Agenda and minutes

To sign as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 31 January 2023 (copy enclosed). 

Consideration was given to the minutes of the meeting held on:

31 January 2023

AGREED:

That the minutes 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 ad a result of a grant of dispensation.

There were none.

To consider the Spalding Special Expenses 2022/23 Quarter 3 Forecast Outturn (report of the Deputy Chief Executive – Corporate Development (S151) enclosed).

Consideration was given to the report of the Deputy Chief Executive (Corporate Development and S151) which considered the Spalding Special Expenses 2022/23 Quarter 3 Forecast Outturn.

The Chairman introduced the Assistant Director – Finance, who would be able to answer any questions on the Q3 Spalding Special Expenses Forecast Outturn 2022/23.

The Assistant Director of Finance advised:

• That the Forum had been presented with the Q3 Spalding Special Expenses Financial Forecast as of 31 December, with information based on the actual income expenditure. The team and managers would look at what they believed the likely forecast would be by the 31 March 2023.
• That the current information was based up to the end of December 2022.
• That the Forum had forecast a slight underspend of £9000 based on the current budget and that was due to increased income in service areas.
• That the final outturn position reported would produce part of the year end accounts process, any surplus monies or any underspends against the budget would be transferred to the Forums Reserve balance, to be used at a later date, as and when decided.

The Chairman enquired about the budget and numbers regarding the Christmas decorations.

• The Assistant Director - Finance explained that when the figures were first looked at, it appeared as an overspend, but was actually an incorrect forecast, that report has since been rectified, as it was an error.
• The report outlined to the Forum, is in fact the correct forecast.
• The invoice for the December 2022 decorations is in compliance with the forecasted budget.

Members were satisfied with the information provided and thanked the Assistant director – Finance for the update.

The Head of Public Protection will be in attendance to give a verbal update on the new Enviro-crime contract.

The Head of Public Protection was in attendance to give a verbal update on the new Enviro-Crime Contract.

The Chairman welcomed the Group Manager for Public Protection and Assistant Director – Regulatory to present a verbal update on the new Enviro-Crime Contract.

The Assistant Director- Regulatory presented the South and East Lincolnshire Councils Partnership Annual Delivery Plan Objective.

Kingdom Local Authority Support had been awarded the Partnership contract for the Enviro-Crime Contract, based on 10 objectives, with two parts to the contract;

• Patrols and enforcement; and
• Surveillance camera capability at hot spots.

The Assistant Director-Regulatory updated the forum on what the benefits were for the short term and long term and how the enforcement of public behaviours would be implemented.

The contract was tendered out and was awarded to Kingdom who have already been successful at reducing Enviro-Crime in Boston, and authorities nationally.

The policy had been adopted by the South and East Lincolnshire partnership.

• SHDC have three officers based at Priory Road., The officers would be uniformed, and body video cameras worn, all officers would receive full training on skills, ethics, and customer care from accredited training courses.
• Kingdom pays a real living wage to their employees, without incentivisation schemes for enforcement.
• The company provide data protection and security, with regular contract meetings.
• Four national companies put in bids for the tender process, Kingdom were chosen for their all-round professionalism and the training of staff in customer care, with an already proven track record.
• The contract was awarded in February, and presence would be seen across the town centre and hotspots from this week now that the recruitment of staff had been a success.

The Group Manager for Public Protection added that staff received excellent training provided by Kingdom, and uniformed staff would be deployed to the town hot spots this week.

• Kingdom offers payment by instalment packages for those fined, who due to hardship may need longer to pay.
• Kingdom would provide educational packages to schools.
• Kingdom offered flexible working days and hours to their employees.

The Assistant Director - Regulatory informed the group that placing cameras in Enviro- Crime hotspots would be considered.

The Council would be renumerated with a percentage of the income generated from paid fines.

• The Enviro-Crime team would be headed by an experienced Enviro- Crime Officer and would be based in the offices at Priory Road.
• That local press would release details of the Enviro-Crime Contract alongside additional presence on social media.

Councillor Casson noted that fly tipping was a huge problem not only in the town centre but in neighbouring towns and villages.

The Officers invited questions from the group on the Enviro-Crime Contract.

 A question was asked whether the Enviro-Crime contractors would have authority to remove roadway/diversion signs that are discarded by Lincolnshire County Council Highways.

• The office responded that Lincolnshire County Council Highways would be alerted to any signs left discarded.

The Forum welcomed the presentation, as Enviro-Crime had continued to prove troublesome over the years, with various approaches tried  ...  view the full minutes text for item 30.

The Chairman will provide a verbal update on the use of Spalding Special Expenses reserves towards a King Charles III Coronation event.

The Chairman introduced the Vice-Chairman to provide a verbal update on utilising Spalding Special Expense reserves towards a King Charles III Coronation event.

• That Spalding Town Forum would organise an event on the 6 May 2023, the day of King Charles III Coronation, with a subsequent event held at Ayscoughfee on the 7 May organised by the Community’s team. Working together this would give the public two days of events which families could participate in and enjoy commemorating the historic occasion.
• That Spalding Town Forum are engaging local businesses and shops in the events.
• Ten thousand pounds had been secured from the Spalding Special Expenses reserves, to fund the proceedings.

The Vice-Chairman shared his ideas and details of the equipment/entertainment he had secured for the occasion and requested feedback from the group.

• The Vice-Chairman’s idea would be to provide lots of colour in Spalding town centre with bunting and banners and had arranged for seasonal flowers to be planted in the planters and hanging baskets to provide vibrant spring colour.
• The Vice-Chairman has been negotiating hiring a lorry sporting a tv screen on the side to broadcast the Coronation live in the marketplace area of the town centre. This would be an ideal spot for the public to view the Coronation whilst enjoying the activities.
•  
• The Vice-Chairman showed the group pictures of themed thrones available to order, along with a red carpet and back drop.

• The group agreed this was an excellent choice of activity as the children would be able to sit on the throne wearing a crown and have a picture taken, it was suggested to have this activity under a marquee, weather permitting.

• At the previous STF meeting the idea of a keepsake had been recommended, the Vice-Chairman, showed the group a Coronation pin that could be customized with a phrase/wording to commemorate this historic event, these would be suitable for children and adults alike and a reasonable cost price when placing an order of 1000 or more units.
• A royal snow globe to be secured with stilt walkers dressed as union flags, this should be great fun for the children and a good photo opportunity, alongside balloon blowing street entertainment. The Vice-Chairman explained that the market traders had been approached to be included in the celebration, and events would be co-ordinated to accommodate the market traders alongside the entertainment in the town centre.

The Chairman acknowledged that the traders needed to be on board and may need to adjust their normal pitch place in order to accommodate the street entertainment. It was important to communicate and announce the upcoming events in advance in order to attract as many visitors as possible into the town centre, to engage with shops and businesses to become involved in creating window displays linking to the Coronation.

The Chairman also suggested that some music and staging may be required for the event. The Chairman informed the group that Communities had arranged a ‘Hunt-The-Crown’ competition with market traders participating. Communities had offered  ...  view the full minutes text for item 31.

Members to discuss progress on the building of a float on behalf of Spalding residents for the upcoming Spalding Flower Parade.

The Chairman to provide an update on the building of a float on behalf of Spalding residents for the upcoming Spalding Flower Parade.

The Chairman explained that due to apologies from Councillor Cronin, he was unable to give a financial report to update the forum with expenses to date for the upcoming Flower Parade.

• The Chairman informed the forum that Councillor Cronin was working closely with Transported, and the theme of the float would be bees, which had been proposed at the previous Spalding Town Forum Meeting.
• The layout for the Spalding Town Forum float, was Bee themed, comprising of a puppet format, operated by puppeteers, and would include involvement from local children, who attend Spalding Schools, with inclusion of mobility scooters. The float would be brimming with colour and vibrancy.
• An area where the float would be constructed had been acquired and Transported were doing a great job.

The Vice-Chairman will provide an update on the progress of the Spalding Public Access Working Group.

The Vice-Chairman to provide an update on the progress of the Spalding Public Access Working Group.

The Chairman noted that the Spalding Town Centre TRO (Traffic Restriction Order) is additional to the wider piece of work the that the Vice-Chairman is undertaking for the Public Access Working group.

The Chairman explained to the forum his concern regarding the gentleman that was struck by a vehicle in the town centre, whilst two Police Officers were present to witness the occurrence as it happened.

• It was not understood if the Police Officers were PCSO, or fully warranted Police Officers.
• Information had been received by a forum member that one of the Police Officers was in training.

The Chairman explained that one of the officers would have been a fully warranted Police Officer. Upon witnessing the incident, the officer had a duty to respond.

• The Chairman voiced his concern that a member of the public had been harmed, and the Police Officer’s response was to do nothing in the situation.
• The Chairman’s understanding was that the response to do nothing was based on the verbal/written directive from the chain of command.
• The Chairman would like clarification from that particular chain of command as to why the instruction had been given.
• Had the traffic regulation sign at the entrance to the pedestrian area been adhered to, the incident would not have occurred. In turn this was giving our residents a false sense of security when walking through a pedestrian area.
• Presently the road only had a barrier restricting traffic flow on Tuesday and Saturday for the Spalding Market.

Although the Chairman was in full support of the police and the difficult position they were in, the Chairman asked for the full endorsement from the Forum to write to the local inspector, to enquire who authorised this approach.

• When the question was raised why the police patrolling the town centre were not ticketing cars parked in the pedestrianised area, the Police responded that they had received verbal abuse from members of the public so ceased to give out tickets.

• Actions were needed as the public had lost confidence in the restriction of deterring cars from entering the pedestrian area during the prohibited times.

• It was suggested that the Police Commissioner should be called upon to advise why these restrictions are not maintained. The MP had been informed of the continuing occurrence.

• Councillor Timewell had personally experienced abuse from drivers, driving through the restricted area, with no respect for the time conditions. A solution to this recurring problem needed to be found quickly before a more serious accident occurred. Any incident would revert back to the council, hence why the TRO should be enforced.

It was proposed to invite an officer from the local Police force to answer the forums questions on this important issue. It was noted that other towns are experiencing similar problems enforcing their Traffic Restriction Orders, can something be applied at County level to fix these issues.

• It was noted that support  ...  view the full minutes text for item 33.

The Chairman would like to ask the Forum to agree to contact the local Police Inspector regarding enforcement of the Spalding Town Centre TRO.

The Chairman asked if there were any other items that the group wished to discuss.

·        The Forum recognised that May would be a very busy month, celebrating King Charles III Coronation, 6 May, the homecoming Spalding Flower Parade, 13 May, and the return of the Spalding Festival, 26 May.

·        A representative from Churches Together reminded the group a Good Friday Service would be held in the town centre on 7 April.

The Chairman thanked the Forum for the continued support and acknowledged the contributions made from the external organisations and hope they continued to endorse the Spalding Town Forum.

The Chairman asked for the actions from the meeting to be attached to the next agenda.

Meeting ended