Agenda and minutes

To sign as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 2 October 2024 (copy enclosed).

Consideration was given to the minutes of the Full Council held on 2 October 2024.

DECISION:

That the minutes of the meeting of Full Council held on 2 October 2024 be signed as a correct record.

(Where a Councillor has a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest the Councillor must declare the interest to the meeting and leave the room without participating in any discussion or making a statement on the item, except where a Councillor is permitted to remain as a result of a grant of dispensation.)

There were none.

The Chairman had noticed that at some events he had attended, past Chairmen of other authorities or charitable organisation had badges indicating that they had been past Chairmen.  He had therefore asked that badges be produced for past Chairmen of South Holland District Council to wear in recognition of their service to the Authority.

·       Past Chairman, Mr Rodney Grocock was present at the meeting, and the Chairman presented him with his badge;

·       Past Chairman, Councillor Paul Redgate was unable to attend the meeting as he was in Westminster that evening representing the IDB Special Interest Group, but the Chairman would ensure that his badge was presented to him;

·       Past Chairmen Mr Francis Biggadike and Mr Michael Seymour could not attend the meeting, and the Chairman advised that arrangements would be made to present them with their badges in due course.

The Chairman announced details of the following forthcoming events:

·       The Spalding Christmas light switch-on, where Santa would be in attendance, was being held this Friday, 29 November 2024;

·       Santa would be at The Bookmark on Friday, 6 December 2024;

·       The inaugural Santa Fun Run for the Chairman’s Charity was being held on Sunday, 8 December 2024;

·       Santa would be at Ayscoughfee on Saturday, 14 December 2024;

·       A coffee morning was being held in Moulton on Saturday, 4 January 2025

As always, details of events that the Chairman had attended could be viewed under the Chairman’s Log on the Council’s website.

The Leader stated that he had no formal announcements to make, other than to wish everybody a Happy Christmas, as this was the last meeting of Council before the festive period.

The Portfolio Holder for Corporate, Governance and Communications announced the following:

·       Details of a governance consultation on hybrid meetings had been sent to members on 15 November, and the deadline for responses on this was 19 December.  He encouraged all members to submit their views as part of the consultation.

·       The Members’ Intranet site would be launched shortly.

·       Following a meeting of the Performance Monitoring Panel, a member survey had been undertaken regarding iPad usage and training.  Only ten responses had been received – the survey would be re-launched and members were encouraged to complete the survey. 

The Portfolio Holder for Environmental Services advised that following the results of the Waste Consultation, an appraisal of options going forward was being finalised, to be completed by Christmas.  An all-member briefing would be held on Thursday 9 January 2025 after which reports would move forward for consideration by Council in January 2025 and Cabinet in February 2025.

The Portfolio Holder for Public Protection advised of the good work being undertaken by the contractor, Kingdom, with regard to littering and fly tipping.  In the 4 years preceding the award of the contract, only 30 Fixed Penalty Notices (FPNs) had been issued in the district for fly tipping.  Since the contract had been awarded in April 2023, 84 FPNs had been issued for fly tipping, 20 of these being in the last 3 months.  There had been comments that only Spalding was covered by staff however, the Portfolio Holder confirmed that visits were made to a variety of settlements in the District – he had accompanied staff on visits to Holbeach, Long Sutton, Sutton Bridge, Pinchbeck, Gosberton, Donington and Crowland.

The Portfolio Holder for Health and Wellbeing, Conservation and Heritage and Tourism announced that the County Council had been awarded £5.5million in the sixth round of Household Support Funding, covering the period from 1 October 2024 to 31 March 2025.  The County Council had worked with district councils to decide how the funding could be used most effectively to support those most in need.   64% of the funding would be provided to schools and early years providers for areas such as children eligible for Free School Meals; 1% of funding would be provided to care leavers in supported living accommodation; and 34% of the funding would be provided to district councils to support vulnerable households via local schemes using an application-based process.  SHDC would be receiving approximately £266,000.  Third sector organisations would be used to distribute the scheme. 

There were none.

Question to: Councillor Casson

Question from: Councillor Booth

Subject: CCTV in parishes

Councillor Booth commented on antisocial behaviour in Spalding and throughout the District – was CCTV being promoted to parishes, and could an update be provided?  His Parish Clerk had asked questions regarding this and had not yet received a response – could a meeting with the Portfolio Holder be arranged?  Councillor Casson responded that he fully supported the use of CCTV cameras and commented that he would be happy to arrange a meeting with Councillor Booth and representatives from his Parish in order to move things forward.

Question to: Councillor Worth

Question from: Councillor Bingham

Subject: Government announcement on liability of some farmers to pay Inheritance Tax

Councillor Bingham stated that he, along with 20,000 other farmers had last week taken part in a demonstration in London, against the Government’s proposals to change the rules around Inheritance Tax paid by farmers’ and their businesses. In his view, successive governments had failed to show a lack of understanding of the countryside and the current Government’s actions would do great harm to many farmers.  Would the Leader of the Council speak with his partner Leaders to put forward a letter demanding the reversal of inheritance tax changes on farming and businesses and furthermore, to adjust policies that disproportionally affected rural residents?  The Leader advised that he was more than happy to speak to the other two Leaders withing the Partnership and send a letter.  The march had been very successful and he was aware that the area was dominated by farming and related industries.   The proposed changes would have a huge effect on the area and a letter would be sent in the near future.

Question to: Councillor Taylor

Question from: Councillor M LeSage

Subject: Consultation with users of current leisure facilities regarding the new Wellbeing Hub

Councillor M Le Sage thanked Councillor Taylor and his team for their work to date on the Wellbeing Hub in Spalding.    He asked if Councillor Taylor could arrange a meeting between the officer team and users of the pool to allay any fears around the recently announced changes?  Councillor Taylor responded that the planning application for the Wellbeing Hub would be presented to the Planning Committee in January 2025.   Prior to this, the project team would work with users of the facility to understand their concerns.   He advised that there would be no gap in pool availability for users, with the old pool closing one day and the new one opening the next.  In addition, an agreement had been reached with Boston College and Parkwood for indoor exercise classes and gym facilities to continue at the Boston College site at Red Lion Street in Spalding.  Again, there would be no gap in provision for users.  It was important to listen to users of the facilities and he requested that Councillor M Le Sage liaise with him to arrange dates for users views to be heard, and to allay any concerns.

Question to: Councillor  ...  view the full minutes text for item 59.

To receive the minutes of the following Committees and Panels:-

a)    Governance and Audit Committee - 12 September 2024

b)    Policy Development Panel - 24 September 2024

c)    Planning Committee - 9 October 2024

d)    Performance Monitoring Panel - 16 October 2024

The minutes of the following Committees and Panels were noted:

·       Governance and Audit Committee – 12 September 2024

·       Policy Development Panel – 24 September 2024

·       Planning Committee – 9 October 2024

·       Performance Monitoring Panel – 16 October 2024

To consider the recommendations of the Cabinet in respect of:

·       Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund: Wave 2:1 and Warm Homes: Social Housing Fund Wave 3

Consideration was given to the report of the Cabinet which sought approval for the Cabinet’s recommendations.

Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund: Wave 2:1 and Warm Homes: Social Housing Fund Wave 3

The Portfolio Holder for Strategic and Operational Housing presented the report which had been presented and discussed fully at Cabinet. 

DECISION:

That the HRA capital programme (renewable energy project) be amended to £7,007,000.  Noting that this amendment would be funded through a virement from other budgets as set out in the financial section within the report at Appendix A.

Consideration was given to the Key Decision Plan

It was noted that the last update on Land in Holbeach had been given in July – what was the current position?  The Leader advised that negotiations were still ongoing and further information would be provided as soon as it was known.

DECISION:

That the Key Decision Plan be noted.

To consider a proposal to establish a District Joint Committee for the purposes of devolution and participation of non-constituent local authorities at the Greater Lincolnshire Combined County Authority (report of the Assistant Director – Governance (Monitoring Officer) enclosed)

Consideration was given to the report of the Assistant Director for Governance (Monitoring Officer) which requested consideration of a proposal to establish a District Joint Committee for the purposes of devolution and participation of non-constituent local authorities at the Greater Lincolnshire Combined County Authority.

The Assistant Director for Governance (Monitoring Officer) presented the report, and the following points were raised:

·       The Leader stated that it was important to agree the recommendations in order to ensure that the Authority had representation on the Greater Lincolnshire Mayoral Combined County Authority.

·       It was clarified that within the Terms of Reference, the Leader could appoint another member to deputise, should they themselves not be able to attend. 

DECISION:

1)    That the establishment of a District Joint Committee of the Lincolnshire District/Borough Authorities for the purposes of devolution and participation at the Greater Lincolnshire Mayoral Combined County Authority, be approved;

2)    That it be approved that the Leader of the Council represents South Holland District Council at the District Joint Committee;

3)    That the attached proposed Terms of Reference (Appendix A) and Standing Orders (Appendix 1) for the District Joint Committee be approved;

4)    That authority to approve amendments to the Terms of Reference be delegated to the Chief Executive, in consultation with the Leader and Monitoring Officer, noting that such amendments shall require the approval of all members of the District Joint Committee.

To receive, from political groups, nominations for any changes to Committees and other seats and to consider any proposed changes to the Constitution.

The following Outside Body proposed appointments were reported to Council:

·       Citizens Advice Bureau – Board of Trustees – Councillor N Chapman to be nominated to represent as a member of this outside body;

·       South Holland Internal Drainage Board – Councillor J Whitbourn and Councillor M Geaney be nominated to represent as members of this outside body

These appointments would fill the current vacancies on both of these Outside Bodies.

DECISION:

That the following changes be agreed:

·       Councillor N Chapman to be appointed to represent on the Citizens Advice Bureau – Board of Trustees;

·       That Councillors J Whitbourn and M Geaney be appointed to represent on the South Holland Internal Drainage Board

There were none.

DECISION:

Under Section 100A (4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the press and public were excluded from the meeting for the following item of business on the grounds that it involved the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraph 4 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act.

To seek member approval to deliver a phased Planning Service Review (report of the Director of Economic Development enclosed).

Consideration was given to the report of the Director of Economic Development which sought member approval to deliver a phased Planning Service Review.

The Portfolio Holder for Assets and Strategic Planning presented the report.

DECISION:

That the recommendations detailed within the exempt report be approved.