It was Proposed by Councillor Craig Leyland and Seconded by Councillor Graham Marsh that Councillor Dick Edginton be elected Chairman of the Council.

Councillor Leyland stated that Councillor Edginton had a lot of experience of meetings and was dedicated to the Council and would be an excellent Chairman.  He further extended his thanks to Helen Matthews, who he considered had been a superb Chairman during the past year.

It was further proposed by Councillor Ros Jackson and Seconded by Councillor David Hall that Councillor Claire Arnold be elected Chairman of the Council.

Councillor Jackson stated that Councillor Arnold had a lot of experience in council matters and also did a lot for local communities.

Upon being put to the vote, it was

RESOLVED

That Councillor Dick Edginton be elected as Chairman of the Council for the Council year 2023/24.

COUNCILLOR DICK EDGINTON IN THE CHAIR

The Chairman made his Declaration of Acceptance of Office.

The Chairman proposed a vote of thanks to the retiring Chairman, Councillor Helen Matthews and her Consort, Councillor Colin Matthews, which was duly seconded. 

In responding to the vote of thanks, Councillor Matthews expressed her thanks to all who had assisted her during her term of office.

It was Proposed by Councillor Jill Makinson-Sanders and Seconded by Councillor Daniel Simpson that Councillor Edward Mossop be elected Vice Chairman of the Council. 

Councillor Makinson-Sanders stated that Councillor Mossop was an experienced Councillor and well organised and would make an excellent Vice-Chairman.

Upon being put to the vote, it was

RESOLVED

That Councillor Edward Mossop be elected Vice Chairman of the Council for the Council year 2023/24.

The Vice Chairman made his Declaration of Acceptance of Office.

Councillor Mossop stated that it was an honour and privilege to have been appointed and extended his thanks to all for their support.

The Chairman extended his congratulations to Councillor Mossop and stated that he looked forward to working with him.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Stef Bristow, Billy Brookes, Colin Davie, Sid Dennis, Stephen Eyre, Kate Marnoch and Ellie Marsh.

At this point in the Meeting, Members were invited to declare any relevant interests.  None were received.

To confirm the Minutes of the Meeting held on 1 March 2023.

The Minutes of the Meeting held on 1 March 2023 were confirmed and signed as a correct record.

To confirm Actions following the Meetings held on 1 March 2023.

The Actions of the Meeting held on 1 March 2023 were confirmed as complete or in hand.

The Chief Executive highlighted that Action No. 14 was in hand (cost of consultants) and would request that a response by provided to Councillor Horton.

No communications were received from the Chairman or Chief Executive.

It was Proposed by Councillor Graham Marsh and Seconded by Councillor Steve Kirk

‘That Councillor Leyland be elected as Leader of the Council for a four year term’.

Upon being put to the vote, it was

RESOLVED

That Councillor Leyland be elected as Leader of the Council for a four year term.

Councillor Leyland passed his thanks to fellow Members for the opportunity to once again serve as Leader of the Council, stating that it was a great privilege and he would do his best to promote the interests of the district’s residents and communities.

Councillor Graham Marsh was appointed as Deputy Leader of the Council by the Leader of the Council.

Members were appointed to Executive Board as follows:

·       Councillor Graham Marsh, Portfolio Holder for Community Safety, Leisure and Culture, and Carbon Reduction.

·       Councillor Tom Ashton, Portfolio Holder for Planning.

·       Councillor Sarah Devereux, Portfolio Holder for Partnerships.

·       Councillor Martin Foster, Portfolio Holder for Operational Services.

·       Councillor Richard Fry, Portfolio Holder for Finance.

·       Councillor William Gray, Portfolio Holder for Communities and Better Ageing.

·       Councillor Adam Grist, Portfolio Holder for Market Towns and the Rural Economy.

·       Councillor Steve Kirk, Portfolio Holder for the Coastal Economy.

The Council to establish its committees and approve their membership for the municipal year 2023/24.

Please note Appendices A & B to follow.

The Leader of the Council presented a report which considered the allocation of places on Council Committees in accordance with the Political Group Regulations.

Members noted that the allocation of Council committee places for the municipal year 2023/24 must be in accordance with the provisions set out in the Council’s Constitution, the Local Government and Housing Act 1989 and the Local Government (Committees and Political Groups) Regulations 1990 (as amended).

Appendices A (Proportionality) and B (Appointments) were tabled at the meeting and are attached to these Minutes.

Further to the documents tabled, Councillor Makinson-Sanders updated that the East Lindsey Independent Group appointments at Appendix B included:

Employment Committee – Councillors Andrew Leonard and Daniel Simpson.

Chief Officer Employment Panel – Councillor Edward Mossop.

It was proposed and Seconded

That the Council approves the establishment of its committees, including the allocation of committee seats as detailed at Appendix A and the appointments to committees as detailed at Appendix B (plus appointments put forward from the East Lindsey Independent Group Leader for the Employment Committee and Chief Officer Employment Panel) for the municipal year 2023/24.

RESOLVED

That the establishment of committees, including the allocation of committee seats as detailed at Appendix A and the appointments to committees as detailed at Appendix B (plus appointments put forward from the East Lindsey Independent Group Leader for the Employment Committee and Chief Officer Employment Panel) for the municipal year 2023/24 be approved.

To agree a programme of Council Meetings for the municipal year 2023/24.

The Leader of the Council presented a report to enable agreement of a programme of Council Meetings for the municipal year 2023/24. 

The recommendations were duly Proposed and Seconded.

During discussion the following points were made:

Councillor David Hall proposed, seconded by Councillor Roger Dawson that the start time of the Planning Committee be put back 30 minutes for a start time of 10.30am due to the timings of public transport to Horncastle.

The vote was carried.

RESOLVED

·       That the programme of Full Council meetings and its committee meetings for the Municipal Year 2023/24 as set out in Appendix A be approved, with the amendment that the start time of Planning Committee be amended to 10.30am;

·       That the programme of Executive Board/Executive Briefing meetings and the Lincolnshire Police and Crime Panel meetings as set out in Appendix A be noted;

·       That delegated authority to the Chief Executive in consultation with the relevant Chairman to cancel a meeting where there is no substantive business and an agenda has not yet been published, or amend the programme of meetings where this will assist the decision making body to discharge its responsibilities more effectively and an agenda has not yet been published be confirmed.

To consider appointments to the various Outside Bodies which are within the remit of the Council for the forthcoming 2023/24 Municipal Year.

A report was presented by the Chief Executive that considered the appointment of Council representatives to the various Outside Bodies which were within the remit of the Council for the municipal year 2023/24.  It was highlighted that for the appointments to Public Sector Partnerships Services Limited, there were two Councillors and one officer.

It was Proposed and Seconded:

‘That nominations be sought and Members appointed to the various bodies detailed at Appendix A’, pages 27 to 28 of the Agenda refer.

During the nominations for Public Service Partnership Services, as a Point of Order it was clarified that Members could cast more than one vote as three nominations had been received for two places.  At this point, a fourth Member was put forward and seconded, following which a debate ensued.  The Leader of the Council acknowledged that his proposal had been put forward after the vote was taken, following which it was discounted.

A Member highlighted her disappointment that the process had not been made clear, particularly for the newly appointed Councillors.

RESOLVED

That Members be appointed to the various Bodies detailed below.

To consider a Scrutiny Report.

Councillor Jill Makinson-Sanders, Chairman of the ‘To explore the issues surrounding caravan licensing and enforcement’ Scrutiny Panel presented the report to Council for noting.

During her introduction, Councillor Makinson-Sanders extended her thanks to officers involved and to the dedicated Councillors for their service.  The recommendations were detailed at pages 41 to 42 of the Agenda pack.

Councillor Makinson-Sanders was pleased to report that the scrutiny had received a lot of recognition, and further to it being discussed at Lincolnshire County Council, Victoria Atkin, MP had passed it to the relevant minister in government.

It was highlighted that the enforcement side of caravan sites was long overdue, following which the recommendations were commended to Council.

Councillor Ashton, as Portfolio Holder for Planning, expressed his thanks to Councillor Makinson-Sanders and the Panel for a very thorough report which he would discuss with colleagues across the portfolio areas prior to a response to Overview Committee.  Councillor Ashton was very supportive of the recommendations in the report and looked forward to taking as many as possible of the recommendations forward.  Whilst it was acknowledged that caravans made a massive contribution to the tourism industry, it was also highlighted that people living in the caravans must pay council tax where appropriate and abide by licensing and planning conditions that lent to the safety of people in the coastal area.

N.B.  Councillor Claire Arnold left the Meeting at 7.30pm.

Councillor Fiona Martin congratulated Councillor Makinson-Sanders on an excellent report and looked forward to receiving the response at Overview Committee.

Councillor Roger Dawson stated that he strongly supported the recommendations within the report.  It was considered that there needed to be a clear planning/development process and whilst recognising the importance of tourism it was important that a balanced approach to this be taken which could be given further consideration during the review of the Local Plan.

Councillor Steve Kirk, Portfolio Holder for the Coastal Economy further congratulated Councillor Makinson-Sanders and recognised the excellent evidence contained within the report.  Councillor Kirk stated that it was almost impossible to get caravan sites regulated and he was aware that most site owners had robust processes in place for checking caravan occupants with second homes.  However, he supported the Council in moving forward with the recommendations at a fast pace.

Councillor Craig Leyland, Leader of the Council praised the depth and quality of the report and the timeliness with the work underway with LCC, the Environment Agency and the University of Lincoln with flooding.  It was recognised as an historical problem spanning 40 to 50 years and highlighted that the report provided a good steering point and a required commitment was needed.

Councillor Danny Brookes congratulated Councillor Makinson-Sanders on a very thorough report and considered that this would highlight the large number of homeless people living in caravans (circa 6k) which may complicate the situation.

Following a query over adding timelines to the recommendations, as a Point of Clarification Councillor Martin explained the procedure of tracking these through Overview Committee.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 15a

To consider adopting the draft South and East Lincolnshire Councils Partnership Asset Management Strategy 2023-2028.

Councillor Richard Fry, Portfolio Holder for Finance presented Members with a report to consider adoption of the draft South and East Lincolnshire Councils Partnership Asset Management Strategy 2023-2028.

During his introduction, Councillor Fry stated that as sovereign Councils and as a Partnership, the Council recognised that effective use of its land and property assets formed one of the essential ingredients for high quality service delivery and creating and ensuring value for the Council’s residents.  The Council’s aim was to manage a well-planned and well-maintained property portfolio, ensuring that it could demonstrate value for money and more importantly, that by using assets well, secure wide value for the community.

Members were referred to Appendix 1, pages 69 to 78 of the Agenda refer, which presented the draft South and East Lincolnshire Councils Partnership Asset Management Strategy 2023 – 2028.  The draft had been considered by each sovereign Council’s scrutiny function and had been presented to each Council’s executive body for referral to the respective Council for formal adoption.  East Lindsey’s Executive Board received the draft on 22 March 2023 and resolved that the draft South and East Lincolnshire Councils Partnership Asset Management Strategy 2023 – 2028 attached at Appendix 1 be endorsed and recommended to Council for adoption, Minute No. 85 refers.

Member were advised that the draft had been purposefully crafted to be high level in that it sought to set the guiding principles for Asset Management across the SELCP and only sought to set a focussed number of high-level actions in order to shape and drive the detailed work necessary within each Council to manage and maintain their respective assets.

Whilst it was intended to supersede each Council’s highest-level Asset Management Plan, it did not immediately supersede the various process and policy documents that sat below those plans as that would require a ‘detailed review of the detail’.

The recommendations were duly proposed and seconded.

During discussion reference was made to the following:

Councillor Jackson highlighted two of the guiding principles of the strategy, detailed on page 72 of the Agenda as follows:

·       Generate efficiency gains, capital receipts and most importantly, maximise revenue income in order to ‘self-fund’ repairs and maintenance as far as possible and use any surpluses to support other council services;

·       Reduce carbon emissions and improve environmental sustainability wherever and whenever it is reasonably practicable to do so.

Councillor Jackson highlighted that through Audit and Governance Committee and the Council’s investments in property funds, it had learned that it was the absolute link between looking after the sustainability of buildings and generating profits in commercial property and was something that the Council should take forward with its approach to assets, including the environmental impact and how affordable it was to live and work in them.  It was also considered that this would matter if assets had to be disposed of in the future, in particular how green they were.  In response, the Portfolio Holder for Finance thanked Councillor Jackson for her comments which were well understood  ...  view the full minutes text for item 16.

To seek Member approval to accept the additional funding awards and amend the capital programme accordingly.

Councillor Graham Marsh, Portfolio Holder forCommunity Safety, Leisure and Culture and Carbon Reduction introduced a report on the Sustainable Warmth Grant Allocations – Home Upgrade Grant 2 (HUG2) and Local Authority Delivery (LAD3) to seek Member approval to accept the additional funding awards and amend the capital programme accordingly.  Particular emphasis was given to sections 1 and 2 of the report presented, pages 79 to 82 of the Agenda refer.

Members noted that Executive Board had previously agreed to accept £15.4 millionsecured from the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, via Midlands Net Zero Hub, across the South and East Lincolnshire Councils Partnership (S&ELCP) for the next phase of Sustainable Warmth delivery known as HUG2.  The First Contract Year Award Letter had now confirmed the 2023-24 allocation of £6,160,000 and agreement was sought to amend the capital programme and adjust the revenue budget accordingly in line with this.

In addition, due to underspend elsewhere at other local authorities, it had been possible to secure an additional £1.1 million of funding for LAD3 delivery under the current Sustainable Warmth programme.  Agreement was sought to accept these additional funds and to amend the capital programme and adjust the revenue budget accordingly for the LAD3 award.

The recommendations were duly proposed and seconded.

During discussion reference was made to the following:

Councillor Jill Makinson-Sanders stated that she was happy to support the recommendations.  From experience with a local social housing provider, it was highlighted that ground source heat pumps did not work and that fuel poverty had not been tackled which had resulted in an increase in health inequalities. 

In response, the Portfolio Holder forCommunity Safety, Leisure and Culture and Carbon Reduction stated that he fully agreed with the comments, however, did not consider that this was a result of the ground source heat pumps but the insulation that was needed to improve the efficiency of heat ratings and further highlighted that it was now recognised that a lot of social housing needed work.

Councillor Simpson was pleased to hear that money had become available.  It was however, queried whether contractors were delivering in a timely manner, as a large number of them were not local.  This also had an impact on the carbon footprint which took a long time to offset, following which it was queried whether the Council could ensure that it used local contractors.

In response, with regards to external contractors the Portfolio Holder forCommunity Safety, Leisure and Culture and Carbon Reduction stated that it was a national problem recruiting locally but assured Members that schedules of work were in place and contractors had to work to a certain standard.

Upon being put to the vote, it was

RESOLVED

1.    That the capital programme and revenue budget to include HUG2 funding in line with the table set out in 2.2 (2023-24: Capital £5,600,000 and Revenue £560,000 / 2024-25: Capital £8,400,000 and Revenue £840,000) be amended.

2.    That the additional LAD3 funding and to increase  ...  view the full minutes text for item 17.

To note the Draft Minutes of the Audit and Governance Committee held on 15 March 2023.

The Chairman of Audit and Governance Committee presented the Draft Minutes of the Audit & Governance Meeting held on 15^th March 2023 for noting.

No comments were received.

RESOLVED

That the draft Minutes of the Audit and Governance Committee held on 15^th March 2023 be noted.

To consider excluding the public and press for the following items and if appropriate the Chairman to move:-

That under Section 100(a)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the press and public be excluded from the Meeting for the following item on the grounds that, if they were present, there could be disclosed to them exempt information as defined in paragraph(s) 1, 2 & 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act (as amended).

RESOLVED

That under Section 100(a)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the following item on the grounds that, if they were present, there could be disclosed to them exempt information as defined in paragraph(s) 1, 2 and 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act (as amended).

To seek Member approval to proceed with the delivery phase and associated financial implications and proposed amendments to the Council’s commercial asset portfolio that are required to accept and implement the Council’s Round 3 Cultural Development Fund application in Skegness.

Members noted that report had been withdrawn from the Agenda.

To consider the designation of an officer as Monitoring Officer.

An Exempt Report was presented that related to the designation of an officer as Monitoring Officer.

It was Proposed and Seconded

‘That the recommendations be supported’.

RESOLVED

That the recommendations contained within the Exempt Report be supported.

The programmed date for the next Meeting of the Council will be Wednesday 19 July 2023 commencing at 6.30pm.

The programmed date for the next Meeting of the Council was noted as Wednesday 19 July 2023 at 6.30pm.