i) Chairman of Council
ii) Leader of the Council
iii) Head of Paid Service
Minutes:
i) Chairman
The Chairman addressed Council advising it had been a fairly quiet period since Council last met. The “Beast from the East” had seen a number of events cancelled across the District and surrounding area. The Chairman thanked Officers and communities for their efforts in keeping services running during this period.
However the Chairman had had the pleasure of attending a Burns Supper, a coffee morning at St. Barnabas, and a lovely function at Normanby Hall.
In the coming weeks, the Chairman would be hosting a number of events of her own, including a Flag Raising Event for Commonwealth Day on 12 March, to which she invited all Members to attend and show their support, as well as hosting Afternoon Teas for those couples across the District who had reached their milestone Diamond Wedding Anniversary.
ii) Leader of Council
The Leader addressed Council and advised that he, along with two of the Council’s Executive Directors, had on 31 January 2018, met with Officers from Amber Valley Council, in Derbyshire, in order to share experiences as they too operated a Management Model without a Chief Executive. The meeting had proven useful.
The Leader further advised that he had recently attended negotiation skills training, and looked forward to putting these in to practice.
The Annual DCN Conference had been held on 8 February and the Leader had been in attendance. The Conference had a number of highly renowned speakers, including The Rt. Honourable Steven Durrell, Lord Porter and Duncan Selby, Chief Executive of Public Health England. The Leader indicated this had been one of the most interesting and informative DCN Conferences he had attended.
Meetings had also been held with Officers of North Lincolnshire Council, reference extending the boundary of the Wolds AONB, into their area. The process to re-designate such boundaries was a lengthy one, however, this matter continued to move forward.
At the conclusion of the Leader’s Announcements, the Ward Member for Fiskerton, thanked the Leader for having attended at meetings of the Parish Council in reference to the Neighbourhood Plan.
iii) Head of Paid Service
The Head of Paid Service addressed Council, on behalf on the Management Team, starting with reference to the severe weather recently experienced by the District. Thanks were expressed to all staff who kept the organisation going when some of our neighbouring Councils had to close their offices early. Waste collections had been suspended at the end of the previous week, however, the Head of Paid Service advised that double collections would be commencing this week to ensure the collection backlog was cleared by Friday. It had been a testing time but, as an organisation, we had performed well.
Other general matters which were brought to Members’ attention were as follows: -
· Commercial Training and a Corporate Plan Workshop had been held, thanks were expressed to those Members who had attended and contributed. There would be further opportunities to contribute to the development of the Corporate Plan over the summer.
· Emergency Planning – A number of Members and Officers had attended a full day event on 8 February. Arrangements were currently being made, with colleagues at the County Council, to provide Emergency Planning Training for all Members. Furthermore, a full structured de-brief had been arranged to assess Authorities’ responses to the severe weather recently experienced and this would be used to inform future responses.
· Fairer Funding: - Consultation on this matter had been underway since December, and the Executive Director of Resources had attended a number of events in connection with this matter. Work would continue through the Lincolnshire Finance Officers and Chief Executive meetings to ensure the impact of any responses made was maximised. It was noted that a Member Workshop on this subject had been arranged for 8 March at 5pm and Members were encouraged to attend wherever possible.
· Funding Award – The Council had been awarded £2.1m in Government funding to assist in the development of the Southern Neighbourhood. This would enable Phase 1, comprising 440 houses to commence.
· Joint Venture Company – The Council’s Joint Venture Company, Market Street Renewal Limited, had completed its first shop and shop front in Market Street. Members were encouraged to take a look.
At the conclusion of the announcements, A Member made reference to the sterling efforts and community spirit displayed throughout the severe weather, and suggested that consideration should be given to recognising such communities and individuals in the up and coming Annual Awards.