i) Chairman of Council
ii) Leader of the Council
iii) Head of Paid Service
Minutes:
Chairman
The Chairman addressed Council and informed members of a slight change to voting procedure, indicating he would only be inviting members for a vote “in favour” or “against”. He would not be asking for abstentions unless a recorded vote was requested. Any member who did not identify their wishes would be assumed to have abstained.
Referring to recent engagements, on 29th May the Chairman and his wife attended a garden party at Buckingham Palace. As most Members were aware, the Chairman’s Lady, whilst there had met with an unfortunate accident and was treated, first by medical staff on duty at the Palace, before being taken to hospital. The Chairman was pleased to advise his wife was recovering.
On 8th June the Chairman had had the privilege of being present at the unveiling of a Victoria Cross Memorial Stone to honour Private Samuel Needham in Great Limber. It was a well-attended and moving service.
On 14th June the Chairman had attended the ABF Soldiers Charity reception at Hemswell Court, where there had been an entertaining after dinner speech!
It had been an honour to be present on both days of the Lincolnshire Show, and the Chairman had had the pleasure of meeting many interesting and diverse people.
On 24th June the Chairman had he opportunity to raise the flag here at the Guildhall to honour our armed forces, he thanked all those who had attended.
Later that day the Chairman had presented at the awards ceremony at Riseholme College. It had been uplifting to see so many young men and women receive their diplomas, before they embarked on careers mostly connected to agriculture. It had also been gratifying to have senior members of staff pay some very complimentary remarks about this council.
The Chairman spent Friday 28th in Cherry Willingham viewing an art exhibition by mostly children at Willow Court care home. There was some excellent young talent out there.
And finally, Saturday 29th June had seen the Chairman attend at an Armed Forces Celebration at the kind invitation of Gainsborough Town Council. He thanked those members of the Town Council also present at the evening’s meeting, for hosting the event.
ii) Leader of Council
The Leader addressed Council and updated the Chamber in respect of the following matters since taking up office: -
· Leader’s Panel
A meeting of the Leaders’ Panel had been held shortly after the Annual Council meeting on Friday, 24th May. The Leader had taken the decision to split the Group membership in to two meetings; Core Leaders Panel and Full Leaders Panel.
The Core Leader’s Panel would tighten the group back up to a more manageable size comprising up to nine members (down from 20 previously), focusing on the Chairmen of the Council’s principle committees and, the Chairman of Council.
In consultation with the Chairmen of the policy committees, The Leader had eliminated the Policy Chairs’ Briefing meetings; which served no useful purpose, took up considerable officer time, and duplicated work being undertaken elsewhere. The work would be moved into the Core Leader’s Panel remit where necessary.
The Full Leader’s Panel would remain central to the political leadership of the Council and would, in future, comprise all the Council’s Chairmen and Vice-Chairmen, plus the administration’s leadership. The Leader was of the belief that this was a positive step forward in that it would include opposition councillors
· Lincolnshire Show
The Leader, like the Chairman, had had the pleasure to attend the Lincolnshire Show. He recorded his thanks to the working group that pulled out the stand together and to officers at the council who worked so hard, this year often in challenging circumstances, to deliver the working group’s vision for the stand.
It had also been a pleasure to attend the President’s Lunch which had provided a good opportunity to network with a number of key stakeholders and partners.
· Local Audit Quality Forum
On Monday, 10th June the Leader had attended the Local Quality Audit Forum in London with the Chairman of the Governance and Audit Committee. He had addressed the forum about his” top tips” for being a new chairman of an audit committee.
The presentation had been positively received, with the Leader receiving personal thanks and direct requests for advice as a result, which was always pleasing.
· Mark Sturgess (Executive Director of Operations)
Members had been made aware that Mr Sturgess had supplied to the Leader his notice of retirement. Whilst it was little time yet before Mr. Sturgess would formally leave the Authority the Leader considered it opportune and appropriate to record his and the Council thanks for his service. The Chief Officer Employment Committee had agreed to follow a steady and deliberate course over the next nine months before finalising the Council’s future chief officer structure. The Leader considered this to be the right approach and looked forward to the conclusion of the Peer Review later in the year.
· Feasibility Fund
The Leader was pleased to report that the Authority was now offering a district-wide fund, which supported the administration’s policy to deliver prosperity and jobs. The new Feasibility Fund allowed business to receive a grant of up to £5,000, subject to 50% match funding, to assist in undertaking pre-development and feasibility work. This would help people understand a project’s viability and deliver investor-ready plans and the associated financials to assist in improving operations, commercialising a product or service. The Leader hoped this would serve as a precursor to potential major business investment and growth across the whole of West Lindsey.
· Central Depot Facility
The Leader expressed his pleasure that at the Corporate Policy & Resources Committee on Thursday, 13th June, the proposals to replace the Council’s existing depot facilities received unanimous, cross-party support.
Whilst the investment was still in the early stages, and some elements remained commercially sensitive, The Leader was hopeful that the new facility would be built by the Summer of 2021.
· Media and TV Interviews
The Leader also advised of a number of media and TV interviews, which he had undertaken, including a piece for the BBC Sunday Politics East Yorkshire & Lincolnshire, an appearance on Sky News and BBC Look North.
· Greater Lincolnshire Leaders’ and Chief Executives’ Meeting
On Friday, 28th June the Leader had attended the Leaders’ and Chief Executives’ Meeting at Lincoln City Hall with Mrs. Fawcett-Moralee. The ten authorities, police and crime commissioner and LEP were continuing to consider the issue of a Growth Deal for Great Lincolnshire following the end of the previous devolution proposals.
The strategic needs of waste services were also considered at the meeting.
· Central Lincolnshire Joint Strategic Planning Committee AGM
The Leader had attended the Annual General Meeting of the Central Lincolnshire committee, here in the Guildhall, on Monday 17th June. The Leader of Lincoln City Council, Cllr. Metcalfe, was now the Chairman, succeeding our own Cllr. Summers who held the post in the previous year. The committee were grateful for his service. The Leader was looking forward to his involvement in the review.
· First Consultation in relation to Local Plan Review
As Members would be aware consultation in relation to the review of the Central Lincolnshire Local Plan Issues and Options paper commenced on Thursday, 6th June and ran until Thursday, 18th July 2019.
The consultation contained a number of proposals for how the plan might change, details of suggested new policies as well as detailing those policies currently identified as requiring no change.
Views were being sought from residents, stakeholders and Councillors on these proposals.
Prosperous Communities Committee would be preparing and agreeing a formal consultation response on behalf of West Lindsey District Council, however, as always, colleagues were encouraged to submit their own responses to the consultation.
An email providing further details in relation to the consultation had been circulated to all Councillors via e-mail on Thursday, 6th June 2019 from Rachael Hughes (Planning Policy Manager). The Email contained all the relevant links to the consultation material including contact details for the Central Lincolnshire Local Plans Team for questions and clarifications.
· DCN Members Board
On Wednesday, 5th June the Leader attended the District Council Network’s Board Meeting at the LGA’s offices in London as a substitute (owing to a number of vacancies arising following the local elections). The most significant item discussed was the approach to the fairer funding formula and the business rates retention scheme. The Leader would also be acting as a substitute at the next meeting in Bournemouth next week at the LGA Conference.
· APSE National Council
On Thursday, 14th and Friday 15th June the Leader attended the National Council on APSE in York. APSE was celebrating it’s twentieth anniversary, following it’s emergence from ALDO in 1999. The meeting had had a substantive agenda to work through: A review of the organisation business plan, building a new business plan for future years, developing APSE’s policy framework, reviewing the research programme – The Leader had specifically asked for some work to be undertaken in relation to temporary staff benchmarking, at the request of the Governance & Audit Committee – and a presentation on the latest joint research on housing.
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: -
· Budget Consultation
The Budget Consultation would go live next week, the launch date being 8 July. Members were encouraged to promote the consultation throughout their communities.
· Names Badges
Councillors had been issued with metal name badges for use at civic events for example. Councillors would still require their full ID Badge when entering the building.
· Lincolnshire Show
Thanks were expressed to the Democratic Team for a good Lincolnshire Show and for almost doubling the number of visitors to the Marquee.
· Local Plan Consultation
The Leader had provided Members with full details of the consultation underway. Members were reminded the closing date was 18 July and all were encouraged to submit responses.
· Member Induction
The Member Induction was drawing to a conclusion with one of the final planned events, the Governance and Audit Training having being held last week, prior to the Committee meeting. Officers were keen to receive Members feedback in order to improve our offer to members and all were encouraged to complete any surveys they receive in respect of this matter.
· Unaudited Financial Statements
The Authority had successfully completed its Unaudited Financial Statements early, having finished the process by 8th May with the accounts published by 31 May. This was an excellent achievement, giving the timeframes previously operated to. The Head of Paid Service expressed his thanks and congratulated Caroline Capon and the team for their efforts.
· LGA Peer Review
As mentioned previously in the meeting by the Leader, The Authority had an LGA peer review planned for January 2020. Members would be kept abreast over coming months as to progress.
· Alchemy Event
The Authority would be hosting an Alchemy event over the 17/18 July organised by the Executive Director of Commercial and Economic Growth which would involve National Social Enterprises and Social Investors meeting together with local social enterprises to develop new ideas for West Lindsey.
· September Council Meeting
Following consultation with both the Leader and the Leader of the Opposition the decision had been taken to Cancel the meeting of Full Council in September due to lack of business.