Agenda and minutes

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

RESOLVED

            That Councillor M Brookes be elected as Chairman of the County Council for the year 2021/22.

Councillor Brookes took the Chair and thanked the Council for electing him.

COUNCILLOR M BROOKES IN THE CHAIR

On the nomination of Councillor M Brookes, seconded by Councillor T R Ashton, and there being no other nominations, it was

RESOLVED

            That Councillor A M Austin be elected Vice-Chairman of the County Council for the year 2021/22.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors P Ashleigh-Morris, L A Cawrey, A Dani, A G Hagues, H Spratt and R A Wright.

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

RESOLVED

            That the minutes of the meeting held on 19 February 2021 be signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

The Chairman welcomed all the newly elected County Councillors and congratulated the Councillors who had been re-elected.  The Chairman commented that in normal circumstances he would be welcoming councillors to the Council Chamber at County Offices, however, under the current Covid-19 restrictions it had been necessary to hold the meeting at the Epic Centre, where there was enough space to enable members to observe social distancing rules.

This venue was adjacent to the large vaccination centre where hundreds of Covid-19 vaccinations were administered daily and the Chairman took the opportunity to thank all the NHS staff, key workers and volunteers who were working hard to ensure the vaccination programme continued to be a success. 

The Chairman was looking forward to seeing the progress being made to move forward out of lockdown.  He was hoping that Lincolnshire Day this year on 1^st October would be a big celebration and would provide the opportunity to come together as a County.

Next year would celebrate the Queen's Platinum Jubilee and the Chairman would encourage all Councillors to get involved in the Queens Green Canopy in their area.  This initiative would see tree planting across the Country to celebrate the Jubilee year.

On a sadder note the Chairman reported the death of former County Councillor Jim Speechley, who represented the Crowland and Whaplode electoral division from 1973 until 2004 and was Leader of the Council from 1997 to 2002.

The Chairman reminded councillors that there was an opportunity for them to have their photograph taken for the website in the foyer, as well as access to IT support and officers from democratic services to support members in the signing of various forms.

The Council received the return of Person's Elected following the Lincolnshire County Council election on 6 May 2021.

On the nomination of Councillor Mrs P A Bradwell OBE, seconded by Councillor C J Davie, and there being no further nominations, it was

RESOLVED

            That Councillor M J Hill OBE be elected as Leader of Lincolnshire County Council in accordance with Article 5.03 of the Constitution.

In accordance with Article 5.02 of the Council's Constitution the Leader notified the Council of the appointments to the Executive and for the purposes of Part 3 (Responsibilities for 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.

A report by the Executive Director – Resources had been circulated.

It was highlighted that Councillor T Dyer would be replaced on the Flood and Water Management Scrutiny Committee.

It was moved, seconded

That the Council:

1.    Approves the Committees and Sub-Committees with the number of seats set out in the proportionality spread sheet circulated with the Order of Proceedings of this meeting;

2.    Approves the allocation of seats on said Committees and Sub-Committees set out in the said proportionality spread sheet, subject to the above change.

An amendment was moved and seconded as follows:

That an additional point be added that the Council recognise the Labour Group as the Opposition Group under Article 3.05 of the Constitution until the next meeting of the Council pending a review of the constitutional processes relating to the Opposition Group and discussions between the Leader of the Independent Group and Labour Group.

Upon being put to the vote, the amendment was carried.  A vote then took place on the substantive motion, as follows:

That the Council:

1.    Approves the Committees and Sub-Committees with the number of seats set out in the proportionality spread sheet circulated with the Order of Proceedings of this meeting;

2.    Approves the allocation of seats on said Committees and Sub-Committees set out in the said proportionality spread sheet, subject to the above change.

3.    That the Council recognise the Labour Group as the Opposition Group under Article 3.05 of the Constitution until the next meeting of the Council pending a review of the constitutional processes relating to the Opposition Group and discussions between the Leader of the Independent Group and Labour Group.

Upon being put to the vote, this was carried, and it was

RESOLVED

That the Council:

1.    Approves the Committees and Sub-Committees with the number of seats set out in the proportionality spread sheet circulated with the Order of Proceedings of this meeting;

2.    Approves the allocation of seats on said Committees and Sub-Committees set out in the said proportionality spread sheet, subject to the above change.

3.    That the Council recognise the Labour Group as the Opposition Group under Article 3.05 of the Constitution until the next meeting of the Council pending a review of the constitutional processes relating to the Opposition Group and discussions between the Leader of the Independent Group and Labour Group.

A report by the Executive Director – Resources had been circulated.

It was moved, seconded and

RESOLVED

            That the appointment of Chairmen and Vice-Chairmen as circulated be approved.

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

A report by the Monitoring Officer had been circulated.

It was moved and seconded that the Council:

1.    Approves the proposal put forward by the Lincolnshire Health and Wellbeing Board to:

a)    Change the Terms of Reference of the Health and Wellbeing Board to incorporate the functions of the Integrated Care System Partnership Board; and

b)    Expand the membership of the Health and Wellbeing Board as detailed in Section 5 of Appendix B of the report.

2.    Approves the amendments to the Constitution set out in Appendix C to the report.

An amendment was moved and seconded as follows:

That an additional paragraph 3 is added as follows – The Leader of the Council applies the principles of political proportionality when exercising his power to appoint councillors to the Health and Wellbeing Board.

(Councillor K E Lee declared an interest as an NHS employee and stated that she would not vote)

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

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

RESOLVED

That the Council:

1.    Approves the proposal put forward by the Lincolnshire Health and Wellbeing Board to:

a)    Change the Terms of Reference of the Health and Wellbeing Board to incorporate the functions of the Integrated Care System Partnership Board; and

b)    Expand the membership of the Health and Wellbeing Board as detailed in Section 5 of Appendix B of the report.

2.    Approves the amendments to the Constitution set out in Appendix C to the report.

A report by the Executive Director – Resources had been circulated.

It was moved, seconded and

RESOLVED

That the Council makes the appointments to the organisations detailed in Appendix A of the report and circulated as Schedule 4 to the Order of Proceedings.

A report by the Executive Director – Resources had been circulated.

It was moved, seconded and

RESOLVED

That the Calendar of Meeting Dates 2021/22, as circulated with the Order of Proceedings, be approved.

Motion by Councillor Mrs J E Killey

It was moved and seconded as follows:

In his first speech as Prime Minister in August 2019 Boris Johnson made clear his intention to reform Adult Social Care Services. He said

‘My job is to protect you or your parents or your grandparents from the fear of having to sell your home to pay for the costs of care. And so, I am announcing now – on the steps of Downing Street – that we will fix the crisis in social care once and for all, and with a clear plan we have prepared to give every older person the dignity and security they deserve’.

On 11 May 2021 there was a single line in the Queens Speech which read ‘Proposals on reforms to social care will be brought forward’.  But, it should be noted, similar words were used in the 2019 Queens Speech. As Councillor Wendy Bowkett remarked recently to the local media

            "We've heard strong messages from the Prime Minister indicating the desire       to have a long term plan for social care and provide a sustainable method     for future funding, which is good news. However, it's disappointing that the             Queen's Speech only hints at some future plan sometime in the future and             there is no detail on what that will    look like. After many years of austerity         in social care coupled with short term funding 'fixes', there really does need         to be some certainty and confidence behind much needed reforms.

Bearing that argument in mind, the time has come for this council on behalf of the people of Lincolnshire to press the government to bring forward as a matter of urgency a set of proposals to reform Social Care services with a clear timeline for implementation.  It should be made clear that such proposals need to be based on a fair and long-term sustainable funding model. Not only that, but we should also take the opportunity to make clear to government those reforms that we think would be of benefit to our residents, families, service providers and staff.

Accordingly, I move that 

This council calls on the Leader of the County Council to write without delay to the Prime Minister pressing him

1.      to bring forward before this year's Summer Parliamentary Recess,  proposals for a fair and long term sustainable funding model  for the delivery and funding of Social Care services which allows people to live the lives they want to lead;

2.      to take account in such proposals of the following points of view

·         the Dilnot Report’s 7 key recommendations on how to deliver a fair, affordable and sustainable funding model should be re-visited given that at different times it has had support from all major political parties;

·         the fulfilment of the pledge in the Conservative Party Manifesto at the 2019 election to seek a cross-party consensus before bringing forward proposals;

·         the importance of the need for greater integration and collaboration of health and social care services;

·         the need for  ...  view the full minutes text for item 16.