Agenda item

Report of the Chief Executive

Presented by the Leader

Councillor R Blunt presented the report to members.  He stated that the Council was no longer required to produce a delivery plan, but still did so as it provided a very good focus and enabled everyone to hold the administration to account.  He drew members’ attention to the Council’s priorities for the forthcoming year; in particular he emphasised the importance of the new priority, Building Confidence in Coalville.  Under the Value for Money priority he highlighted that the district Council was the only Council in Leicestershire with no increase in Council Tax.  He added that this remained a priority along with Homes and Communities, Business and Jobs and Green Footprints.

Councillor T Eynon commented that this was a visionary document and she wanted the Coalville project to succeed, and the Council to deliver what was set out in the document.  She stated that her concern about the document was that it did not provide any information about the barriers or enablers to change.  She made reference to page 26 of the report in respect of developing the heritage offer of the town and commented that those who have had relations with heritage lottery funding would know that this might not be as easy to obtain as we would hope.  She supported the work on littering hotspots, however felt that some difficulties might be experienced in working with partners on this issue. In respect of the two new events, she commented that it was not clear what these events were, and asked whether these were in addition to the Picnic in the Park and Proms in the Park, and whether these events replaced the miners gala and the fireworks events that would no longer be held at Snibston.  She supporting the work on raising awareness of health inequalities and hoped the Council would work with this project funded by public health.  She referred to the section on building confidence in the Council’s performance and commented that this was a very useful list for people to scrutinise this.  She felt that Councillor scrutiny was missing and would like to see performance scrutinised at Policy Development Group as this might address some of her concerns.

Councillor R Johnson asked how much of the £500,000 contribution from the Council in respect of the former Pick and Shovel pub had been spent.

Councillor R Blunt welcomed Councillor T Eynon’s comments.  In respect of barriers to change, he commented that the role of the Council was to try and inspire.  He added that a year ago it looked almost impossible to make improvements in Coalville, but progress was now being made.  He acknowledged that the Council had made mistakes when previously applying for a lottery grant, however lessons had been learnt and this would be key if a difference was to be made.  He added that Coalville was unique because of period of time in which it expanded.  In respect of the two events, he advised that these were both new, and would not replace any other events.  He advised that the whole of the £500,000 contribution had been spent and for that money, social housing had been created and a derelict building had been removed. 

Councillor S Sheahan commented that the administration had been in control for 8 years yet had only just included Coalville as a priority in the delivery plan, which might suggest to some that they were starting from scratch.  He felt that the report was short on detail, lacked a narrative and could have benefitted from coming before scrutiny.

Councillor N Clarke referred to page for 32 of the report which stated that families in need were supported by the Council.  He commented that it neglected to say that this Council had recommended reductions in discretionary housing payments which were in greater demand than ever before.  He also made reference to the section relating to green footprints on page 34.  He commented that the recycling rate in North West Leicestershire had remained stubbornly around 46% for the number of years and showed no sign of increasing, although the target was much higher.

Councillor A V Smith commended the document and felt it was clear and concise.  With regard to the Coalville project, she commented that Coalville was very different today than it was 30 years ago and change was visible.  She referred to the two new events which she understood were being organised by the Coalville Special Expenses Working Party and related to food and drink festivals in the town later in the year.   She acknowledged that the recycling rate had not necessarily been as high as it could have been, however there were reasons for that, such as the reduction in paper recycling overall and the number of people in the district with solid fuel fires, the waste from which went into landfill, affecting our rates.

Councillor J Legrys stated that it was a great pity that this document had not had the opportunity to be scrutinised because there were a number of questions.  He made reference to the administration’s vision for Coalville in 2008. 

The Chairman called for order at this point in the meeting

Councillor J Legrys stated that each household was provided with this vision document in 2008 about the vision for the future of Coalville.  He commented that he had no problem in principle with the administration issuing such a document, however he would have liked to have had the opportunity to scrutinise it.  He added that he had just been informed by Councillor A V Smith that the two new events in Coalville would be funded from the Coalville Special Expenses budget.  He asked how these events were going to be paid for as no discussion had been held with the Working Party.  He made reference to page 33 of the report which stated that the Council would offer support to parish councils and community organisations with regard to developing neighbourhood plans and assets of community value.  He commented that this was already being done and he asked what additional steps would be taken to encourage parish councils and community groups to draw up neighbourhood plans.  He stated that elected members had a right to know, not only to in order to hold the administration to account, but to lead the community in knowing what Council was doing. 

Councillor M B Wyatt stated that he was extremely disappointed by the Coalville project as in his opinion it was short sighted and lacked any big ideas to improve the town.  He added that the Council needed to start listening to people of Coalville as there was nothing within the document that the people wanted, such as an open market and to be made a market town.  He commented that the administration was not listening to residents or local businesses.

Councillor R Blunt stated that scrutiny did exist at this Council and he had been invited to the next meeting, which he would be glad to attend.  He acknowledged that perhaps the vision from 2008 looked naive because it was not delivered, however since then we had lived through the worst recession.  In respect of the Coalville project, he stated that anyone who wrote to him would receive a personal response and would be invited to a workshop.  He hoped that in a year’s time, he would be able to say that half of what was set out in the delivery plan had been achieved.

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

RESOLVED THAT:

a)     The proposed Council Delivery Plan 2016/17 be approved with the following   additional action included under the Business and Jobs priority:

        “Action – Deliver regulatory activity in a way that supports business growth,     through the LLEP and the national Better Business for All Programme”.

b)         The Chief Executive be authorised to make any final technical amendments to        the Plan prior to publication, in consultation with the Leader of the Council.