Minutes:
Councillor Lucinda Preston to Councillor Neil Murray, Portfolio Holder for Economic Growth
Question
A lot of people have told me how much they enjoyed the Christmas Market. Could you please update us on the Council's view of the 2021 market?
Reply
Councillor Neil Murray stated in reply that the 2021 Market had been a great success despite a number of pressures in the build-up and during the operation of the market, including torrential rain on the Saturday; significant rail disruption; and Covid-19. The Council estimated that around 275,000 people had visited the market over the four days, which it was believed, was the busiest for several years.
Councill Murray added that the Council had worked closely with Public Health to ensure that its operations had been Covid-19 secure and had delivered a large number of Covid-19 safety messages to visitors in advance such as ‘test before you come’ and ‘please wear a mask’. First-aid and Police incidents had been lower than previous years.
There had been some great feedback on the market from visitors, stallholders and partners and some fantastic engagement on social media, which was always a good indicator of the feeling of the public and visitors. The ‘reach’ of the communications campaign had been 2.5 million with the now iconic aerial photo of the market at night having reached over 400,000. The Council was currently working through debriefs with agencies and contractors and the planning for this year’s event had already begun. Councillor Murray thanked all the staff at the Council for their hard work in delivering the event.
Councillor Dave Clarkson to Councillor Neil Murray, Portfolio Holder for Economic Growth
Question
Can the Executive Member provide an update on the Secretary of State’s review of the requested “call-in” of the Western Growth Corridor application?
Reply
Councillor Murray replied that the Secretary of State, via the national casework unit, had contacted the Council, as the local planning authority, to seek assurance that no decision notice would be issued until the Secretary of State had made a determination on the whether the application would be called-in. The local planning authority had yet to receive this further notification.
Councillor Thomas Dyer to Councillor Bob Bushell, Portfolio Holder for Remarkable Place
Question
Can the Executive Member please provide an update on the recent closure of Yarbrough Leisure Centre?
Reply
In reply, Councillor Bob Bushell stated that the Yarborough Leisure Centre had been closed, after a routine safety inspection of the suspended ceiling above the pool had revealed some concerns about how some of the support brackets were aging. A swimming pool created a corrosive environment and in a building of this age, maintenance issues of this type would emerge, and as a result there were the regular inspections. As a precaution the pool had been closed and work was in hand to design, procure and implement a replacement ceiling.
Councillor Bushell continued by stating that whilst this work continued, the focus had moved to the learner pool which had a more recent ceiling, to assess if this could be re-opened in a shorter timeframe. This would be known in the coming week or so and councillors would be updated once the Council had the timescales. This was a significant piece of work necessitating a full replacement of the ceiling over the large pool, and the City Council was committed to expediting this work as quickly as possible in recognition this was one of the few pay-as-you-go facilities in the city, and one on which a number of clubs relied.
Supplementary
Councillor Dyer asked if there was any indication of the costs of the remedial works.
Reply
Councillor Bushell replied that there was no information on the costs currently, but members of the council would be updated.
Councillor Eddie Strengiel to Councillor Neil Murray, Portfolio Holder for Economic Growth
Can the Executive Member please update Council with when he expects construction for the Western Growth Corridor to commence?
Reply
Councillor Murray advised that the Council was awaiting the conclusion of the planning process both in terms of the outcome of the call-in application and any subsequent processes. At that point the Council would need to assess the consequences of the delay on funding; budget; contractor procurement; the work required to discharge pre-commencement conditions; the public utility lead-in times; further community engagement; and the delivery programme itself. Work would start with the revised signalised junction, hopefully later in 2022.
Supplementary
Councillor Strengiel asked whether traffic problems arising from the development would be minimised to avoid any disruption to local residents.
Reply
Councillor Murray indicated that he was certain that the Council and its contractors would work to ensure that there would be minimal disruption, which was in the best interests of the local community and businesses.
Councillor Bill Mara to Councillor Neil Murray, Portfolio Holder for Economic Growth
Question
Can the Executive Member commit to the entire Western Growth Corridor development adhering to the full environmental standards in the emerging Local Plan?
Reply
Councillor Murray stated in reply that all planning applications, including the Western Growth Corridor, were assessed against the current adopted development plan for the area, which in this case was the Central Lincolnshire Local Plan. Now that the Western Growth Corridor development had secured planning permission (subject to any decision on the call-in by the Secretary of State), the scheme must be developed in accordance with the approved conditions which were set out in the report to the Planning Committee.
Councillor Murray referred to the emerging Local Plan and advised that until it were adopted, it would carry limited weight in terms of material planning considerations. However, given the significant construction period of the Western Growth Corridor scheme, reserved matters applications submitted from 2023 would be required to adhere to the new local plan requirements, including the environmental standards therein.
Councillor Murray added that the Council was working with its partners to go beyond current Local Plan policy requirements, wherever possible, to deliver an exemplar sustainable urban community, including environmental standards, overall net biodiversity gain and net zero carbon development. Progress in relation to this work would be reported regularly through the Council’s performance processes.
Councillor Mark Storer to Councillor Ric Metcalfe, Leader of the Council and Portfolio holder for Our People and Resources
Question
After the success of the livestream at the recent Planning Committee, will the Leader commit to bringing the City Council into the twenty-first century and live-stream all meetings?
Reply
Councillor Metcalfe advised that everyone could all agree that the streaming of the Planning Committee on 12 January 2022 had been very successful, and he had received much positive feedback that it had been a highly professional and organised event. At its peak, there were 170 viewers of the livestream. This had helped ensure that the meeting had the greatest reach and accessibility; and had also helped safely manage capacity at the venue.
Councillor Metcalfe added that there was equipment available in the committee rooms to support hybrid meetings. However, following testing at a recent committee meeting, this was currently more suitable for smaller meetings. Options for improving this equipment were being explored, which should hopefully enable more meetings to be livestreamed at a good quality. Councillor Metcalfe emphasised that this equipment came at a cost during a time that the council was experiencing ongoing financial pressures. However, more work would be undertaken to see if the additional cost could be justified.
Councillor Metcalfe thanked Democratic Services for their efforts in the arrangements for the of the meeting.
Supplementary
Councillor Storer referred to all the other councils in Lincolnshire livestreaming their meetings and asked if the Leader of the Council would commit to delivering this to make City Council’s meetings more transparent.
Reply
Councillor Metcalfe stated in reply that he was in principle enthusiastic about livestreaming all Council and committee meetings, but he referred to the high initial costs of installing equipment and the ongoing costs, such as additional staffing, of providing the service.
Councillor Chris Reid to Councillor Neil Murray, Portfolio for Economic Growth
Question
Can the Executive Member update Council on the current situation with regards to car parking revenue, following the Christmas period?
Reply
Councillor Neil Murray replied that as members of the Council would be aware, as a result of a significant fall in demand owing to Covid-19, it had been necessary to reduce the forecasts for car parking income. This had placed significant strain on council budgets, but it had of course been necessary to be prudent through this time of uncertainty.
Councillor Murray added that the later stages of last year, due to the gradual lifting of restrictions prior to Christmas, had seen business levels return to the point where income in November and December 2021 had tracked very closely to the same months in 2019. Figures for January always dropped compared with the previous season, and at this stage, owing to what was considered as public caution associated with the omicron variant of Covid-19, figures seemed to have fallen a little further than expected. However, overall, owing to the cautious approach to budget setting, and the better than expected income prior to Christmas, there was optimism that the income target for 2021/22 of £4.5 million would be met.
Councillor Hilton Spratt to Councillor Bob Bushell, Portfolio Holder for Remarkable Place
Question
Can the Portfolio Holder provide the Council with an explanation as to how we monitor the performance of our contractors, such as Biffa?
Reply
Councillor Bob Bushell answered that Biffa held the City Council’s contracts for two elements of street scene services: waste and recycling; and grounds maintenance and street cleansing. As significant contracts they were carefully monitored and controlled.
At an operational level the contractor was required to meet the demands of the work specification. If it was deemed by staff that the contractor had failed to meet the specification, then they would assess the severity of the failing against one of five categories set out in the contract. Having done this, this set three parameters: the levels of any performance points that were attributed to the failing; a potential level of cost recovery; and finally, the time permitted for the contractor to respond. Having determined this, the member of staff could then issue a formal rectification notice. In rare instances where poor performance could not be corrected, a default notice would be issued. This attracted performance points and costs with immediate effect.
Councillor Bushell explained that at the time of issue of a rectification notice, the contractor had immediately attracted the performance points, and was given the specified time to respond. From this point two things could happen: either the contractor would respond within the allotted time, at which point the rectification notice would be discharged or the contractor failed to do so. If the contractor failed to respond, the financial cost recovery element would be applied and would be charged to the contractor. The contractor still had to put the issue right, so the clock would reset. Repeated failure would attract both repeated cost recovery and performance points, so repeated poor performance at a site could quickly escalate. For this reason, it was very rare.
Councillor Bushell added that each quarter the performance points were totalled and presented to the performance management board, comprising senior staff from the Council and the contractor. One of the tasks for the Portfolio Holder for Remarkable Place was to chair these board meetings. Subject to how many points had been awarded in the quarter, the contractor was required to explain their performance and respond suitably. There were four levels of response set out contractually, with escalating levels of response accordingly. The highest level required specified levels of financial re investment by the contractor in the services.
Councillor Bushell also explained that there were also contractual parameters at which the council may terminate a contract, based on the measured performance recorded at the performance management board, which not only reviewed any areas of poor performance, but also to sought examples of good performance, and acknowledged any specific examples of good work by any members of the contractor’s staff.
Supplementary
Councillor Spratt asked how many rectification notices were issued each year.
Reply
Councillor Bushell stated that the performance management board would be receiving this data at its next meeting and these figures would be shared.
Councillor Alan Briggs to Councillor Bob Bushell, Portfolio Holder for Remarkable Place
Question
Can the Executive Member give some detail as to what steps are being taken to proactively tackle fly tipping, outside Park Ward?
Reply
Councillor Bob Bushell stated in reply that fly tipping was both a county-wide and national problem and the Lincolnshire Waste Partnership had established a separate enforcement-based group to focus on how actions could be coordinated across the county for best effect. The Environmental Crime Partnership comprised all district councils in the county, plus representatives from North East Lincolnshire Council, the Environment Agency, the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner, the Lincolnshire and Humberside Police forces, the National Farmers Union, the Ministry of Defence, and others. This group considered how fly tipping could be consistently addressed and what opportunities there were to share best practice, learning, resources, and information.
Lincoln’s representative was working with partners to deliver ‘weeks of action’ on fly tipping. These periods would target key hotspots to educate those who fly tip, and where appropriate take enforcement action.
The focus for work was prioritised where the worst problems occurred, and this was generally in Park Ward by some significant margin, so it was right that resources were prioritised in that way, but it was also recognised that fly tipping occurred in many areas across the city, to differing degrees. High profile enforcement, wherever it was undertaken would benefit all parts of the city, and for this reason the Council would be seeking to maximise publicity around its work.
Councillor Bushell added that across the city staff responded to all cases of fly tipping, to ensure it was investigated and removed. Staff were proactively reporting fly tipping and responding to public concerns. However, not all fly tipping was on Council land, which added complexity. Private land had to be cleared at the owner’s expense, and they did not always give it quite the same priority. Staff understood that the public did not always appreciate this.
In brief, it should be remembered that the Council did not create the fly tipping, but it was using its resources to do what it could to investigate, enforce, and clean-up, wherever it occurred in the city.
Councillor Matt Fido to Councillor Chris Burke, Portfolio Holder for Customer Experience and Review
Question
What would be the cost saving to the taxpayer should the City Council have one election every four years, like all other councils in Lincolnshire?
Reply
Councillor Chris Burke reported that the approximate average cost of holding previous stand-alone City Council elections had been calculated at approximately £90,000 and added that from this figure an approximate saving of £180,000 could be extrapolated for the two years when the Council would not be holding elections. However, holding all out elections every four years would have increased costs, for example, the cost of printing, stationery and staffing requirements would increase. Councillor Burke referred to the ballot papers needing to be larger for multi-member wards; increased printing requirements for nomination papers and registers; and ‘counting sheets’ would be required to count the ballot papers. There may be a requirement for more counting staff, and they would work longer hours.
Councillor Burke stated that in his view holding elections every year made the Council more accountable and responsive to the public.