Agenda and minutes

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on 16 November 2023 be confirmed and signed by the Chair.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the Housing Scrutiny Sub Committee held on 2 November 2023 be received.

Members suggested that the Lincoln City Profile be presented to future meetings of Performance Scrutiny Sub-Committee. Information from the Lincoln City Profile was relevant when considering performance. Consideration would be given to the use of the information from the profile when Councillor Donald Nannestad, Portfolio Holder for Quality Housing attended Housing Scrutiny Sub-Committee in January 2024.

(Note: Councillor Lucinda Preston joined proceedings at 18:06)

Councillor Bob Bushell, Portfolio Holder for Remarkable Place:

a)    presented a report to Performance Scrutiny Committee covering the following main areas:

·       Parks and Open Spaces – General

·       The Arboretum

·       Boultham Park

·       Hartsholme Country Park/ Swanholme Lakes and the Camp Site

·       Commons

·       Hope Wood

·       Allotments

·       Equipped Play Areas

·       John Dawber Gardens

·       Events and Activities

·       Education

·       Volunteering

·       Arboriculture

·       Travellers

·       Local Landscapes, Hidden Histories

·       Street Scene

·       Infrastructure

·       Waste/ Recycling

·       Street Cleansing

·       Graffiti

·       Public Toilets

·       Community Centre and Recreation Grounds

·       Sport and Leisure

·       Lincoln 10K

·       Crematorium

·       Licensing

·       Food, Health and Safety

·       Local Air Quality Management

b)    invited questions and comments from Members of the Committee.

Question: Thanks given for an excellent report. How many green burials had taken place in the city? Was Long Leys Road burial site used for green burials?

Response: The city did not have green burial space and as such, green burials took place outside of the city. The provision of green burial space would be considered in the future.

Question: How many Green Flag Awards had been won in the city?

Response: Three major parks within the city had received a Green Flag Award and it was hoped that Hope Wood would be the next. Inspectors were extremely impressed with the cleanliness, maintenance and management of the parks which were fantastic facilities within the city.

Question: Thanks given to individuals that worked within waste disposal. When would the food waste bins be implemented and would they be separate bins?

Response: Under the Environment Act, food waste was to become a mandatory collection and would commence in April 2026. The new waste collection contract was due to commence in September 2026. Every household would have food waste bins collected weekly from a separate caddy with biodegradable liners. Food waste collections would be built into the contract specification for the successful waste collection contractor.

Question: Would there be an additional collection implemented for food waste or would the collection run alongside existing collections? Had Central Government confirmed any financial assistance with the new statutory obligation?

Response: In respect of paper and card collections, negotiations remained ongoing with Lincolnshire County Council (LCC). Consideration had been given to the dense terraced housing within the city that could not always accommodate two 40 litre bins. Food waste collection was a mandatory service and it was suspected that Government financial assistance would be limited. Food waste collection would be carried out independently of existing waste collections, on a weekly basis with an additional vehicle. Implementation was a significant task.

Question: Would an additional vehicle be required of BIFFA?

Response: Yes. Implementation delayed until 2026 would be helpful as there was an issue with supply of vehicles.

Comment: As we moved towards the arrangement of the budget for the new financial year, it would be useful to be aware if food waste collections would be a national cost to ensure a sustainable budget was set.

Response: Central Government had confirmed that funding would be made available but not  ...  view the full minutes text for item 53.

Kate Bell, Climate Change Manager:

a)    presented a report to Performance Scrutiny Committee with an update towards addressing the challenge of the Climate Change Strategy Priority contained in Vision 2025

b)    explained that Appendix A of the report provided an overview of the current and live projects for the strategic priority

c)    highlighted that there were 12 projects that were currently being monitored in the work programme for Climate Change and these were listed in paragraphs 4.3-4.4 of the report

d)    explained that Appendix B of the report contained a set of performance indicators that had been developed for the Climate Change strategic priority

e)    invited comments and questions from Members of the Committee.

Question: The report confirmed that one major decarbonisation project had been completed. What other projects had been completed?

Response: The crematorium and Lincoln Central Market projects had been completed which offered substantial energy efficiency savings.

Question: In respect of setting Lincoln standards for carbon neutral homes, was ‘zero carbon’ net zero?

Response: The term related to making homes as energy efficient as possible. The countrywide target was to bring all properties to an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) rating of C or lower.

Question: Had funding been set aside to achieve EPC rating C or lower?

Response: Some funding had been ring fenced. Further to retro fitting homes, through contractors there was a good indication of the expected costs. Detailed costings were being worked on and at that point, an application would be made for funding from the social housing decarbonisation fund. Government funded up to 30% of the works.

Question: Had any properties been fitted with a heat pump?

Response: The CoLC had not encouraged anyone to move from gas to a heat pump.

Question: What was the city’s baseline year for net zero?

Response: The baseline year was 2005, contained within the action plans.

Question: Thanks given for a great report. Was the feasibility study in respect of Wigford Way, further to information from LCC?

Response: A working group met every two weeks with LCC and it was understood that funding was returned for CoLC to deliver the projects. Further information would be forwarded further to the meeting.

Comment: The scheme was great. Lincoln Town Deal Board agreed only to the feasibility study for Wigford Way.

Comment: Referred to Lincoln’s area wide Carbon Dioxide (CO2) Emissions figures contained at Appendix B to the report. Why had rates risen considerably in 2023?

Response: The figures shown demonstrated what happened two years ago; there was a two-year lag. Due to the covid-19 pandemic, there had been mass closure of industry and a considerable reduction in traffic. Therefore, 2023 was a bounce back from earlier years. Electricity consumption had reduced, however a reflective reduction of emissions had not been experienced. Approximately 46% of our electricity came from renewable sources.

RESOLVED that the progress of the Vision Group and Strategic Priority be noted.

Simon Walters, Director of Communities and Environment:

a)    provided Performance Scrutiny Committee with an update on the Let’s Enhance our Remarkable Place Strategic Priority in Vision 2025

b)    gave an overview of the key projects that the Council was progressing:

·       Emergence of an events programme for the city across the year

·       Hope Wood

·       Greening the City Centre

·       Heritage Action Zone

·       Leisure Strategy

·       Boultham Park Phase Two

·       Branding Green Spaces

·       Preparations for new Refuse Collection, Street Cleansing and Grounds Maintenance Service

·       Paper and Card Collections

·       Biodiversity Net Gain

·       St Giles Youth Centre

·       Greyfriars

·       Harlequin

·       Local Landscapes, Hidden Histories

c)    invited comments and questions from Members of the Committee.

Comment: Referred to the new programme of events for 2023 on page 98 of the report. Due to the inclusion of a hyphen, the overall cost to the City Council for the Monster Invasion read as minus £25,000.

Response: Apologies offered for the typo and thanks given for the feedback. Confirmed that the cost to the Council for the Monster Invasion was £25,000.

Question: Thanks given for the report. What was the budget for the programme of events for the 2023 financial year?

Response: £250,000.

Question: What was the budget set for the programme of events planned for the 2024 financial year?

Response: The budget set was £250,000 however it was possible that costs could be higher or lower depending on the shape and structure of the final programme of events, yet to be secured.

Comment: If inflation were to be considered, the 2024 events budget therefore would be a reduced budget when compared with 2023.

Response: Across the city Council there were contractual elements to the budget  that were inflated year on year however those not contractually bound would not be inflated. The actual spend in 2023 was £250,000 and broadly, the budget for 2024 had been set at £250,000 but that figure could be higher once the programme was agreed.

Question: What events were planned for Lincoln in 2024? Were they planned to be the same as 2023 or something new?

Response: 2023 was a pilot year and the development of the events programme was ongoing. Aspirations included the growth of events, if successful, such as the Lincoln Ice Trail and consideration had been given to new events also. More information would be provided further to sign-off from the relevant Portfolio Holder.

Comment: It was positive that a bid had been submitted for funding to aid with the associated running cost of swimming pools.

Response: Two applications had been submitted for support with energy costs. One bid failed. Sport England had not offered clarity on the reasons for failure. It was hoped that the current bid would enable investment in energy efficient measures and also support technology to measure and monitor the water of pools and new swimming pool covers which retained heat overnight.

Comment: Thanks given to officers for all the hard work that had been carried out. At a time where local authorities struggled financially, the continued hard work  ...  view the full minutes text for item 55.

The Chair:

a)    presented the draft work programme for 2023/24 as detailed at Appendix A of the report

b)    advised that the work programme for the Performance Scrutiny Committee was put forward annually for approval by Council; the work programme was then regularly updated throughout the year in consultation with the Performance Scrutiny Committee and its Chair

c)    reported that items had been scheduled in accordance with the existing work programme and officers’ guidance regarding the meetings at which the most up-to-date information could be reported to the committee; the work programme also included the list of portfolio holders under scrutiny

d)    requested any relevant comments or changes to the proposed work programme for 2023/24.

The Chair requested that parties nominated representatives for the membership of the Budget Review Group.

RESOLVED that:

1.    The report from the Portfolio Holder for Remarkable Place be moved to the end of the annual Portfolio Holder reporting cycle.

2.    The work programme 2023/24 be agreed.

3.    Nominated parties for membership of Budget Review Group be notified to Democratic Services.