Minutes:
Councillor Martin Christopher to Councillor Donald Nannestad
Question
In response to a question last month on the Savilles contract Direct Award, as part of the housing 30-year plan, it was mentioned the use of a compliant framework agreement being acceptable. Given the complexity and bespoke nature of services offered by Savilles Ltd on this contract, and the framework provider's own guidance clearly stating a Direct Award was not suitable for this type of service, could explicit details be provided on how this met the agreed procurement policy?
Answer
I understand that you had already asked the same question to officers and so the answer was the same which was that the guidance referred to was general guidance issued by Crown Commercial Service, and as such, the Council had the authority to determine whether a direct approach was acceptable and the best use of resources. That was what happened.
Supplementary question
Why was this different to last time? This was not in-line with what has been said previously.
Answer
The answer given previously was to a different question.
Councillor Hilton Spratt to Councillor Donald Nannestad
Question
How many council houses does the council intend to build in the next financial year?
Answer
The Council was currently building eleven houses at Hermit Street which should be completed in 2024/25. The Hermit Street development included six, three-bed and five, two-bed houses.
Councillor Matthew Fido to Councillor Donald Nannestad
Question
After nearly 2 years of ongoing problems surrounding the issues of utility bills within the tenancy agreements of the residents at De Wint Court, could the portfolio holder give the Council an update on progress?
Answer
All tenants were now receiving quarterly Gas Water and Electric Bills. Q1 and Q2 had already been issued, Q3 was due by the end of January 2024 once the Council had received the utility bills. Part of the water bills were based on actual costs and the sewerage element was based on estimated billing costs, which was related to the water usage, in accordance with everyone’s domestic bills.
Councillor Bill Mara to Councillor Bob Bushell
Question
When will the Council commit to developing decent play amenities for young children in Witham Ward?
Answer
The Council recognised the value communities placed on access to opportunities for children’s play and tried to meet that need in two ways; by the provision of formal play areas with fixed equipment, and by providing access to general open spaces for more informal play. I assumed the question related to the former.
The provision of formal play areas brought with it many responsibilities and with those responsibilities came costs. In these difficult financial times, the Council’s strategy had been to ensure that it had an adequate network of provision across the city and to protect the existing play area sites in such a way as to ensure that they remained of a good standard, and most critically, that they were safe for use. Expansion of the number of sites would mean either an increase in budget, which unfortunately was not currently an option or by reducing standards in existing sites and thereby compromising safety, which the Council was not prepared to do.
If the member would like to report any specific issues with any of the four play areas in Witham Ward, officers would be happy to investigate and respond in detail.
Councillor Eddie Strengiel to Councillor Sue Burke
Question
Could the executive member provide an update as to how many antisocial behaviour cases had been reported to the council in December 2023?
Answer
There had been 23 antisocial behaviour cases reported into PPASB and fifteen antisocial behaviour cases reported into Housing in December 2023.
Supplementary question
Please could a breakdown per ward of such cases and backdated to the beginning of 2024 be provided.
Answer
This would be provided to the councillor, as requested, by an officer outside the meeting.
Councillor Clare Smalley to Councillor Sue Burke
Question
Fly tipping continued to be an issue of which regular complaints were received. Only a very low number of Fixed Penalty Notices had been issued and therefore it would seem the idea of a possible fine was not a deterrent in Lincoln Other councils had a zero tolerance policy on fly tipping. What additional action could we take to reduce this problem?
Answer
City of Lincoln Council had issued 27 Fixed Penalty Notices in response to Fly Tipping Offences during the financial year 22/23. All local authorities had a zero-tolerance policy on fly tipping. All incidents of reported fly tipping were investigated, and enforcement action was taken where there was evidence available.
However, if there was no clear evidence of who had fly tipped then unfortunately, no matter how bad the situation was, the Council could not take any legal action. The Council was a member of the Lincolnshire Environmental Crime Partnership (ECP), which allowed for a multi-agency approach to tackle fly tipping. This was a problem across the whole country. An operation arranged through the ECP to tackle fly tipping would take place in Lincoln during 2024.
Supplementary question
Fly tipping had increased by 23% so the message of zero tolerance was not getting across to residents.
Answer
Everyone needed to take personal responsibility and take pride in the areas they resided.
Councillor Alan Briggs to Councillor Naomi Tweddle
Question
Has the council secured the required funding for the proposed Western Growth Corridor link road?
Answer
The Council had not yet secured the funding required to complete all of the spine road that under the planning consent, must be in place before the completion of the 601st new home. The first part of the link road was on site from Skellingthorpe Road and the Executive would be making a decision in the next few months on starting on site with the new vehicular bridge over the railway into the site at Tritton Road. Positive discussions with Homes England were continuing about the remaining funding for the final part of the link road.
Supplementary question
In light of the above answer, what would Plan B be going forward?
Answer
Plan A was to achieve the funding and as already mentioned, there was very positive discussions being had.
Councillor Mark Storer to Councillor Naomi Tweddle
Question
Can an update on the maintenance issues with the Lincoln Central Car Park be provided?
Answer
Central Car Park continued to be a very popular location for people to park their car. The Council was aware of some elements of the car park that required some remedial work and an officer working group was in place to look at these. It would be premature to comment any further until the investigation work was completed. On a positive note, all councillors would have seen that all lifts in the car park had worked without breakdown over the very busy Christmas period.
Supplementary question
When will investigation be complete?
Answer
An exact date was unknown but it was confirmed this would be soon.
Councillor David Clarkson to Councillor Naomi Tweddle
Question
In view of the horrendous flooding nationwide, was the Council confident it could protect or at least mitigate the flood risk during the development of the Western Growth Corridor?
Answer
Storm Babet and Storm Henk, and indeed previous flooding events before them, had shown the distressing impact of flooding on people’s lives, homes, the environment, and the wider economy. The joint work completed with Lincolnshire County Council as the Lead Flood Authority, the Environment Agency and the technical officers at the Internal Drainage Board involved extensive flood modelling work using the Environment Agency flood model and the IDB model, had shown that the plan approved by those organisations and that formed part of the planning consent, would work. That plan included raising the ground level in the area so that new homes would be built above the area of potential flooding, so they would be safe and insurable.
There would also be a significant new drainage scheme including new and wider drainage channels that would be able to deal with both predicted surface water flooding events and a breach of the existing watercourses for the area, not only to protects new homes but it would also give better protection to the existing homes in the area affected. By responsibly designing the flood and drainage systems the Council was confident that its experts had produced a plan that not only effectively dealt with the flood risk for new homes on the development but also improved the risk for the surrounding area.
Supplementary question
Was the current construction phase still on target?
Answer
It was confirmed it was still on target.
Councillor Thomas Dyer to Councillor Naomi Tweddle
Question
Could the Executive councillor provide an update on the Lincoln Central Market business occupancy levels?
Answer
The Lincoln Cornhill Market had received over 175 expressions of interest from small businesses looking to trade at the market. The current economic climate and uncertainty had meant that for a significant number of hopeful stall holders this was not the right time for them to make this investment, the Council would however continue to work with them to look at opportunities for pop-up stalls in the market and City Square to support the City’s events programme. The portfolio holder was delighted that the hard work of the small market team meant that the Council had now received confirmation from 18 businesses (over half available stalls) that they would be moving into the market with 11 leases already sent out for formal signing. Once those leases had been signed, the Council would be bringing more of the potential stallholders through the process as it looked to ensure it had a broad and balanced market offer. The Council was now working on announcing an opening date shortly.
Supplementary question
Why only half of the available stalls had been taken up, were there any issues for the Council to be aware of, such as contractual concerns?
Answer
The delays in the work in the summer had resulted in a knock on effect. Turnover linked rent was considered to be a positive; it was less of a risk for stallholders, as it meant if turnover was lower, rent was lower. Rather than a flat rate for rent. If businesses did well, the Council would receive more rent which could be reinvested into the city.