Agenda and draft minutes

Overview & Scrutiny - Corporate & Community Committee - Thursday, 14th November, 2024 6.30 pm

Venue: Committee Room - Municipal Buildings, West Street, Boston, PE21 8QR. View directions

Contact: Democratic Services  Email: demservices@boston.gov.uk

Note: Public access to this meeting is available via between the hours of 6.15pm – 6.30pm via the main door of the Municipal Buildings on West Street, Boston 

Media

Items
No. Item

110.

Apologies for Absence

To receive apologies for absence and notification of substitutes (if any).

Minutes:

Apologies for absence were tabled by Councillors Jyothi Arayambath and Chris Mountain.  No substitute members.

111.

Declarations of Interest

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

Minutes:

Councillor Paul Gleeson declared he would absent from the final item of business on the agenda due to a conflict with his role within PSPS.

112.

Minutes pdf icon PDF 114 KB

To sign and confirm the minutes of the last meeting.

Minutes:

With the agreement of the committee the Chairman signed the minutes of the previous meeting.

113.

Public Questions

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 Monday 11th November 2024

Minutes:

No public question were tabled.

114.

Review of the Boston Town Centre Strategy pdf icon PDF 270 KB

A report by the Joint Deputy Chief Executive – Communities.

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Portfolio Holder Councillor Dale Broughton presented the report, supported by the Deputy Chief Executive for Communities advising members that the report afforded committee with the first annual review of the Boston Town Centre Strategy and Action Plan covering the period 2023-2027. The Strategy and Action Plan provided a vision and seven strategic objectives along with over seventy actions that cover the themes of 1) Clean and Safe, 2) Open for Business 3) Culture, Heritage, and Events and 4) Transformation.  The Strategy and Action Plan had been approved by Boston Borough Council’s Cabinet on 25th October 2023.  The report provided feedback on progress against the Strategy and its associated action plan to date. In summary 24 actions have been completed, 47 are on target and 3 required further attention.

The first year of the plan has seen delivery of a host of activities/initiatives including: -

§  A deep clean of the marketplace had taken place on 27th February 2024 to 2nd March 2024. 

§  A four-day Christmas Festival and Illuminate Parade.

§  A Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Licensing Policy was approved and adopted by full council on 15th July 2024.

§  Enhanced floral displays had been provided in partnership with North Sea Camp Prison.

§  A volunteer co-ordinator post had been introduced to support volunteering.

§  A Changing Places toilet had been installed in Central Park.

§  A joint operation with the police and the Council called Operation Plotting continued which focused on addressing anti-social behaviour, street-based violence, and serious harm.  This work had been enhanced through the introduction of Community Rangers.

§  The production of town centre specific promotional material.

§  The production of a Market Development Plan that was agreed by Boston Borough Council’s Cabinet.

§  A Public Space Protection Order regarding feeding wild birds in designated areas in the town center (which was a new action in the Strategy/Action Plan) has been agreed at Cabinet.

§  A Street Art Policy had been produced and agreed by Boston Borough Council’s Cabinet.

§  A Business Development Plan for the Guildhall in Boston had been developed and agreed at Boston Borough Council’s Cabinet.

§  A business forum had been established for the town.

§  The installation of twenty-six new car park ticket machines.

§  Additional significant events that had happened in the town centre such as the Foodfest and Boston’s Strongest event on 14th July 2024, boosting community cohesion and enhancing trade.

 

Boston Town Centre remained a key economic and social hub for the

borough of Boston.  Importantly it was a sub-regional retail centre, second in the county to Lincoln that provided retail employment and a variety of visitor attractions.  Boston’s town centre has like many places suffered in recent times due to a number of factors.  However, as a town centre Boston had a lot to offer and the Town Centre Strategy and Action Plan that had been adopted in 2023 was a key strategic document that has been developed to help tackle,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 114.

115.

Local Council Tax Support Scheme (Consultation) 2025/26 pdf icon PDF 176 KB

A report by The Head of Revenues and Benefits

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Portfolio Holder Councillor Sandeep Ghosh presented the report supported by the Head of Revenues and Benefits. The report updated Members on the performance of the current Council Tax Support (CTS) scheme and provided details of the fundamental review in respect of 2025/26.

Boston’s scheme currently provided for a maximum 75% support.  Since its introduction in 2013, some changes to the scheme had been made, including restriction to Band D Council Tax liability, and discretion to assess Universal Credit earnings claims every three months.  In 2024/25, a new class for Care Leavers was introduced.

Cabinet had previously recognised the need for a fundamental review of the scheme, with the current scheme now dated, being relatively unchanged since its introduction in 2013, and, having regard to the rollout of Universal Credit which replaced legacy benefits (including Housing Benefit). 

The report provides information on the scheme review, and the options for 2025/26.

The total caseload and expenditure, at July 2024, was:

2024/25

Number of live claims

Amount of CTS

Working Age

2,703

£2,155,294.78

Pensioner

1,997

£2,224,798.49

Total

4,700

£4,380,093.27

 

A caseload comparison of data from 2023 showed a small overall increase of 190 live claims, being a reduction of 2 in pensioner group and an increase of 192 Working Age group, which may reflect the economic pressures on households.

 

The cost of Council Tax Support was shared across major preceptors as part of the collection fund accounting process:

 

Current Council Tax Support 2024/25

BBC

LCC

PCC

£4,380,093.24

£450,930.62

£3,294,366.52

£634,796.13

 

10.30%

75.21%

14.49%

 

The analysis undertaken identified the make-up and distribution of CTS across Working Age (WA) household types, using data from May 2024.  The data identified that almost 75% of the WA caseload received the current scheme maximum 75% support.

Household Type

Working Age Caseload

Of which on Max 75% CTS

Current Expenditure

Single

1196

990

£957,743

Single with Child(ren)

845

549

£578,617

Couple

280

214

£283,553

Couple with Child(ren)

264

178

£246,939

2585

1931

£2,066,852

74.70%

 

A further analysis of the correlation between households currently receiving Council Tax Support and the level of Council Tax arrears in financial 2023/24 but did not include households currently on CTS with arrears in earlier years, nor did it include arrears for households which received CTS at some point previously but were not currently in receipt of CTS.  As such the actual overall position of arrears in relation to CTS households would be greater than indicated.  The data showed that almost 55% of the amount of arrears in CTS recipient households was in households with children.

The fundamental review had provided Boston BC with the opportunity to look at its current scheme and consider how it wishes to better support residents in the future, having regard to affordability.  Engagement through the review has provided Members with information on scheme approaches and modifications, and the options proposed from the steer provided will enable consultation on proposals that provide a balance of recognising the need for increasing support for families, and the need for administrative simplification.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 115.

116.

Street Naming and Numbering Policy pdf icon PDF 85 KB

A report by the Group Manager – Building Control

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Portfolio Holder presented the report supported by the Group Manager, Building Control and the Assistant Director for Regulatory, which sought feedback on the proposed South East Lincolnshire Councils Partnership Street Naming and Numbering Policy. Members were advised that the Council had a duty to ensure that all roads in the district were named and all properties were numbered or named. Maintaining a comprehensive and high standard for naming streets and numbering or naming properties was essential to ensure post was delivered efficiently, to facilitate emergency services finding a property without undue delay, to provide consistency of property-based information across local government and national data sets, to facilitate the reliable delivery of services and products, and to enable the public to find where they wanted to go. The Portfolio Holder emphasised that a single policy would ensure there was a consistent approach across all three Councils within the Partnership, as well to deliver the objectives of the regulatory service review in facilitating the function within Regulatory Building Control. The proposed Street Naming and Numbering Policy was attached as Appendix A within the report.

 

Committee deliberation followed which included:

 

As a result of a previous experience where complaints had been received regarding a road in Wyberton in which properties were named but not numbered, causing issues in locating specific addresses, and being unable to resolve the matter by providing numbers due to the lack of take up by residents the following changes were suggested in respect of paragraph 8.1 of the Appendix: 1) the heading should include the words ‘or numbering’ to read: Renumbering existing properties or numbering existing properties’.; 2) that a 50% threshold should be included to make it a more sensible proportion; and 3) where there were no numbers on properties on a street or lane, they should be listed in the electoral list in their proper order. The importance of recognising local Bostonian community heroes by prioritising the naming of Boston Borough Council’s streets after them was suggested, which would present an opportunity to inspire people, particularly young residents. An example was provided where a member noted that two streets had been named after a local fisherman and a local boxer who had won a Commonwealth medal. Consensus was that the preference was for a 2/3 threshold in order to avoid residents’ frustration with a 50% split. Responding to a question regarding paragraph 6.3 within the Appendix about using a 'Development Name' for marketing purposes, the Group Manager, Building Control advised that it meant that if a developer was advertising a development in their name, it did not necessarily mean that when the formal address schedule was finalised, that the development name would be used as the actual street name. Appendix 2 Members were encouraged to receive confirmation that all street names would be subject to consultation with Parish and Ward Councillors. It was noted that the Council had no powers in respect of enforcing the display of house names in a prominent position, residents could only  ...  view the full minutes text for item 116.

117.

Customer Feedback Policy pdf icon PDF 110 KB

A report by the Assistant Director – Governance and Monitoring Officer

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The report was presented by the Information Manager and Data Protection Officer.

The Council was responsible for ensuring it has a suitable policy in place for dealing with feedback and in particular complaints. The Council wanted to deal with complaints in a way that is open, fair, and proportionate. A policy-led approach helps staff understand what is expected of them, what options for action are available, and who can authorise these actions. Having a policy that can be shared with complainants can help in managing their expectations. Reviewing, updating, and aligning this policy meant the Council has a clear policy for dealing with feedback in general, and more specifically with complaints received.

The Policy had been aligned to be the same across the 3 Councils in the S&ELCP to provide consistency for all staff when dealing with these incidences.

The policy provided the Council with a framework to implement and take appropriate actions when dealing with complaints. It clearly defined what is and is not a complaint as well as steps that will be taken to address complaints.

·       Confirmed how to give feedback or make a complaint.

·       Highlighted any exceptions to the standard customer feedback procedure, for example where specific issues were treated by a defined complaints procedure.

·       Defined the standard of service, including response times, to expect when making a complaint.

·       Recognised the importance of customer feedback in providing insight to Council services and performance.

·       Set out how the Council monitored customer feedback and used information to improve services and identify training needs.

It had been designed to include corporate oversight and monitoring and had also been reviewed against the LGSCO Complaint Handling Code (the Code). Some of the key updates in the Code related to response times and performance reporting. The Stage 1 response time had been changed to 15 working days to align with the updated LGSCO Code – previously at Boston the response time was 20 working days. The Policy also adopted the Code’s suggested definitions for ‘a service request’ and ‘a complaint’ and confirms the approach the Council will take when responding to these.

As part of the implementation of the Policy, training and guidance would be offered to ensure Officers are aware of their responsibilities when dealing with and responding to complaints. The Council plans to use complaints review panel (a ‘complaints clinic’) to extract any lessons learnt from recent complaints to enable sharing across the organisation. The Council would also produce and publish an annual complaints performance and service improvement report to assess and analyse performance and improvements.

 

Committee deliberation followed which included:

 

On seeking the time scale in place to respond to a complaint, a member was advised that from the date of receipt of a complaint the Council had 5 working days to acknowledge the complaint. From the date they acknowledge the complaint they then had 10 working days in which to respond.

In the event that the complainant submitted a stage 2 complaint then the same 5 working days  ...  view the full minutes text for item 117.

118.

Work Programme pdf icon PDF 225 KB

(For Members to note/discuss the Committee’s current work programme)

Minutes:

The Environmental Enforcement Officer advised that the Peer Review report scheduled for the January meeting would now be tabled at the March meeting at which an additional report had been scheduled in respect of HMOs in Boston.

 

The Chairman advised that a member briefing would be requested in respect of Child Poverty.

 

Addressing the following municipal year the Chairman further advised that the committee would be looking to seek representation in respect of the bus services and would also consider, any work streams from the Social Impact Population Change (SIPC) report from 2012 which the Lead Officer had recently reviewed with committee.

 

It s recorded that the Chairman Councillor Paul Gleeson absented from the meeting at this part in the proceedings and the Vice Chairman Councillor Suzanne Welberry chaired the meeting for the last item on business.

119.

Council/PSPS Transformation and Service Modernisation programme pdf icon PDF 121 KB

A report by the Assistant Director – Corporate.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Portfolio Holder presented the opening section for this item and confirmed that PSPS had been providing services to Boston Borough Council since 2021.  The Transformation and Modernisation Plan was the first three-way Council Transformation Plan designed to provide support in modernising the Councils service delivery.  It set out a number of ambitious projects for the Councils’ split by the themes of customers and residents, looking at modernisation and efficiency and organisational development.

The range of projects included out of hours digital telephony solutions, leveraging automation and advancement in technology, through to a commitment to the use of plain language.  Extensive partnership engagement had taken place throughout with stakeholders, with officers and with member briefings.

PSPS were seeking a total investment of £5,039.238,00 which they say would return savings of £9,613.221.00.  The investment for Boston Borough Council would be £1,209,417,00 but returning a saving of £2,307,173,04.

Each project would subject to its own business case and approval process and also have its own multi-stakeholder board.

 

At this point in the meeting the committee agreed to move into exempt measures to receive the appendix on the report.

 

120.

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 item of business on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraph 4 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Order:

 

Appendix A - Transformation Plan  Service Modernisation

Minutes:

A separate minute for this item is lodged with the Council