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Agenda and minutes

Agenda and minutes

Adjourned after Item 7 until 27.5.20, Cabinet - Wednesday, 20th May, 2020 6.00 pm

Venue: Online - use this link to hear the recording of this meeting: https://register.gotowebinar.com/recording/7019505839620863495

Contact: Lorraine Bush, Democratic Services Manager  Tel. no: 01205 314224 e-mail  lorraine.bush@boston.gov.uk

Note: Meeting adjourned at 19.15 and will reconvene at a date to be confirmed 

Items
No. Item

62.

MINUTES pdf icon PDF 256 KB

To sign and confirm the minutes of the last meeting, held on 19th February 2020.

Minutes:

The Leader welcomed everyone to the first webinar Cabinet meeting and announced that the meeting would be adjourned before consideration of agenda item 8, Boston Borough Council and East Lindsey District Council Strategic Alliance, as this matter required full detailed discussion, which would not be possible at the end of the meeting’s lengthy agenda.  The meeting would be reconvened as soon as possible to consider this item at a date to be confirmed. 

 

 

The minutes of the meeting of the Cabinet held on 19 February 2020 were received and signed by the Chairman.

 

63.

APOLOGIES

To receive apologies for absence.

Minutes:

No apologies for absence were received. 

 

64.

DECLARATIONS OF INTERESTS

To receive declarations of interests in respect of any item on the agenda.

Minutes:

No declarations of interest were made by Members.

 

The three Statutory Officers declared an interest in agenda item 8, Boston Borough Council and East Lindsey District Council Strategic Alliance, as it affected their employment, and all confirmed that they had not provided any professional advice to the Council in respect of the matters contained within the report

 

65.

QUESTIONS FROM MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC

To answer any written questions received from members of the public no later than 5 p.m. two clear working days prior to the meeting – for this meeting the deadline is 5 p.m. on Friday 15th May 2020.

Minutes:

No questions had been received from members of the public.

 

66.

RECOMMENDATIONS FROM OVERVIEW AND SCRUTINY (STANDING ITEM)*

Minutes:

There were no recommendations from the Overview and Scrutiny Committees.

 

67.

RECOMMENDATIONS FROM THE BOSTON TOWN AREA COMMITTEE (BTAC) (STANDING ITEM)

Minutes:

There were no recommendations from the Boston Town Area Committee.

 

68.

BOSTON CREMATORIUM - CREMATORS pdf icon PDF 484 KB

(A report by Christian Allen, Head of Environmental Operations)

 

Portfolio Holder: Councillor Yvonne Stevens

Minutes:

 

DECISION

 

1.    That the purchase of a temporary replacement cremator be approved.

 

2.    That a further report on the longer term solution be sought, including the potential addition of abatement, and invite Scrutiny to consider the report.     

 

3.    That an exemption from Contract and Procurement Procedure Rules Part 4 (Section H)be approved under 3.3.1 (2) because of an unforeseen event involving significant disruption to Council services.

 

Portfolio Holder and Officer

 

Cllr Stevens

 

CA

 

 

 

REASON FOR DECISION

 

Councillor Stevens presented a report, which sought Cabinet’s approval to purchase a temporary replacement cremator as an exemption from the Council’s contract and procedure rules.

 

Councillor Stevens had spoken previously about securing the future prosperity of the crematorium service and this remained her long term ambition. However, issues and events had occurred more recently requiring the urgent attention of Cabinet before those ambitions could be realised.

 

This was the first opportunity to bring a report before Cabinet since the maintenance company contracted to service the cremators entered administration in March. There was currently no contract maintenance in place and the condition of the cremators were such that no companies were willing to take them on.  This legacy of poor quality, poorly executed maintenance had left the Council with two cremators that were unreliable and temperamental in operation. This was a situation that staff on site could no longer manage and a risk the Council could not tolerate.

 

Doing nothing was not an option. The Council was exposed to unacceptable risk and potential failure of critical infrastructure. The Council had accrued capital in reserves that had been replenished by the service, and Cabinet was asked to exercise its discretion to use the funds to support the recommendations in this report. It was vital to act decisively and with urgency.

 

Councillor Stevens then proposed the recommendations in the report with minor amendments to the first two as follows:

  1. To approve the purchase of a temporary replacement cremator, and
  2. Seek a further report on the longer term solution, including the potential addition of abatement, and invite Scrutiny to consider the report.

 

Members commended the report and also the Portfolio Holder for her tireless work identifying the issues and ensuring that the matter was moved forward.

 

One Member requested further information after the meeting regardingwhy the fundamental flaws with the cremators had not been identified until August 2019. 

 

 

OTHER OPTIONS OR ALTERNATIVES CONSIDERED

 

None.

 

 

RECORD OF ANY CONFLICT OF INTEREST

 

None.

 

 

 

RECORD OF ANY DISPENSATION GRANTED

 

None.

 

 

69.

AIR QUALITY ACTION PLAN pdf icon PDF 130 KB

(A report by Nick Davis, Principal Environmental Health Officer)

 

Portfolio Holder: Councillor Yvonne Stevens

Additional documents:

Minutes:

 

 

DECISION

 

1.        That the results of the consultation exercise on the draft Air Quality Action Plan be noted.

 

2.        That the Air Quality Action Plan be recommended for formal submission to DEFRA for approval and adoption by the Council following consultation on the draft plan.

 

3.        That, once approved by DEFRA, an update report on progress on the Air Quality Action Plan be presented to Cabinet on a six monthly basis as requested by Cabinet.

Portfolio Holder and Officer

 

Cllr Stevens

 

ND

 

 

 

REASON FOR DECISION

 

Councillor Yvonne Stevens presented a report by the Head of Regulatory Services, which provided a summary of the response to the Council’s consultation exercise carried out between 19th February and 19th March 2020 regarding its draft Air Quality Action Plan and provided a final Air Quality Action Plan for submission to DEFRA for their approval.

 

Boston Borough Council had declared two Air Quality Management Areas known as Haven Bridge Road AQMA (2001) and Bargate Bridge AQMA (2005) due to air quality in these locations failing to meet the UK air quality objective for nitrogen dioxide. This primarily arose from high usage of private vehicles for making short journeys within Boston. The declaration of an AQMA placed a statutory obligation on the local authority to produce an Air Quality Action Plan (AQAP).

 

A draft Air Quality Action Plan was developed by a steering group lead by Environmental Health composed of officers from across a number of Council departments and with colleagues from Lincolnshire County Council Highways and Public Health. A single plan has been developed as the air quality issues in both areas are the same.

 

The draft Air Quality Action Plan had previously been presented to the Environment & Performance Committee and Cabinet for comment, and consent was given to consult with a number of statutory, non-statutory consultees and the wider community as required by schedule 11 of the Environment Act 1995.

 

The consultation exercise on the draft plan ran between the 19th February 2020 and 19th March 2020 and a copy of the consultation plan was attached at appendix C.

 

There were two strands to the consultation. Direct correspondence to statutory consultees such as DEFRA, Environment Agency, Lincolnshire County Council, and neighbouring local authorities. In addition, direct correspondence was sent to other specific non-statutory consultees such as Sustrans, Port of Boston, NHS Trust, Public Health England, and Lincolnshire Chamber of Commerce.

 

In terms of the specific statutory and non-statutory consultees, no responses were received to the consultation. The results of the consultation were disappointing considering that the implementation of the plan would need the cooperation of organisations within this group. Whilst no formal response was received from LCC Highways, they had already been part of the process of drafting the action plan with key officers sitting on the working group. In addition, regular meetings were held with LCC Highways Officers and LCC Councillors regarding transport in Boston (Boston Transport Group). Air quality was part of the remit of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 69.

70.

QUARTER 3 REPORT - PERFORMANCE, RISK AND FINANCE pdf icon PDF 160 KB

(A report by Suzanne Rolfe, Transformation & Governance Manager, and Paul Julian, Chief Finance Officer)

 

Portfolio Holders: Councillors Paul Skinner, Nigel Welton and Martin Howard

Additional documents:

Minutes:

 

70

 

QUARTER 3 REPORT – PERFORMANCE, RISK AND FINANCE

 

 

 

DECISION

 

1.         That the quarterly monitoring information for Quarter 3 be noted.

 

2.         That the specific finance recommendations in the report be agreed, summarised as follows:

·         F1: The reserve movements detailed in Table 6

·         F2: The updated capital programme detailed in Table 8

·         F3: The supplementary estimate in respect of the Towns Fund Capacity Funding, as set out in Table 11

 

Portfolio Holders and Officer

 

Cllrs Skinner, Welton & Howard

 

SR/PJ

 

REASON FOR DECISION

 

Cabinet Members presented the headlines of the quarterly monitoring information on performance, risk and finance for Quarter 3 of 2019/20 (April to December 2019) in relation to their own portfolios.

 

With respect to performance, the areas of success and improvement were:

 

·         Planning applications (Cllr Welton)

·         Supporting business growth and promoting the Borough (Cllr Welton)

·         Switchboard (Cllr Welton)

·         Benefit and Council Tax Support processing times (Cllr Howard)

·         Information requests (Cllr Howard)

·         Gym memberships (Cllr Brown)

·         Event income (Cllr Brown)

·         Broadly compliant food businesses (Cllr Stevens)

·         Car parking income (Cllr Sharman)

·         Housing completions, empty properties and housing standards (Cllr Griggs)

 

Members praised staff for their hard work achieving these performance levels and for continuing to work through the current difficult situation. 

 

In response to a question, Councillor Skinner explained that the CCTV directed/assisted arrests were on those occasions that the Police called for the CCTV centre’s assistance; they could only be carried out when requested, as with the CCTV evidence packages.  The number of CCTV incidents reported was down from 478 the same quarter the previous year to 209, which seemed to indicate a decreasing trend in the number of incidents. 

 

Areas of concern/watching brief were:

 

·         Long term sickness absence (Cllr Skinner), though this was on target overall

·         Swim sessions (Cllr Brown)

·         Household waste and recycling (Cllr Stevens)

·         Fly tip response times (Cllr Stevens)

·         Market income (Cllr Sharman), which would be considered during the Transformation Programme

 

The report also listed other items of note:

 

·         Commercial waste growth in income and number of customers (Cllr Stevens)

·         Low contamination rates in domestic recycling (Cllr Stevens)

·         Scrutiny led Inquiry evening on 16th March 2020 (Cllr Stevens)

 

Members stressed that the significant impact of the pandemic would be reflected in future quarters’ reports. 

 

Councillor Howard presented the quarterly risk information.  No new strategic risks had been identified up to the end of December.  Covid-19 updates would be necessary going forward and would be incorporated into future quarterly reports.  A summary of strategic risks was set out the report and full details were contained in Appendix B. 

 

Councillor Howard then outlined the financial management information.  The key headlines were set out in the report as follows:

 

-        Key financial events during Q3 2019/20 (section 1)

-        Revenue budget (section 3): table 1 details spend for the year against budget by service area, table 2 by portfolio holder and table 3 by corporate priority.  A small net underspend was projected.

-        Variations to budget (section 3)

-        Controlling Migration Fund (section 4,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 70.

71.

BUSINESS RATES PILOT FUND pdf icon PDF 213 KB

(A report by Michelle Sacks, Director of Growth)

 

Portfolio Holder: Councillor Paul Skinner

Additional documents:

Minutes:

 

DECISION

 

1.    That the recommendations of the Cabinet report dated 5 June 2019 be amended for the reasons set out in the report.

 

2.    That £170,000 be allocated to the Business Recovery Fund and delegate to the Director of Growth, in consultation with the Chief Finance Officer and Leader and Deputy Leader of the Council, the criteria and application process.

 

3.    That £30,000 be allocated to Support for the high street through use of technology and delegate to the Director of Growth in consultation with the Leader and Portfolio Holder for Finance, allocation of that funding.

 

4.    That £50,000 be allocated to a Feasibility Proposal Fund and delegate to the Director of Growth in consultation with the Leader and Portfolio Holder for Finance, allocation of that funding.

 

5.    That £50,000 be allocated to the Support for Business (short-term recovery) Fund, and delegate to the Director of Growth in consultation with the Leader and Portfolio Holder for Finance, allocation of that funding.         

           

Portfolio Holder and Officer

 

Cllr Skinner

 

MS

 

 

 

REASON FOR DECISION

 

Councillor Skinner presented a report, which set out proposals designed to utilise the Business Rates Pilot Fund monies to support the wider economic recovery of the borough of Boston following the impact of the COVID-19 lockdown.

 

The Department of Communities and Local Government (now the MHCLG) sought pilot areas as part of the 100% business rates localisation initiative and Lincolnshire was a successful applicant for pilot status in 2018/19. The benefits of the scheme totalled £388,000, which was placed in reserves.

 

Under the this scheme, Lincolnshire authorities had worked in partnership, on a voluntary basis, giving them scope to generate additional business through collaborative effort and to smooth the impact of volatility in rates income across a wider economic area.

 

A report to Cabinet on 5th June 2019 agreed a set of projects to which this funding was to be allocated. The Business Rates Localisation Pilot in 2018/19 provided a real opportunity to fund a variety of projects the Council would not normally have resources to fund and would help deliver the objectives of the Corporate Plan and Economic Development Plan, whilst promoting strong links with stakeholders.  The current position on the projects was set out in detail at Appendix 1. Several projects had been paused once the Government announced the proposed Towns Fund initiative, as it was considered that the Business Rates Pilot Fund might be better utilised to match fund Town Deal projects.  

 

By mid-February 2020, COVID-19 was becoming a national matter of concern, culminating with the Prime Minister announcing a national lockdown on 16th of March 2020. The impact on the wider economy immediately became a cause for concern. It was considered an appropriate time to review the existing projects and consider reallocation of the remaining funds to support the impact of COVID-19 on the Borough’s business community.  This report presented proposals to redirect the funding to projects that remained in line with the pilot’s bid proposals to support skills and the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 71.

72.

COVID 19 - BUDGET IMPACT UPDATE pdf icon PDF 270 KB

(A report by Paul Julian, Chief Finance Officer)

 

Portfolio Holder: Councillor Martin Howard

Minutes:

 

DECISION

 

1.    That the measures introduced by the Government that have affected the Council’s financial position, and the support to businesses and residents, be noted;

 

2.    That the current projected financial 2020/21 position be noted and that future reports be requested as the situation develops;

 

3.    That further lobbying be approved to ensure that the Government recompenses the Council appropriately.

 

                       

Portfolio Holder and Officer

 

Cllr Howard

 

PJ

 

 

 

REASON FOR DECISION

 

Councillor Howard presented a report, which set out the measures taken by the Government to date in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and their impact on the Council’s finances.

 

This was an interim report on the projected position, whilst still in the middle of the early response to the virus. Significant impacts were being experienced, and more were expected.

 

The Council had been helping support the Government response through the payment of Business Grants, with over 1,100 paid, amounting to more than £12.5m and a recently-announced extension to the scheme, as well as the additional award of Council Tax Support.

 

The most significant pressure facing the Council during 2020/21 would be income losses, especially in relation to Leisure and Parking, currently estimated as a total of £1.75m. There had also been additional costs, such as IT equipment for setting up Working From Home, and in relation to homelessness and the non-achievement of the Transformation Programme targets. 

 

The Government had announced its commitment to cover costs, but the amounts received so far (in two tranches - £47,000 and £703,000) only partly offset losses. Also, future years were uncertain, and would depend on how the economy was brought back, as well as how customers responded. Further support was expected, but ongoing lobbying was essential. The Ministry of Housing, Communities and LocalGovernment(MHCLG) was also collecting monthly data on the impact on councils. The Council would continue to monitor impactsand submit regular reports.

 

In the longer term, there were concerns around the council tax base and business rate income. Fair Funding and Business Rate Retention had been deferred for another year and postponement of the Business Rate revaluation had just been announced.

 

The pandemic had had, and would continue to have, a large and long lasting impact on how the Council operated. The last few months of unprecedented change had challenged the global economy and the effects would be felt for some years into the future. Therefore, it was important to monitor the situation as things developed, and to maintain lobbying efforts to ensure that the Government responded in a manner that enabled the Council to continue to deliver valuable services for local residents and businesses.

 

Members commented on the seriousness of the situation and the vital importance of continuing to lobby Government due to the significant financial impact affecting the delivery of council services. Confidence was expressed that the Portfolio Holder would monitor the situation closely and advise Members accordingly.

 

 

 

OTHER OPTIONS OR ALTERNATIVES CONSIDERED

 

Not to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 72.