Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Tom Ashton and Steve Kirk.

No disclosures of interest were received.

To confirm the Minutes of the Meeting held on 16 December 2024.

The Minutes of the Meeting held on 16^th December 2024 were confirmed as a correct record.

No outstanding actions for this Meeting.

There were no Actions from the meeting held on 16^th December 2024.

To consider approval for the disposal of surplus Council owned assets to Sibsey Parish Council.

1.       That the land at Church Walk and Amos Way Sibsey, edged red on the plans at Appendices 1 and 2 to the report, be declared surplus to the Council’s requirements;

2.       That the Deputy Chief Executive, Programme Delivery and Assistant Director - General Fund Assets be delegated authority to follow the advertising process set out by Section 123 (2A) of the Local Government Act, 1972, in respect of the land set out in Recommendation 1.

3.       That the lawful exemptions set out within The Local Government Act 1972: General Disposal Consent (England) 2003, to agree the disposal of the freehold title of the two plots of land set out in Recommendation 1, to Sibsey Parish Council at their restricted market value of £1 each, representing a notional undervalue of £224,998 be relied upon in the event that no representations are received by the Council in respect of Recommendation 2.

4.       That the Deputy Chief Executive, Programme Delivery and Assistant Director - General Fund Assets be delegated authority to protect the Council’s future position by specifying appropriate Restrictive Covenants within any resulting conveyance, including and 80% overage clause on both assets.

In the event that any representations are made to the Council in respect of recommendation 2, recommendations 3 and 4 cannot take effect and the Executive will need to formally consider any representations made before making a final decision.

A report was presented to consider the disposal of surplus Council owned assets to Sibsey Parish Council.

During his introduction of the report, the Portfolio Holder for Finance highlighted that a number of transfers involving the disposal of Council assets to Town and Parish Councils had completed over recent years. These had been undertaken as part of the asset transformation programme included in the Asset Management Framework 2016-2026. More recently, the adoption of the SELCP Asset Management Strategy 2023-26 continued the theme for the disposal of assets that ‘supported collaboration with public sector partners, charitable and voluntary organisations and other stakeholders’ for those assets that offered no strategic value in terms of service provision or viability.

Following a request made by Sibsey Parish Council for the transfer of two assets located at Amos Way and Church Walk in the village, consideration had been given to the request and was detailed in the report.

The report also detailed the Council’s powers to dispose of land and assets under the provisions of the Local Government Act (1973) Section 123 and General Disposals Consent (England) 2003, together with other matters for consideration in deciding on the disposal of these assets.

The Deputy Leader of the Council and Portfolio Holder for Community Safety, Leisure & Culture and Carbon Reduction queried that in light of local government reorganisation, whether the financial clawback referred at page 19 of the report would go to that new Council or whether it died when the Council ceased to exist.

The Housing Development Manager advised he would seek a response for this query for the next meeting.

RESOLVED

1.       That the land at Church Walk and Amos Way Sibsey, edged red on the plans at Appendices 1 and 2 to the report, be declared surplus to the Council’s requirements.

2.       That the Deputy Chief Executive, Programme Delivery and Assistant Director - General Fund Assets be delegated authority to follow the advertising process set out by Section 123 (2A) of the Local Government Act, 1972, in respect of the land set out in Recommendation 1.

3.       That the lawful exemptions set out within The Local Government Act 1972: General Disposal Consent (England) 2003, to agree the disposal of the freehold title of the two plots of land set out in Recommendation 1, to Sibsey Parish Council at their restricted market value of £1 each, representing a notional undervalue of £224,998 be relied upon in the event that no representations are received by the Council in respect of Recommendation 2.

4.       That the Deputy Chief Executive, Programme Delivery and Assistant Director - General Fund Assets be delegated authority to protect the Council’s future position by specifying appropriate Restrictive Covenants within any resulting conveyance, including and 80% overage clause on both assets.

In the event that any representations are made to the Council in respect of recommendation 2, recommendations 3 and 4 cannot take effect and the Executive will need to formally consider any representations made before making a final decision.

Reasons

·       The  ...  view the full minutes text for item 60.

To review the Partnership’s progress against opportunities identified in the business case and lines of enquiry.

• That the report (attached at Appendix 1) and associated recommendations be noted;

• That the recommendations contained within the report be agreed.

A report was presented to review the Partnership’s progress against opportunities identified in the business case and lines of enquiries.

During his introduction of the report, the Leader of the Council advised Members that the Overview and Scrutiny Committees of Boston Borough Council, South Holland District Council and East Lindsey District Council commissioned a joint Scrutiny Task & Finish Panel to undertake a review of the progress on the opportunities identified in the approved business case for the South & East Lincolnshire Councils Partnership.

This report had been presented to each Councils’ relevant sovereign scrutiny committee, before being brought to the Executive for consideration. The scrutiny work undertaken was required under the Partnership’s Memorandum of Agreement and is currently an annual commitment.

No comments or questions were received.

RESOLVED

• That the report (attached at Appendix 1) and associated recommendations be noted;

• That the recommendations contained within the report be agreed.

Reasons

To continue to learn, build on our experiences and continue our success as a Partnership of Councils.

Other Options

None.

To consider approval of the Council/Public Sector Partnership Services Transformation and Service Modernisation Programme and Business Plan 2025 to 2027.

N.B.  APPENDIX B IS EXEMPT.

Business Plan

a)   That subject to a similar decision by the other founding shareholder, the PSPS Business Plan 2025 to 2027 as set out at Appendix A to the report be recommended to Council for approval.

Service modernisation plan

a)   That subject to the budget allocations being approved for the identified investment, the Transformation and Service Modernisation Programme set out at Exempt Appendix B to the report be approved.

b)   That subject to the budget allocations being approved, the Deputy Chief Executive – Corporate Development, in consultation with the PSPS Portfolio Holder be delegated authority to approve or reject individual Business Cases in relation to the Transformation and Service Modernisation Programme.

c)   That periodic reviews of the Transformation and Service Modernisation Programme’s delivery be undertaken as requested through the Council’s scrutiny arrangements.

d)   That feedback from scrutiny committee at section 4 of the report be noted.

A report was presented to Council to consider the Council/Public Sector Partnership Services Transformation and Service Modernisation Programme and Business Plan 2025 to 2027.

During his introduction of the report, the Portfolio Holder for Community Safety, Leisure and Culture, and Carbon Reduction in 2020 advised that East Lindsey and South Holland District Councils signed a new 10-year Joint Venture Agreement with Public Sector Partnership Services.  Since that time, Boston Borough Council had also transferred services into the company (from April 2021).

The three Councils – working together as the South & East Lincolnshire Councils Partnership created the opportunity to accelerate their own transformation and the transformation of the services provided to their residents via PSPS.

This report brought forward the PSPS Business Plan 2025 to 2027 (Appendix A) for consideration; alongside a Transformation and Service Modernisation Programme (Exempt Appendix B) that PSPS would lead the delivery of.

The PSPS Business Plan was a matter for ELDC and SHDC Councils only, as the founding shareholders of the company. 

No comments or questions were received.

RESOLVED:

Business Plan

a)   That subject to a similar decision by the other founding shareholder, the PSPS Business Plan 2025 to 2027 as set out at Appendix A to the report be recommended to Council for approval.

Service modernisation plan

a)   That subject to the budget allocations being approved for the identified investment, the Transformation and Service Modernisation Programme set out at Exempt Appendix B to the report be approved.

b)   That subject to the budget allocations being approved, the Deputy Chief Executive – Corporate Development, in consultation with the PSPS Portfolio Holder be delegated authority to approve or reject individual Business Cases in relation to the Transformation and Service Modernisation Programme.

c)   That periodic reviews of the Transformation and Service Modernisation Programme’s delivery be undertaken as requested through the Council’s scrutiny arrangements.

d)   That feedback from scrutiny committee at section 4 of the report be noted.

Reasons

To agree a Business Plan and Transformation and Service Modernisation Programme that seeks to enable PSPS to continue to improve services and deliver savings.   These are requirements within the Joint Venture Shareholder Agreement.

Other Options

Business Plan

Do nothing – whilst this is an option, the existing Business Plan needs updating and is a requirement of the Joint Venture Shareholder Agreement.

Alternative Business Plan – the Council could ask the company to develop an alternative Business Plan.

Transformation and Service Modernisation Programme

Continuing to invest in PSPS to enable transformative change both within the company and Councils is important at a time when there is ever increasing customer expectation regarding Council services and increasing budget pressures. 

Do nothing – whilst this is an option, this is a requirement of the Joint Venture Shareholder Agreement.

To consider approval and capital and revenue funding to provide four ‘Amazing Grace’ style accommodation pods, in order to provide a safe place for people that would otherwise be sleeping rough in the locality of Skegness.

N.B.  APPENDIX A IS EXEMPT.

1)That provision of four ‘Amazing Grace’ style accommodation pods for people that may otherwise need to sleep rough within the locality of Skegness, as set out in this report be approved.

2)That the Deputy Chief Executive – Communities in conjunction with the Portfolio Holder for Communities and Better Ageing be delegated authority to agree the specific location of the siting of such pods within the locality of Skegness.

3) That an amendment to the Council’s 2024/25 capital programme to include £70k for the provision of four pods and the allocation of a £10k revenue budget to be used as a contingency fund, both funded from reserves be agreed.

A report was presented to seek approval and capital and revenue funding to provide four ‘Amazing Grace’ style accommodation pods, in order to provide a safe place for people that would otherwise be sleeping rough in the locality of Skegness.

During his introduction of the report, the Portfolio Holder for Communities and Better Ageing highlighted that the number of homeless clients and specifically people who were sleeping rough continued to rise across the district.  A large percentage of these clients were classed as non-priority need and for varying, often complex reasons, were unable to be accommodated within current temporary or nightly paid accommodation in the locality.  This often resulted in people sleeping rough for long periods of time.

The purpose of the report was to seek approval and capital and revenue funding to provide four ‘Amazing Grace’ style accommodation pods, in order to provide a safe place for people that would otherwise be sleeping rough in the locality of Skegness.

The Portfolio Holder for Communities and Better Ageing asked that his thanks to the Housing Strategy and Enabling Officer be noted for the huge amount of work undertaken on this project.

The Assistant Director – Wellbeing and Community Leadership informed Members that this was the first endeavour that the Council was taking in terms of this type of accommodation.  It was considered a good step forward in terms of a really complex cohort but this provided a good offer for people trying to get back on the housing pathway.

The Leader of the Council highlighted that the siting of the accommodation pods would be critical and asked that once the locations had been agreed that Ward Members be informed of any progress.  He added that a lot of excellent work from officers had been undertaken in respect of homelessness and the challenges faced was recognised both locally and nationally.

The Portfolio Holder for Partnerships stated that this project was a fantastic asset to East Lindsey and there would also be wrap around services for those making use of the pods.  Homelessness was a very complicated issue and no one should sit in judgement and everyone should be aware of what was going on in the district.  She further asked that her thanks be passed to all the officers who worked in the homelessness team for the incredible service they provided.

In conclusion, the Leader of the Council acknowledged that homelessness was a very complex issue and the accommodation pods were a step that could help to alleviate the challenges and appreciated the commitment put into this initiative.

RESOLVED

1)That provision of four ‘Amazing Grace’ style accommodation pods for people that may otherwise need to sleep rough within the locality of Skegness, as set out in this report be approved.

2)That the Deputy Chief Executive – Communities in conjunction with the Portfolio Holder for Communities and Better Ageing be delegated authority to agree the specific location of the siting of such pods within the locality of Skegness.

3)  ...  view the full minutes text for item 63.

The programmed date for the next Meeting of this Board will be Thursday 20 February 2025.

The next meeting of Executive Board was noted as Thursday 20 February 2025.