Agenda and minutes

Venue: Wellend Room, Eventus, Northfields Industrial Estate, Market Deeping, Peterborough, PE6 8FD

Contact: Cheryl Hall  Democratic Services Officer

Items
No. Item

27.

Apologies for Absence/Replacement Councillors

Minutes:

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors M A Griggs and C L Strange.

28.

Declaration of Councillors' Interests

Minutes:

There were no declarations of Councillors' interests at this point in the proceedings.

29.

Minutes of the meeting held on 12 September 2017 pdf icon PDF 145 KB

Minutes:

RESOLVED

 

That the minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 12 September 2017 be signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

30.

Announcements by the Chairman, Executive Councillors and Lead Officers

Minutes:

The Executive Support Councillor for Economy and Place advised that the Leader of the South Kesteven District Council had recently given a major speech on the importance of the economy to South Kesteven District Council. 

 

The Committee was reminded that the Executive Councillor for Economy and Place had recently led a delegation of business specialists to China.  The visit was very successful, with a number of leads now being actively followed up.  This included: the possibility of substantial investment in food technology; enterprise parks; and vocational education by the Chinese.  Follow up meetings were scheduled to take place in November 2017 and it was hoped that there would be positive outcomes to report to the Committee in the near future.

 

It was noted that the week commencing 16 October 2017 was Lincolnshire Business Week.  A number of events were held during the week, which showcased the best of the County's local businesses.

 

The Executive Councillor for Economy and Place had attended the Lincolnshire Business Awards 2017 on 17 October 2017, which had shown that the County had a lot of strong and innovative businesses.  The Executive Support Councillor congratulated all of the winners.

 

The Greater Lincolnshire Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) had held its annual "Business Live" conference during Lincolnshire Business Week.  There had been approximately 300 attendees present at the event, which had a particular focus on robotics and how they could be used to improve business productivity.  Three important products had been launched at "Business Live"; the Marketing Lincolnshire Toolkit; and the World of Work website. 

 

On 1 November 2017, the Lincolnshire's Food Board was scheduled to meet with Government Ministers and Senior Civil Servants.  The Greater Lincolnshire LEP was also scheduled to meet with ministers to press the case for further investment in the County's utility infrastructure.

 

On 22 November 2017, the Chancellor of the Exchequer was scheduled to make his autumn statement, which the Council believed would include direct reference to the Industrial Strategy, which was something that would be particularly relevant to both the economic and environmental aspects of the Committee's work.  It was suggested that officers prepared an analysis of the budget statement for the Committee's meeting on 28 November 2017. 

 

The County Commissioner for Economy and Place advised that as part of the construction work for the Lincoln Eastern Bypass, there had recently been a successful 72 hour closure of the Lincoln to Spalding rail line to remove the rail and embankment, slide the new 600-tonne bridge into place and reconstruct and reopen the railway to live traffic. 

31.

Lincolnshire Minerals and Waste Local Plan: Site Locations pdf icon PDF 83 KB

(To receive a report by Adrian Winkley (Minerals and Waste Policy Team Leader), which invites the Committee to consider a report on the Lincolnshire Minerals and Waste Local Plan Site Locations, which is due to be considered by the Executive on 07 November 2017. The views of the Scrutiny Committee will be reported to the Executive as part of its consideration of this item)

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Consideration was given to a report by Adrian Winkley (Minerals and Waste Policy Team Leader), which invited the Committee to consider a decision report on the Lincolnshire Minerals and Waste Local Plan: Site Locations document, which was due to be considered by the Executive on 7 November 2017.  The views of the Committee would be reported to the Executive as part of its consideration of the item.

 

The Minerals and Waste Policy Team Leader presented the Executive's report to the Committee and provided a detailed presentation on the background in producing a Mineral and Waste Local Plan.

 

The Committee was reminded that as the Minerals and Waste Planning Authority for the County, Lincolnshire County Council had a statutory responsibility for producing a Minerals and Waste Local Plan (MWLP).  It was noted that this had been produced in two parts and covered the period up to 2031.

 

The first part of the plan, the Core Strategy and Development Management Policies (CSDMP) document had been formally adopted by the County Council on 1 June 2016, following a public examination.  The second part of the plan, the Site Locations document, included the specific proposals and policies for the provision of land for the winning and working of sand and gravel and for waste management in line with the strategic policies of the CSDMP. A Pre-Submission Draft of the document, as detailed at Appendix A to the report, was endorsed by the Executive on 1 November 2016 and, following a period of consultation, had been approved by the County Council on 24 February 2017 for submission to the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (SoS) for examination. Details of the consultation were detailed at Appendix B to the report.

 

The examination was conducted by an independent inspector appointed by the SoS, which had included public hearings between 25 and 27 July 2017.  The Committee was advised that during the examination of a number of minor modifications ("Additional Modifications") were proposed by the Council's officers to address issues which had been raised through the consultation, as detailed at Appendix C to the report.

 

The examination closed on 19 September 2017 with the issuing of the Inspector's report, as detailed at Appendix D to the report, which recommended the plan be adopted on the basis that it had met the full requirements of Section 20(5) of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004.  The Inspector also advised that the incorporation of the Additional Modifications would not affect the soundness of the plan.

 

It was noted that the County Council's former Environmental Scrutiny Committee had thoroughly considered the Minerals and Waste Local Plan at key stages in the development of the Plan.

 

The Committee was provided with an opportunity to ask questions, where the following points were noted: -

 

·         The Committee emphasised the need for substantial and effective consultation with local communities, including Parish and District Councils, as part of any future planning applications received  ...  view the full minutes text for item 31.

32.

Heritage and Environmental Based Tourism Opportunities pdf icon PDF 55 KB

(To receive a report by Mary Powell (Tourism Manager), which invites the Committee to discuss the relationship between tourism and heritage, identifying those areas where they believe the biggest impact can be achieved)

Minutes:

Consideration was given to a report by Mary Powell (Tourism Manager) and a verbal update from Ian George (Places Manager), which invited the Committee to discuss the relationship between tourism and heritage, identifying those areas where it believed the biggest impact could be achieved.

 

The Committee was advised that investment in Lincolnshire's natural and historic heritage was a key element in supporting the growth of the visitor economy, and of the economy as a whole.  Projects such as Lincoln Castle Revealed had demonstrably acted as a catalyst for the Lincolnshire visitor economy and had also been important for improving perceptions of the county generally and strengthening the sense of place and local pride.

 

The Committee was also advised that extensive pre-planning for events in Lincolnshire had previously proved successful, and so the Tourism, Heritage and Places teams had been pre-planning for up to 2020 for some time, of which included:

 

·       2018 – RAF 100th and Castle 950th anniversaries and completion of International Bomber Command Centre;

·       2019 – a 'Women' theme around Queen Victoria's 200th anniversary and 100th anniversary of the first woman member of parliament;

·       2020 – 400th anniversary of Mayflower Pilgrims and completion of Lincoln Cathedral Connected.

 

The Committee was advised that Historic England had recently launched a Heritage Action Zone scheme, of which the aim of the scheme was to assist areas in unlocking the economic potential of historic sites within a given area. 

 

The Committee was shown a short film which Historic England had produced on the Heritage Action Zone scheme. The video could be viewed at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=6&v=0arrM3hrw3c .

 

In addition to the Heritage Action Zone scheme, Historic England was also undertaking Extensive Urban Surveys.  It was noted that 27 towns would be included as part of Lincolnshire's Extensive Urban Survey.  The purpose of the survey was to analyse and map the historic development of 27 of Lincolnshire's coastal and market towns, making the results available in order to: influence local planning policy; inform urban historic land and buildings management and interpretation; encourage the integration of urban historic characterisation into the wider process of managing the urban environment; guide archaeological and historical research.  It was noted that Holbeach would be used as a trial for the Lincolnshire Extensive Urban Survey.

 

Members were provided with an opportunity to ask questions, where the following points were noted: -

 

·       It was noted that a Boston Heritage Forum was in the process of being developed.  The Places Manager made a note of this and advised he would develop contacts with the Forum;

·       It was highlighted that in 2030 it would be the 400th anniversary of the founding of Boston, Massachusetts.  The Tourism Manager advised that this was an anniversary that the teams were already planning for.  It was commented that there was a need to improve the accommodation offer within the Boston area, prior to this anniversary as this restricted the number of overseas visitors to the area.  The Tourism Manager advised that this  ...  view the full minutes text for item 32.

33.

Greater Lincolnshire Local Enterprise Partnership - Accountable Body Progress Report pdf icon PDF 122 KB

(To receive a report by Justin Brown (Commissioner for Economic Growth), which provides an update from the Accountable Body on the progress of the Single Local Growth Fund operated on behalf of Greater Lincolnshire Local Enterprise Partnership)

Additional documents:

Minutes:

A report from Justin Brown (Commissioner for Economic Development) was considered, which provided an update from the Accountable Body on the progress of the Single Local Growth Fund operated on behalf of Greater Lincolnshire Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP).

 

The Committee was advised that Lincolnshire County Council had continued to deliver the Accountable Body service for the Greater Lincolnshire LEP. The County Council administered all funding on behalf of the LEP including their core funding, other core contributions, growth hub, loan funding with the predominant fund derived from the Growth Deal, all of which formed the basis of the Committee's report.

 

To date the Accountable Body had received £89.9 million of Single Growth Fund (Growth Deal).  The Accountable Body held 23 contracts to the value of £232 million in total project costs, levering in £151.4 million of further investment having allocated £80.6 million of the Growth deal monies received.

 

It was explained that as part of the ongoing transparency the Accountable Body produced an Annual Financial Report, which detailed all funds held on behalf of the LEP.  The report included a financial summary with accompanying notes and was fully audited by Assurance Lincolnshire and externally by Street Audit LLP.  The report summarised what had been achieved in 2016/17, as detailed on page 210 of the agenda pack. 

 

The Committee was directed to page 212 of the agenda pack, where it was stated that having reviewed the overall Growth Deal programme, and taking into account approval and delivery of Growth Deal 3 schemes, it was clear that the 2017/18 growth deal expenditure target would not be fully achieved without utilising further free and flexibilities.  The shortfall at the time of reporting was expected to be in the region of £6 million.  The report detailed four potential solutions, which could assist the LEP in achieving the 2017/18 target, as detailed below: -

 

·       Seeking further Lincolnshire County Council capital spend within 2017/18 seeking to release the related net budget against further Single Local Growth Fund;

·       Seeking to pay the amount of the skills capital pot as an advance "programme";

·       Seeking to advance pay for local authority capital projects for them to then release secured capital budget to projects; and

·       Collaboration with LEP areas that were overspending against target.

 

The Committee's views were sought on the four potential solutions, which covered the following areas: -

 

·       It was confirmed that each of the four solutions, as detailed above, were legally compliant, and this approach had been endorsed by Government;

·       A member of the Committee expressed his preference for the first solution to be used as the preferred option, with the third option being used as the second preferred option;

·       It was confirmed that 30 of the 38 LEPs across the country were also experience the same issue; and

·       A member of the Committee expressed his preference for option 3 not being taken forward.

 

The Project Officer – Accountable Body provided the Committee with an update with some of the current projects.  A  ...  view the full minutes text for item 33.

34.

Environment and Economy Scrutiny Committee Work Programme pdf icon PDF 132 KB

(To receive a report by Daniel Steel (Scrutiny Officer), which enables the Committee to consider and comment on the content of its work programme for the coming year)

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Consideration was given to a report by Daniel Steel (Scrutiny Officer), which enabled the Committee to consider and comment on the content of its work programme for the coming year.

 

RESOLVED

 

That the Work Programme be approved, subject to the inclusion of any amendments made at the meeting.

 

 
 
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