Meeting documents

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor N J Rushton.

Councillors J G Coxon and M B Wyatt declared a disclosable non-pecuniary interest in item 11 - Delivering Growth and Prosperity in Coalville: Council Loan Opportunities to Secure Essential Up Front Infrastructure Funding, as Members of Leicestershire County Council.

The Chairman welcomed Inspector Helena Bhakta, the new North West Leicestershire Local Policing Unit Commander, and her Commander, Chief Superintendant Sally Healy.

Ch Supt Sally Healy explained that she was the BCU Commander for the whole of Leicestershire and Rutland. She had been undertaking this role for the past 8 months, taking over from Ch Supt Chris Thomas who was about to retire. She referred to Insp Chris Brown and praised his performance and partnership working with the District Council, adding that he would be a loss to the organisation and to the local authority. She introduced Insp Helena Bhakta who would be taking over from him. She referred to the recent structural changes that had been made within Leicestershire Police, and reported that after 6 months the revised structure was working well, as more officers and PCSO's were visible in the community and response times in respect of emergencies had improved. She emphasised the importance of continuing to work in partnership.

Insp Helena Bhakta referred to the development and growth which had taken place in Coalville. She outlined her previous experience within Leicestershire Police. She referred to the notable success of the Safer North West Partnership, in particular the reductions in crime statistics, which would be difficult to maintain. She added that North West Leicestershire was the best performing LPU in the Leicestershire force at present. She referred to the Download event and the challenges this presented. She thanked the Members of the Safer North West Partnership for their assistance with the event along with all the volunteers. She stated that she would continue to work towards the priorities of the Safer North West Partnership.

Councillor T J Pendleton stated that as Chairman of the Safer North West Partnership, he had had the privilege of meeting Insp Bhakta at a recent meeting and had been delighted with her positivity and ability to hit the ground running. He added that Cabinet would receive a report in July to refresh the Community Safety Partnership Strategy and to receive an update on the reduction in crime figures. He expressed the importance of partnership working in that respect and added that there was still plenty of work to do on this agenda and no room for complacency. He asked Members to welcome Insp Bhakta to North West Leicestershire, and to give her their full and ongoing support.

The Chairman made the following announcements:

- The Chairman announced that on 6 June he had been very pleased to attend the Normandy Veteran's Association event at Packington Holy Rood Church to commemorate the 69th anniversary of the D-Day landings.

- The Chairman announced that on 6 June he had also attended the Leicestershire and Rutland Young Farmers' annual county rally in Ravenstone.

- The Chairman thanked the Deputy Chairman for attending the service of thanksgiving at Leicester Cathedral on 16 June in celebration of the 60th anniversary of Her Majesty's Coronation.

- The Chairman announced that Councillor A V Smith had been recognised in the Queen's Birthday Honours list, receiving an MBE for services to Sewing and Corsetry and to the community of North West Leicestershire. He proposed a standing ovation for Councillor A V Smith.

Councillor J Legrys spoke in honour of Councillor A V Smith's much justified award. He spoke of her skill and work done for the fashion industry, and commended the support and contribution she had given to the fashion collection at Snibston Discovery Museum.

Councillor R Blunt spoke in honour of the award and of Councillor A V Smith who was the first person in the country to be awarded an MBE for services to Sewing and Corsetry. He added that the award was therefore unique and expressed his pride.

- The Chairman announced that North West Leicestershire District Council would celebrate its 40th anniversary year next week, the Council having been formed on 18th June 1973 in a Committee meeting chaired by Councillor A Clarke. The Chairman announced that to celebrate the milestone, the flower bed outside Stenson House had been designed and planted by the Council's own Grounds Maintenance Team to depict the 40th anniversary. A community mosaic would also be constructed at the Coalville TWENTY13 event taking place over the weekend at Coalville Park. The Chairman announced that the Council had also agreed with the Woodland Trust to create a new copse of 40 trees in the new Jubilee Wood in Packington.

The Chairman recognised the remarkable achievement of Councillors D Howe and D J Stevenson who had both served as Members of this Council since it was formed in 1973.

The Chairman presented Councillors D Howe and D J Stevenson with a certificate of long service having completed forty years as serving members of the Council. He also presented them each with a gift as a small token of appreciation for their dedication and long service to the District.

Councillors D Howe and D J Stevenson received a standing ovation.

Councillors D Howe and D J Stevenson thanked the Chairman and all Members. They referred to the friendships they had formed during their time serving the District.

Councillor R Woodward stated that he had known both Members for a number of years. He commended Councillor D Howe's reputation and skill as a mentor to him in his early years as a Councillor. He stated that it had been a great pleasure to work with Councillor D Howe and there was no one more deserving than these two Members. He congratulated both Members on their achievement in succeeding in eleven consecutive elections.

Councillor R Blunt stated that it was amazing to also be celebrating this evening the 40th anniversary of the Council, exactly to the day it was formed. He commended the wisdom and integrity of both Members and added that they would be remembered as standing for these qualities. He added that Councillor D J Stevenson had been a great mentor to him.

Councillor N Smith stated that he had served with both Members on the Planning Committee for many years and he commended them both for never allowing personalities or politics to come into that arena.

Councillor G Jones echoed Councillor N Smith's comment and commended both Members on their approachability.

Councillor L Spence stated that forty years was a long time, and was a tremendous amount of service. He added that it was fair to say that both Members were forceful, which he felt was a compliment to them, and they were both gentlemen. He referred to their tremendous service to the District and added that he was honoured to work with them.

There were no announcements made.

There were no questions received.

Councillor N Clarke put the following question to Councillor R D Bayliss:

"It is now over one year since the decent homes improvement work began in North West Leicestershire. Can the Portfolio Holder give an update of progress so far, including; performance of the contractors, satisfaction of tenants, quality of work carried out, targets relating to progress of the work and any other relevant information".

Councillor R D Bayliss gave the following response:

"Thank you for your question Councillor Clarke, which provides an opportunity for me to update Councillors regarding the considerable success achieved through the Decent Homes Improvement Programme to date.

We are currently delivering a £35 million improvement programme which will last over 5 years. This is being funded with £20.75 million of Government Decent Homes Backlog Funding Grant, topped up with £14.25m of the Council's own funds.

The first year of this programme has now been successfully completed, with 519 tenants' homes improved to meet the Decent Homes standard by the end of March 2013. A further 1500 homes form the 2013/14 programme which is already underway and being delivered.

In terms of your question regarding performance of the contractors (Kier and Lovell), there are a number of performance criteria within the contract. As examples of this the contractors completing the works have achieved a 90% recycling rate on waste materials, and the cost of all the work completed to date have been in accordance with our projected budget. Indeed, the Homes and Communities Agency's own cost monitoring of all Decent Homes backlog funded projects clearly demonstrates that we are achieving some of the most competitive prices in the country for the completion of the improvements.

Overall tenants' satisfaction with the 2013/14 programme met our 95% target, but this does not mean we are complacent in this area. There is something to learn from every tenant for whom things do not go as well as we had planned, and we are carefully and systematically reviewing all such cases, and constantly refining our approach in light of lessons learnt. I am sure that Members understand that we are completing a significant amount of improvement work in many of these homes, which for a short period will inevitably be disruptive to tenants' lives, and we must work closely with the contractors to minimise any disruption caused. Having said that, it is critical to note that a 95% satisfaction rate with the completed works from those in the programme clearly indicates that most of our tenants are very happy with the long overdue improvement works.

Members will shortly be receiving details of the improvement works to be carried out in their Wards up to March 2014, and I am sure officers will be more than happy to deal with any specific questions arising from this once you have had an opportunity to review it.

We remain on target to make sure every Council tenant's home in North West Leicestershire meets the Decent Homes standard by March 2015, and I thank Councillor Clarke for the opportunity to share this information".

Councillor N Clarke thanked Councillor R D Bayliss for the comprehensive answer. He also thanked officers for their efforts in delivering the programme. He stated that he was aware there had been some issues but it was good to see these were minor. As a supplementary question, Councillor N Clarke sought assurances that everyday repairs were still being delivered in a timely manner and were not being delayed as a result of officers working on the decent homes programme.

Councillor R D Bayliss responded that everyday repairs, including responsive repairs and planned maintenance, was a completely separate exercise utilising different staff to the decent homes programme, and as such, were not affected. He referred to the high satisfaction rate, which was however based on a fairly low response rate, which he hoped would be improved in future.

There were no petitions received.

Consideration was given to the minutes of the meeting held on 21 May 2013.

It was moved by Councillor G Jones, seconded by Councillor G A Allman and

Councillor T J Pendleton presented the report to Members. He highlighted the fact that there were no grants available, and the Council was facing a difficult and dangerous time as development needed to progress quickly. He stated that the proposal was a means of enabling access to two loans for that purpose. He added that the proposed scheme would allow the loans to be used to improve infrastructure, whilst seeking developer contributions to repay them. Councillor T J Pendleton advised that the loans were sequential and could be drawn down when required.

Councillor J Legrys welcomed the report, but felt that the loan needed to be brought to action immediately and he hoped that Cabinet could be influenced to bring this forward. He expressed concerns that the negotiation regarding the compulsory purchase order was being left to the developers, and expressed disappointment that a delegation to officers to commence the compulsory purchase order, if required, was not included in the document. He expressed concerns that the £155,000 was not sufficient to complete the A42 junction 13 improvements, that the money was not coming from the national pot and that risks were being taken. He expressed support for the scheme in principle but asked that action be taken now.

Councillor D De Lacy stated that he would be supporting the proposals and was pleased to see increasing debt to support increasing growth. He sought clarification on why Members were being asked to support the £1.6 million loan in principle now, and not when it becomes required. He also requested an estimate of when this would be drawn down and an explanation of the factors affecting this. He also asked why the District Council was being asked to take on a loan of this nature, rather than the Highways Authority. He expressed reservations regarding the impact the policy would have upon the District and the severe shortfall in affordable housing that would be caused. He added that the proposals would increase homelessness, have a detrimental impact upon young people, and would increase costs. He stated that the infrastructure investment was coming from affordable housing, but did not include the Bardon bypass, which had confused residents as they had been led to believe otherwise. He stated that he would reluctantly support the proposals as there was no other choice at this stage.

Councillor R Blunt stated that this was not borrowing for the sake of borrowing, and he took the matter of affordable housing very seriously. He added that other methods to increase affordable housing were being explored due to the increase in the waiting lists.

Councillor T J Pendleton stated that the options were narrow and tough decisions had to be taken to support the housing supply for the District. He added that the Council was being proactive. Councillor T J Pendleton explained that the terms of the loan were such that Leicestershire County Council were prohibited from taking it out. He added that the terms regarding the compulsory purchase order were enshrined in the document and there was some flexibility on this matter. He explained that the trigger point for drawing down the loan would be having developers signed up to the scheme and ready to proceed. He added that a loan was always a gamble, however the risks had been mitigated as much as possible.

It was moved by Councillor T J Pendleton, seconded by Councillor R Blunt and

Councillor R Blunt presented the report to Members, drawing their attention to the revised priority of Homes and Communities, which reflected the significant proportion of the Council's budget spent on council housing, and better reflected the Council's belief in quality homes.

It was moved by Councillor R Blunt, seconded by Councillor A V Smith and

Councillor R Blunt presented the report on behalf of Councillor N J Rushton, drawing Members' attention to the changes recommended in the report.

It was moved by Councillor R Blunt, seconded by Councillor A V Smith and