Agenda, decisions and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor E J Poll.

It was noted that Justin Hackney (Assistant Director Specialist Adult Services) was attending the meeting on behalf of Glen Garrod (Executive Director of Adult Care and Community Wellbeing).

There were no declarations of interest.

There were no announcements.

RESOLVED

That the minutes of the meeting held on 6 November 2018 be signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

(To receive a report from the Executive Director of Finance and Public Protection, which seeks approval of the budget proposals, as described in the report, as its preferred option for the purposes of further consultation)

(1)  That the budget proposals, as described in the report, be approved as the preferred option for the purposes of further consultation, subject to £1,018,571 being allocated to Heritage Services; and that Council Tax be increased by 4.95% in 2019/20.

(2)  That the Leader of the Council be delegated authority to confirm participation in a Business Rates Pool in 2019/20.

Consideration was given to a report which outlined the Council's budget proposals for the financial year 2019/20, based on the four-year funding deal announced by the Government, as part of the 2016/17 Local Government Finance Settlement. 

The Executive was asked to make proposals for the Council's budget for 2019/20 and to refer those proposals for internal and external consultation. 

Details of the Provisional Local Government Settlement for 2019/20 had not yet been issued at the time of writing the report.  However a briefing report, which was tabled at the meeting, provided detail of the Provisional Local Government Settlement for 2019/20 and covered the following:

·         The funding that the County Council would receive from the Government in 2019/20 was largely in line with the four-year deal which the County Council agreed to in October 2017, with exception to the Rural Services Delivery Grant which was expected to be over £1.3m higher next year than previously advised as part of the four-year deal.  This grant was now expected to be £6.935m in 2019/20 in recognition of the additional costs of providing services in rural areas;

·         It was also announced that there was a surplus amount in the national Business Rates Levy Account and this would be distributed to authorities for 2019/20. The indicative amount for Lincolnshire County Council was £1.683m;

·         The county-wide business rate pilot bid for 2019/20 submitted by all eight Lincolnshire authorities, together with North Lincolnshire Council, had not been approved.  The non-approval was in line with expectations, given the success in getting a bid approved for the current financial year 2018/19. The County Council would revert to a business rates pooling arrangement with all seven districts for 2019/20;

·         The provisional settlement had reaffirmed an announcement made by the Chancellor of the Exchequer in his Autumn Budget that further one-year funding would be available in 2019/20 for both adult care winter pressures (£3.368m for Lincolnshire) and for additional adult and children's social care pressures (£5.754m for Lincolnshire);

·         Also previously announced in the Chancellor of the Exchequer's Autumn Budget was an additional £13.7m capital funding for highways maintenance ('pothole funding') which, whilst available in the current year, was expected to be of some benefit next year in terms of improving the condition of the road network;

·         The core level of council tax, which could be levied prior to triggering a referendum, would be 3% for 2018/19 (plus 2% for the adult care precept).  The provisional budget approved for 2019/20 by Council in February 2018 was predicated on only a 2% maximum referendum threshold for core council tax 2019/20.  An additional 1% council tax income was worth approximately £2.8m per annum in the income base of the County Council;

·         Further consultation papers on the proposed 75% business rate localisation from April 2020 and the related national Fair Funding Review were also released along with the Provisional Settlement, which would be analysed over coming weeks. The consultation response deadline date for both was 21 February 2019.

The Chairman of the Overview and Scrutiny  ...  view the full minutes text for item 39.

(To receive a report from the County Commissioner for Economy and Place, which invites the Executive to approve the Draft Statement of Community Involvement, as detailed at Appendix A to the report, for public consultation for a period of six weeks commencing in January 2019)

That the Draft Statement of Community Involvement, as detailed at Appendix A to the report, be approved for public consultation for a period of six weeks, commencing in January 2019.

Consideration was given to a report which presented a draft Statement of Community Involvement (SCI), as detailed at Appendix A to the report, which had been prepared for public consultation commencing in January 2019 for a six-week period, subject to the approval of the Executive. 

The Executive was reminded that the County Council was under a statutory duty to review its SCI by 2019.  The current SCI was last updated in 2014 and had set out how the County Council would engage and consult the public and stakeholders on the preparation of draft minerals and waste policy documents and during the determination of planning and related applications. 

The Chairman of the Overview and Scrutiny Management Board advised that the Environment and Economy Scrutiny Committee had considered the same report at its meeting on 27 November 2018 and had agreed to support the recommendation to proceed with a public consultation for a period of six weeks, commencing in January 2019.  Comments of the Board were included within the Executive report.

It was highlighted that the table on page 63 of the agenda pack set out how different types of planning application would be publicised and which method of communication would be used to notify the public and local communities.  A discussion took place regarding the use of press notices and it was requested that this method of communication was reviewed, as the publication that was currently used was not circulated throughout the whole of the County.  It was also suggested that although relevant parish councils were consulted, the Lincolnshire Association of Local Councils should be utilised more.

RESOLVED

That the Draft Statement of Community Involvement, as detailed at Appendix A to the report, be approved for public consultation for a period of six weeks, commencing in January 2019.

(To receive a report from the Executive Director for Finance and Public Protection, which presents an overview of performance for Q2 against the Council Business Plan)

(1)  That the Quarter 2 Performance 2018/19 be noted.

(2)  That the proposed change to reporting, as detailed in the report, be approved.  

Consideration was given to a report which presented an overview of performance for Quarter 2 against the Council Business Plan.

The Strategic Commercial and Performance Manager presented the report to the Executive and highlighted that of the 14 commissioning strategies reported in Quarter 2: seven had performed well (all measures reported in Quarter 2 had achieved the target); four had mixed performance (some measures did not achieve the target in Quarter 2).

It was highlighted that Measure 59 (Carers Supported in the last 12 months per 100,000 population) was expected to increase towards the revised target of 1,730 per 100,000 population.  Although the revised target had not been achieved in Quarter 1, the target had been achieved in Quarter 2 with an increase of 232 carers supported, compared with Quarter 1.

Also, as reported in Quarter 1 in the Protecting the Public Commissioning Strategy, the Trading Standards Service had planned a number of operations for Quarter 2 for Measure 1 (Illicit alcohol and tobacco seized).  This had resulted in a significant increase in seizure figures of 10,522 in Quarter 2 exceeding the annual target of 6,000. 

It was also highlighted that since Quarter 1, in the Protecting and Sustaining the Environment Commissioning Strategy, data for Measure 74 (carbon dioxide emissions from County Council Activity) was now available.  A 23.4% reduction from the 2011/12 baseline had been achieved, which had exceeded the target of a 22% reduction by March 2018.  A reduction of 4,933 tonnes of carbon dioxide from 2016/17 figure had been achieved.  There had been a significant reduction of 3,419 tones almost exclusively from street lighting, which was owing to the upgrading of street lights to LED and part-night lighting.

Appendix A to the Executive report provided a summary of measures that did not achieve the target in Quarter 2.  The following four measures had been reported as not achieving the target for the first time in 2018/19:

-      Adults reoffending;

-      Juvenile reoffending;

-      Primary fires; and

-      Wellbeing commissioning strategy.

The Chairman of the Overview and Scrutiny Management Board advised that the Board had considered the same report at its meeting on 29 November 2019.  The Board had agreed to support the two recommendations in the report and the comments were included within the Executive report.  The Board had also requested clarification and further information on a number of performance indicators and the responses to those points were tabled at the meeting. 

RESOLVED

(1)  That the Quarter 2 Performance 2018/19 be noted.

(2)  That the proposed change to reporting, as detailed in the report, be approved.