Minutes:
The Leader made the following announcement(s):
The Leader advised that he and the Deputy Leader, Councillor Redgate had been invited to a UK Fresh Produce network event at the House of Lords on Monday night. The event had been supported by the UK Shared Prosperity Fund to support local businesses and key sectors. Over 180 distinguished guests had been in attendance, including 60 country ambassadors, Lords, MPs, and leading agricultural representatives from 21 different countries.
· Through our Grants4Growth we provided £343,819 in grant support to South Holland businesses and will have provided £1.9million in direct private and public financial investment in the South Holland economy by March 2025, and £4.6million across the Partnership.
· Across the UKSPF Programme in South Holland, 217 businesses had received technical growth advice since Autumn 2023, usually in the form of a high-quality business Growth Action Plan, led by an experienced business advisor. 32 businesses across South Holland had already reported immediate improvements to productivity.
· 12 businesses across SHDC had reported that UKSPF had immediately assisted them in accessing new export markets.
· Across the Partnership it was anticipated that by March 2025, 9% of the local business base would have received a grant or technical advice from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund. Bearing in mind the programme started less than 18 months ago, that was quite an achievement compared with previous models of business support.
Naturally, with government reviewing the future of this funding, it was important to highlight the considerable success of UKSPF right across the District and across the partnership. It was one of the best performing in the UK.
The Leader announced the results to the recently held Waste consultation, and the way forward:
· At its close, the consultation had received 8576 responses with 49% favouring wheelie bins, and 51% favouring the continued use of black bags;
· 52% of respondents felt that wheelie bins would not improve the service and 48% felt it would;
· 79% of respondents would like to do more recycling;
· 79% of respondents were satisfied with the service, and there were many compliments made about the collection teams;
· The Leader still had to see the full detail of the report however to clarify timelines around the way forward, no changes would be made until the statutory food waste collection was implemented in March 2026 - any changes would be phased in after that;
· The reason for this timeframe was that a long lead-in time would be required as every Council across the country was having to purchase new vehicles to accommodate the food waste collection scheme, and the current lead-in time for purchasing new vehicles was currently 11 months;
· In the immediate future, a full appraisal of the report would be undertaken, with at least 6-7 costed options to be developed, with a view to considering what vehicles may be required to provide the optimum service and best options for increasing recycling. This would be discussed informally by the Cabinet and then brought forward to an informal briefing(s) of the full Council, possibly in November. A report would then come forward to full Council in December/January for consideration of the options.
The Portfolio Holder for Finance made the following announcements:
The Authority was currently undertaking an in-depth review of the Council Tax Support Scheme. A consultation was being undertaken and he asked that all members spread the word as it was important that views were received to ensure that those in greatest need could be provided with assistance;
With regard to the IDB Special Interest Group (SIG), progress was gradually being made. The SIG had grown in its membership and now included 37 bodies – it now included representation from the north, south, east and west of the country. Next week, the SIG would be meeting with MPs, Lords and other authorities to put pressure on the Treasury and MCHLG to move forward on a long-term solution around the funding issue. It was hoped that pressure could be put on MPs to lobby on the SIG’s behalf and receive a long-term solution within this financial year.
The Portfolio Holder for Community Development announced that the Give-It-A-Go event that had taken place in Holbeach in August has been very successful and had been shortlisted for an award at the Lincolnshire Sport and Physical Activity Awards.