Agenda, decisions and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor E J Poll (Executive Councillor for Commercial and Environmental Management), and Andrew Crookham (Executive Director – Resources).

Councillor Mrs P A Bradwell OBE declared an interest in agenda item 7 – Re-Procurement of Coronial Post Mortem and Mortuary Contracts, as her husband worked part-time for the Coroners Service and gave notice that she would leave the meeting for consideration of this item.

Councillor M J Hill OBE, Leader of the Council and Executive Councillor for Resources

It was reported by Councillor M J Hill OBE, Leader of the Council and Executive Councillor for Resources, that this would be the last meeting of the Executive of this quadrennial Council before the County Council elections on 6 May 2021.  He advised that two members of the Executive had announced that they were not re-standing for election, these were Councillor C N Worth, Executive Councillor for Culture and Emergency Services and Councillor B Young, Executive Councillor for Community Safety and People Management.  The Leader thanked them for their years of service on the Executive and also noted that they had given tremendous service to the Council and their local areas.

RESOLVED

            That the minutes of the meeting held on 2 March 2021 be signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

(To receive a report from the Executive Director – Commercial which seeks approval of the One Council Commissioning Framework, as set out in Appendix A)

That the One Council Commissioning Framework be re-presented to the meeting of the Executive on 2 June 2021 for final approval, taking into consideration the comments of Executive Councillors.

A report was presented to the Executive, which provided the draft One Council Commissioning Framework for consideration.  This Framework outlined the Council's definition of commissioning and its vision, aim and principles.  There had been extensive engagement with officers across the Council, and feedback from the Corporate Leadership Team (CLT) and senior members.

The Overview and Scrutiny Management Board had considered the report on 17 March 2021 and the Chairman of the Board presented the Board's comments to the Executive.  The Board recognised that the development of the workforce was a work in progress.  It was reported that the Board had thought that this was a very good piece of work but it would like to review it in around nine to 12 months to examine how it was operating.

Following discussion by the Executive, the following points were noted:

·         Commissioning was a big part of how the Council provided services, and there was a need to be providing contracts which were the best value for money, but also needed to be resident focused.

·         Concerns were raised around some of the language used in the document, and there was a need for a balance between using Lincolnshire based businesses and the cost-benefit.  The Executive was reassured that, in terms of supporting Lincolnshire businesses irrespective of price, the intention was not to routinely award to only Lincolnshire businesses.  The principle was to give consideration to Lincolnshire businesses, and ensure that they understood how to tender for the contracts.

·         Clarification was sought regarding where the additional resources for the Commissioning Hub would come from and the Executive was advised that the staff required would come from relocating existing staff within the Council, it was not expected that these would be additional posts, but further analysis was needed.

·         It was considered positive that the Framework was championing Lincolnshire, and giving local businesses the opportunity to bid for contracts.  It was noted that this was something that councillors were often asked about.

·         Some valid points had been raised, and there were some good points in the document and some that could be improved.  The aim of the Council was to provide the best possible services to the people of Lincolnshire in the most cost effective way.

RESOLVED

That the One Council Commissioning Framework be re-presented to the meeting of the Executive on 2 June 2021 for final approval, taking into consideration the comments of Executive Councillors.

(To receive a report from the Executive Director – Place which seeks approval  for the enhanced provision of temporary flood resilience measures in the event of local flooding incidents)

That the Executive:

1.    Approve the maintenance of a stock of 10,000 sandbags to be available for distribution in the event of a flooding incident;

2.    Approve the "Proposed new protocol for the provision of sandbags" as set out in the report; and

3.    Delegates to the Executive Director – Place, in consultation with the Executive Councillor for Commercial and Environmental Management, authority to approve arrangements with district councils for the collection of contaminated sandbags for disposal.

The Executive received a report which sought approval of proposals for the enhanced provision of temporary flood resilience measures in the event of local flooding events.

The localised flooding events which had been experienced in the south of Lincolnshire during December 2020 had highlighted a lack of clarity in the community, particularly around access to sandbags.  The events had not been escalated to a multi-agency response and were managed using existing local incident response measures.

Following these incidents, it had been identified that there was a need to enhance co-ordination during the event itself, especially if an unexpected event did not trigger the multi-agency arrangements that came into force during larger scale incidents.  As a result, a formalised policy towards sandbag provision by Lincolnshire County Council has been proposed which would set out to what level of resources could be expected and how this linked to the responsibilities of all partners.  Alongside this, a longer term piece of work would involve communicating with partners and communities about the availability and suitability of alternative new approaches which could be proactively secured by householders in advance of any potential incidents.

The Public Protection and Communities Scrutiny Committee had considered the report on 16 March and the Chairman of the Committee presented the Committee's comments to the Executive.  The Committee had unanimously agreed to support recommendations.  The Committee had highlighted that flooding was more prominent in some areas of the County and had queried whether sandbags would be distributed according to where flooding was more likely to occur.  The Committee was also pleased to learn that support would be given to elderly and vulnerable residents with the provision and positioning of sandbags when needed.

Following discussion by the Executive, the following points were noted:

·         It would be the preference of Highways, for all resources to be located at the depots and then delivered to communities when required.  The supply chains in place for winter maintenance activities would be used.

·         Sand bags would not be stored filled as they would deteriorate if they were left filled for any length of time.  The medium and long range weather forecasts would provide officers with some ability to plan.  It was hoped that most flooding events could be anticipated 3 – 7 days ahead.

·         This report was welcomed, and it was commented that with climate change, more of these events were likely in the future.

·         Officers would continue to promote alternative methods that homeowners could use to protect their homes.  Work would be taking place with the Lincolnshire Resilience Forum (LRF) on longer term communications exercises to encourage people to take up these measures.

·         It was queried how it would be made clear to members of the public where they should go for help in the event of a flooding incident.  There was a 24 hour Floodline operated by the County Council, and a number of new processes would be put in place behind the scenes to enable the new policy to be implemented.  A number of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 64.

RESOLVED

            That in accordance with Section 100A of the Local Government Act 1972, the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the following item of business on the grounds that if they were present there could be a disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Section 12A of the Local Government Act 1972, as amended.

(NOTE: Councillor Mrs P A Bradwell OBE left the meeting for the following item of business)

(To receive an exempt report from the Executive Director – Resources on the Re-Procurement of Coronial Post Mortem and Mortuary Contracts)

That the recommendations set out in the exempt report be approved.

Consideration was given to a report which set out the proposed approach to the re-procurement of coronial post mortem and mortuary contracts.

RESOLVED

That the recommendations set out in the exempt report be approved.