Agenda and minutes

To sign as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 29 January 2025 (copy enclosed).

Consideration was given to the minutes of the Full Council held on 29 January 2025.

DECISION:

That the minutes of the meeting of Full Council held on 29 January 2025 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 reminded members that details of events that he had attended as Chairman could be viewed under the Chairman’s Log on the Council website.

The Chairman advised of the following forthcoming events:

·         Half Marathon  in London – 6 April 2025, which the Chairman was running on behalf of Blood Cancer.  Councillor Sheard was also taking part.  The Chairman reminded members that there was a sponsorship form in the Members’ Room.

·         ‘Spring into Spalding’ event  – Chairman’s ‘Bake Off’ Competition at the South Holland Centre – 28 March 2025.

The Leader made the following announcements:

·       Councillor Tyrrell would be stepping down from his role on the Cabinet, as Portfolio Holder – Environmental Services.  His Portfolio responsibilities would be taken on by Councillor Astill, Portfolio Holder – Corporate, Governance and Communications.  The Leader thanked Councillor Tyrrell for his work during his time on the Cabinet.

·       Christine Marshall (Deputy Chief Executive – Corporate Development (S151) and John Leach (Deputy Chief Executive – Communities) were both shortly due to be leaving, and this would be their last Council meeting:

o   John Leach was leaving to become Chief Executive at Redditch Borough Council and Bromsgrove District Council.  John had been with the authority for almost three years and had served the authority and the Partnership well.  The Leader commented that it was satisfying to see his progression to the role of Chief Executive and wished him well in his new role.

o   Christine Marshall was leaving to become the Executive Director – Corporate Services and S151 Officer at Peterborough City Council.  She had worked for 40 years in the government sector and was now returning to Peterborough.  Christine had been with this Authority since 2017, in the role of S151 Officer and Director at the then partnership between South Holland District Council and Breckland Council, and then performing her current role within the S&ELCP.  He thanked Christine for her service and wished her well in her new role. 

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

·       The Authority would shortly be publishing details  through its communications  channels of some accessibility tools (Recite Me and Relay UK) which would assist in making the Authority’s services more accessible.

·       The Authority had been approached by ‘Keep Britain Tidy’ with regard to cigarette littering in Spalding.  The project was in its early stages and the team was working with ‘Keep Britain Tidy’ to understand how the scheme would work.  It appeared that the scheme would be at zero cost to the Authority and would include supply of bins and other intervention activities.

The Portfolio Holder for Health and Wellbeing, Conservation and Heritage and Tourism announced the following:

·       Following discussion at the last two Council meetings around development of a local list of important buildings in the area in a poor state of repair, the Civic Society have picked up on this issue and had included it within an article in its monthly newsletter.   The article included a form for completion by individuals to be sent to their local Councillor to then forward on to the Portfolio Holder.  There had been a suggestion that the Johnson Hospital could be included, and all suggestions for sites important to the area were welcome. 

The Portfolio Holder for Strategic and Operational Housing announced the following:

·       Notification had been received from the Regulator of Social Housing that it would be undertaking an inspection at SHDC. Timelines had been shared with the Conservative Group, and the Leader and Deputy Leader of the main opposition group.    The Portfolio  ...  view the full minutes text for item 88.

There were none.

Question to: Councillor Taylor

Question from: Councillor Scalese

Subject: Spalding Indoor Bowls Club

Councillor Scalese commented that residents had contacted her with regard to the Spalding Indoor Bowls Club, raising their concerns at not being able to use facilities whilst the new Leisure Centre was being built.  Could a solution be found?  Councillor Taylor agreed that it was indeed unfortunate that users could not continue to operate in their current location, due to issues around water, energy and fire safety.  The club had many passionate members and it was a successful club.  He had met with the project manager and the Bowls Club committee in early February to explain the situation.  The committee had asked if a solution or a new home for them could be found, and they had provided some good proposals.  The Authority was working with the committee to bring the  Long Sutton club back into use (this had been unused for some years) and were close to moving forward on this.  The Portfolio Holder would report back once further information was known. 

Question to: Councillor Astill

Question from: Councillor Barnes

Subject: Garden waste bins (waiting list) and missed refuse collections

Following conversations with the previous Portfolio Holder, Councillor Barnes had tried to investigate the situation around garden waste bins himself and been advised that there were around 800/850 bins at the depot and that these could be delivered easily.  However, there were around 1000 residents on a list for them.  He wished to know why these could not be distributed more swiftly and he advised that he had not received a response from officers on these points.  On a related matter, he had attempted to obtain a response from an officer regarding missed refuse collections and had not had a response from the individual regarding his questions.  Councillor Astill  responded that with regard to garden waste, he was aware that there were a number of people on the waiting list and that officers were working through the list to send bins out where possible.  He advised that he would provide a further update on the situation at the next meeting.  He also stated that there were areas in the district that did not have the garden waste service and the team was working to expand the service in the future.  With regard to missed collections, the Portfolio Holder advised that performance for Quarter 3 was quite high, just under the SLA target for Q3. Occasionally there could be disruptions with normal collections due to issues such as vehicle breakdowns and staff sickness.  The team worked closely with the Communications team to communicate any issues, and where possible the bins would be collected in a timely manner.  There had been some issues last week but the team was  working hard to catch up.  He acknowledged that it was not right if officers did not respond to members’ queries however, he did state that if there was a fundamental problem within his area of responsibility as a Portfolio  ...  view the full minutes text for item 90.

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

Joint Performance Monitoring Panel and Policy Development Panel -  21 January, 2025

The minutes of the following Committees and Panels were noted:

·         Joint Performance Monitoring Panel and Policy Development Panel – 21 January 2025

Consideration was given to the Key Decision Plan.

DECISION:

That the Key Decision Plan be noted.

To approve:  The General Fund and HRA Budgets for 2025/26, including the use of reserves, Medium Term Financial Strategy, Capital Programmes and Strategy, Treasury Management Policy/Strategy and the Annual Delivery Plan including the  approval of Council Tax levels for recommendation to Full Council (report of the Deputy Chief Executive – Corporate Development (S151) enclosed).

(Please note that in accordance with The Local Authorities (Standing Orders) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2014, a recorded vote will be taken on Budget recommendations).

(Members are reminded that if they are two months or more in arrears, they must disclose the fact and not vote on any item to set tax or any decision which may affect its calculation).

Consideration was given to the report of the Deputy Chief Executive – Corporate Development (S151) which sought to approve: the General Fund and HRA budgets for 2025/26 including the use of reserves, Medium Term Financial Strategy, Capital Programme and Strategy, Treasury Management Policy/Strategy, and the Annual Delivery Plan, including the approval of Council Tax levels for recommendation to Full Council.

The Portfolio Holder for Finance presented the report, and he thanked the Finance team for working diligently to produce it.  He stated that it was the last Budget to be overseen by the Deputy Chief Executive – Corporate Development (S151) (Christine Marshall) and he stated that she left the Authority in a good place with regard to its budget.

The Portfolio Holder for Finance advised of the following:

·         A correction to Table 12 (Reserve Balances) within Appendix 1 to the report.  This showed the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) funding as being received in 2024/25. This would be received in 2025/26;

·         An additional recommendation be added – ‘That the uplift to the real living wage (report section 11.1) be approved’.

The following issues were raised:

·         Councillor Astill  supported the additional recommendation regarding the  minimum wage, announced by the Portfolio Holder – Finance in his presentation. 

·         With regard to the HRA and Capital Programme two points were raised: 1) Gas boiler replacements within the Council’s housing stock – in order to judge if this was value for money, how many houses did this represent?; 2) What were the budgeted fees of £200,000?

o   The Portfolio Holder – Strategic and Operational Housing responded that she could not advise specifically how many houses had received gas boiler replacements however, the spend per property (not just gas boilers, but across the board) has been benchmarked against other authorities and was slightly under the benchmark figure.  Gas boiler replacement would be part of the programme of works for replacement when required.  Contracts and works to the Council’s housing stock was generally of good value and quality.

o   The Deputy Chief Executive – Corporate Development (S151) advised that the increase in 2028/29 and 2029/30 was due to the move to air source heat pumps which were more expensive to install.  Regarding fees, this related to contracts and she would ask that the service provide more details on this area.

·         Members responded that for clarity, it would be useful to separate gas boiler replacements and air source heat pumps as this would show investment in greener energy more clearly. 

o   The Portfolio Holder – Strategic and Operation Housing agreed that this was a good point. Where there were properties with no gas availability, the decision had been taken to install air source heat pumps.  At the time, the technology around air source heat pumps was still new, with opinions divided on their efficacy .  The Authority continued to install both options but would be happy to separate this information out. The Portfolio Holder commented that she was happy to discuss this issue, and information regarding ‘green’ works coming  ...  view the full minutes text for item 93.

To set the amounts of Council Tax applicable for 2025/26 for each valuation band and in each part of the district (report of the Deputy Chief Executive – Corporate Development (S151) enclosed).

(Please note that in accordance with The Local Authorities (Standing Orders) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2014, a recorded vote will be taken on Budget recommendations).

(Members are reminded that if they are two months or more in arrears, they must disclose the fact and not vote on any item to set tax or any decision which may affect its calculation).

Consideration was given to the report of the Deputy Chief Executive – Corporate Development (S151) which set out the amounts of Council Tax applicable for 2025/26 for each valuation band and in each part of the district.

The Portfolio Holder – Finance presented the report.

No issues were raised.

DECISION:

1)    That the formal Council Tax resolutions for 2025/26 as set out in Appendix A and summarised in paragraph 4.1 (and detailed below)  be approved; and

2)    That the charge to be levied on the Council Taxpayers of Spalding for services provided in their town (Spalding Special Estimates) which would be £223,458.93 for 2025/26 be approved.  This equated to a Band D equivalent charge of £23.13 (£25.83 for 2024/25).

4.0      COUNCIL TAX RESOLUTIONS

4.1      The required resolutions for the approval of the levels of Council Tax           are set out at Appendix A. The figures relating to the District Council           and the average of the parishes are summarised in the following table:

Council is recommended to approve the following resolutions:

1          It is to be noted that on 18 December 2024 the Council calculated: -

(a)       the Council Tax Base 2026/25 for the District as 30,890 (item T in the formula in section 31B(3) of the Local Government Finance Act 1992, as amended) and;

(b)       Dwellings in those parts of the district to which a Parish precept relates as shown in Appendix B

2.         Calculate that the Council Tax requirement for the Council’s own purposes for 2025/26 (excluding Parish precepts) is £6,441,491.

3          That the following amounts be calculated by the Council for the year 2025/26 in accordance with Sections 31 to 36 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992 as amended (the Act): -

To designate a Section 151 Officer (report of the Assistant Director – Corporate enclosed).

Consideration was given to the report of the Assistant Director – Corporate which requested designation of a Section 151 Officer.

The Leader of the Council presented the report.

No issues were raised.

DECISION:

That Brendan Arnold, the Council’s incoming Director of Finance, be designated as the Council’s Section 151 Officer with effect from 31 March 2025. 

To seek approval of the Pay Policy Statement for 2025/2026 (report of the Chief Executive enclosed).

Consideration was given to the report of the Chief Executive which sought approval of the Pay Policy Statement for 2025/2026.

The Portfolio Holder – Corporate, Governance and Communication presented the report.

No issues were raised.

DECISION:

That the Pay Policy Statement 2025/2026, at Appendix 1, be approved.

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

There were none.

There were none, however, the Chairman wished to echo the sentiments expressed earlier in the meeting regarding the departure of both Christine Marshall and John Leach, and on behalf of the Council, wished them both well in their future careers.

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 secure member approval to implement the new service structures set out within this report (report of Corporate Management Team Members enclosed).

Please note that Appendix E will be sent ‘to follow’.

Consideration was given to the report of the Assistant Director, Well-being and Community Leadership, the Assistant Director – Leisure and Culture, the Assistant Director – Governance (Monitoring Officer), the Deputy Chief Executive Programme Delivery and Assistant Director, General Fund Assets, and the Assistant Director – Neighbourhoods, which sought to secure member approval to implement the new service structures set out within the report. 

The Leader provided an introduction to the report, followed by more specific introductions to each of the following service reviews by the relevant Portfolio Holder(s):

·         Wellbeing and Community Leadership – To change to Communities and Housing Services

·         Leisure and Culture – To change to Leisure and Local Services

·         Information, Governance and Legal Services

·         General Fund Assets

·         Neighbourhoods

The following issues were raised:

·         Members were confident that the proposals would deliver results around the progression of future combined working.  It showed the Partnership as strong and forward thinking, and there was a strong cohort of officers across all three authorities

·         Members wished to know when information regarding which officers were in which roles would be available.  The Leader advised that the proposals would now be taken through the consultation process, after which it would become clearer which officers would cover each specific role, and members would then be advised.

DECISION:

1)    That the relevant Assistant Directors in respect of the service reviews presented in Appendices A - E of the report be authorised to undertake the necessary staff consultation on the structures presented;

2)    That the relevant Assistant Directors, in consultation with their Portfolio Holder(s), be delegated the authority to determine and implement final structures that take account of consultation responses; and

3)    That the Head of Paid Service be authorised to place specified South Holland District Council post holders at the disposal of Boston Borough Council and East Lindsey District Council and to accept the placing of specified Boston Borough Council and East Lindsey District Council post holders at the disposal of this Council in accordance with Section 113 of the Local Government Act 1972.