Agenda and minutes

Councillor Woolf was elected Chairman for the duration of the meeting.

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.

To receive the findings of the Peer Challenge and provide feedback on the Council’s proposed action plan (report of the Assistant Director – Corporate enclosed).

Consideration was given to the report of the Assistant Director – Corporate which sought to receive the findings of the Peer Challenge and provide feedback on the Council’s proposed action plan.

The Group Manager – Insights and Transformation presented the report.

The Joint Panel considered the report and presentation, and the following points were raised:

• The feedback from the Peer Review was positive and encouraging.
• Members asked whether the recommendation for an Independent Person for Governance and Audit Committee would be looked into and amended in the Constitution.
  • The Leader confirmed that he had no problem with looking into this and felt it would be useful to have an independent person as part of the Governance and Audit Committee.

The Joint Chief Executive commented that it was a benefit to have recommendations presented by the Peer Review team, especially regarding housing regulations. New expectations had been placed on the Council as a landlord to monitor how properties were looked after. He noted that policies needed to be put in place to determine how best to look after our properties and the Council now had the luxury of time to put these policies into place.

• Members asked what types of authorities the peers had come from.
  • The Leader responded to say that the peers were picked specifically from authorities with similar experiences and areas to South Holland. He confirmed that peers had received background information on the authority several weeks before they visited.
  • He also highlighted the recommendations relating to housing and suggested that a housing board could be put in place to monitor key performance indicators for HRA properties.
• Members questioned whether other stakeholders were interviewed as part of the Peer Review.
  • The Joint Chief Executive confirmed that staff, members, county council representatives, voluntary sector groups and local businesses were interviewed as part of the review process.

AGREED:

1. That the Corporate Peer Challenge findings at Appendix A be noted.

2. That the Committee’s feedback on the proposed action plan at Appendix B be noted.

That the update on the Housing Peer Review recommendation at Appendix C be noted.

To seek comments on the emerging South & East Lincolnshire Councils Partnership Sub-regional Strategy (report of the Assistant Director – Corporate enclosed).

Appendix A to follow.

Consideration was given to the report of the Assistant Director – Corporate which sought comments on the emerging South & East Lincolnshire Councils Partnership Sub-regional Strategy.

The Group Manager – Insights and Transformation presented the report.

The Joint Panel considered the report and presentation, and the following points were raised:

• Members noted that all markets within the District should be improved as part of the plan, not just Spalding’s, as the Plan indicated.
  • The Leader confirmed that this was the intention and that the wording would be amended to reflect this point.
• Members asked whether the number of Parish Councils in South Holland could be added to the document as this information was listed for Boston and East Lindsey.
  • The Group Manager – Insights and Transformation confirmed that this information would be added in.
• Members felt that some of the missions listed within the covering report, particularly in relation to transport and digital connectivity were too ambitious for South Holland.
  • The Leader stated that these were part of the national missions laid out by the government within the Levelling Up White Paper and were not therefore specific targets for South Holland.
  • He did note that since the inception of the partnership, there had been positive progress on a number of issues and that a lot of local knowledge had gone into creating the sub-regional strategy.
• Members noted that the desire for more self-service access for customers as part of the Customer Experience Strategy required further work to get a common system to be used across all three councils.
  • The Leader confirmed that this was a major consideration, and that a plan was currently being developed.

AGREED:

That the Committee’s comments be noted to support the development of the emerging South & East Lincolnshire Councils Partnership Sub-regional Strategy.

To note the Overview and Scrutiny Annual Report 2022/2023 prior to its presentation at Council (report of the Assistant Director – Governance enclosed).

Consideration was given to the report of the Assistant Director – Governance which asked the Joint Panel to note the Overview and Scrutiny Annual Report 2022/2023 prior to its presentation at Council.

The Democratic Services Officer presented the report.

AGREED:

That the Overview and Scrutiny Annual Report 2022/2023 be noted and recommended to Full Council for approval.

There were none.