Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Mrs W Bowkett, Mrs J Brockway, R D Butroid, I D Carrington, Mrs N F Clarke, R G Davies, A M Hall, Mrs J E Killey, Mrs M J Overton MBE, S R Parkin, C L Perraton-Williams, Mrs S Rawlins, R P H Reid and S P Roe.

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 20 May 2022 be signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

The Chairman invited the Council to stand and observe a two-minute silence in memory of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.  The Chairman then invited members to pay tribute to the Queen.

The Chairman reported that since the last meeting of the Full Council, there had been momentous changes in our Country.  It was with immense sadness that the Country mourned the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.  The historic proclamation of the new Monarch, King Charles III was also witnessed.  Following the County proclamation read by the High Sheriff of Lincolnshire at Lincoln Cathedral, districts, towns and parishes brought communities together to witness proclamations being read at local sites across Lincolnshire.  The outpouring of grief was immeasurable and throughout this difficult time, services were maintained which was a credit to local government staff.

It was with great sadness that the Chairman also reported the death of Councillor Angela Newton MBE.  Angela served Lincolnshire from 1981 through to 1993, returning in 2013 for a further nine years. She was an active Member on the current Planning and Regulatory Committee, Pensions Committee and Definitive Map and Statement of Public Rights of Way Sub-Committee.  A keen scrutineer, Cllr Newton was a former Vice-Chairman of the Overview and Scrutiny Management Board, and chaired various scrutiny reviews in the late 2010’s.  She was also a long serving Member for South Holland District Council.  The Chairman advised that the funeral for Councillor Mrs Newton would be held on Tuesday, 18 October 2022 at 10.30am at St John’s Church, Hawthorn Bank, Spalding.  The Chairman invited members to stand for a minute’s silence as a mark of respect.

Members were given an opportunity to pay tribute to Councillor Angela Newton MBE.

The Chairman informed members that the Customer Digital Delivery project was hosting a pop-up stall outside the Chamber following this meeting. The aim of the pop up was to showcase the work of the Customer Digital Delivery project to members. The work includes improvements to some of the services supported by the Customer Service Centre such as Highways Fault reporting via Fix My Street, how customers can book appointments in registration services and the Waste service looking at the Household Waste Recycling Centres and how they get information to customers.   Members were encouraged to take the time to visit the stall when they left the Chamber.

A complete itinerary of civic engagements, since the last meeting of this Council, were available from the Civic Officer on request.

Statements by the Executive had been circulated with the agenda.

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

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

An amendment had been submitted by the Shadow Executive.

It was proposed, seconded and

RESOLVED

That Council Procedure Rules 13.6 (b), 13.6 (c), 13.6 (d), 13.6 (e) and 13.10(b), be temporarily suspended for the duration of the debate to allow one debate on the motion and Shadow Executive amendment.

It was moved and seconded that the Council:

1.      Note the carry forward of underspends set out in paragraphs 1.16 and 1.17 of the report, which are made in line with Financial Regulations.

2.      Note the transfer to reserves of underspends described in paragraphs 1.18 to 1.20 which are made in line with Financial Regulations.

3.      Approve the use of underspend in excess of 1% referred to in paragraph 1.22 as follows:

a.      The transfer of £5.000m to the Development Fund earmarked reserve for local Highways works.

b.      The carry forward of £2.392m of the underspend to be allocated to the Council’s corporate revenue contingency budget 2022/23, to help deal with inflationary pressures.

4.      Note the performance against the Prudential Indicators as shown in Table D

5.      Note the transfers to and from reserves carried out in 2021/22 and note the position of Earmarked Reserves as at 31 March 2022 as shown in Table F of this report.

6.      Note the position of the General Reserves as set out in paragraph 1.26 and Table G.

7.      Note the key financial performance measures in 2021/22 as set out in Table H.

An amendment was moved and seconded on behalf of the Shadow Executive as follows:

Amend the existing Recommendation 3 to read: 

Approve the use of underspend in excess of 1% referred to in paragraph 1.22 as follows:   

a. The transfer of £5.000m £4.000m to the Development Fund earmarked reserve for local Highways works

b. The carry forward of £2.392m £1.892m of the underspend to be allocated to the Council’s corporate revenue contingency budget 2022/23, to help deal with inflationary pressures

c. The transfer of £1.5m to create an immediate ‘Cost of Living Emergency Fund’ for the purpose of co-ordinating urgently with the County’s seven district councils and other relevant public sector bodies and organisations within the voluntary and charitable sectors to organise and:   

Executive Director – Resources/s.151 Officer Commentary

The amendment put forward is viable and presents three items of expenditure that are all one-off in nature.

Two items are adjustments to the Executive's proposals.

The adjustment to the Highways item will result in £1m less investment in local highways projects than the Executive's proposal.

The adjustment to the Inflation contingency item will  ...  view the full minutes text for item 25.

A report by the Monitoring Officer had been circulated.

It was moved, seconded and

RESOLVED

1.      that the proposal put forward by the Lincolnshire Health and Wellbeing Board to change the terms of reference of the Health and Wellbeing Board be approved as follows:

a.      to remove reference to the functions of the Integrated Care System Partnership

b.      to remove reference to the Lincolnshire NHS Clinical Commissioning Group, replacing it with reference to the Integrated Care Board

c.       to take account of the Board’s role as a consultee in a number of the statutory processes associated with the operations of the Lincolnshire NHS Integrated Care Board

2.      that the amendments to the Constitution set out in Appendix B to the report be approved.

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

It was moved, seconded and

RESOLVED

(1)           that the establishment of and the participation of the County Council in a Humber and Lincolnshire Joint Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee, established for the purposes of responding to joint consultation on any proposed substantial reconfiguration of NHS services in the Humber area arising out of the Humber Acute Services Programme to be constituted pursuant to Regulation 30(5) of the Local Authority (Public Health, Health and Wellbeing Boards and Health Scrutiny) Regulations 2013, be approved.  

(2)           that the appointment of Councillors S Bunney, C S Macey and T J N Smith to such Joint Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee in accordance with section 15 of the Local Government and Housing Act 1989 (duty to allocate seats to political groups) be approved.

(3)           That authority be delegated to the Chief Executive, in consultation with the Leader of the Council and the Chairman of Health Scrutiny Committee for Lincolnshire, to approve the detailed terms of reference for the joint health overview and scrutiny committee.