Agenda item

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 Planning Committee, Licensing and Alcohol, Entertainment and Late Night Refreshment Licensing Committees and Governance and Audit Committee.

Question One – Councillor Mark Whittington to the Leader of the Council

 

Councillor Whittington asked that best wishes be passed onto Ollie Chessum, a local lad who was representing the British & Irish Lions out in Australia. He had previously represented Kesteven Rugby Club.

 

Councillor Baxter was delighted to pass on his best wishes and to send a card on behalf of all Councillors.

 

Question Two – Councillor Charmaine Morgan to the Leader of the Council

 

Councillor Morgan asked the Leader of the Council to join her in welcoming the completion of the United Lincolnshire Hospitals Trust’s (ULT) consultation on the future of the old Grantham Hospital site. They had committed to listen to the views of residents before a final decision was reached as to its future.

 

Councillor Baxter was not surprised that Councillor Morgan was raising this issue following her hard work with the local community on this issue.

 

Question Three – Councillor Tim Harrison to the Deputy Leader of the Council and Portfolio Holder for Leisure and Culture

 

Councillor Harrison highlighted the success of the Grantham Guildhall Arts Centre and asked the Deputy Leader to outline which factors had contributed to this success, and whether they could be applied at Bourne Corn Exchange or the Stamford Arts Centre.

 

Councillor Paul Stokes responded. One of the successes involved looking at the staffing structure. Streamlining staffing and attracting the right people had worked extremely well. Stamford already had a successful Arts Centre with the only cinema in Stamford, and this success would be built on. Bourne had the best multi-use venue in the district and was a wonderful space for rentals, weddings etc. It was doing incredibly well with a wonderful team.

 

Question Four – Councillor Steven Cunnington to the Portfolio Holder for Housing

 

Councillor Cunnington requested an update on housing void completion times.

 

Councillor Moran announced that the number of void properties was considerably under the target set for 9 months’ time. There were 77 void properties; major voids were down to 39 from a previous level of 68, and minor voids were down to 26 from a previous level of 38. There were 4 voids awaiting inspection. Caution was needed over a continuous drop in voids, particularly as stock condition reports filtered through.

 

The downward trend in numbers of voids was where the Portfolio Holder wanted it to be.

 

Question Five – Councillor David Bellamy to the Portfolio Holder for Planning

 

Councillor Bellamy had been made aware of several Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects (NSIPs) in the local area. One example was a solar farm north of Stamford, adjacent to the site of the Mallard Pass Solar Farm, which would span an area of roughly 7 square miles. When there were formal consultations would the Portfolio Holder confirm they would be discussed at Planning Committee?

 

Councillor Dilks expected these plans to be discussed at Planning Committee but would keep up to date with proceedings and keep members informed.

 

Question Six – Councillor Max Sawyer to the Leader of the Council

 

Councillor Sawyer asked whether Councillors were duty bound to stand for re-election if they changed political allegiance after having been elected for another party.

 

Councillor Baxter felt that Councillors were not always honour bound to do this, but encouraged the Reform UK group of Councillors to do so.

 

Question Seven – Councillor Elvis Stooke to the Deputy Leader of the Council and Portfolio Holder for Leisure and Culture

 

Councillor Stooke wanted to congratulate the Portfolio Holder and his staff for the achievement of Green Flag status at the three parks within Grantham and asked whether this was a reason why investors should come here to South Kesteven.

 

Councillor Paul Stokes agreed that Grantham was a fantastic place to come and visit and was easily accessible from London. He also acknowledged the hard work of town and parish councils in making the district a great place to live and be part of.

 

Question Eight – Councillor Richard Dixon-Warren to the Leader of the Council and Portfolio Holder for HR, Finance and Economic Development

 

Councillor Dixon-Warren asked whether it was consistent with the Council’s values of ‘making a difference’, ‘supportive to all’, and ‘kindness’ to put a resident at risk of debt or poverty by imposing a council tax second home premium that was nearly as high as their annual state pension.

 

Councillor Baxter apologised to the resident concerned. Advice was being taken to get the reply in this example right. The situation with second homes was difficult – the desire was to promote the use of housing, and not to have homes empty for large portions of the year. The law changed recently allowing a council tax premium to be placed on second homes; this had risen from 90% of Council Tax to 200% to encourage people to live at the address they were paying Council Tax on.

 

Question Nine – Councillor Robert Leadenham to the Leader of the Council and Portfolio Holder for HR, Finance and Economic Development

 

Councillor Leadenham asked how the £75,000 recently approved by Cabinet for consultancy work on Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) would be monitored and reported to allow Councillors to check for value for money.

 

Councillor Baxter reported that the picture surrounding LGR was not one of unanimity, particularly in places such as Rutland where there were ties to both Lincolnshire and Leicestershire.

 

To put together a sensible bid there needed to be support within the budget for consultancy work.

 

Question Ten – Councillor Sarah Trotter to the Leader of the Council and Portfolio Holder for HR, Finance and Economic Development

 

Councillor Trotter asked the Leader of the Council whether he would write a letter to the Home Secretary in support of Lincolnshire Police and the Police and Crime Commissioner. Councillor Trotter highlighted fears about their future, with the prospect of Lincolnshire Police being declared bankrupt.

 

Councillor Baxter was happy to write a letter to the Home Secretary with support from Councillors Trotter and Dilks, as representatives on the Lincolnshire Police and Crime Panel.

 

Question Eleven – Councillor Ben Green to the Chairman of the Environment Overview and Scrutiny Committee

 

Councillor Green asked the Chairman of the Environment Overview and Scrutiny Committee to commit to regular, scheduled litter picks across the district’s stretch of the A1 Road.

 

Councillor Stooke promised to report back to Councillor Green on this matter.

 

Question Twelve – Councillor Matt Bailey to the Portfolio Holder for Property and Public Engagement

 

Councillor Bailey asked for the new opening times of the Conduit Lane toilets in Grantham to be confirmed.

 

Councillor Cleaver pledged to confirm these times outside of the meeting and would respond to any correspondence from Councillor Bailey on this issue.

 

Question Thirteen – Councillor Helen Crawford to the Leader of the Council and Portfolio Holder for HR, Finance and Economic Development

 

Councillor Crawford asked whether other districts in Lincolnshire were looking to include Rutland County Council within their plans for LGR.

 

Councillor Baxter confirmed that they were. He was looking forward to a positive discussion with the Leaders of Rutland County Council and North Kesteven District Council in the coming weeks.

 

Question Fourteen – Councillor Gareth Knight to the Portfolio Holder for Corporate Governance and Licensing

 

Councillor Knight reported that there was an agenda item due at Governance and Audit Committee on 23 July related to ‘reporting fraud and whistleblowing’, which centred on procurement rules not being followed by a Council owned company. He asked for further clarity to be given to Full Council on this issue ahead of the Governance and Audit Committee meeting next week.

 

Councillor Knowles highlighted that the incident was an occasion where a rule was not followed by a Council-owned company but had since been rectified.

 

Question Fifteen – Councillor Graham Jeal to the Leader of the Council and Portfolio Holder for HR, Finance and Economic Development

 

Councillor Jeal highlighted a recent newspaper column written by Councillor Baxter which had suggested that too many representatives in local government were male, white and mature. He asked whether this was a general statement about the political system or was it local to his electoral ward.

 

Councillor Baxter stood by his column and suggested that there were not enough women, young people, or people of colour involved in politics. In his view LGR would complicate this process and make it more difficult to stand for election.

 

Question Sixteen – Councillor Susan Sandall to the Portfolio Holder for Property and Public Engagement

 

Councillor Sandall wished to know when the St. Martin’s Park development in Stamford was due to start, and when the eyesore building at the entrance to the site would be pulled down.

 

Councillor Cleaver reported that the final planning approvals were gained a month ago. New purchases of land and actual works to the site were awaited.

 

Question Seventeen – Councillor Zoe Lane to the Portfolio Holder for Environment and Waste

 

Councillor Lane asked for assurance on future proofing for food collections so that residents don’t have another spate of missed bins or changes to collections days.

 

Councillor Rhys Baker highlighted that changes hadn’t been made to waste collection rounds for 12 years. Changing the collection days for most residents was the most fiscally prudent use of resources, but it was accepted that there would be disruption.

 

Lessons had been learned for previous bin rollouts. Food waste collections were additional to other collections in the community and would be collected every week.