Agenda and minutes
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Contact: Email: democracy@southkesteven.gov.uk
Note: Due to the size of the agenda reports pack for this meeting, the file can take longer than usual to open. If you are unable to access the reports pack and would like a copy, please email democracy@southkesteven.gov.uk for assistance
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Order of agenda items A request had been made by some members to bring agenda item 15, Financial Impact of Covid-19 on the Leisure Service, earlier in the agenda. The Chairman stated that this item would be dealt with after agenda item 7. |
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The public open forum will commence at 1.00 p.m. and the following formal business of the Council will commence at 1.30 p.m. or whenever the public open forum ends, if earlier. Minutes: Question 1
Question to: Councillor Rosemary Trollope-Bellew, the Cabinet Member for Culture and Visitor Economy From: Struan Cornell, Bourne
“In light of the Covid-19 pandemic and the vast savings that the Council has made by not spending the money on these planned events, could you please clarify if the said allocated monies for these events are going to be carried over to re-scheduled events next year?
The Cabinet Member for Culture and Visitor Economy stated that the Council had not made vast savings by not holding the Gravity Fields Festival in 2020. Early preparatory work on the Festival had incurred costs of £24,000, before the decision to postpone the event had been taken. The financial challenges of Covid-19 had meant that the £100,000 savings from not holding the Gravity Fields Festival were likely to be required to support the Council’s shortfall in the budget, due to Covid-19, which was currently £3.4 million. Serious consideration was required in relation to the Council’s funding for the remainder of the year, and the Cabinet Member could not confirm that any events funding would be rolled over for future years.
Mr Cornell appreciated the answer given, but stated that South Kesteven District Council had received monies from central Government to cover shortfalls due to Covid-19. The Cabinet Member for Culture and Visitor Economy responded that Government funding received did not cover costs for events.
Question 2
Question to: Councillor Rosemary Trollope-Bellew, the Cabinet Member for Culture and Visitor Economy From: Struan Cornell, Bourne
“Could you please clarify if there are any plans for the Bourne CiCLE Festival to restart next year (2021) and run for three consecutive years, as was originally planned?”
The Cabinet Member for Culture and Visitor Economy recognised that festivals and events were inclusive and valued by communities and helped to make South Kesteven an attractive place to live and visit. Festivals required a lot of planning and needed to demonstrate value for money. The Council provided many services to residents and businesses within South Kesteven and a review of festivals would be taking place to see how and where money was spent. The Bourne CiCLE Festival could not be wholly supported by the District Council and there had been no proposition demonstrating how funding provided by the Council would be used to secure match-funding from other sources.
Key festivals that the Council held were Gravity Fields Festival in Grantham and the Georgian Festival in Stamford which were held in alternate years. The events had to be inclusive, benefit the wider residents, business communities, and demonstrate value for money. The Cabinet Member for Culture and Visitor Economy stated that she would welcome a sound business case for any event to enable it to be considered through the right processes. Any business case needed to demonstrate the economic and social benefits of the event and the staging and funding sought, not just from the Council, but stakeholders and sponsors. The business case should also include support from residents and the business community. ... view the full minutes text for item 107. |
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Register of attendance and apologies for absence
Minutes: The Chief Executive took a register of attendance of all Members. Apologies were received from Councillor Broughton, Councillor Exton and Councillor Goral. Apologies for late attendance were received from Councillor Robins. |
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Disclosure of Interests
Members are asked to disclose any interests in matters for consideration at the meeting. Minutes: The Chairman of the Council declared a disclosable pecuniary interest in relation to agenda item 7 and left the meeting during the debate and voting on this item. |
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Minutes of the meeting held on 14 May 2020
Additional documents: Minutes: The minutes of the meeting held on 14 May 2020 were proposed, seconded and agreed as a correct record. |
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Minutes of the meeting held on 1 July 2020
Minutes: Members had received two sets of minutes for 1 July 2020 as part of their agenda packs. Clarity was asked about which set Members were agreeing for accuracy.
It was AGREED:
To defer the Minutes of 1 July 2020 to later in the agenda to allow Democratic Service Officers to determine which set of minutes was correct.
As the extended time of the meeting did not allow consideration of this item, it was deferred until the next ordinary meeting of the Council.
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Communications (including Chairman's Announcements)
An overview of the Chairman’s engagements Minutes: The Council noted the Chairman’s engagements. The Chairman highlighted the flag raising for the RAF which was the first time that the flag had been raised in Grantham and the tree planting in the Heroes Orchard.
The Chairman also wished to place on record her thanks to Councillor Chris Benn for his work and contribution to the Council, following his resignation earlier in the year.
The Chairman also made members aware that the Council had been shortlisted in two categories of the Local Authority Building Control Excellence Awards 2020. The first category was the Best Large Commercial Project for the Savoy Cinema and the second category was the Best High Volume New Housing Development for Phase 2 at Wherry’s Lane, Bourne. Decisions would be made at a virtual awards ceremony on 27 August 2020. |
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Future High Street Fund: Budgetary Provision
Report of the Deputy Leader of the Council Additional documents: Minutes: As the Chairman had disclosed a pecuniary interest in relation to the item, she left the meeting and took no part in the debate or vote.
Vice-Chairman in the Chair
The Vice-Chairman reminded members that Appendix 6 to the report contained exempt information. Members were advised that if they wished to comment on the exempt appendix, the press and public would be excluded at the end of the debate and the meeting would go into exempt session.
The Deputy Leader presented his report which recommended the approval of revenue funding in support of a Future High Street Scheme for Grantham. The bid had to be submitted by 31 July 2020. South Kesteven District Council had been invited to submit a business case to the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) for funding from the Future High Street Scheme in respect of Grantham town centre following a successful expression of interest. A revenue grant from the MHCLG had allowed for the appointment of an external consultancy team to compile a masterplan for Grantham town. A programme of internal and external consultation had taken place to inform the draft business case which had been submitted in March 2020.
The final preferred option expressed in the draft business case included public realm enhancement schemes, developments within the town centre and third party grants to enable vacant premises in the town centre to be brought back into use.
The plans for Grantham were a major opportunity to attract Government funding. Grantham was ideally placed with its infrastructure and strategic connections and had a wealth of historic and architectural heritage. This had been recognised by the recent Heritage Action Zone status. The acquisition and redevelopment of key town centre sites was needed to make those areas within Grantham more attractive. The total cost of the bid was £19,691,969 with a requested contribution from the Future High Street Fund of £8,061,845. The revenue contribution from South Kesteven was £379,092 over a four year period and would be included in the final bid, submitted by 31 July 2020.
The establishment of a ’Town Team‘ was proposed; this would be a partnership body. There would also be a Town Centre Manager whose remit would be to help deliver the action plan set out and agreed by the ‘Town Team’. It would also undertake monitoring of the funding and evaluation of the programme at key milestones within the scheme during the four year period.
The Deputy Leader thanked officers within the Council and at InvestSK for their work on the bid together with the Leader and Cabinet Members. The Deputy Leader recommended that the Council allocated a revenue budget of £379,092 as the Council’s contribution towards the Future High Street Scheme for Grantham town centre. The proposal was seconded.
The Leader of the Council stated that the multi-million pound bid was for an investment in the future of Grantham town centre. The project would revitalise the town centre, improve access and support local businesses. The bid had ... view the full minutes text for item 113. |
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Exclusion of the Press and Public Chairman back in the Chair.
It was proposed, seconded and agreed that in accordance with Section 100 (a) (4) of the Local Government Act 1972 the press and public be excluded from the meeting during consideration of the next item of business because of the likelihood that otherwise exempt information, as described in paragraph 3 of the Act would be disclosed to them. |
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Financial Impact of COVID-19 on the Leisure Service
Report of the Deputy Leader of the Council.
This report contains information which is exempt under paragraph 3 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended) because it contains information relating to the financial or business affairs of an individual or organisation. Additional documents: Minutes: The minute relating to this item contains exempt information under section 100 (a)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, paragraph 3 of Schedule 12 A of the Act. Information exempt under paragraph 3 is information which relates to the financial or business affairs of an individual or organisation.
On being put to the vote, it was AGREED:
To approve the recommendations as set out in the exempt report of the Deputy Leader of the Council.
All those excluded during the discussion of the exempt item were returned to the meeting.
Meeting adjourned between 15:10 – 15:22.
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Programme of meetings 2020/21
Report of the Leader of the Council Additional documents: Minutes: The Leader of the Council presented his report on the draft programme of meetings for 2020/21. Following the recommendation from the Cabinet that the draft be adopted, the Leader proposed the draft programme with two changes: the removal of the Budget Overview and Scrutiny Committee on 21 October 2020 and the inclusion of an additional ordinary meeting of the Council on 1 October 2020.
A comment was made in relation to the workload of those on the Planning Committee due to the increased number of meetings and therefore site visits. The timeframe for the review of the Constitution was also commented on, it was noted that the completed review of the Constitution was not expected to be complete until 2021.
On being put to the vote, it was AGREED:
That the draft programme of meetings for 2020/21 including the two changes proposed by the Leader be approved. |
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Recommendations from the Constitution Committee
Additional documents: Minutes: The Chairman of the Constitution Committee presented her report which included the recommendations from the meeting of the Constitution Committee held on 29 June 2020.
On 16 December 2019 the Constitution Committee had agreed a project plan to review the Constitution. A Working Group was formed, made up of all members of the Committee. The Working Group had met four times since January 2020.
The Covid-19 pandemic had meant that progress on the review had been suspended temporarily. The Chairman of the Constitution Committee thanked members of the Committee and officers for their work to date in respect of the review. A revised copy of the Summary and Explanation and Articles 1 – 4 were appended to the report. The revisions to the documents were shown in red with the changes tracked. Where parts had been taken out, these had been moved to more appropriate parts of the Constitution and the Chairman of the Constitution Committee stressed to members that nothing had been taken out. Article 4 was a revision of Article 17 on decision making which it was felt should be brought forward within the Constitution for ease of reference. Other parts of the original Article 17 would be moved elsewhere within the Constitution.
Regular reports from the Constitution Committee would be brought before Council until the review was completed in March 2021. When Council had agreed the revisions to the Articles these would be collated within a new Constitution document.
The Working Group had also considered the definition for Key Decisions and what constituted significant expenditure or savings when making a Key Decision. The Committee had carefully considered this issue and had made a recommendation as outlined in the report. The Chairman of the Constitution Committee proposed the recommendations contained within the report. The proposal was seconded.
One member expressed concern about the content and quality of the documents before members and the timeframe given for members to look at the documents. He had concerns about the number of members who had attended some of the Working Groups and that the notes from the Working Group meetings and the last Constitution Committee were not available. He felt that the documents before members had not been sufficiently scrutinised by all members for them to vote on it.
A comment was made about the loose-leaf booklet that had previously contained the Constitution and whether consideration could be given to providing something similar in the future.
Another member stated that he recognised the need to review the Constitution, but he did not agree with some of the changes that had been made. He referred to the proposal at Article 2, Members of the Council, under other rights where a change had been made so that a member could request that an item was placed on an Overview and Scrutiny Committee agenda rather than have a right to do so. He also asked for a point of order in relation to 1.6 in Article 1 where it stated that:
“Changes to the ... view the full minutes text for item 116. |
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Appointments to Committees
Report of the Chief Executive Additional documents: Minutes: Following the resignation of Councillor Benn the Council was asked to review its appointments to Committees and appoint a new Chairman of the Environment Overview and Scrutiny Committee. Outside body appointments were also required for the Lincolnshire County Council Flood and Drainage Management Committee, the Black Sluice Internal Drainage Board and the Upper Witham Internal Drainage Board. The political balance calculation for the Environment Overview and Scrutiny Committee and the Governance and Audit Committee were contained within the agenda pack. The political balance calculation for the Companies Committee was circulated separately as an addendum to the report. There was no change to the political balance of the Committees.
A member asked if she could ask a question of the nominees, it was confirmed that any questions could be asked during the debate.
The Chief Executive asked the Leader for the Conservative Group’s nominations. The Leader nominated Councillor Helen Crawford to the Environment Overview and Scrutiny Committee, Councillor Jacky Smith to the Governance and Audit Committee and Councillor Susan Sandall to the Companies Committee.
The Chief Executive then asked for nominations for the Chairmanship of the Environment Overview and Scrutiny Committee. The Leader nominated Councillor Nikki Manterfield for the Chairmanship. The Independent Group Leader nominated Councillor Ashley Baxter. He referred to when there was only one Scrutiny Committee, which had been chaired by an opposition member. He felt that it was an opportunity for the Leader of the Council to choose a Chairman from the opposition.
Concern was expressed by some Members over whose responsibility it was to appoint the Chairman of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee and the Monitoring Officer referred members to 6.5.5 of the Constitution.
A point of Order was made that the one hour extension to the meeting had been reached.
6.5.5 stated:
‘If the Chairman or Vice-Chairman resigns either from that position or from the Council by giving written notice of resignation to the Chief Executive, the Council shall, at its next meeting, elect a successor.’
It was therefore the responsibility of the Council.
The Leader stated that as the meeting had reached its one hour extension, he proposed a 15 minute extension to complete this item and that all other items be deferred to the next meeting of the Council. The proposal was seconded and agreed.
The Monitoring Officer advised that if the nomination from the Leader failed when voted on, a further nomination could be made.
The Group Leader for the Independent Group wanted to be able to make a second nomination which had been allowed in the past, and he asked that the Procedure Rules be suspended for this item. The Monitoring Officer stated that the item did not come under the Procedure Rules of the Council. The Constitution was clear that the Council made the decision. Members had a recommendation before them from the Leader which had been seconded. If the vote for this nomination failed, then a further nomination could be considered.
A Point of Order was made about debating the ... view the full minutes text for item 117. |
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Boothby Pagnell Parish Meeting
Report of the Leader of the Council Additional documents: Minutes: A request had been received from Boothby Pagnell Parish Meeting for South Kesteven District Council to confer additional powers on it in relation to community centres, crime prevention, general powers, highways, parish documents, town and country planning and traffic calming as outlined within the report. The additional powers would allow the Parish Meeting to gain independence by empowering the local community.
As the meeting had exceed the time limits agreed, no debate on the item followed. The proposal to approve the making of an Order conferring additional powers on Boothby Pagnell Parish Meeting was proposed and seconded.
On being put to the vote, it was AGREED:
To approve the making of an Order, as attached at Appendix 2 to the report contained within the agenda pack conferring additional powers on Boothby Pagnell Parish Meeting. |
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Swinstead Parish Council
Report of the Chief Executive Additional documents: Minutes: Swinstead Parish Council had recently had three resignations and was therefore inquorate and unable to hold meetings and conduct business.
A temporary appointment of Councillor Nick Robins had been made to Swinstead Parish Council to make the parish council quorate and allow it to conduct urgent business until a new member had been co-opted and taken up office.
As the meeting had exceed the time limits agreed, no debate on the item followed.
The Council NOTED the appointment of Councillor Nick Robins on a temporary basis to Swinstead Parish Council.
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Update from the Leader of the Council
Minutes: Item deferred to the next ordinary meeting of the Council. |
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Meetings of the Cabinet
Report of the Leader of the Council Additional documents: Minutes: Item deferred to the next ordinary meeting of the Council. |
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Decisions made under urgency provisions
Report of the Leader of the Council Additional documents: Minutes: Item deferred until the next ordinary meeting of the Council. |
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Members' Open Questions
A 45-minute period in which members may ask questions of the Leader, Cabinet Members, the Chairmen and Vice-Chairmen of the Overview and Scrutiny Committees and opposition group leaders excluding the Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the Development Management Committee, Licensing and Alcohol, Entertainment and Late Night Refreshment Licensing Committees and Governance and Audit Committee. Minutes: As the meeting had reached the extended time limit agreed by Members no open question session took place. |
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Notices of Motion given under Article 4.9 of the Council's Constitution:
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Councillor Ashley Baxter
The council resolves that: 1) Cabinet commissions a report into how the Coronavirus episode has impacted our operations, focusing specifically on opportunities to make long term environmental and financial savings (The report should be produced and published before the end of the December 2020). 2) Environment Committee and Cabinet to prioritise within their workplans: a) consideration of how to use remote working opportunities for staff and members to the mutual benefit of the council and individuals. b) further consideration of opportunities to improve grounds maintenance practices to improve ecology and reduce costs c) in partnership with the waste disposal authority, consideration of how waste collection and disposal systems could be enhanced to improve efficiency and recycling rates. Minutes: Item deferred to the next ordinary meeting of Council. |
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Councillor Virginia Moran
1. This Council resolves to grant free parking in Council car parks to ultra-low emission vehicles with ‘green’ registration plates. 2. After six months of operation, this policy will be reviewed by the relevant Overview and Scrutiny Committee. 3. The free parking will not be permitted beyond the existing maximum parking periods.
Minutes: Item deferred to the next ordinary meeting of Council. |
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Councillor Annie Mason
As we move into the recovery phase of the COVID-19 crisis it is essential that the Council puts the Mental Health and Wellbeing of residents, staff and Councillors at the forefront of our agenda. Therefore, we ask the Council to sign the Mental Health Challenge, set out below: This Council notes: This council believes: This council resolves: 1. Support positive mental health in our community, including in local schools, neighbourhoods and workplaces 2. Work to reduce inequalities in mental health in our community 3. Work with local partners to offer effective support for people with mental health needs 4. Tackle discrimination on the grounds of mental health in our community Proactively listen to people of all ages and backgrounds about what they need for better mental health. Additional documents: Minutes: Item deferred to the next ordinary meeting of Council. |
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Close of Meeting
Minutes: The meeting closed at 17:40pm. |