former District Councillors Stuart Curtis and Roy Schofield.
ii) Leader of Council
The Leader addressed Council and advised that he too had had the pleasure of attending Scampton AirShow, an event which the Council had sponsored. He shared his personal view of how he felt the event had gone but indicated the sponsorship would now be reviewed in terms of benefits realised.
The Leader also advised he had undertaken two days training regarding the Local Government Pension Scheme and the pooling of funds across 12 counties/districts in a bid to create efficiencies and access new investment markets.
The Leader had also attended the Remembrance Service at Hemswell making reference to the act of children laying a single flower. He had been proud to be part of the community and this had been a touching and heart-warming experience.
The Leader had also participated in the re-signing of the Armed Forces Covenant by invitation of RAF College Cranwell. The Lincolnshire Armed Forces Covenant was a voluntary statement of mutual support between local civilian communities and local armed forces communities. The Leader outlined the contents of the Covenant and its intentions. During his discussion with Officers at RAF Cranwell the Leader advised he had learnt of plans in the future to bring more facilities to the site at Cranwell.
The Leader made reference to his attendance at the Chairman’s Civic Service which he considered had been very successful.
He had also attended the launch of a Joint Venture Company in Bassetlaw, aimed at building council housing on council and privately owned land.
The Leader had also attended a meeting of the Lincolnshire Leaders at which the CNN Member and 4 MP’s had been present in order to progress the fairer funding process.
Finally the Leader had attended a meeting with the three Principals of Lincoln University to better understand its future direction and how the Council may assist in it achieving its ambitions. Opportunities were also explored regarding how the University may be able to assist in providing students of Gainsborough with an improved educational experience. Constructive meetings had also been held with Lincoln College in relation to offering opportunities in construction and engineering at the Gainsborough College.
iii) Head of Paid Service
The Head of Paid Service addressed Council advising that things had moved at a pace since the last meeting. At Councils last meeting he had announced the new Team Manager structure, this had been circulated to all Members including contact details.
New enforcement team structure had been agreed and recruitment was underway.
As referenced by the Leader earlier, the Council had been working with two education providers over the period, the Gainsborough College and Lincoln University particularly in respect of employability exploring opportunities as to how the organisations could work together to ensure young people were better “work ready”.
Work had commenced on the building of the new hotel. Whilst less visible, work had also commenced on refurbishing the shops on Market Street and North Street.
Exciting discussions had taken place with Network Rail regarding re-establishing a five day service between Gainsborough Central and Sheffield. Negotiations were ongoing.
The Council’s vision for a Food Enterprise Zone and moved forward as a technical solution for power supply to the site had been realised.
Consultation on the crematorium project had finished and a full planning application had been submitted.
Finally, thanks were expressed to the Director of Resources, as a result of ongoing negotiations the Authority was now back in the full BDUK roll out programme.
Note: Councillor David Cotton declared a non-pecuniary interest in respect of the reference to the crematorium, which if built, would be sited within one of his ecclesiastical parishes.