Agenda and minutes

Councillor Edmund Strengiel declared a Personal Interest with regard to the agenda item titled 'Medium Term Financial Strategy 2024/2029'.

Reason: He was the Chairman of the Pension Committee at Lincolnshire County Council. (Also in respect of anywhere else on the agenda where the Local Government Pension Scheme was mentioned.)

Councillor Pat Vaughan declared a Personal Interest with regard to the agenda item titled 'Medium Term Financial Strategy 2024/2029'.

Reason: Both his daughter and granddaughter worked in the finance department at the City of Lincoln Council.

Council observed a minute’s silence in memory of the late Lord Patrick Cormack.

The Mayor advised that he had visited 30 schools to date to talk about the role of the Mayor and the history of the City, which he had found to be a great experience. 

There were no questions received.

Councillor David Clarkson to Councillor Naomi Tweddle

Question

Many members of the public were disappointed by this Council’s failure to open the new Central Market as per the initial plans. How many stalls had been let out, with signed contracts?

Answer

This Council was committed to ensuring that the quality of the new Cornhill Market experience matched the fantastic renovation works that had been undertaken to this important heritage asset. Getting the right mix of market offer that could showcase what Lincoln and Lincolnshire had to offer, working with local, small, independent and mainly family run businesses and being responsive to their concerns, needs and timescales had indeed taken longer than expected and planned for but was a recipe for success not failure.

To date:

-          Eighteen traders were in the process of signing contracts (six had been signed and were ready to seal)

-          Five further stalls were under offer (going through pre-contract checks)

-          The Council was actively talking to 20 businesses about letting space (including pop-ups)

-          There was a large waiting list (although some of these were duplicates of stalls that had already been let e.g. coffee provision, cookies etc)

The Council would soon be making an announcement as to when the market would open.

Councillor Alan Briggs to Councillor Sue Burke

Question

What work had the portfolio holder recently undertaken in respect to the City Council’s PREVENT duties?

Answer

The Council continued to attend PREVENT steering groups where the priorities for PREVENT were assessed and agreed. Staff continued to complete PREVENT related e-learning when they joined the Council and this training was refreshed every 3 years. Face to Face training options were currently being explored for frontline staff. The Council was also introducing a venue hire policy to ensure that its buildings were not used for extremism, radicalisation, hate speech or other similar activities. 

Supplementary question

Please can you provide details of the number of referrals made?

Answer

The councillor would be provided with these figures by an officer outside of the meeting.

Councillor Bill Mara to Councillor Sue Burke

Question

What investment had been made within the last year directly as a result of the City Council’s Social Value Policies with contractors?

Answer

Social Value investment from contracts over the last year was estimated to be in the region of  £11.695m. However, it should be noted that of this £11.54m was not tangible and was derived from contractors engaging Local Employment, Local Labour, Apprenticeships and local Supply Chains. Approximately £157k had provided support to local residents of Lincoln by way of Food Bank Contributions, Community Engagement schemes such as working with local schools/community groups and Skills Days for Council Tenants.

Councillor Tom Dyer to Councillor Ric Metcalfe

Question

Could the Leader of the Council enlighten the Council with what the Labour party’s position was in respect to local government finance for the City of Lincoln Council?

Answer

The Conservative Government had made cuts after cuts in public spending, and more specifically to local government  ...  view the full minutes text for item 34.

It was moved by Councillor Biff Bean, seconded by Councillor Donald Nannestad and

RESOLVED that Council Procedure Rule 17.4 regarding the content and length of speeches be suspended to allow the Leader of the Council and the Opposition Group Leaders unlimited time to speak on Minute 35a.

Councillor Ric Metcalfe, Leader of the Council, proposed the recommendations contained within the report, as detailed on pages 21 and 22 of the agenda pack, in relation to the Medium Term Financial Strategy 2024-2029 and budget.

He reflected on strategic considerations and long-term financial sustainability, highlighting effective use of resources and demonstratable progress to support effective delivery of services and alignment with aspirations for strategic priorities. In addition, there were a number of Councils that had been served with or faced a Section 114 notice, a power given to s114 Officers within Council’s to challenge the sustainability of a Council’s plan. Due to the determination of elected Members, the skills of Officers and excellent financial stewardship, the City of Lincoln Council (CoLC) had not received such notice.

The Leader of the Council referred to section 4.4 of the report and confirmed that achievement for Council Taxpayers was significant when considered with the size of the authority in mind. He offered his thanks and gratitude to the hard working and dedicated staff for all achievements gained against the five strategic priorities.

Reference to achievements included, but were not limited to, growth within the City and urban regeneration projects, support for poorer households struggling with the cost of living crisis, the building of new homes and reduction in homelessness and aspirations for a carbon natural city by 2030.

Councillor Donald Nannestad, Deputy Leader of the Council, seconded the proposition and reiterated the points made. In addition, he added that there was a series of additional pressures such as inflation, difficulties in the supply chain and the cost of living crisis, all of which affected residents. Reference was also made to the need to pay over £1million to Internal Drainage Boards in levies, which were each increasing levies or more. Circa 15% of the levies received by the Council were transferred to the Internal Drainage Boards.

The Council’s housing stock was in good condition and the Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) as seen at Appendix A to the report, outlined the considerable investments to be made to homes.

The Mayor, having received notice of the Leader of the Opposition’s intention to propose a number of amendments and notice of the Liberal Democrats intention to propose a number of amendments, permitted that more than one amendment may be discussed and debated at once to facilitate the proper and efficient conduct of the Council’s business in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 17.6(b). He reported, however, that each amendment would be voted upon separately.

Councillor Thomas Dyer, Leader of the Conservative Group, proposed the following amendments to the Medium Term Financial Strategy, which were seconded by Councillor Rachel Storer, Deputy Leader of the Conservative Group:

Amendment 1 – Boosting  ...  view the full minutes text for item 35a

The recommendations to the Council, as set out in the report, were moved and seconded and in accordance with the Council Procedure Rule 19.7, a recorded vote was taken, the result of which was as follows:

RESOLVED

It was moved, seconded and

RESOLVED

(1)  That the Treasury Management Strategy for 2024/25, including the Prudential Indicators, be approved.

(2)  That the Minimum Revenue Provision Policy for 2023/24 be approved.

(3)  That the Treasury Management Practices be approved.

It was moved, seconded and

RESOLVED

That approval be given to the introduction of a council tax premium charge of 100% from 1st April 2025 for dwellings where:

(a) There is no resident of the dwelling, and

(b) The dwelling is substantially furnished.

It was moved, seconded and

RESOLVED

That the Pay Policy Statement for 2024/25 be approved.

Councillor Donald Nannestad, Portfolio Holder for Quality Housing, presented his report to Council, as detailed on pages 297 to 312 of the agenda pack.

In response to a question on the number of homeless cases, it was agreed that details of the proportion of that number being veterans was unknown but this would be provided to Councillor Strengiel outside of the meeting.

The content of the report was noted.

It was moved, seconded and

RESOLVED that moving forward all planning applications for the Western Growth Corridor would be taken to Planning Committee, as per the constitutional arrangements for planning decisions.

It was moved, seconded and

RESOLVED that the changes to the terms of reference for the City Council’s Select Scrutiny Committee, as detailed in Appendix A, be approved.

The Council took the opportunity to thank the outgoing Leader for his service to the City of Lincoln Council, which involved speeches from Group Leaders, individual councillors and a presentation.