Agenda, decisions and minutes

There were no apologies for absence.

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

The Leader of the Council advised that in relation to Covid-19 infections, the rates in Lincolnshire were stabilising and had reduced slightly, with the rate of infection for the county, around half that of the national rate.  The full roll out of the vaccination programme was underway and the second large vaccination centre for Lincolnshire located at the Lincolnshire Showground was opening on 2 February 2021.  Lincolnshire was on target for delivering the vaccine to the first four groups by the 15 February 2021 target set by Government.  This was an achievement for Lincolnshire as the county had an above average over 80's population.  The County Council continued to work well with the NHS and was working in co-operation with the NHS to vaccinate all frontline staff as well as care home staff.

The Executive Councillor for Adult Care, Health and Children's Services confirmed that all residential home residents and staff in the county had been vaccinated, which again was a good achievement as there were over 300 homes in the County, which should give confidence to relatives and carers.

RESOLVED

            That the minutes of the meeting held on 5 January 2021 be signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

(To receive a report from the Executive Director – Resources which invites the Executive to make proposals to the full County Council on the Council's budget and council tax in light of the provisional local government settlement and consultation comments on its initial proposals)

That the Executive:

1.    Consider the effect of the funding available and revenue expenditure position as noted in paragraphs 1.24, 1.25 and Table B of the report, supported by additional information in Appendix A;

2.    Consider the Equality Impact Analysis at Appendix B and the consultation comments as shown in Appendix G and presented at the meeting;

        2a) Approve for recommendation to full Council that the budget for                 2020/21 be amended as follows:

i)             a new Support for Businesses Reserve of £12m be created for the purpose of implementing schemes for supporting Lincolnshire Businesses by a transfer of £12m from the Financial Volatility Reserve; and

ii)            £0.2m be transferred from the Financial Volatility Reserve to the existing Flood and Water Risk Management reserve for the purpose of providing sandbags across the county.

3.    Subject to recommendation 4 below approve for recommendation to full Council:

a)    the revenue Budget for 2021/22 proposed in Table B of the report subject to the following changes:-

                                  i.        The Financial Volatility Reserve be reduced by £12.2m;

                                ii.        The new Support for Businesses Reserve of £12m be inserted; and

                               iii.        The Flood and Water Risk Management Reserve be increased by £0.2m to £0.418m

b)    the capital programme for 2021/22 proposed in Table C and Appendix C of the report subject to the New Developments Capital Contingency Fund being reduced by £10m and the insertion of a new scheme in Highways, "Rural Road Fund" with an allocation of £10m;

c)    the levels of council tax proposed in Table D and shown in Appendix D of the report including the increasing of council tax in 2021/22 by 1.99%;

d)    the prudential indicators for 2021/22 shown in Appendix E of the report;

e)    the Flexible Use of Capital Receipts Strategy for 2021/22 shown in Appendix F of the report; and

f)     the Medium Term Financial Strategy attached at Appendix H to the report; and

g)    the Capital Strategy 2021/22 attached at Appendix I to the report.

4.    Request the Leader to review and amend the Executive's budget recommendations to the County Council, as appropriate, in light of the final Local Government Finance Settlement if received between the Executive meeting and the County Council on 19 February 2021.

5.    Request the Leader to review and amend the figures within the Medium Term Financial Strategy to be recommended to the County Council as appropriate, to ensure consistency with final budget recommendations made to the County Council meeting on 19 February 2021.

Consideration was given to a report from the Executive Director – Resources which asked the Executive to propose to full Council the Council's budget and council tax in light of the provisional local government settlement and consultation comments on its initial proposals.  The Executive was also asked to consider prudential targets in relation to capital financing and other treasury management matters.

The Assistant Director – Finance introduced the report to the Executive and guided them through a further update to the Council Budget 2021/22, which had been circulated prior to the meeting, which set out a revised Budget position following confirmation from the district councils of the Council Tax bases; Council Tax Collection Fund; Business Rates Collection Fund; and the Business Rates Section 31 grant funding, as well as the implications of the latest information on the Budget position.  The update presented a small surplus

An updated Appendix G to the report was also circulated to the meeting, which included budget consultation feedback from scrutiny committees; members of the public; and the notes from the consultation meeting with external stakeholders.

The Assistant Director – Finance advised that there were no proposed changes to the revenue or capital service budgets as presented at the meeting on 5 January 2021 and a council tax increase of 1.99% was proposed, which would be an increase for a Band D property of £26.58 per year.   It was reported that all the feedback received to the proposed budget was supportive of the proposals being made.

The Chairman of the Overview and Scrutiny Management Board (OSMB) summarised the comments which had been made by the Board when considering the budget proposals, and the Board had accepted that the cost pressures could be met by the proposed council tax increase of 1.99%.  It was acknowledged that Covid-19 was having a significant impact on funding and would continue to do so going forward, particularly in relation to Adult Social Care.  Reference was also made to the significant cost pressures in relation to Home to School Transport, however, this was being addressed as part of the Transformation Programme and the outcome of the review would be reported back to the relevant scrutiny committees.

The Leader advised that there had been additional pressures on the Council both from incurring additional costs and from lost income, however, it should be acknowledged that the Government had provided a lot of financial support during the pandemic, and the County Council had received approximately £44m in grants which had allowed the Council to continue delivering services.  There was a requirement to report back to government on how this money had been spent. 

A one year budget had been proposed, it had been hoped that the authority would receive a multi-year settlement, however, due to Covid-19 the government had only been able to issue a one year settlement.  Lincolnshire was one of the lowest county council precepts in the country, and as an authority was in a strong position financially, with a financial volatility reserve.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 45.

(To receive a report from the Executive Director of Adult Care and Community Wellbeing and the Executive Director - Commercial, which seeks approval for capital funding to provide Extra Care Housing and community supported living units for working aged adults with learning disabilities, mental health and/or physical disabilities, for the anticipated demand in the North Kesteven District)

That the Executive:

1.    Approves the payment of a sum of £2.56 million from the Capital Programme for Lincolnshire to NKDC through a Funding Agreement to support the development of the Hoplands, Sleaford, which is permitted under the state aid rules where the aid provided can be categorised as Services of General Economic Interest, with Lincolnshire County Council and North Kesteven District Council entering into a Nominations Agreement and Funding Agreement for the Extra Care Housing scheme and Working Age Adult properties, to secure nomination rights for Lincolnshire County Council on 40 Extra Care Housing units and 12 Community Supported Living units for Working Age Adults with learning disabilities, mental health and/or physical disabilities; through a process of first refusal with no void risk for a period of 30 years.

2.    Approves the under-value disposal of 0.9625 hectares of the Hoplands site for nil value to North Kesteven District Council to support the development of the Hoplands, which is permitted under the state aid rules, where the aid provided can be categorised as Services of General Economic Interest.  (The market value for this section of land is £650,000).

3.    Approves the disposal of 0.81262 hectares of the Hoplands site for market value of £250,000 to Lafford Homes, North Kesteven District Council's wholly-owned property company, for the development of market rental properties, or to North Kesteven District Council for the development of social housing, in the event Lafford Homes are unable to proceed.

4.    Delegates to the Executive Director for Adult Care and Community Wellbeing, in consultation with the Executive Councillor for Adult Care, Health and Children's Services, authority to determine the final form, and approve the entering into of all legal documentation necessary to give effect to the above decisions.

The Executive Director for Adult Care and Community Wellbeing introduced a report which set out a scheme for extra care housing and community supported living units for working aged adults to be developed at The Hoplands in Sleaford with North Kesteven District Council.  It was proposed that the scheme would offer 40 extra care apartments and 12 supported living units for working aged adults with learning disabilities, mental health and/or physical disabilities.  The report recommended that a further £2.56m of the designated capital budget was released to enable the Hoplands scheme to begin development in the summer of 2022.

It was highlighted that an important factor of this development was its location, which was very close to Sleaford town centre.  This meant that residents would be able to access community facilities and activities as well as the local shops, helping them to remain independent.

It was also noted that this scheme introduced a new aspect of including the supporting living units for working aged adults in the development of the extra care scheme.

In terms of the scheme itself, it was expected that this would deliver provision for a 30 year period, with the County Council having first refusal on any beds, and no void risk.  It was expected that the scheme would commence in 2022 with completion in 2023/24.

Councillor C E H Marfleet, Chairman of the Adults and Community Wellbeing Scrutiny Committee, presented the comments of the Committee which were strongly supportive of the recommendations and the scheme.  In addition, the Committee had been very impressed by the partnership working in order to develop this scheme.  The Committee also welcomed the mixture of accommodation catering for different requirements on one development, and hoped that more of these developments would come forward in the future.

The Executive welcomed the report and its recommendations, and echoed the comments of the Scrutiny Committee in hoping to see more of this type of development in Lincolnshire in the future, as this enabled residents to stay in their communities and remain independent when they started to require additional support.

RESOLVED

That the Executive:

1.    Approves the payment of a sum of £2.56 million from the Capital Programme for Lincolnshire to NKDC through a Funding Agreement to support the development of the Hoplands, Sleaford, which is permitted under the state aid rules where the aid provided can be categorised as Services of General Economic Interest, with Lincolnshire County Council and North Kesteven District Council entering into a Nominations Agreement and Funding Agreement for the Extra Care Housing scheme and Working Age Adult properties, to secure nomination rights for Lincolnshire County Council on 40 Extra Care Housing units and 12 Community Supported Living units for Working Age Adults with learning disabilities, mental health and/or physical disabilities; through a process of first refusal with no void risk for a period of 30 years.

2.    Approves the under-value disposal of 0.9625 hectares of the Hoplands site for nil value to North Kesteven District Council to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 46.

(To receive a report from the Executive Director – Place which seeks approval of the Draft Green Masterplan)

That the Green Masterplan be approved.

The Head of Environment introduced a report which presented Lincolnshire County Council's Green Masterplan for approval.  The Executive was advised that this had been designed to be a web based resource which would be accessible by the public and would be updated regularly.  It was highlighted that the Green Masterplan set out three main principles which were:

·         Not wasting anything

·         Taking advantage of the wider opportunities

·         Taking responsibility and pride for our contribution

The aim was to build in new approaches across the services that the Council delivered.

Councillor C R Oxby, Vice Chairman of the Environment and Economy Scrutiny Committee summarised the comments made when this was considered at its meeting on 12 January 2021 and was supported unanimously.  It was highlighted that there was increased pressure for the companies that supplied plastic products to take more responsibility for how they were disposed of.  The Executive Councillor for Commercial and Environmental Management commented that the scrutiny Committee did consider this report in great detail, but that there was no single answer to the issue of plastics.  It was felt there would need to be a range of measures in place.

The Executive welcomed and supported the report and it was highlighted that this was not a new initiative, but something the Council had been working hard to put into practice for ten years.

RESOLVED

That the Green Masterplan be approved.

(To receive a report from the Executive Director – Place which invites the Executive to endorse the Review of the Lincolnshire Minerals and Waste Local Plan and to recommend it to the full County Council for adoption)

1.    That the Executive endorses the Review of the Lincolnshire Minerals and Waste Local Plan and recommends to the full County Council that the whole Lincolnshire Minerals and Waste Local Plan is updated in accordance with the programme set out in the proposed Lincolnshire Minerals and Waste Development Scheme;

2.    That the Executive authorises the Head of Planning Services to make any minor amendments to the Review of Lincolnshire Minerals and Waste Local Plan and the Lincolnshire Minerals and Waste Development Scheme before they are considered by the full County Council, which may be necessary to allow them to be published on the County Council's website.

Consideration was given to a report by the Executive Director – Place which outlined that a provisional review of the Lincolnshire Minerals and Waste Local Plan had recently been undertaken by officers in accordance with the statutory procedure. This concluded that a number of policies required updating, but that it would be beneficial to update the whole plan in order to ensure that the policies remained consistent.

Councillor C R Oxby, Vice Chairman of the Environment and Economy Scrutiny Committee summarised some of the comments made by the Committee when it considered the report at its meeting on 12 January 2021 and highlighted that concerns had been raised regarding Policy W5 and that some decisions would be considered by the district council and others by the County Council, and it was thought that a more consistent approach was required.  However, the Committee had unanimously supported the recommendations set out in the report.

RESOLVED

1.    That the Executive endorses the Review of the Lincolnshire Minerals and Waste Local Plan and recommends to the full County Council that the whole Lincolnshire Minerals and Waste Local Plan is updated in accordance with the programme set out in the proposed Lincolnshire Minerals and Waste Development Scheme;

2.    That the Executive authorises the Head of Planning Services to make any minor amendments to the Review of Lincolnshire Minerals and Waste Local Plan and the Lincolnshire Minerals and Waste Development Scheme before they are considered by the full County Council, which may be necessary to allow them to be published on the County Council's website.

(To receive a report from the Executive Director – Plan which seeks approval of the proposed Governance Structure and Programme of Works)

That the Executive:-

1.    approves the Development Fund – Drainage Investigations and Flood Repairs Governance Structure attached in Appendix A of the report and the Programme of Works attached in Appendix B of the report; and

2.    delegates to the Executive Director – Place in Consultation with the Executive Councillor for Highways, Transport and IT, and the Executive Councillor for Economy and Place, the authority to take decisions to proceed with individual schemes and the terms of entering into any contractual documents to give effect to the schemes.

A report on behalf of the Executive Director – Place was presented which requested approval of the governance structure and programme of works to address drainage and flooding issues in Lincolnshire.  It was reported that funding of £2.2million (capital £2m, revenue £200k) had been made available and a programme of work had been developed between the Floods Team and Highways with overall spend and delivery to be completed by March 2022.

A governance structure had been established to facilitate the delivery of the works programme with updates and progress reports to be made throughout the duration of the programme.  A number of schemes had been progressed which totalled around £340,000.  Appendix B to the report set out the works which would continue to be progressed.

Councillor C R Oxby, Vice Chairman of the Environment and Economy Scrutiny Committee was in attendance to provide a summary of the comments made by the Committee and reported that the Committee had unanimously agreed to support the recommendations.

The Executive welcomed the report and it was highlighted that this was part of a much wider programme of works around flood investigations and maintenance and repairs.

RESOLVED

That the Executive:-

1.    approves the Development Fund – Drainage Investigations and Flood Repairs Governance Structure attached in Appendix A of the report and the Programme of Works attached in Appendix B of the report; and

2.    delegates to the Executive Director – Place in Consultation with the Executive Councillor for Highways, Transport and IT, and the Executive Councillor for Economy and Place, the authority to take decisions to proceed with individual schemes and the terms of entering into any contractual documents to give effect to the schemes.

(To receive a report from the Executive Director – Place which seeks approval for the adoption of a formal charging regime for giving pre-application planning advice for minerals, waste and the County Council's own applications in the form of the Charging Schedule and exemptions as set out in Appendix A to the report, to take effect from 1 April 2021)

The Executive:-

1.    approves the adoption of a formal charging regime for giving pre-application planning advice for minerals, waste and the County Council's own applications in the form of the Charging Schedule and Exemptions as set out in Appendix A to the report, to take effect from 1 April 2021; and

2.    delegates authority to the Executive Director – Place to review the Charging Schedule after a minimum of 12 months from its implementation and to make any changes that are felt necessary following this initial period.

Consideration was given to a report by the Executive Director – Place which outlined the proposal for introducing a charging policy for the Planning Services Team when providing pre-application advice to prospective applicants or developers.  Attention was drawn to Appendix A which set out the proposed charging schedule.  If the policy was approved it was planned that it would take effect from 1 April 2021.

Councillor C R Oxby, Vice Chairman of the Environment and Economy Scrutiny Committee was in attendance to present the comments of the Committee, which acknowledged that the proposed charges would bring Lincolnshire in line with how other authorities operated.  Clarification had also been sought by the scrutiny committee regarding the charging of district councils, and it had been reported that it would be unlikely that charges would be levied between the county and district councils, and supported the recommendations set out in the report.

RESOLVED

The Executive:-

1.    approves the adoption of a formal charging regime for giving pre-application planning advice for minerals, waste and the County Council's own applications in the form of the Charging Schedule and Exemptions as set out in Appendix A to the report, to take effect from 1 April 2021; and

2.    delegates authority to the Executive Director – Place to review the Charging Schedule after a minimum of 12 months from its implementation and to make any changes that are felt necessary following this initial period.

(To receive a report from the Executive Director – Commercial which presents an overview of performance for Quarter 2 (June to September 2020) against the Corporate Plan)

That the Quarter 2 performance for 2020/21 be noted.

An overview of the performance for quarter 2 (June – September 2020) against the Corporate Plan was introduced by the Executive Director – Commercial.  The Performance and Equalities Manager advised that of the 19 activities with milestones due to be reported in Q2, 89% were either On Plan or Ahead of Plan.  Of the two activities which were behind plan, both had been impacted by Covid-19.

The Chairman of the Overview and Scrutiny Management Board confirmed that the Board had recorded its support for the recommendations to the Executive.  The Board had acknowledged that the SHERMAN initiative was behind plan as it relied on Fire and Rescue staff going into people's homes, and this had been hindered due to Covid-19 restrictions.  However, it queried whether there was an opportunity for checks to be carried out when entering someone's home for other reasons.

In relation to the Create Thriving Environments measures, it was suggested that it would be helpful if planned milestones could be included in future reports to inform members of the next steps for achieving the objectives. 

RESOLVED

That the Quarter 2 performance for 2020/21 be noted.