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Agenda and minutes

Agenda and minutes

Cabinet - Wednesday, 9th September, 2020 6.00 pm

Venue: Online Meeting - view the meeting at www.mybostonuk.com/youtube

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

Items
No. Item

84.

MINUTES pdf icon PDF 214 KB

To sign and confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 24th June 2020

Minutes:

The minutes of the Cabinet meeting held on 24 June 2020 were received and signed by the Chairman.

 

85.

APOLOGIES

To receive apologies for absence.

Minutes:

Apologies for absence were received from James Gilbert, Assistant Director – Organisation and Corporate Services. 

 

86.

DECLARATIONS OF INTERESTS

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

Minutes:

When considering the recommendations from the Boston Town Area Committee (BTAC) - Minute 89 refers - Councillors Martin Griggs and Yvonne Stevens declared that they were Members of BTAC and had taken part in that Committee’s consideration of the events budgets, but they were now acting in the role of Cabinet Members and had open minds in this matter.

 

87.

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 4th September 2020.

Minutes:

No questions had been received from members of the public.

 

88.

RECOMMENDATIONS FROM OVERVIEW AND SCRUTINY (STANDING ITEM)*

Minutes:

The draft Corporate Strategy had been considered by the Corporate and Community Committee on 27 August 2020, and the recommendations were set out in Appendix B of the report.

 

The Boston Alternative Energy Facility Phase 4 Consultation had been considered by the Environment and Performance Committee the previous evening and a verbal update would be provided.

 

89.

RECOMMENDATIONS FROM THE BOSTON TOWN AREA COMMITTEE (BTAC) (STANDING ITEM) pdf icon PDF 97 KB

(The draft minute of the BTAC meeting of 5th August 2020 is attached, which contains recommendations relating to the Events budgets for 2020/21 and 2021/22.)

 

Minutes:

 

 

DECISION

1.    That the recommendations of the Boston Town Area Committee be approved as follows:

a.    The reallocation of £13,500 of the existing budget to an Illuminate Fire Garden for the Christmas 2020 event; 

b.    Option 1 within the planned programme of events for 2021/22 of an increase in budget of £22,000.

2.    That the requirement for BTAC to seek Cabinet approval for expenditure over £10,000 be removed.

 

 

Portfolio Holders and Officer

 

 

TA/PP/MS

 

REASON FOR DECISION

 

Councillor Paul Goodale, Chairman of BTAC, presented recommendations from the Boston Town Area Committee (BTAC) relating to expenditure from the events budgets for 2020/21 and 2021/22, which were set out in the draft minute of the Committee’s meeting of 5th August 2020, included in the agenda pack.

 

The recommendations were for to Cabinet to approve:

1.    The reallocation of £13,500 of the existing budget to an Illuminate Fire Garden for the Christmas 2020 event; 

2.    Option 1 within the planned programme of events for 2021/22 of an increase in budget of £22,000.

 

BTAC Members had unanimously agreed to Option 1, proposing an increase in budget to £22,000 for the programme of events in 2021/22. 

 

Support for the extended Christmas Event had also been unanimous, with all agreeing the four-day event would be a boost for residents following the impact and restrictions of the pandemic.  The Committee had acknowledged that the event could not be in line with 2019, but agreed that the benefit to businesses and residents of an event could not be underestimated.  In particular, the extension of the Fire Garden event had been considered positive, having proved extremely popular at the 2019 event.

 

Cabinet Members welcomed the proposals, describing them as exciting, and it was proposed and seconded that the recommendations be approved.

 

In addition, it was also proposed and seconded that the £10,000 expenditure threshold, whereby BTAC had to secure Cabinet approval, be removed. It was felt that it was not appropriate for the Committee’s decisions to require permission from another body before they were implemented, as the Committee raised its own precept.  The Committee should be able to decide how the precept was spent for the benefit of the residents that its Members represented.  The Monitoring Officer confirmed that, as delegations for the threshold had derived from Cabinet, it was within Cabinet’s gift to vary them and a Full Council decision would not be required on this proposal.

 

In response to concerns about whether it would be possible to hold Christmas events in the light of current restrictions due to the pandemic, it was noted that it would be the responsibility of the Safety Advisory Group (SAG) to decide if the event should go ahead.

 

 

 

OTHER OPTIONS OR ALTERNATIVES CONSIDERED

 

None.

 

 

RECORD OF ANY CONFLICT OF INTEREST

 

Councillors Martin Greggs and Yvonne Stevens declared that they were Members of BTAC and had taken part in that Committee’s consideration of the events budgets, but they were now acting in the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 89.

90.

QUARTER 1 - PERFORMANCE, RISK AND FINANCE pdf icon PDF 228 KB

(A report by Paul Julian, Chief Finance Officer)

 

Portfolio Holders: Councillor Paul Skinner, Leader (Performance), Councillor Nigel Welton, Deputy Leader (Risk) and Councillor Jonathan Noble (Finance)

 

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

 

DECISION

 

1.    That the quarterly monitoring information for Q1 be noted

 

2.    That the specific finance recommendations, summarised below, be approved:

 

·                        F1: The reserve movements detailed in Table 6 of the report;

·                        F2: The updated capital programme as detailed in Table 8;

·                        F3: The supplementary estimates in respect of the Rough Sleeper Initiative and Verify Earnings & Pension, as set out in Table 11;

·                        F4: The supplementary estimates in respect of COVID-19, as set out in Table 12.

 

Portfolio Holders and Officer

 

 

JN/AS

 

REASON FOR DECISION

 

The Leader introduced the quarterly report, which set out performance, risk and finance monitoring information for Quarter 1 of 2020/21 (April to June 2020).

 

Cabinet Members presented the headlines of the monitoring information in relation to their own portfolios.

 

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

·         Sickness absence (Cllr Skinner)

·         Planning applications (Cllr Welton)

·         Switchboard (Cllr Welton)

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

·         Information requests (Cllr Noble)

·         Broadly compliant food businesses (Cllr Stevens)

·         Fly tip response times (Cllr Stevens)

·         Number of non-local authority owned empty properties returned into occupation (Cllr Griggs)

 

Areas of concern/watching brief were:

·         Impacted by Covid-19:

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

o   Business rates and council tax collection rates (Cllr Noble)

o   Car parking income (Cllr Noble)

o   Swim sessions (Cllr Brown)

o   Gym memberships (Cllr Brown)

o   Commercial waste income (Cllr Stevens)

o   Market income (Cllr Abbott)

o   Housing completions and housing standards (Cllr Griggs)

 

The report also listed other items of note:

·         The Food Standards Agency suspended the food safety inspection programme towards the end of March 2020 in light of Covid-19. The Environmental Health team had been dealing with a high number of Covid related service requests – 1,659 in the quarter.

·         Increase in fly tipping incidents

 

 

Councillor Noble presented the quarterly risk information.  The strategic risks had been reviewed by the Corporate Management Team, particularly with regard to the impact of Covid-19 and the Strategic Alliance with East Lindsey District Council. They would be reviewed again in light of the new Corporate Strategy and change in management structure in Quarter 2.  A summary of strategic risks was set out the report and full details were contained in Appendix B. 

 

Operational risks had been reviewed in Quarter 1 as agreed, with exception reporting of high operational/project risks and any changes to management assurance levels as set out below:

·         Cremator maintenance and repair – day to day arrangements in place but overall risk still high

·         Financial risks – controls in place and overall strategic risk above

·         Fraud risk – controls in place

·         Housing Register – project underway to review options to replace IT system currently provided by a third party

·         Loss / theft / corruption of data – controls in place; cyber security arrangements strengthened in light of increased risk

·         Loss of key staff in People Services – management assurance changed from green to amber in light of temporary posts. This would be addressed as part of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 90.

91.

DRAFT CORPORATE STRATEGY / PRIORITIES FOR CONSULTATION pdf icon PDF 607 KB

(A report by James Gilbert, Assistant Director – Organisation and Corporate Services)

 

Portfolio Holder: Councillor Nigel Welton, Deputy Leader

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

 

DECISION

 

That the draft Corporate Strategy, attached at Appendix A to the report, be published for consultation.

 

Portfolio Holder and Officer

 

NW/JG


 

 

REASON FOR DECISION

 

Councillor Nigel Welton presented a draft Corporate Strategy and priorities for consideration before being published for consultation. 

 

Cabinet had been working to develop a vision for Boston for their current term and beyond and the proposed draft was attached to the report at Appendix A.

 

The Corporate and Community Committee had considered the draft Strategy at its meeting on 27th August.  The Committee had put forward a number of recommendations and suggestions, set out in Appendix B, and these had been included in the draft.

 

 

 

OTHER OPTIONS OR ALTERNATIVES CONSIDERED

 

Cabinet considered a range of options for the priorities.

 

 

RECORD OF ANY CONFLICT OF INTEREST

 

None.

 

 

RECORD OF ANY DISPENSATION GRANTED

 

None.

 

 

92.

BOSTON ALTERNATIVE ENERGY FACILITY (BAEF) PHASE 4 CONSULTATION SUBMISSION pdf icon PDF 270 KB

(A report by Christian Allen, Assistant Director – Regulation)

 

Portfolio Holder: Councillor Yvonne Stevens

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

 

DECISION

 

That the Assistant Director Regulation be delegated, in consultation with the Leader and Portfolio Holders for Economic Development, Planning and Environment, to finalise the Council’s submission in response to the BAEF Phase 4 consultation.

           

Portfolio Holder and Officer

 

YS/NW/

CA

 


 

 

REASON FOR DECISION

 

Councillor Yvonne Stevens introduced a report, which set out the details of the Phase 4 consultation relating to the Boston Alternative Energy Facility proposals.  The Council was a consultee in the planning process to determine if the proposed Boston Alternative Energy Facility should be approved. As a National Significant Infrastructure Project, the application would be determined by the Secretary of State following a Planning Inquiry headed up by a Planning Inspector.

 

The BAEF proposal was a significant in scale, state-of-the-art power-generation plant, which the developers presented as leading the way in land-based renewable power in the UK. The facility would generate 102MW of renewable energy from the thermal processing of refuse derived fuel (RDF), of which 80MW will be exported to the National Grid.

 

This development created the potential for significant economic development opportunities linked to the supply chain to support the plant and potential end users of the ancillary products produced during the thermal processing of waste. In addition, the proposals created opportunities for the Council to work with the County Council through the Lincolnshire Waste Partnership to consider alternative ways to manage waste in the county. However, there were many planning and environmental health factors to consider first, having regard to the nature of the proposals.

 

In July 2019, Cabinet received a report concerning proposals for BAEF as Phase 3 of the statutory formal consultation on the development and the Preliminary Environmental Impact Report. Cabinet agreed a recommendation to delegate authority to the Deputy Chief Executive, in consultation with the Leader and Portfolio Holders for Economic Development, Planning and Environment, to finalise the consultation submission, taking into account the feedback recorded at Environment and Performance Committee meeting and Cabinet.

 

Since the Phase 3 consultation was concluded in August last year, BAEF had made some fundamental design changes to the proposed project following a project review and ongoing iterative design work, the feedback received during earlier consultations, and input from specialist bodies. Due to the nature of these changes, BAEF had determined that an additional round of public consultation (Phase 4) was appropriate.

 

This report set out the details of the BAEF proposal as they stood for Phase 4 consultation, whilst the appendices set out in more detail the context behind the changes and highlighted the differences between the Phase 3 proposal and the Phase 4 proposal. The current Phase 4 consultation was concerned only with the changes made to the proposal since the Phase 3 consultation concluded last year. This and all prior consultation rounds were a precursor to the formal submission of the proposal for consideration through the NSIP regime, at which stage the Council would be formally invited to provide comments to the Inspector and take part in the examination process.

 

The  ...  view the full minutes text for item 92.

93.

PE21: THE NEXT STEPS pdf icon PDF 141 KB

(A report by the Deputy Chief Executive – Strategy)

Minutes:

 

DECISION

 

1.    That the Deputy Chief Executive (Strategy) be instructed to report back to the next Cabinet on the budget cost of the steps specified under paragraph 9 of the report, which are required to advance this proposal with pace. The report should identify the approach to procurement, which should reflect the particular priority and urgency that is to be accorded to this project.

 

2.    That the Deputy Chief Executive (Strategy) shall consult with the Deputy Chief Executive (Place) and the Assistant Director – Towns Fund to identify and procure those works that are needed to maximise the prospects of a successful Towns Fund bid, and shall take all necessary steps.

 

3.    That the Deputy Chief Executive (Strategy) be authorised to communicate to the Principal of Boston College that the Council is minded to enter into an agreement to lease and a lease for the Geoff Moulder Centre in order to facilitate the development of the College’s Mayflower Centre project.

Portfolio Holder and Officer

 

NW/TL


 

 

REASON FOR DECISION

 

The Deputy Leader introduced a report, which described the steps that needed to be taken to deliver PE21, an initiative that was the primary focus of Boston’s Towns Fund bid.  The Council had identified a 10-acre site in the vicinity of West Street, Lawrence Lane and Lincoln Lane for the initiative.  It had the potential to boost the economic performance and prosperity of Boston town centre, make it a more vibrant and attractive place for residents and visitors, give them access to better educational facilities and help them live healthier lives.

 

The project had taken shape slowly. It was authorised in 2017 and a masterplan was produced early in 2018. COVID19 had caused it to stall. Critical design work, technical and viability studies had not been carried out. If it was to deliver what was promised, pace and resources needed to be injected, the concept needed to be validated by the market (or developed, so far as possible, to ensure that it did “stack up”) and partners fully engaged.

 

The project also had be managed professionally and be subject to rigorous performance management. Primarily, the technical studies that needed to be carried out to support the Towns Fund bid would need to be procured under the Council’s urgency arrangements. Other work needed to be commissioned quickly and progress made, otherwise there was a real risk that the energy that had been generated would dissipate and threaten any prospect of delivery in the short term or at all.

 

The report set out the work that should be commissioned in paragraph 9, as follows:

(1)       Comprehensive cataloguing of interests in land.

(2)       Plotting of infrastructure within and across the site and assessment of the extent to which it will constrain development by dint of its location, condition and capacity.

(3)       Cataloguing of individual land uses and businesses, including an assessment of the extent to which they are consistent with the objectives of regeneration.

(4)       Systematic and comprehensive cataloguing of vacant and under-used land  ...  view the full minutes text for item 93.

94.

EXCLUSION OF THE PUBLIC AND PRESS

To consider resolving - That under Section 100(A)(iv) of the Local Government Act 1972, as amended by the Local Government (Access to Information)(Variation) Order 2006, the public and press be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraph 3 of Schedule 12A of the Order

 

Minutes:

 

IT WAS RESOLVED that under Section 100 (A) (iv) of the Local Government Act 1972, as amended by the Local Government (Access to Information)(Variation) Order 2006, the public and press be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business on the grounds that it involved the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraph 3 of Schedule 12A of the Order.

 

95.

FLEET MAINTENANCE ARRANGEMENTS AWARD OF CONTRACT

(A report by Christian Allen, Assistant Director – Regulation)

 

Portfolio Holder: Councillor Yvonne Stevens

 

Minutes:

This minute contains exempt information and has been recorded separately by the Council.