Agenda item

The public open forum will commence at 2.00 p.m. and the following formal business of the Council will commence at 2.30 p.m. or whenever the public open forum ends, if earlier.

There were four questions or statements submitted to Full Council by members of the public. Questions numbered 1 and 2 were answered during the meeting as below. The questioner for numbers 3 and 4 was not present to ask their questions, and would receive a written response:

1)    Ahilan Sivanadeyan to the Chairman of the Council

We, the Tamil Association Lincolnshire together with Tamil School Lincolnshire, representing various aspirations of the Tamils living in South Kesteven, are fully supporting individually and collectively to proclaim and declare the month of January as the “Tamil Heritage Month” in South Kesteven in recognising the Tamil language, Tamil art, Tamil culture, Tamil food, Tamil history, Tamil personalities and many more.

Our community started on 22 Oct 2023, and we celebrated our first ever Tamil heritage month in January 2024.

At the moment we are using Harrowby Lane Methodist Church in Grantham for our weekly community gathering. We have members from across South Kesteven and wider Lincolnshire who travel hours to attend.

We as the Tamil community would like to invite the Chairman of SKDC Councillor Paul Fellows to our Tamil Heritage Festival, which is called Pongal, in the month of January. I will soon share the invitation with Councillor Matthew Bailey. We hope he will accept and welcome him to our community.

The Chairman of the Council responded:

Thank you for the statement and question. It was an absolute pleasure to meet the Tamil community and once an invitation had been sent through to the Chairman’s Office email I hope to respond positively to it. Thank you for the work you are doing.

Ahilan Sivanadeyan asked a supplementary question to the Leader of the Council:

We hope that the Council can support our Tamil community which help to connect and bring more people together. Will Councillor Ashley Baxter, the Leader of South Kesteven District Council support us by thanking the Tamil community for their contribution to South Kesteven and our country, and help us to highlight the celebration of Pongal and use the communications channels of the Council to raise awareness of our group?

The Leader of the Council responded:

It is good to see representatives of the Tamil community here today, as it is to see any community here at the Council, and I thank the Tamil community for their contribution to the lives of residents within South Kesteven. I am also grateful to Councillor Matthew Bailey for explaining some of the history of the local Tamil community prior to the meeting. I am delighted that Harrowby Lane Methodist Church are offering a venue for you to be together. I have no hesitation in highlighting the celebration of Pongal and using the Council’s communications channels to promote a part of our community. We have a strong, rich and diverse community; for example, I recently had an evening with the Nepalese community in Grantham.

The day of Pongal is 14 January – I would suggest that we fly the Tamil flag on that day as part of promoting the Tamil community in South Kesteven.

Councillor Matthew Bailey proposed a motion without notice to request a verbal update to be provided to the Rural and Communities Overview & Scrutiny Committee from either the Cabinet Member for People and Communities or the Cabinet Member responsible for IT on the implementation of a community group awareness section on the South Kesteven District Council website.

The motion was seconded. As it was a matter raised within a public question it proceeded straight to a vote and was AGREED.

2)    Karen Oliver to the Cabinet Member for Housing

Can the Cabinet Member for Housing confirm the numbers of homeless people in Grantham at a given period of time e.g. July 2024 and explain how those numbers are calculated?

The Cabinet Member for Housing responded:

The Council dealt with ‘invisible homelessness’ with individuals or families that were homeless or threatened with homelessness. Between the period May 2024 to October 2024 the average number of active homeless applications was 299, ranging from 329 active applications in May 2024 to 275 in August and September 2024.

The number of new homelessness approaches in July was 204, the highest it had been in the six-month period between May and October 2024. The lowest number of new approaches seen was 154 in September. Some approaches resulted in people being placed in temporary accommodation: in July 2024 this was at its highest at 62, with September seeing the lowest figure of 48.

These figures may give the impression of a large disparity between the numbers of homeless people and those housed in temporary accommodation. However, there were lots of reasons for this disparity. For example, in the Market Deeping Ward a resident got in touch from the private rented sector, they had received a Section 21 notice. This had been preceded by the landlord ringing her to request that she moved out. A valuer had attended the property and a ‘sold’ sign had been displayed.

The resident came to the Cabinet Member for advice, who then in turn spoke to Homelessness officers at the Council. The individual’s personal circumstances included suffering from PTSD and paranoia and being a single mother. After looking at the Section 21 notice, it was quickly established that the landlord did not have the power to evict, he could only sell with a sitting tenant. That tenant was now on the choice-based lettings system.

There was a strict process when a Section 21 Notice was issued. The landlord still had to go to court and obtain an eviction notice. Anyone registered as homeless who received a Section 21 notice could contact the Council and look into alternative accommodation; this process could span around 3 months.

The number of homeless people in the District at any one time was calculated from the homelessness case system.

Karen Oliver asked a supplementary question of the Cabinet Member for Housing:

South Kesteven District Council implemented their Severe Weather Emergency Protocol (SWEP) on Tuesday 19 November. Peterborough implemented their protocol on Monday 18 November even though their weather was warmer.

Negative feedback given to SKDC had not previously been welcomed. Would Councillors agree that the Council should refer themselves to a regulator for the numerous cases of failing homelessness in Grantham?

The Cabinet Member for Housing and Chief Executive responded:

It was unclear whether there was a regulator that dealt directly with homelessness; the housing regulator would regulate on consumer standards. The housing team continue to work with the housing regulator, and they met frequently with the Council’s Chief Executive. During their next inspection they will look at every service the housing team provides and may wish to focus on homelessness. The primary area the regulator looked at was housing compliance, which currently was rated at very close to 100% compliance.

3)    Nigel Eveleigh to the Cabinet Member for Environment and Waste for a written response:

A consistent theme arising from comments to my Facebook posts relating to South Fen Road, Bourne, is the access and organisation of Bourne's recycling centre - the 'tip'. The following are points that are frequently made - and in no particular order - include:  extending the opening hours to include extra days; the ability of residents to dispose of tyres; the organisation of the centre itself which frequently leads to tiresome and lengthy queues at peak times. I would also add that the recycling rates, which seem to hover around 75%, are perhaps not as high as they could be. What can be done to address these serious and persistent points and so avoid endemic fly-tipping in the area and generally improve the accessibility and efficiency of the recycling centre?

4)    Nigel Eveleigh to the Cabinet Member for Environment and Waste for a written response:

What can SKDC do to influence LCC to mend those sections of South Fen Road which are clearly and positively warping and disintegrating such that they provide a real and present danger to all road uses?