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 busy, but enjoyable period, again snow had seen some events being cancelled or postponed.
Over recent weeks she had had the pleasure of attending a number of Events, Civic Services and exhibitions making note of the following: -
· Market Rasen Town Council’s Civic Service held on 25 March.
· It had been an enormous privilege to attend a celebration of Mr and Mrs Foster’s 70th Wedding Anniversary.
· The Bastion of the Air exhibition at RAF Scampton which recognised 100 years of the RAF and included displays of British and German planes, uniforms, equipment and other items from across the era, and was well worth a visit.
The Chairman had also hosted a number of events herself including a Flag Raising Event for Commonwealth Day, at the Guildhall, for which she expressed thanks to those Councillors who had attended.
The Chairman had also had the pleasure of hosting an afternoon tea for 8 special couples, from across the District, who were celebrating their 60th Wedding Anniversaries. This had been a most pleasurable afternoon.
The Chairman concluded her announcements by making reference to the upcoming Annual Community Awards Evening, which she would be hosting on 23 April and which was expected to be a thoroughly enjoyable evening.
ii) Leader of Council
The Leader addressed Council and advised that on 22 March he had attended the Lincolnshire Pension Fund Committee. The new Coast to Coast group was now established with the new appointments completed to take the twelve member authorities combined fund of £45bn into a new era of investment.
The Lincolnshire fund had grown by £85.3m to £2,246m over the last quarter to 31st Dec. 2017. The Coast to Coast fund now valued at £45 billion was estimated to cost each member authority £420,000 in the first year.
This new arrangement was expected to yield a £2m saving ongoing annually, equating to a saving of £166,000 per annum per member authority on average.
At the Meeting the Committee had heard guidance from Committee Advisor, Peter Jones with regard to expectations in respect of interest rate rises, contributing factors, Bank of England predictions, and status of markets
The funding of the Lincolnshire pension fund was considered to be progressing well, with approximately 84% of commitments now funded.
The Leader had also held a meeting with Stagecoach to discuss present usage and future strategy to include the growth areas for the town and district.
A lead economic development meeting had been held at Hemswell Cliff including a tour of the Anaerobic Digestive plant. The Leader had been very impressed with the Plant, especially to see the inclusion of a gas terminal, established as part of the plant, and which would eventually be supplying gas into the national grid.
Finally, last Friday, the Leader had attended a meeting of the Lincolnshire Leaders and Chief Executives, accompanied by the Executive Director, Eve Fawcett Moralee. This group regularly met to discuss a range of issues which affect all Councils of the County. A summary of issues discussed and outcomes reached was outlined by the Leader and had included: -
· Details of a Housing and Infrastructure bid, which if successful would result in the Authority receiving 25 days of free consultancy.
· The Fairer funding debate
· Lincolnshire Police’s funding deficit by 2019/20
· A new Devolution framework which would be unveiled this Summer.
· Agreement had been reached across the districts to prioritise young people leaving care by waivering their council tax to allow them time to become employed and established in society. It would apply to approximately 300 people across Lincolnshire and would have a minimal impact upon the Medium Term Financial Plan.
iii) Head of Paid Service
The Head of Paid Service addressed Council on behalf of the Management Team during which the following points were made: -
· Thanks were expressed to all those Members who had attended the Fairer Funding workshop on 12 March. The workshop had been well attended and following on from that a consultation submission had been made. This would be circulated to all Members via the next Bulletin/Newsletter.
· The Well-Being Service which was now being operated jointly by East Lindsey DC, City of Lincoln Council, North Kesteven DC and West Lindsey DC was now live.
· Training had taken place for both Officers and Members on the new AONB (Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty) Management Plan and the importance of the AONB in West Lindsey.
· Finally reference was made to the recently published Gender Pay Gap. West Lindsey had featured in the news recently as it had a pay gap that favoured women, unlike the majority of organisations nationally. On average women were paid 22% more across the organisation, this in the main was due to the proportion of women in management roles.