i) Chairman of Council
ii) Leader of the Council
iii) Head of Paid Service
Minutes:
i) Chairman of the Council
The Chairman informed the meeting that he and the Vice Chairman, Councillor Jessie Milne, had attended a number of events, a few worthy of particular note were: -
· The two day fund raising event held on 5/6 November and hosted by Planet Xtra in Gainsborough in aid of St Barnabas, which had seen the organiser surpass their target of £500 at the end of day one;
· The Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue Long Service Awards held on Thursday 10 November;
· The service held at Lincoln Cathedral on Wednesday 9 December for the victims of asbestos, at the which the Service had been particularly beautiful; and
· The Remembrance Day Service held at Scampton which had involved children from local schools who had handmade hundreds of poppies which decorated the war graves, the entrance to the church and which were presented to each Guest.
ii) Leader of the Council
The Leader announced that he had recently attended a health and well-being open meeting. This was part of a strategy to create the strategic transformational plan for health and well-being in Lincolnshire. The meeting had been of a workshop nature at which a number of groups had discussed a range of ideas about how health provision could be delivered in a more joined up way, through the one public estate for example, creating multi-functional service centres, along the lines of a one stop shop. Such matters as systems, models, leadership, and accountability had been discussed together with a commitment to work with partners and deliver. Even the planning system had been discussed, with it being recognised that it was important to even consider such things as ensuring the right type and mix of housing was being built, to support independent living for the elderly. Work in this area would continue.
The Leader further announced that as a result of a question to a previous meeting of Full Council from Councillor Welburn, reference pavement parking, he had written to the Minister for the Department of Transport
The response received was shared with Members and stated: -
The Government recognises the importance of making the local environment convenient, safe and attractive to walk in, and of keeping pavements in good order. However, in some streets pavement parking may in practice be inevitable to maintain free passage of traffic. So it is important that local authorities are able to decide on local parking restrictions themselves and they do of course need to consider all road users when taking such decisions.
Local Authorities already have the power to introduce pavement parking restrictions where they consider it appropriate and the Department for Transport has taken steps to assist them in this. We have issued guidance to local authorities about using Traffic Regulations Orders (TROs) to ban pavement parking where appropriate. We have also removed the requirement for an individual sign authorisation for local authorities in England (outside London) in such cases, making it simpler and easier for them to ban pavement parking where they consider it appropriate.
Meanwhile, since Simon Hoare, MP, withdrew his private Members bill in 2015, which sought to ban pavement parking nationally, the DfT has convened a roundtable meeting in March 2016. The aim was to discuss a possible pavement parking ban in the rest of England (outside London).
We are now at the stage of considering how to address the general improvement of the TRO making process and will provide further information once this is available.
iii) Head of Paid Service
There had been a number of developments in the health arena, and the Chief Executive advised that the STPs (Sustainable Transfer Plans) were now gaining traction and would shortly be released for consultation. The Challenge and Improvement Committee had been requested to establish a Commission into Health Services. Whilst the Council did not have any statutory requirement to deliver health services, it had a role to play as an advocate for the community and to understand, shape and influence the future provision of health care across the District.
Furthermore the Council had recently recruited a new Health Co-ordinator.
The Chief Executive and Deputy Leader had visited the House of Lords for meeting with the University Vice-Chancellor (who held a seat in the House of Lords) who had a shared vision for the establishment of a Medical school in Lincolnshire. This had now moved to the next stage and further work would happen, Council was expected to be asked for letters of support for the University. This matter would also form part of the local MP briefings.
The Chief Executive advised that she had been invited by the LGA to join a group of fellow Chief Executives regarding the Brexit negotiations. Local Government was at the negotiating table with Government regarding Brexit implications. There was value in being able to understand the key areas and implications the referendum result would have and how these could be influenced. The Chief Executive gave her assurance that she would ensure the rural focus was not lost as could be the case if lobbying became city and urban focused. The Group had started reviewing legislation, such as procurement, trading standards, and waste legislation, in order to understand the opportunities and manage any risks.
In conclusion the Chief Executive advised that earlier that day, the Authority had held a “Market Day” in connection with the Leisure contract and this had been well attended. This had afforded the Authority the opportunity to share with interested providers its vision and ambition.
Regarding the one public estate previously mentioned by the Leader, the Chief Executive was lead for this area on behalf of the Greater Lincolnshire Devolution Partnership and the two bids made had been shortlisted and submitted to the Cabinet Office.