Agenda and minutes

The Mayor sent his best wishes to Councillor Gill Clayton-Hewson on behalf of the Council.

The Mayor reflected on what he referred to as being a proud week for Lincoln following Lincoln City Football Club’s success in winning the Checkatrade EFL Trophy at Wembley Stadium on 9 April 2018. He would be welcoming the Danny and Nicky Cowley on 12 April 2018 for a civic event where they would be presented with the Council’s Civic Award.

All other engagements undertaken by the Mayor were available for viewing via his social media profiles.

The Mayor presented Councillor Tony Speakman with a certificate to thank him, on behalf of the Council and the residents of Lincoln, for his service between 2012 and 2018 following his decision not to stand at the City Council elections on 3 May 2018. The Mayor added that Councillor Speakman was a figure of marvellous integrity.

Councillor Pete West was presented with a certificate by the Mayor to thank him, on behalf of the Council and the residents of Lincoln, for his significant service between 1983 and 2018 following his decision not to stand at the City Council elections on 3 May 2018. The Mayor said that he, the Council and the people of Lincoln were very grateful for all he had done.

Councillor Ric Metcalfe, Leader of the Council, thanked Councillor Speakman for his six years of service representing the Carholme Ward. Councillor Metcalfe said that Councillor Speakman had brought some very good personal qualities to his role as a member of the Council, particularly in respect of his role on the Performance Scrutiny Committee and as Chair of the Audit Committee. He added that Councillor Speakman had demonstrated great attention to detail and independence of mind which had served the authority well and thanked him on behalf of the Council and the city.

Councillor Metcalfe also thanked Councillor Pete West who had first been elected to the Council in 1983 to the Abbey Ward, the residents of whom had shown repeated confidence in him as their local councillor. He said that when you thought of Councillor West you thought of common sense, plain speaking, independent mindedness, honesty and loyalty. These qualities had seen him in good stead as Chair of the Planning Committee and more recently in his current Portfolio Holder for Housing role as a member of the Council’s Executive. Councillor Metcalfe regarded Councillor West as a great friend to the Council and city who would be missed and thanked him for all the hard work, integrity and comradeship he had shown whilst in office.

Councillor Ronald Hills, Leader of the Opposition, thanked Councillor West for his advice and guidance when he first became a member of the Council, especially in relation to planning and the apolitical nature of those respective decisions made over the years. Councillor Hills added that he and Councillor West had become unlikely allies a lot of the time during their time on the Planning Committee and congratulated him on his  ...  view the full minutes text for item 49.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on 27 February 2018 be confirmed.

Please note that, in accordance with the Members' Code of Conduct, when declaring interests members must disclose the existence and nature of the interest, and whether it is a disclosable pecuniary interest (DPI) or personal and/or pecuniary.

No declarations of interest were received.

No questions were received.

No questions were received.

Councillor Fay Smith, Portfolio Holder for Environmental Services and Public Protection, presented an annual report on the work of her portfolio and highlighted the activity and performance within her portfolio, particularly in relation to the following:

Waste and recycling

Contamination continued to be a big issue for the Council’s waste collection and recycling performance but it was reported that the authority was working closely with the County Council and other District Councils in Lincolnshire to try and address this issue. A trial was taking place in South Kesteven District Council involving the recycling of food waste, following a visit to Peterborough City Council where this had been successful in view of the fact that food waste was one of the largest contaminants of recyclable waste. It was hoped that this trial would be successful and could then be implemented more widely across the county, including in the city of Lincoln. Less than 5% of waste ended up in landfill, with any waste sent to the energy from waste plant being turned into energy. 3 million collections at over 45,000 properties in the city took place every year, which involved a tremendous amount of work.

Cleansing

The Council cleaned 200 miles of streets as part of the Council’s street cleansing programme.

Fly-tipping continued to become problematic in the city, particularly in respect of abandoned vehicles. 179 reports of abandoned vehicles had been received this year which took up a significant proportion of officer time.

New multi-use litter bins were due to be rolled out across the city, which could be used for both litter and dog waste.

Public toilets

The new public toilet facilities at the Central Bus Station were managed by attendants employed to ensure that they were maintained to a high standard. Attendants had already dealt with an number of issues.

Positive feedback had been received in relation to the accessible toilet at the Central Bus Station, supplemented by a full changing places facility. Unlimited access to this facility could be obtained via an electronic card which incurred a one-off charge of £5. The electronic nature of the card made it easier to manage and re-issue should it be lost or stolen.

CCTV

£400,000 had been invested in new state of the art CCTV system for the city, with the quality of the images supplied by the cameras being of exceptionally high quality. They were also more flexible in their use and cameras could be deployed to other areas of the city to certain hotspots that may require the assistance of surveillance.

Further updates were provided in the report on the following:

·         public protection and anti-social behaviour;

·         licensing;

·         food safety;

·         health and safety (enforcement);

·         bereavement services;

·         carbon reduction;

·         air quality.

Councillor Ronald Hills, Leader of the Opposition, reflected on the issue of fly-tipping especially in the Sincil Bank area of the city and made the point that the more the Council collected and cleaned up fly-tipping the more people may be inclined to continue to fly-tip. He acknowledged that  ...  view the full minutes text for item 54a

Councillor Donald Nannestad, Portfolio Holder for Recreational Services and Health, presented an annual report on the work of his portfolio and highlighted the activity and performance within his portfolio, particularly in relation to the following:

Birchwood Leisure Centre

It was reported that the second phase of the re-development of Birchwood Leisure Centre would now not include works to the car park due to complications that had arisen in respect of what was underneath the car park. This would therefore remain as it was, with works to the exterior of the Leisure Centre to continue as planned.

The first phase of the re-development had been successful, with Active Nation reporting that one of the campaigners against its re-development had since apologised for their objections and complemented the new facility.

Lincoln 10K

The Lincoln 10K was cancelled due to the extreme weather conditions, with a new date now scheduled for 1 July 2018.

The children’s races the day before the day of the 10K went ahead as planned, even given the difficult conditions and Councillor Nannestad thanked everyone for their attendance on that day.

Further updates were set out in the report on the following topics:

·         sport and the performance of Yarborough Leisure Centre and Birchwood Leisure Centre;

·         health;

·         physical activity;

·         parks;

·         volunteers;

·         citizen panel surveys;

·         health profile for 2017.

Councillor Nannestad highlighted the recent success of Lincoln City Football Club and the knock-on effect this had on young people engaging with sport. He added that it was very pleasing to see so many young people at Wembley Stadium for the Checkatrade EFL final which he hoped would inspire them to go on to achieve things in sport.

Councillor Ronald Hills, Leader of the Opposition, asked for more detail in respect of the car park at Birchwood Leisure Centre. Councillor Nannestad reiterated that the works could not continue due to the difficult conditions underneath the car park, with a technical explanation in more detail being available from officers. He added that it would be extremely expensive to proceed as originally planned.

Councillor Keith Weaver put on record his thanks to the Portfolio Holder for this support and excellent co-operation in assisting the Lincoln District Sunday League with the rescheduling of over forty matches as a result of the bad weather.

The report was noted.

Councillor Bob Bushell, Chair of the Community Leadership Scrutiny Committee, presented an annual report on the work of the Committee.

Councillor Bushell highlighted that the Community Leadership Scrutiny Committee had undertaken two areas of review over the year, as follows:

Lincoln Walk-In Centre on Monks Road – proposed closure

The Committee assisted the Council in submitting a formal response to the West Lincolnshire Care Commissioning Group’s proposal to close the Lincoln Walk-In Centre on Monks Road.

Scrutiny review of Inclusive Growth

The Committee undertook a comprehensive scrutiny review of Inclusive Growth, with economic growth being one of the Council’s strategic priorities. It was recognised that economic growth should not be viewed in isolation but that it contributed toward and was a driver to achieving all of the Council’s strategic aims.

A range of external speakers from all sectors of the city had been invited to provide the Committee with information and it was warming to know what was taking place in the Lincoln to get people into work. Councillor Bushell acknowledged, however, that there was still lots to do and that there was a sector of society missing out on opportunities, with social deprivation still present in the city.

Transport was a key emerging issue and a trial facilitated by Access Lincoln, Lincolnshire County Council and Lincoln BIG was being put in place to reduce fares and, in some cases, offer free fares for people looking for work or those in very low paid work.

The report was noted.

Councillor Naomi Tweddle, Chair of the Equality and Diversity Group, presented an annual report on the work of the Group.

Councillor Tweddle thanked Councillor Gill Clayton-Hewson for her previous chairmanship of the Equality and Diversity Group.

It was reported that the Group had met three times since the last report to Council where the following issues had been discussed and considered:

·         progress on equality action plans;

·         applicants for the City of Lincoln Council job vacancies by those from black and minority ethnic groups;

·         equality journal 2016-17;

·         review of the Council’s Equality and Diversity Policy;

·         adoption of the IHRA working definition of anti-semitism;

·         gender pay gap;

·         equality and diversity training;

·         Equality and Diversity Group terms of reference;

·         Lincoln Social Responsibility Charter;

·         equality monitoring form and guidance;

·         celebrating 100 years of women getting the vote and national democracy.

A strong work programme had been developed which was based on each service area with key aspects picked up from across the authority.

Councillor Tweddle highlighted that equality and diversity training for staff was extremely important, as this should be at the forefront of everything the Council did.

In respect of the new accessible toilet facilities at the Central Bus Station, from an equality and diversity perspective it had been reported that the electronic radar key system was being wildly abused, with versions of the keys available online for very little cost. It was important that the facility was used only by those people who needed it. It was noted that the key system was in the process of being trialled and would be under review. The Equality and Diversity Group would seek feedback from the Disability Forum who it regularly engaged with.

The report was noted.

Councillor Jim Hanrahan, Design Advocate and Chair of the Planning Committee, provided an annual report to members on his role as the Council’s Design Advocate.

Councillor Hanrahan explained that the pre-application process sought to engage with planning consultants, architects, developers and others as soon as possible in the development timeframe for any site in the city in order to guide development, ensuring it was of an appropriate scale and design. He accepted that this would not always lead to an agreeable outcome, but officers prided themselves on the design knowledge and understanding that they held as a team.

Despite pre-application discussions, it would sometimes be that the Council needed to refuse development where judgements could be finely balanced and emotive issues such as design came into play. Officers and the Council’s Planning Committee therefore had to understand and determine these issues. The Planning Inspectorate was still able to overrule a Council’s decision, however, Councillor Hanrahan made the point that planning appeals were seldom allowed on the grounds of design.

In referring to the Design Awards, Councillor Hanrahan highlighted that only applications approved by the City Council, not won on appeal, would be able to make the shortlist.

Councillor Ronald Hills, Leader of the Opposition, asked whether it could be considered as a little conceited and negative only to include those applications approved by the authority and not those won on appeal for inclusion to the shortlist for the Design Awards. Councillor Hanrahan understood the point and in considering this issue at the early stages of the Design Awards process, felt that it would be a negative reflection on the Planning Committee and the authority should an application originally refused by the authority subsequently be shortlisted for a Design Award.

The report was noted.