Agenda and minutes

The Council welcomes engagement from members of the public. To speak at this meeting please register no later than 24 hours prior to the date of the meeting via democracy@southkesteven.gov.uk

There were none.

An apology for absence was received from Councillor Habibur Rahman.

Councillor Harrish Bisnauthsing substituted for Councillor Habibur Rahman.

Members are asked to disclose any interest in matters for consideration at the meeting.

There were none.

It was proposed, seconded, and AGREED that the minutes of the meeting held on 5 July 2023 were a correct and accurate record.

There were no announcements or updates.

Verbal update from Councillor Sarah Trotter.

Councillor Sarah Trotter provided the Committee with an update on the Lincolnshire Police and Crime Panel:

‘Since I last spoke to you, I have attended 2 meetings of the Police and Crime Panel, one in June and the other last month now held at East Lindsey District Council building, Horncastle.

For those of you new to the Rural and Communities OSC Committee and recently newly elected Councilors, I thought it would helpful to just briefly explain the roles and responsibilities of both the

-          Commissioner,

-          And the PCP & Chief Constable, currently Chris Howard.

Our current Police Commissioner for Lincolnshire Marc Jones is scrutinized and supported by the PCP made up of 10 Councilor’s from the County’s eight local authorities and two independent (co-opted members). 

1)    We can review the Commisioner’s decisions and have the opportunity to question him.

2)    We have the power of veto over any precept proposals, the choice of Chief Constable, and we are required to review the Police and Crime Plan before it is published. 

Marc Jones has the vital role in holding the Chief Constable to account for operational delivery on behalf of the people of Lincolnshire. 

The Chief Constable must answer to the Commissioner in terms of delivering efficient and effective local policing to the people of Lincolnshire, and the way resources and spending are managed, as well as ensuring that the force is contributing to ensuring that policing capabilities are available to address national crime threats and cross-border criminality.

The PCC in the June meeting presented a report that provided an update on the delivery of the Police and Crime Plan (2021-2025).  The report covering the period up to June 2023.

Commissioners Update

The report updates against each of the four ‘Key Principles’ within the Plan:

1)    Community Safety and Prevention in Partnership

2)    Listening, responding and being accountable

3)    Protecting and supporting victims and the vulnerable

4)    Policing that Works

This document is a lengthy read, but I have taken a snapshot of some of the information contained within: -

Community Safety and Prevention in Partnership

The PCC continues to support the local Environmental Crime Partnership. The Chair, Ayeisha Kirkham, a name you may recognise is the SKDC’s Public Protection Manager.

To name a few successful operations co-ordinated to reduce and prevent

Ø  fly-tipping and waste crime.

Example of partnership work and successful operations:-

Ø  Operation Clean Sweep – Intelligence led targeted action days of action coordinated with other key agencies such as DVLA and HMRC to disrupt and intervene against waste crime.

Ø  Operation Cyber Guardian – removal of illegal waste service advertising on social media & Operation Asgard, seizure of offender’s vehicles for forfeiture or destruction.

Ø  The county-wide review of CCTV commissioned by the PCC. This will include a comprehensive review of the existing provision and consideration of opportunities around future models. I hopefully can report back to the committee in due course.

Listening, responding and being accountable

Ø  The PCC has arrangements in place with District Council colleagues  ...  view the full minutes text for item 18.

To provide an overview of the current end to end time for the delivery of disabled facility grants (DFG) to residents of the district, in comparison to the previous year. In addition to provide the current arrangements and future proposed changes to continually improve the delivery of DFGs and decrease end to end times of the process.

The Cabinet Member for Housing and Planning presented the report which provided an overview of the current end to end time for the delivery of disabled facility grants (DFG) to residents of the District, in comparison to the previous year. The Council were given £975,000 per year of Government funding from the ‘Better Care Fund.’ This fund was utilised to make agreed adaptations in homes in the private sector to assist people in having the best quality of life whilst remaining in their own homes.

Main points of the report included:

·       For 2023/24 year, the Council received £1,060,000 allocation for DFG’s.

·       The reserve based on previous years underspend was £2,000,000 at the start of 2023/24.

·       In 2022/23 the Council spent £666,799 from £975,000 allocation.

A query was raised on what happened to the funding provided if was not spent and how the budget was maintained.

The Cabinet Member for Housing and Planning confirmed that the funding not spent would be carried over to the following financial year. 

Clarification was sought on whether the Council shared Occupational Therapist services with Lincolnshire County Council, and whether this was the reason for delays in assessments taking place.

Occupational health assessments were undertaken by Lincolnshire County Council. The delays in assessments had been overcome on their side as their waiting lists had reduced. The assessments were crucial to ensure the right adaptations are put into place.

One Member noted that the report provided figures on enquiries sent out and received back to applications not returned back. It was queried whether the applications not returned back were chased up by the team.

In some cases, the applicant may have passed, moved property or may no longer require adaptations.

The Head of Service – Public Protection confirmed that there were designated Officer’s in place that would chase up applications that were not returned.

It was noted that table 2 included a large number of days between enquiry received and the application being set out to the client. Clarification over the process of stage one of the process that increased the amount of days between the enquiry being received and the application being set out in regard to the Occupational Therapist and the Surveyor.

The Cabinet Member for Housing and Planning highlighted a section of the report that stated 117 days from enquiry received and the application being sent out. This process had now reduced to 44 days.

The Head of Service – Public Protection clarified that the days had fallen due to an apprentice working for the Council and assisting with the applications received and the administration behind them. There was also an additional interim surveyor in post that assisted with the process. A full-time Team Leader was in position and further mechanisms to support the team were being explored. The Occupational Therapist referrals timeframe was out of the Council’s control.

It was queried as to whether the £308,000 underspend in reserves from last years budget would be ringfenced for Disabled Facility Grants only, and could  ...  view the full minutes text for item 19.

To provide the Committee an update regarding the Changing Places Toilets facilities project across the district.

The Leader of the Council presented the report that provided an update regarding the Changing Places Toilets Facilities Project across the District.

In July 2021 the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities announced the opening for Expressions of Interest bids for a share of a £30M pot to provide Changing Places toilets in existing, publicly accessible buildings.

In March 2022 the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) informed the Council that its bid had been successful and that it had been awarded the maximum £160,000. This was reported at Cabinet on 29 March 2022.

The funding was awarded to cover a two-year period for completion of the project.  DLUHC had confirmed that the funding would need to be incurred by 31 March 2024 to avoid any of the funding being returned.

Following a number of location changes amendments due to construction and financing challenges, the following was the final location listing for the four facilities:

·               South Street public toilets, Bourne (In partnership with Bourne Town Council)

·               Meres Leisure Centre, Grantham (project delivered)

·               Wyndham Park, Grantham

·                Cattlemarket Stamford

The Deputy Chief Executive (S151 Officer) clarified the funding position. There was a mismatch between the funding made available by Government and the actual amount that was required to deliver the four schemes. The Government had capped each facility at £40,000 irrespective of the actuals costs of delivering each of the sites. As set out in the report, the Council was around £100,00 short of what was required to deliver each of the facilities. The Council had been working with outside bodies to engage with necessary funding to deliver each of the sites.

The Meres Leisure Centre funding shortfall had been met by the District Council’s legacy budgets that were agreed by Council to fund changing places in respect of Wyndham Park, that shortfall would be met by the Grantham ESFCA reserve due to being within the ECA area special expense area. Wyndham Park was one of the primary assets of the special expense area.

In respect of South Street, the Council would meet the shortfall based on the model of the Town Council taking over full responsibility for the facility going forward. Cabinet had agreed back in February 2023, to transfer the freehold of South Street to the Town Council who would take full responsibility of the asset and the operation costs that go with it.

Cattlemarket was an ongoing challenge, the Council had been engaging with Stamford Town Council for several weeks to secure a level of funding contribution from the Town Council to meet the funding gap of £30,000 which was between the grant available to the Council and the cost of the facility. The Council had requested the Town Council contribute from their special expense area reserve. This decision had been agreed, however, the decision was being revisited. Concern was raised around the timescale of which the facility would be delivered at Cattlemarket.

All facilities had to be delivered and spent by the end of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 20.

This report provides an update on the progress of the High Street Heritage Action Zone shopfront regeneration programme, aimed at helping unlock the heritage potential of the town and assist in economic recovery within Grantham Town Centre. 

The Leader of the Council presented the report which provided an update on the Grantham High Street Heritage Action Zone

The delivery of the High Street Heritage Action Zone programme formally falls within the Economic Development function of the Council, and therefore under the remit of the Finance and Economic Overview and Scrutiny Committee (FEOSC).

        Regular reports are submitted to FEOSC for consideration. The last report to be presented to the committee was in September 2023. This was the first report to be submitted to the committee since the Local Government Elections in May 2023.

Subsequent changes to the Committee resulted in shopfronts and funding being included within the remit of the Rural and Communities Overview and Scrutiny Committee. It was therefore a recommendation of the FEOSC, the report be shared with the Rural and Communities Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

The project was in its fourth and final year of delivery, regular reports would be taken to the Council’s Finance and Economic Overview and Scrutiny Committee for consideration.

It was reported that 9 shopfront regeneration schemes were scheduled for completion by the end of the programme. 3 projects were completed and 4 were currently under delivery and project Officer’s were awaiting confirmation on the commencement date for the remaining two shopfronts.

The Leader of the Council provided program updates on each scheme, ass et out in the appendix A.

One Member raised concern in relation to 71 High Street, AddAction being at risk, however, it was 80% completed. A further update was requested on this specific scheme.

The High Street Heritage Action Zone Project Manager clarified that due to the scale of the project and economic factors that the construction industry was facing, this resulted in unfortunate delays, for example, contractor being over stretched with the number of projects taken on. Through the scheme, the Council were required to use specialist contractors who understood heritage buildings.

The original contractor for the scheme at 71 High Street was no longer working on the project and the property owners were appointing a new contractor to complete the works and would recruit the contractor appropriately within Historic England’s requirements for the grant funding.

It was queried that if the scheme was not completed by March 2024, whether the property owner would take on full cost of the regeneration project.

It was confirmed that the property owner would incur the full cost of the project, if it was not completed by the deadline.

Members raised a query on whether the Council were encouraging more shop fronts to be done. It was noted that there were two pending shopfront opportunities.

The two pending shop front schemes were pending due to the Council awaiting a start date from the contractor for the works to take place. The grant had been agreed.

At this stage of the process, the Council were not looking to take anymore applications for grants through this scheme due to timings and budget available to deliver any other regeneration projects.

Clarification was sought  ...  view the full minutes text for item 21.

The purpose of this report is to outline the requirements placed upon the Council in relation to the publication of equality information and to offer Members the opportunity to consider the draft 2023 Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Annual Position Statement.

The Community Engagement Manager presented the report Draft Equality Diversity Annual Position Statement for 2022/23 to the Committee. 

The document was produced in accordance with the Council’s legal duties under the Public Sector Equality duty which required the authority to publish information to show how they comply with the Equality Act 2010. South Kesteven District Council was required to publish information relating to the workforce and the communities they serve. 

The document provided:

·       Background on the Council’s responsibilities under the Public Sector Equality Duty and our Equality Objectives.

·       A profile of the District and Demographics – made up of Census 2021 information.

·       The document also provided a small insight into how the Council continues to support its staff and customers.

·       The Position Statement provided workforce statistics. 

The document would undergo graphic design prior to its publication to the Council’s website.

Members thanked the Officer for their report and the ongoing work taking place around the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Annual Position Statement.

One Member noted the wording around the profile of the District Demographics and highlighted that residents living in a rural area may not live in a village.

The Community Engagement Manager confirmed that the wording within the document could be adapted to include ‘hamlets’ to include residents living in rural areas.

That the Committee:

1.    Notes the 2023 draft Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Annual Position Statement and offers comment on the content.

It was proposed, seconded, and AGREED to recommend the Cabinet Member for People and Communities that the information be published at the earliest opportunity.

The purpose of this report is threefold to provide information and assurance on:

·       South Kesteven District Council’s delivery of the Prevent duty and responsibilities hosted within the Community Engagement Team

·       Activity delivered across Lincolnshire through the Prevent Steering Group

·       Notable local events and national highlights.

The Cabinet Member for People and Communities presented the report to the Committee in relation to Prevent.

Historically, Prevent, which sat within the Safeguarding arena, had formed part of the wider Annual Report on Safeguarding which was reported to Governance and Audit Committee.

It was considered to be an important topic in its own right and therefore important that an update be provided to Members on the Council’s responsibilities under the Prevent Duty, our involvement in the county Prevent Steering Group and to provide an overview to this committee of some of the work Officers had been involved in through the Steering Group on engaging with communities.

This report provided information on:

·       The legislation under which the Council has the duty to have due regard to the need to prevent people from being drawn into terrorism.

·       The Prevent Duty and our responsibilities.

·       The County Prevent Steering Group.

·       The Counter Terrorism Local Profile and the three key priorities for Lincolnshire.

·       The County Prevent Delivery Plan and the status of actions.

·       Channel – the multi-agency approach to provide support at the earliest stage to people identified as being vulnerable to being drawn into terrorism.

·       Forthcoming changes to the Prevent Duty and to the Protect Duty

Members noted the importance of the report.

One Member suggested that an annual update be brought to this Committee, due to the high importance of the topic within communities.

ACTION: That a Prevent Update be brought to the Committee annually.

A query was raised on the number of Elected Members and Council Officer’s that had completed compulsory Prevent training. 

The Community Engagement Manager informed the Committee that 50 Elected Members out of 56 had completed Prevent training. In terms of Council Officer’s, 263 had received face-to-face. Other staff would complete the training where necessary, dependent on their job role. Every Council colleague also had access to Prevent e-learning.

That the Committee:

1.    Is invited to consider the content of the report and comment if it wishes.

2.    Is invited to consider if an update relating to Prevent should be added annually to their Work Programme.

The purpose of this report is to provide an update on the SK Community Fund which supports the development of community amenities, community events and provides funding to groups that provide support to local communities. The report outlines the requirements applicants must follow to be, and remain, eligible for funding through the scheme.

The Cabinet Member for People and Communities presented the report which provided an update on the SK Community Fund. 

Previous reports to this Committee had focused on changes to the Fund’s criteria. The report provided an overview of the Fund and outlined the requirements applicants must follow to be, and remain, eligible for funding through the SK Community Fund.

It further provided information on grants and eligibility and an update on the number and financial value of grants awarded since the Fund opened in 2015.

The Cabinet Member thanked the Officer for the work undertaken on the SK Community Fund.

One Member noted that the report raised profile of what was expected of Parish and Town Councils. It was suggested that the terms of the Community Fund be further promoted in order for Parish and Town Council’s to utilise their precept before the funding.

The Leader of the Council suggested the encouragement to Parish Council’s to think ahead when they were setting their precepts for the following financial year, in order to establish how the precept could coincide with the Community Fund allocation.

It was noted that the Council were moving towards a new Corporate Plan, it was hoped that this funding would continue in the future.

The Leader of the Council confirmed that the funding would continue in the future. He thanked Officers for the workshops on funding that had taken place.

One Member raised a personal query around Parish Meetings in relation to funding opportunities.

It was a possibility that Parish Meetings could apply for Community Funding for speed gates, on the basis that evidence was provided of the need for it. Parish meetings would need to consult with the Road Safety Partnership in order to provide a need for the deterrent in the location.

ACTION: For an update on the SK Community Fund to be brought back to Committee annually.

That the Committee:

1.    Notes the contents of the report and is invited to request a further update on an annual basis.

To receive the Work Programme for 2023-2024.

The Committee noted the Work Programme 2023-24.

The following items were added to the Work Programme for the meeting being held on 14 December 2023:

·       Public Spaces Protection Orders

The following items were added to the Work Programme for the meeting being held on 28 March 2024:

·       Annual Crime Update

The Chairman informed the Committee that Grantham A&E would be changing to a UTC 24 -hour provision. It had been stated that it would be similar to the A&E provision, with daylight hours only, facilities for sterilisation and transfer out of patients. It would be a 24 hour walk-in facility with extra facilities for CT, MRI and X-ray scans

The Chairman closed the meeting at 15:48.