Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Graham Marsh, Sarah Devereux, Martin Foster, Adam Grist and Steve Kirk.

At this point in the meeting Members were invited to declare any interests, no such declarations were received.

To confirm the Open and Exempt Minutes of the Meeting held on Wednesday 20 September 2023.

The open and exempt minutes of the meeting held on Wednesday 20^th September were confirmed and signed as a correct record.

To confirm Actions following the Meeting held on 20^th September 2023.  

The Actions of the Meeting held on Wednesday 20 September 2023 were confirmed as complete.

To consider recommending to Council the South & East Lincolnshire Councils Partnership Sub-regional Strategy.

•         That the Sub-regional Strategy at Appendix A be recommended to Council, subject to any final consultation feedback as agreed by the Portfolio Holder;

•         That Council be recommended to include the Sub-regional Strategy as a line of inquiry in the Partnership’s Annual Scrutiny.

A report was presented to recommend to Council the South & East Lincolnshire Councils Partnership Sub-regional Strategy.

When the South & East Lincolnshire Councils Partnership formed, the Business Case identified opportunities for greater alignment and closer working on a range of strategic issues that were common for each Council area within the sub-region.

Each of the Councils existing Corporate Strategies were reaching the end of their life, or were due for review, and Councillors previously approved (via the Annual Delivery Plan) the development of a Sub-regional Strategy to replace the existing Corporate Strategies.

As well as identifying the sub-regional strategic priorities going forward, the proposed Strategy (Appendix A) also identified specific priorities where these were a matter of importance to one sovereign Council within the Partnership.

Moving to a single Sub-regional Strategy further cemented the positive joint working between the three Councils and positioned the Partnership well for the future.  The Strategy had been considered via each Councils’ sovereign scrutiny processes and had been refined based on feedback received from Members and public consultation with residents and stakeholders.

During discussion reference was made to the proposed priorities of Growth and Prosperity, Healthy Lives, Safe and Resilient Communities and the Environment. 

Following which it was

RESOLVED

1.               That the Sub-regional Strategy at Appendix A be recommended to Council, subject to any final consultation feedback as agreed by the Portfolio Holder;

2.               That Council be recommended to include the Sub-regional Strategy as a line of inquiry in the Partnership’s Annual Scrutiny.

Reasons:

The opportunity to align strategic priorities across the Councils through a single Sub-regional Strategy provides a Partnership platform to further realise the benefits of collaborative working. 

Having the single Strategy would demonstrate to external partners our alignment in key areas and collective focus on addressing the issues of strategic importance to our sub-region. This will be particularly helpful when engaging with Government and funders.

Other options:

Do nothing.  It has already been agreed by Councillors, via the Annual Delivery Plan, that a Sub-regional Strategy for the Partnership should be developed.   As such, this option was discounted.

To adopt and implement a new Procurement Strategy for 2023-2026.  

1.     That the Procurement Strategy detailed at Appendix 1 to the report be approved;

2.     That the feedback provided by Overview Committee be noted.

A report was presented to enable consideration of the adoption and implementation of a new Procurement Strategy for 2023-2026.

In March 2023, Council approved its Annual Delivery Plan 23/24, (Council Minute No. 70 refers) which included a specific action to bring forward a Procurement Strategy for adoption.  This was also a key strand of the South & East Lincolnshire Councils Partnership Business Case, recognising that through joint procurement the Councils could deliver significant savings.

The Strategy was particularly important at this time, given the scale of projects the Council had underway through the Towns’ Fund and Levelling Up Agendas; and the associated joint procurement opportunities with its partner Councils.  The combined spend of the Partnership Councils on capital projects in the coming years would be in excess of £100million.

The purpose of this report was to present to Executive Board the Procurement Strategy for the period 2023 – 2026.  The Council had not had a Procurement Strategy in place for a number of years, therefore, the strategy would provide a clear direction throughout the next 3 years.

The Executive Board was asked to approve the Procurement Strategy at Appendix 1.

RESOLVED

1.     That the Procurement Strategy detailed at Appendix 1 to the report be approved;

2.     That the feedback provided by Overview Committee be noted.

Reasons:

To ensure that the Council has a clear Procurement Strategy for the next 3 years.

To agree a single approach to procurement across the Partnership that maximises the savings opportunities for the Councils.

To ensure compliance with audit requirements as some of the Partner Councils have had audit recommendations to update their Procurement Strategies.

To help support key Council priorities, such as sourcing local suppliers, procuring sustainably and ethically.

Other options:

To do nothing – this would result in the Council continuing to have no formal Procurement Strategy in place.

To provide Executive Board Members with an update on Community Safety Partnership work at a local and county level.

1.     That the content of the report be noted;

2.     That following consideration of areas of future focus, and in line with a request from the Overview Committee, an update of the Boston Pilot Scheme in relation to dealing with noxious residential smells be included in next year’s Annual Report.

A report was presented to provide Executive Board Members with an update on Community Safety Partnership work at a local and county level. The report provided an overview of the work currently being undertaken by the Safer Lincolnshire Partnership at County level, the South & East Lincolnshire Community Safety Partnership at a local level, along with information on CCTV across the partnership and Anti-Social Behaviour activity in East Lindsey. The report recommended that the contents were noted, and additional areas of focus were considered for inclusion in future reports.

RESOLVED

1.     That the content of the report be noted;

2.     That following consideration of areas of future focus, and in line with a request from the Overview Committee, an update of the Boston Pilot Scheme in relation to dealing with noxious residential smells be included in next year’s Annual Report.

Reasons:

The content of the report is noted to ensure that members are up to date on the current work being undertaken.

The focus of future updates provides members with an opportunity to identify areas of work they require more detail on.

Other options:

Do nothing.

The programmed date for the next Meeting of this Board will be Wednesday 29^th November 2023.

The date of the next meeting of Executive Board was noted as Wednesday 29^th November 2023.