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 Max Sawyer to the Cabinet Member for Housing

 

Councillor Sawyer questioned whether tenants on the Council’s ‘Exercise with Caution’ list, if guilty of offences such as aggressive behaviour towards Council staff, should have their tenancies terminated and be replaced by more deserving cases.

 

Councillor Moran resolved to answer this question outside of the meeting due to the confidential nature of the Exercise with Caution list.

 

Question Two – Councillor Ben Green to the Conservative Group Leader

 

Councillor Green asked Councillor Trotter whether she wished to rule out any deals with the Green party to lock Reform out of power, as seen recently in Worcestershire.

 

This question was ruled by the Chairman as out of order, under Council Procedure Rule 12.9 as it was not about a matter for which the District Council had a responsibility, and did not directly affect the district.

 

Question Three – Councillor Susan Sandall to the Cabinet Member for Property and Public Engagement

 

Councillor Sandall asked when the work on St. Martin’s Park in Stamford would start, when the dangerous building on the site would be pulled down, how much the delays to the project were costing, and finally, how the delays would be explained to residents of South Kesteven.

 

Councillor Cleaver outlined that the delays to the project were not caused by SKDC; there was nothing that SKDC was doing to hold up the progress on the site.

 

Question Four – Councillor Sarah Trotter to the Cabinet Member for Environment and Waste

 

Councillor Trotter highlighted that there had been some teething problems collecting bins in Lincrest ward over the past month.

 

Councillor Rhys Baker was aware of some teething issues, likely due to adding a significant waste collection service recently (food waste), alongside other longstanding issues that would need further investigation. Councillor Baker would provide a written update as soon as he could to Environment Overview and Scrutiny Committee and Councillor Trotter.

 

Question Five – Councillor Gloria Johnson to the Leader of the Council

 

Councillor Johnson had heard that the Deepings Leisure Centre (DLC) site was up for sale; if this were true, what were the plans for the £850,000 set aside for this project?

 

Members were informed that Lincolnshire County Council (LCC) had declared a surplus list of assets across the County. DLC was on that list, but beyond a listing on the Rightmove website, officers and Cabinet members were not aware a sale had progressed any further.

 

Councillor Baxter would be astonished if the building was a sellable commercial opportunity. Councillor Baxter, LCC, Councillor Dilks, staff and councillors at LCC, Sir John Hayes MP, the Anthem Trust and the Head of the Deepings School were still meeting and trying to work out how the building could be refurbished and reopened. Unfortunately, whilst there was money available provided from SKDC, LCC, the school, and other potential sources, it did not yet add up to the £8 million required for the site to start afresh.

 

Question Six – Councillor Murray Turner to the Vice-Chairman of the Finance and Economic Overview and Scrutiny Committee

 

Councillor Turner asked Councillor Knight why he had voted against the programme of meetings earlier in the meeting.

 

Councillor Knight believed a previous Leader of the Council had had an adverse influence on the dates and timings of meetings. He had also felt that not scheduling meetings on a Friday was a mistake.

 

Question Seven– Councillor Richard Litchfield to the Leader of the Council

 

Councillor Litchfield drew attention to a private meeting in April 2026 involving all Councillors about asylum seekers. Councillors were advised that this meeting was confidential and the information was not to be discussed outside of the Council. There was a quote from the Deputy Leader on the BBC website, available from 18 May, with no prior internal announcement. Some Councillors had been caught off guard – was this acceptable, and had this confidentiality agreement been removed.

 

The Monitoring Officer responded; where there are any allegations regarding the conduct of any member, they should be raised with the Monitoring Officer rather than it being a matter for the Council Chamber.

 

Question Eight– Councillor Kyle Abel to the Leader of the Council

 

Councillor Abel asked the Leader whether he had sanctioned the reveal of any confidential information from the meeting held about asylum seekers on April 14^th,

 

The Monitoring Officer reminded members that any information disclosed as being confidential during that meeting remained so. If there were any querie around the disclosure of information, they should be directed to the Monitoring Officer in the first instance rather than another member.

 

 

Question Nine– Councillor David Bellamy to the Cabinet Member for Planning

 

Councillor Bellamy asked whether SKDC was on target to meet the July start of the 2^nd pre-submission consultation in the Local Plan timetable.

 

Councillor Dilks acknowledged the huge challenges in meeting the deadlines within the Local Plan, and work was ongoing to try and meet these deadlines. Councillor Bellamy would put any further questions on this topic into writing to Councillor Dilks.

 

Question Ten– Councillor Paul Fellows to the Leader of the Reform Group

 

Councillor Fellows wished to know the rationale behind the Reform Group’s failure to complete mandatory training.

 

Councillor Green and members of his group were happy to undertake training at the beginning of the electoral term, but he believed to do it on an annual basis was wasteful to the taxpayer, especially in relation to Equalities, Diversity and Inclusion training.

 

Question Eleven – Councillor Graham Jeal to the Cabinet Member for Housing

 

Councillor Jeal highlighted a report about the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) budget that was considered at a recent Finance and Economic Overview and Scrutiny meeting, where Councillor Jeal was under the impression that SKDC was spending £11 million over the proposed budget. Councillor Jeal wished to know if there was control of this overspend.

 

Councillor Moran deferred to the Deputy Chief Executive for a response on this question, who revealed that the £11 million in the highlighted report was a projection of the base budgets built in over the next three years and the updated budgets that had been predicted. There was no overspend this year because of a budget uplift, of £2.7 million, previously approved by Full Council in November 2025. The Deputy Chief Executive had previously committed to provide a progress update at each Finance and Economic Overview and Scrutiny Committee on the HRA, with the next update being due in July 2026.

 

Note:  Councillor Vanessa Smith left the Council Chamber and did not return.

 

Question Twelve – Councillor Charmaine Morgan to the Cabinet Member for Housing

 

Councillor Morgan referred to a case the Local Government Ombudsman (LGO) was scrutinising on appeal, which had allegedly identified several issues with ‘fragmentation of records’ within the Housing team; Councillor Morgan asked for any changes that had been made within the Housing team in relation to record keeping.

 

Note:  Councillors Kyle Abel, David Bellamy, Ben Green, Graham Jeal and Richard Litchfield all left the Council Chamber and did not return.

 

Councillor Moran had never seen or heard the phrase ‘fragmentation of records’. A very low number of cases were referred to the LGO. Councillor Morgan was to write to Councillor Moran with further information on the origin of this phrase.

 

Question Thirteen – Councillor Robert Leadenham to the Leader of the Council

 

Councillor Leadenham wished to know whether the £850,000 reserve for the DLC was still available.

 

Councillor Baxter informed members that the initial steer from LCC at the time was that the money would have been put towards demolition or reopening the building. The cost of demolition had since risen. Councillor Rob Gibson (LCC) had since said that the financial commitment was still there, and he would rather see DLC reopen than be demolished.

 

Question Fourteen – Councillor Max Sawyer to the Cabinet Member for Finance

 

Councillor Bailey asked what Councillor Ley was most looking forward to in her new role as Cabinet member.

 

Councillor Ley was looking forward to answering any financial queries, as well as working with all officers on ensuring a balanced budget.