Agenda and minutes

On the nomination of Councillor M J Hill OBE, seconded by Councillor Mrs P A Bradwell, and there being no other nominations, it was

RESOLVED

            That Councillor C R Oxby be elected as Chairman of the County Council for the year 2018/19.

Councillor Oxby signed the declaration of acceptance of office, was invested with the Chain of Office by the immediate past Chairman, took the Chair and thanked the Council for electing him.

COUNCILLOR C R OXBY IN THE CHAIR

CHAIRMAN'S LADY

Mrs D Oxby was invested with the Chairman's Lady's Chain of Office.

IMMEDIATE PAST CHAIRMAN

The Chairman presented a past Chairman's Badge to Councillor A G Hagues.  Members of the County Council paid tribute to Councillor Hague's service to the Council.

On the nomination of Councillor C J Davie, seconded by Councillor M J Storer, and there being no other nominations, it was

RESOLVED

            That Councillor A Bridges be elected Vice-Chairman of the County Council for the year 2018/19.

Councillor Bridges signed the declaration of acceptance of office, was invested with the Vice-Chairman's Chain of Office and thanked the Council for electing him.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors M T Fido, S R Kirk, S P Roe and A J Spencer.

There were no declarations of interest at this point in the meeting.

RESOLVED

            That the minutes of the meeting of the County Council held on 23 February 2018 be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

The Chairman advised that an announcement would be made shortly in relation to the name of his Chaplain.

134^th Lincolnshire Show

Members of the Council were asked to note that this year's Lincolnshire Show would be held at the Lincolnshire Showground on Wednesday 20^th and Thursday, 21^st June 2018.  It was hoped that as many members of the Council as possible would be able to attend what was always an enjoyable event.  The Chairman advised that all members would have received an e-mail from the Civic Office inviting them to part in the 'Meet Your Councillor' sessions, which gave members of the public the opportunity to meet and talk to their local councillor.  the Marquee for this would be located at the front of the County Council stand.  Members were reminded that entrance tickets to the Lincolnshire Show would only be issued to those members taking part in these sessions.

County Civic Service

The Chairman advised that the County Service of Dedication would this year be held in Lincoln cathedral, starting at 3.30pm, on Sunday 29 July 2018.  Members of the Council would be invited to attend the Service along with up to four people from their local community.  It was hoped that members would put this date in their diary and make every effort to attend what was always a splendid occasion.

Civic Engagements

The Chairman informed members that a list of civic engagements relating to the immediate past Chairman and Vice-Chairman were available from the Civic Officer.

In accordance with Article 5.02 the Leader notifies the Council of the appointments to the Executive and for the purposes of Part 3 (responsibilities of functions) the responsibilities of each Portfolio Holder.  The Leader also notified the Council of the Executive Support Councillors he had appointed in accordance with Article 5.07.

Statements by Members of the Executive had been circulated with the agenda.

A copy of the Leader's Annual Statement was circulated separately, during the meeting.

A report by the Executive Director of Children's Services with responsibility for people management had been circulated.

It was moved, seconded and

RESOLVED

That the Council, on the recommendation of the Appointments Committee:

1.    Approve the appointment of Keith Ireland to the post of Chief Executive;

2.    Approve the making of an offer of employment to Keith Ireland, conditional on such of the following conditions as remained unsatisfied at the date of the full Council meeting:-

a)    Satisfactory health check;

b)    Satisfactory completion of right to work checks;

c)    Satisfactory completion of a basic Disclosure and Barring Service check.

3.    Delegate to the Executive Director for Children's Services Responsible for People Management authority to determine whether the conditions referred in paragraph 2 above have been met;

4.    Approve that from and including the date on which the new Chief Executive takes up post, that:-

a)    The Chief Executive be designated as the Head of paid service;

b)    The Chief Executive be appointed as Returning Officer for County Council by-elections;

c)    The Executive Director for Environment and Economy be designated as the Monitoring Officer;

d)    The amendments to the Council's Constitution attached as Appendix B to the report take effect.

Questions pursuant to Council Procedure Rule 10.3 were asked and answered as follows:

A report by the Executive Director responsible for Democratic Services had been circulated.

It was moved, seconded and

RESOLVED

1.    That Council note the change in the political make-up of the Council following the request from a councillor to be treated as member of a different political group.

2.    That Council adopt the political balance of committees and sub-committees as circulated with the Order of Proceedings.

3.    That the Chief Executive be authorised to make appointments to committees, sub-committees and those other bodies in accordance with the wishes of Group Leaders.

A report by the Executive Director responsible for Democratic Services had been circulated.

It was moved, seconded and

RESOLVED

            That the appointment of Chairman and Vice-Chairman as circulated with the Order of Proceedings be approved.

A report by the Executive Director responsible for Democratic Services had been circulated.

It was moved, seconded and

RESOLVED

            That the calendar of meeting dates for 2018/19, as shown in Appendix A of the report, be approved.

A report by the Executive Director responsible for Democratic Services had been circulated.

It was moved, seconded and

RESOLVED

            That the Overview and Scrutiny Annual report for 2017/-18 be approved.

A report by the Monitoring Officer had been circulated.

It was moved, seconded and

RESOLVED

            That Council receive the report.

A report by the Executive Director for Environment and Economy had been circulated.

It was moved, seconded and

RESOLVED

That the County Council:-

1.    Approves the draft Engagement Strategy attached as Appendix A to the report for adoption as part of the Council's Policy Framework.

2.    Specifically support an amendment to the Community Engagement Policy to reflect the statement within the Strategy that all teams carrying out engagement activity and consultation must approach the Community Engagement Team.

Motion by Councillor S R Dodds

It was moved and seconded that:

This council wants to see a continued reduction in the number of children and young people permanently excluded from education.

To do that we, Lincolnshire County Council, must continue to challenge exclusion and act as a robust advocate for vulnerable children and young people by maintaining investment in the Lincolnshire Ladder of Intervention and continuing commissioning of the Alternative Pathway.

We need to push for national policy change, through the Department for Education and Ofsted, to the accountability system so exclusion practices are recognised through the inspection framework.  In three green papers, it has been proposed that schools retain responsibility for the outcomes of excluded or otherwise off-rolled pupils. This would remove one of the key drivers of exclusion at a stroke.

Lincolnshire's School and Academy Trust leaders are in many ways already prepared for such a change, increasingly adept at drawing on resources associated with the Ladder to re-engage the marginalised.  The Collaborative Head Teacher Panels are fully integrated in localities and schools are working collaboratively to agree on the best approaches for individual children.  Schools use the Behaviour Outreach Service to effect and have established Pastoral Support Plans to provide intensive support for pupils experiencing difficulties.  

We would like to move schools away from the traditional approach to challenging behaviour - escalating sanctions that lead almost inevitably to exclusion when there is no support - and ensure that the underlying causes are mitigated, offering a blueprint for the promotion of inclusive practice within and beyond this county.

Accordingly Lincolnshire County Council agrees to continue robust advocacy for inclusion locally and increased lobbying nationally for an approach to exclusion based on schools retaining responsibility for the outcomes of excluded pupils. 

Upon being put to the vote, the motion was lost.