Agenda and minutes

There were no apologies for absence.

Councillor Rhys Baker was acting as Cabinet Member for Environment and Waste for the meeting, under the job share arrangement with Councillor Patsy Ellis.

Minutes of the meeting held on 30 May 2023.

The minutes of the meeting held on 30 May 2023 were approved as a correct record.

There were no disclosures of interests.

To seek delegation for the spend of the awarded Local Authority Housing Fund (LAHF) grant to the s151 Officer and Cabinet member for Housing and Planning. This will allow the Council to increase the social housing stock to support the provision of accommodation to Ukraine and Afghan families.

Purpose of report

To seek delegation for the spend of the awarded Local Authority Housing Fund (LAHF) grant to the Section 151 Officer and Cabinet Member for Housing and Planning. This would allow the Council to increase the social housing stock to support the provision of accommodation to Ukraine and Afghan families.

Decision

That Cabinet delegates authority to the Council’s Section 151 Officer in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Housing and Planning to acquire properties utilising the allocated Local Authority Housing Fund (LAHF) grant funding, in accordance with the grant agreement arrangements.

Alternative options considered and rejected

The LAHF was a Government fund provided to aid local authorities to meet the significant challenges presented as a result of the Afghan and Ukraine schemes.

If the Council was unable to purchase the properties through this scheme, the housing need that the properties were designed to meet was likely to arise anyway. The homes provided under the scheme would make a net positive contribution to housing available to the Council to meet need, therefore supporting the Council in meeting the needs of the wider population.

In light of the above, there were no other options considered.

Reasons for decision

By enabling the delegation, the Council would be able to react to emerging opportunities at short notice with the aim of fully utilising the LAHF grant funding awarded.

A full property market appraisal would take place, with full valuations included; officers were currently in negotiations with the developer to source new properties rather than buy from older stock.

This report sets out the proposals for a 4-unit new build social housing development at Elizabeth Rd, Stamford and to recommend that the new build contract be awarded to D.Brown Building Contractors Ltd.

Purpose of report

This report set out the proposals for a 4-unit new build social housing development at Elizabeth Road, Stamford and recommended that the new build contract be awarded to D.Brown Building Contractors Ltd.

Decision

That Cabinet:

1.    Approves the contract award to D Brown Building Contractors Ltd to undertake works to facilitate and deliver the development of a 4-unit new build housing scheme at Elizabeth Road, Stamford for the sum of £665,952.28.

2.    Agrees to delegate price variations to the contract of no greater than 10% to the Chief Finance Officer, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Housing and Planning, due to the complexity of the new build and the associated price volatility.

3.    Delegates the Chief Finance Officer in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Housing and Planning to enter into the contract with D. Brown Building Contractors Ltd.

Alternative options considered and rejected

The Council could have waited to commence the scheme or not build the apartments.

Reasons for decision

There was a housing need for the Council to develop the site, therefore the resolution was for the contract be awarded so that works could commence in Autumn 2023.

The demand for one-bedroomed properties in Stamford was high, with around 250 people on the housing register requesting this type of property.

Thanks were placed on record to the Housing team for identifying an appropriate development site, and for bringing the plans to Cabinet.

This report provides the Cabinet with the details of the Council’s provisional outturn position for the financial year 2022/23. The report covers the following areas:

·               General Fund Revenue Budget

·               Housing Revenue Account Budget

·               Capital Programmes – General Fund and Housing Revenue Account

·               Reserves overview – General Fund and Housing Revenue Account

Purpose of report

This report provided the Cabinet with the details of the Council’s provisional outturn position for the financial year 2022/23. The report covered the General Fund Revenue Budget, the Housing Revenue Account Budget, the Capital Programmes for both the General Fund and Housing Revenue Account, and the Reserves overview for both the General Fund and Housing Revenue Account.

Decision

That Cabinet:

1.    Recommend for approval to Governance and Audit Committee the provisional Revenue and Capital Outturn position for the financial year 2022/23.

2.    Approve the budget carry forwards, as at appendices D and H.

3.    Recommend to Governance and Audit Committee the following reserve movements in respect of the General Fund:

a) £1.5m of the Business Rates Volatility reserve to be transferred to

the: 

o ICT Reserve (increase by £0.150m)

o Property Maintenance Reserve (increase by £0.400m)

o Invest To Save Reserve (increase by £0.150m)

o Climate Change Reserve (increase by £0.300m)

o Creation of a Pay Award Reserve of £0.500m

b) The balance of the Inflation Reserve of £0.500m to be transferred to

the:

o Budget Stabilisation reserve (increase by £0.250m)

o Street Scene reserve (increase by £0.250m)

4.    To approve the implementation of the pay award with effect from 1 April 2023 of £1,925 for officers earning less than £50,000, 3.88% for officers earning over £50,000, 3.5% for Chief Officers and 3.88% to Members Allowances.

5.    Delegates authority to the Section 151 Officer and Head of Paid Service in consultation with the Leader and Deputy Leader to make a further adjustment once the outcome of the national negotiations are finalised.

Alternative options considered and rejected

The options considered as part of the Outturn were explored in detail within the report.

Reasons for decision

Members should be kept updated on the financial position of the Authority, as effective budget management was critical to ensuring financial resources were spent in line with the budget and were targeted towards the Council’s priorities. Monitoring enabled the early identification of variations against the plan and facilitated timely corrective action.

This report provided an overview of the provisional outturn financial position for the Council for 2022/2023. It had previously been scrutinised by the Finance and Economic Overview and Scrutiny Committee which had:

·         Recommended to Governance and Audit Committee that the provisional outturn and proposed reserve movements in respect of the General Fund were approved

·         Recommended to Cabinet approval of the budget carry forwards as set out in Appendices D and H of the report

The overall outturn was better than previously forecasted for the Council, in part due to the decrease in energy prices. However, there were still a number of financial pressures for the Council.

There were a number of reserves being either created or amended, including the ICT Reserve, Property Maintenance Reserve, Invest To Save Reserve, Climate Change Reserve and the Pay Award Reserve.

There had been a slight change to the terms of the Local Government Pay Award since it had been considered by Finance and Economic Overview and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 14.

This report presents the draft South Kesteven District Council (Off-Street Parking Places) (Civil Enforcement) Order 2023 for consideration.

Purpose of report

This report presented the draft South Kesteven District Council (Off-Street Parking Places) (Civil Enforcement) Order 2023 for consideration.

Decision

That Cabinet:

1.    Approves the draft South Kesteven District Council (Off-Street Parking

Places) (Civil Enforcement Order) 2023, without amendments, for consultation in accordance with the Local Authorities’ Traffic Orders (Procedure) (England and Wales) Regulations 1996.

2.    Delegates to the Deputy Chief Executive in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Property and Public Engagement to consider the results of the consultation and approve the introduction of the Order.

Alternative options considered and rejected

As a minimum, the existing 2017 Order must be amended to reflect changes to legislation. 

The Council must have followed a prescribed process to adopt or amend and Order. This included consultation with a range of statutory bodies and the public.

Reasons for decision

To enable the effective management of off-street parking places within South Kesteven, the existing Order had been reviewed and rewritten. A new Order was to be invoked to:

·         remove any reference to Regulations which have recently been replaced by ‘The Civil Enforcement of Road Traffic Contraventions (Approved Devices, Charging Guidelines and General Provisions) (England) Regulations 2022’

·         revoke the existing Off-Street Parking Place Orders relating to the Council operated bus stations at Grantham, Stamford and Bourne. The proposed Order would allow for consistent enforcement and restrict use to vehicles authorised by the Council at the bus stations

·         encompass additional Council owned parking places, including those where no fee is currently payable, in order to support consistent enforcement of parking contraventions

·         introduce a 4-hour maximum parking period at Stamford Leisure Centre to ensure that parking was available for leisure centre users. All day parking by non-leisure centre users had become commonplace and was impacting on availability for users of the centre

·         remove the sites at St. Catherine’s Road, Grantham, and Arnoldfield, Gonerby Hill Foot, which are no longer parking places.

·         include provisions relating to the use of the designated bays by electric vehicles for charging in the car parks at Welham Street, Grantham, North Street, Stamford, Burghley Street, Bourne and the Community Centre, Douglas Road, Market Deeping.

The separate kerbside collection of paper and card for recycling is being rolled out across Lincolnshire. This paper proposes the introduction of the service within South Kesteven.

Purpose of report

The separate kerbside collection of paper and card for recycling was being rolled out across Lincolnshire. This paper proposed the introduction of the service within South Kesteven.

Decision

That Cabinet:

1.    Approves the introduction of a service for the separate kerbside collection of paper and card for recycling across the district.

2.    Approves the revised South Kesteven District Council Waste and

Recycling Operational Policy.

3.    Approves the Council’s TEEP (technically, environmentally and

economically practical) Assessment.

Alternative options considered and rejected

The twin stream roll-out was phased across Lincolnshire, with three District Council’s still to commence the scheme. Delaying the roll out in South Kesteven would impact on future roll-out for the remaining councils.

Section 51 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 gave the waste disposal

authority powers to give directions to waste collection authorities about the

separation of waste if it was considered necessary for assisting it to comply with any obligation imposed on it by or under any enactment.

Reasons for decision

The implementation of twin stream recycling supported compliance with legislative requirements and achieved the Corporate Plan priority to work with the Lincolnshire Waste Partnership to reduce waste and further improve recycling.

The quality of recyclate across the District was poor in 2021/2022, with an average of 28% of the contents of recycling bins/sacks being contaminated. Paper and card in particular were highly prone to contamination. This report presented an opportunity to increase recycling rates.

In July 2019 the Lincolnshire Waste Partnership (LWP) conducted trials to collect paper and card separately, reducing the levels of contamination. The trials were successful, and the LWP agreed to seek to roll-out the separate collection of paper and card across Lincolnshire by 2024. The scheme was successfully in operation in North Kesteven, Boston, West Lindsey and East Lindsey.

It was likely that the roll-out of communications and publicity related to the separate paper and card collections would commence from October/November 2023, with the first bin collection being envisaged for January 2024.

The Cabinet Member for Environment and Waste outlined several key points related to topics of discussion amongst members of the public:

·         The scheme did not have any cost to the Council – the full cost was being borne by Lincolnshire County Council.

·         During initial trials in other district areas, feedback was sought from participating households. Comments from this consultation activity could be taken on board.

·         All households currently in receipt of a silver bin will receive a new, purple bin.

·         Additional paper and card recycling placed at the side of the bin, known as ‘side waste’ would not be collected.

·         The separation of paper and card from the silver recycling bin should lead to increased capacity. Therefore, there should not be a problem with overflowing bins.

·         There were no proposed changes to collection days, and the collections would still be fortnightly. Each household would receive a bin calendar.

·         Switching to a bin would be an option for those that currently had a ‘sack’ collection. There was no current  ...  view the full minutes text for item 16.

To consider a recommendation made by made by the Culture and Leisure Overview and Scrutiny Committee that the draft Cultural Strategy (2023 – 2026) be formally adopted.

Purpose of report

To consider a recommendation made by the Culture and Leisure Overview and Scrutiny Committee that the draft Cultural Strategy (2023 – 2026) be formally adopted.

Decision

That Cabinet:

1.    Approves the adoption of the Cultural Strategy (2023 to 2026) to underpin the corporate priority of Healthy and Strong Communities.

2.    Endorses that a six-monthly update was provided to the Culture and Leisure Overview and Scrutiny Committee detailing progress and delivery of the Action Plan contained within the Cultural Strategy.

Alternative options considered and rejected

Within its Corporate Plan, the Council had committed to building on, and celebrating the rich heritage and culture of the District with a key priority to develop a refreshed Cultural Strategy. Therefore the ‘do nothing’ option was discounted.

Reasons for decision

At the meeting of the Culture and Leisure Overview and Scrutiny Committee held on 13 June 2023, Members considered a report detailing the work undertaken to develop the draft Cultural Strategy. Following debate, a recommendation to Cabinet was made that the Strategy should be formally adopted.

Members of the Culture and Leisure Overview and Scrutiny Committee had agreed to receive six monthly updates on the progress and delivery of the Action Plan contained within the draft Cultural Strategy.

There had been significant consultation by the Council on this Strategy, and the Council had been supported by Red Quadrant in this regard.

Arts and cultural activity were highly regarded by residents but spend on these areas was discretionary for local authorities. This strategy focussed on engendering a collaborative approach with communities; enabling members of the public to participate in culture and leisure events can be more beneficial than expensive programmes that were difficult to access.

This report highlights matters on the Cabinet’s Forward Plan.

Items on the Forward Plan for September 2023, such as the Proposed Development Brief for Land at Stamford North, and the Upgrade of CCTV were likely to be considered later in the year.

An item on LED streetlights for September was to be added to the Forward Plan.

The remainder of the Forward Plan was noted.

Thanks were given to Anne-Marie Coulthard, the outgoing Assistant Director for Operations and Public Protection, for her dedication, commitment and service to South Kesteven District Council over the last 25 years.

The meeting closed at 14:51.