Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor R J Kendrick and Martin Kyle (Parent Governor Representative)

Debbie Barnes (Chief Executive) and Councillor R Butroid’s apologies were also noted.

All declarations will be recorded under the relevant minute item?

RESOLVED:

           That minutes of the meeting held on 30 March 2023 be approved as a       correct record and signed by the Chairman. 

There were no announcements.

None had been received.

None had been received.

(To receive a report by Matthew Garrard, Head of Policy, which invites the Board to consider proposed updates to the Corporate Plan to ensure that it reflects successful delivery and remains relevant and responsive to evolving challenges and opportunities over the ten-year lifetime of the Plan)

Consideration was given to a report by the Head of Policy which invited the Board to consider proposed updates to the Corporate Plan which was agreed by the County Council in December 2019, to ensure that it reflected successful delivery and remains relevant and responsive to evolving challenges and opportunities over the ten-year lifetime of the Plan. The Board were invited to provide feedback in advance of the plan being submitted to the meeting of the county Council on 19 May 2023 for approval.

Consideration was given to the report and during the discussion the following points were recorded:

• Concerns over the inadequate space within newly built accommodation were highlighted.
• The Board acknowledged aspirations to create a thriving environment but highlighted a need for improvements in areas such as green spaces, parks and transport links and to embed the Corporate Plan into systems to make improvements for residents. 
• Members also highlighted the lack of available and quality healthcare provision in Lincolnshire. Members were assured that since the development of the Integrated Care System in Lincolnshire, the Council had greater levels of influence on joint working and would continue to work closely with health partners on these issues.
• Assurance was provided the updates to the Corporate Plan sought to make measurable progress by setting specific measures which could be performance managed. Officers would work with colleagues in the performance team to review measures with the Council’s success framework, which was aligned to the Corporate Plan, to ensure the framework was meaningful.
• Officers acknowledged the difficulties in measuring the success of ‘high aspirations and other key priorities highlighted within the plan, given that they were not quantitative measures. Assurance was provided that the wording of the key priorities would be reviewed with the communications team to ensure the wording was appropriate in and ensure targets were attainable and measurable.
• Members welcomed the high aspirations within the plan whilst acknowledging that Lincolnshire County Council did not have direct control of achieving all targets, for example educational targets within academised schools and addressing climate change through planning matters. Whilst it was recognised that these could not be achieved alone, the Board was reassured that the plan sought to highlight what success should look like for Lincolnshire Officers would continue to work with partners to achieve these aspirations with partners. 
• A lack of provision for high skilled, high value jobs within Lincolnshire was highlighted. Members were advised that part of the Corporate Plan ambition was to achieve a devolution deal for Greater Lincolnshire which would exert a greater influence on national providers and provide a direct influence on infrastructure and place a focus on obtaining skills that Lincolnshire required for future economies, helping to achieve aspirations set out in the plan.
• Members emphasised the benefits of setting out ambitious plans and aspiring to make a difference to the lives of residents.

RESOLVED:

              That the proposed changes and feedback provided by the Board be           taken into account by officers in finalising the refreshed Corporate         Plan in  ...  view the full minutes text for item 133.

(To receive a report by Sophie Reeve, Assistant Director – Commercial and Arnd Hobohm, Serco Contract Manager, which provides an update of Serco’s performance against contractual Key Performance Indicators specific in the Corporate Support Services Contract during the review period October 2022 to March 2023)

Consideration was given to a report by the Serco Contract Manager, which invited the Board to consider an update on Serco’s performance against contractual Key Performance Indicators specified in the Corporate Support Services Contract during the review period October 2022 to March 2023.

On behalf of Serco, Ian Blindell updated the Board on key achievements and priorities for Serco throughout the period, which included supporting with business world ERP platform implementation and working in collaboration with Council service to ensure a smooth transition; supporting the Digital delivery project between Serco and the Council which was progressing well and on schedule and the creation of a digital access channel which supported online carers to create online support plan. The Board noted that Serco had already invested significantly in work around social values to support for citizens of Lincolnshire, including 550 volunteered hours to charitable organisations across the County; supporting three individuals to employment and providing over 100 mobile data sims to help support Lincolnshire’s most vulnerable residents.

Consideration was given to the report and during the discussion the following points were recorded:

• Mitigation was a last resort and decisions to put measures into mitigation would be approached in stages and on a monthly basis, with performance continuing to be recorded throughout those periods. 
• The Board was assured that Officers regularly analysed performance data in detail which could be provided to the Board on request. The Board was reassured that substantial failings would be reported. It was agreed that quantitative data which set out the impact of targets in mitigation be included in future reports.
• Members were supportive of IMT KPI 19 having been been placed into mitigation to focus on work of the retrieval of licenses for Microsoft Office 365 which benefitted the Council.
• Members welcomed the current 100% target service level for text messages responded to within one working day and 90% of emails responded to in one working day. It was clarified that an acknowledgement email or text would count as a response.
• It was acknowledged that there had been a gradual decline in the overall number of calls received by the service centre.
• It was suggested that the addition of a County Councillors’ option to the service desk would be beneficial.

1. That assurance be given to the performance of the Corporate Support Services Contract;
2. That the next update to the Board be scheduled for 26 October 2023;
3. That a meeting between Officers and Councillors be scheduled to consider key issues highlighted by the Board during consideration of the report.

(To receive a report by Michelle Andrews, Assistant Director – ICS, which invites the Board to consider a report on the Household Support Fund, Grant Scheme Utilisation 2023-2024, prior to its consideration by the Leader of the Council between 5 May - 12 May 2023. The views of the Board will be passed on to the Leader of the Council as part of his consideration of this item)

Consideration was given to a report by the Assistant Director – ICB, which invited the Board to consider a report on the Household Support Fund Grant Scheme Utilisation 2023-24, which sought approval for the preferred option for how Lincolnshire could utilise the County’s allocation of the household Support Fund. The Board were invited to consider and provide feedback on the report prior to a decision by the Leader of the Council between 5^th and 12^th May 2023.

The Board supported the recommendations to the Executive and during the discussion the following points were recorded:

·                In relation to tranche 1, 2 or 3 of the Household Support Fund, there was no option to provide funding to support longevity or financial planning, and support and advice for families and other households. However, there is some leniency in tranche 4 of the grant, and the Council is working with the district councils to look at how to link into other advice and support systems. In addition, people that had access to this support throughout the tranches had also been offered access to other information, advice and support by the partners distributing the fund, such as around food preparation, planning and budgeting, which was funded by other sources.

·                All elements of the previous tranches of the Household Support Fund grant had been fully utilised.

·                The application-based process would enable any household that did not fit into the identified cohorts to apply for assistance if they are in need of some additional support.

·                The indices of multiple deprivation would be used to determine how much each district council would receive. The funding would be allocated on a percentage basis based on the multiple deprivation that reflected the whole county and would ensure this would be weighted towards areas of deprivation.

·                All partners that were supporting the distribution of this funding were absorbing costs where they possibly could. Some organisations, such as early year providers and voluntary sector organisations, had found it difficult to absorb those costs and therefore the Council had tried to attribute administration costs within the grant to support them, but keeping these as low as possible to ensure as much of the funding as possible was provided to vulnerable households.

·                There was a range of monitoring mechanisms in place as the County Council is the accountable body for this grant. The funding to district councils was retrospective, and therefore the district councils would commit the funding and once they had been evidenced how it had been spent, the funding would be allocated to them by the County Council. In the previous rounds, the County Council received monthly reports from each district council over the period of the grant detailing their spend levels. As the tranche 4 grant was for a 12-month period, it was anticipated that there would be quarterly reporting. In addition, information has to be provided to the Department for Work and Pensions in relation to the type of households being supported. A regular management information report is  ...  view the full minutes text for item 135.

(To receive a report which sets out the work programmes of the Environment and Economy Scrutiny Committee and the Highways and Transport Scrutiny Committee in accordance with the Board's agreed programme)

Consideration was given a report by the Chairman of the Environment and Economy, which detailed the recent work of the Environment and Economy Scrutiny Committee and its forward work programme, as set out at appendix A to the report.

The Chairman of the Environment and Economy Scrutiny Committee highlighted the Committee’s concerns over the lack of supply of the National Grid and its flexibility to take locally generated renewables, particularly small and medium scale renewables and the impact this could have on economic development in Lincolnshire.

The Chairman of the Environment and Economy Scrutiny Committee reported two changes to the work programme; 

• The report on the outcomes from the Motorhomes and Campervans Working Group had been deferred form the 30^th May the 12^th September;
• Lincolnshire County Council’s Carbon Report for 2022-23 had been added to the agenda for the meeting scheduled for 23 October 2023.

The Board also noted that the Theddlethorpe investment fund was currently oversubscribed, and the partnership would allocate the money for this fund.

Consideration was then given to a report by the Chairman of the Highways and Transport Scrutiny Committee, which detailed the recent work of the Highways and Transport Scrutiny Committee and its forward work programme, as set out at appendix B to the report. The Chairman of the Environment and Economy Scrutiny Committee reported two changes to the work programme:

• the Grantham High Street Fund – Station Approach scheduled for the 22^nd of May had been deferred to the 11^th of September. 
• A report on the Bus Service Improvement Plan – Refresh would be added to meeting on the 11^th of September.  

Consideration was given to the report and during the discussion the following points were recorded:

• Improvements to Caistor high street were welcomed.
• The need to ensure that the timings of multiple schemes of highways works within one area work were aligned was emphasised, particularly with reference to value for money and consideration of disruption to residents. 

RESOLVED:

1. That the Board was satisfied with activity undertaken since 26 January 2023 by:

a.      The Environment and Economy Scrutiny Committee; and

              b.   The Highways and Transport Scrutiny Committee.

2. That the Board was satisfied with the planned work programmes of:

a.      The Environment and Economy Scrutiny Committee; and

              b.   The Highways and Transport Scrutiny Committee.

(To receive a report which enables the Board to note the content of its work programme for the coming year)

The Board noted the report.