Agenda and minutes

The Mayor encouraged members to look at his Facebook account to find out about the civic engagements he had attended since the last meeting, reporting that all of his engagements were advertised via social media.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on 5 December 2017 be confirmed.

No declarations of interest were received.

No questions from members of the public were received.

Councillor Ron Hills, Leader of the Opposition, asked the following question to the Portfolio Holder for Recreational Services and Health in relation to Hartsholme Park:

“Can I thank the Portfolio Holder for at last facilitating the repairs to the water supply to the park buildings on behalf of the park users and staff. Now this has been achieved can he give us any idea when further repairs and necessary maintenance will be carried out on the buildings, or will they be allowed to continue to decay into dereliction?”

Councillor Donald Nannestad, Portfolio Holder for Recreational Services and Health, responded to the question and referred to the Council’s Vision 2020 included within which was a masterplan for Hartsholme Park. He stated that the Council undertook routine maintenance to the park buildings but acknowledged that some of the vacant buildings were in need of a full refurbishment. He reported that capital funds would be required to carry out the works and an end use identified, which was in line with wider park aspirations, adding that it would be necessary to source external funding to carry out refurbishments as there were no budgets available within existing resources. He cited the Heritage Lottery Fund as a potential external funding source, which had been used as part of the improvements that were in the process of being finalised at Boultham Park. It would be necessary to allow the work at Boultham Park to be completed prior to submitting any new bid to the Heritage Lottery Fund for improvements to Hartsholme Park.

Councillor Ron Hills as a supplemental question, asked:

“Are you going to allow it to further decay?”

Councillor Nannestad reiterated the points he had made to the original question. He recognised that work needed to be undertaken to improve the Park and associated buildings but emphasised that a significant amount of money would be required to make this happen.

The Mayor invited Councillor Tony Speakman to present his report as the Chair of the Audit Committee. The Mayor took this opportunity to thank Councillor Speakman on behalf of the Council for the work he had undertaken as Chair of the Committee, acknowledging that this would be Councillor Speakman’s final report to Council in this capacity following his decision not to stand at the City Council elections in May 2018.

Councillor Speakman presented Council with a report on the work of the Audit Committee.

It was noted that the Committee, in completing its work programme and providing challenge where required, had:

·         increased public confidence in the Council’s governance arrangements;

·         reinforced the importance and independence of internal and external audit and other review processes that reported to the Audit Committee;

·         assisting in the co-ordination of assurance with internal audit and, in doing so, made management more accountable;

·         provided additional assurance through a process of independent and objective review and raised awareness of the need for internal control;

·         helped ensure the timely interpretation of audit recommendations.

A lot of work had been undertaken to ensure the Council’s compliance with the European General Data Protection Regulation, which would come into force in May 2018 and significantly increased the level of fines for breaches. Councillor Speakman was confident that the Council would be compliant by 31 May 2018, as required.

Councillor Speakman was pleased to report that the 2016/17 final accounts were presented for audit by the required statutory date and were free from material error, with the External Auditor issuing an unqualified opinion on the Council’s 2016/17 financial statements in September 2017. It was noted, however, that a number of material audit differences had been identified which were corrected by management. These were due to unprecedented resourcing pressures within the Council’s finance team in the months prior to the audit, which all members of the Council were aware of. Arrangements had since been put in place to ensure that robust arrangements were in place for 2017/18 and the 2017/18 year end, which would be monitored by the Audit Committee.

Councillor Speakman outlined his thanks to Councillor Geoff Ellis as Vice-Chairman of the Committee, Jane Nelist as the Committee’s independent member and all members of the Committee for their contributions throughout the year. He also placed on record his thanks to Jaclyn Gibson (Chief Finance Officer), Rob Baxter (Acting Chief Finance Officer), John Scott (Audit Manager) and his Internal Audit team, Becky Scott (Legal and Democratic Services Manager) and all officers that had provided reports, training and guidance to the Audit Committee.

Councillor Ron Hills, Leader of the Opposition, placed on record his thanks on behalf of the Audit Committee to Councillor Speakman for his work as Chair of the Committee, adding that he would be missed.

Council noted the report.

Councillor Rosie Kirk, Portfolio Holder for Social Inclusion and Community Cohesion, presented Council with a report on the work of her portfolio.

The report provided updates on the following key activities undertaken during the past year:

·         neighbourhood working;

·         community cohesion:

-       work with the Mosque and different faiths;

-       students and integration into the community, including international students;

-       integrating people from different backgrounds;

-       hate crime;

-       promoting community cohesion through the media, including social media;

·         social inclusion:

-       anti-poverty performance outcomes;

-       Lincoln Against Poverty Conference 2017;

-       Lincoln Against Poverty activity in 2017;

-       Lincoln Money;

·         adult learning;

·         safeguarding children and adults at risk;

·         domestic abuse;

·         older people;

·         community centres;

·         young people;

·         asylum seekers and refugees.

Councillor Kirk reported that the Council had been successful in developing good relationships with various groups and organisations across the city and thanked the Council’s officers for their assistance with this.

A question was raised regarding reference to ‘mate crime’ in the report and whether this should have read ‘hate crime’. It was noted that the term ‘mate crime’ in the context of the report was correct.

Council noted the updated.

This item was deferred to the next meeting of Council scheduled to be held on 27 February 2018.

It was proposed by Councillor Ric Metcalfe, Leader of the Council, and seconded by Councillor Donald Nannestad, Deputy Leader of the Council.

RESOLVED that Council:

(a)          Notes that there are no special items as defined in Section 35 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992 (as amended) applicable to any part or parts of the City of Lincoln local authority area.

(b)          Approves the Chief Finance Officer’s calculation of the council tax base for the financial year commencing 1 April 2018 and ending 31 March 2019, as set out in Appendix B of the report.

(c)          Approves, in accordance with the Chief Finance Officer’s calculation, and pursuant to the Local Authorities (Calculation of Council Tax Base) Regulations 1992 (as amended), that the council tax base for the 2018/19 financial year is 23,943.

It was proposed by Councillor Ric Metcalfe, Leader of the Council, and seconded by Councillor Donald Nannestad, Deputy Leader of the Council.

RESOLVED that the Council Tax Support Scheme for 2018/19, incorporating protection for vulnerable households and an exceptional hardship fund of £20,000, be approved.

The agenda for this meeting of Council was published on 15 January 2018. The Pay Policy Statement item is scheduled to be considered at the meeting of the Executive on 22 January 2018. A copy of the Executive report is therefore attached.

A extract of the minutes from the meeting of the Executive in relation to this item will be published and circulated via a supplement as soon as practicable after the meeting.

It was proposed by Councillor Ric Metcalfe, Leader of the Council, and seconded by Councillor Donald Nannestad, Deputy Leader of the Council, that the Pay Policy Statement for 2018-19 be approved, subject to the removal of the following sentence:

“The Council will be implementing the latest living wage increase of £8.75 in April 2018”.

This was to reflect the fact that a decision on this matter had not yet been taken.

RESOLVED that the Pay Policy Statement 2018-19 be approved, subject to the deletion of the sentence outlined above.