Agenda item

Members are reminded that under paragraph 11.1 of part 4 of the Constitution, questions can be asked of the Leader and Cabinet Members without notice about any matter contained in any address.  Questions shall be limited to five minutes in total for each announcement.

Councillor R Blunt updated members on the progress being made on the proposal for a combined authority.  He reported that he met with the district council leaders, the leader of the county council and the city mayor who had officially agreed in principle to support a bid to Government for a combined authority.  He added that this was a cross-party agreement.  He explained that discussions had been taking place since the election, and the leaders collectively believe that a combined authority covering four specific areas will help regional growth in Leicester and Leicestershire; those areas being:

·        Transport

·        Strategic land use and planning

·        Skills

·        Funding and finance

Councillor R Blunt advised that there would be no change to any North West Leicestershire District Council services as a result of this proposal.  He explained that the next step was to await the outcome of the bid.  He stated that members would be informed of progress.  He advised that it had been decided at the meeting that a Chief Executive to represent the district councils involved in the bid was required.  He advised that our own Chief Executive had been put forward and unanimously agreed.  He wanted to put this on record, as it was a credit to her.

Councillor T Neilson commented on the amount of detail that had been publicised on this issue since the election.  He sought clarification on the next steps in terms of what the Council would have to consider when the bid came back, and the governance arrangements.  He added that the Chief Executive was taking on quite a challenge as she was also leading on the Coalville project.  He sought assurances that she had sufficient capacity.

Councillor R Blunt stated that there was a huge amount of detail to work out, and governance would be crucial.  He added that the bottom line was that the bid needed to progress quickly, because if the Council did not put in a bid, the funding would go elsewhere.  He commented that the performance of the Chief Executive was crucial, and he agreed that she was taking on two very big challenges; however in the 11 years she had worked for the Council she had not been found wanting.

In response to a question from Councillor J Clarke, Councillor R Blunt stated that transport was a key issue and the railway line had been a hot topic.  He commented that it was crucial to have one voice on this issue for the bid, as differing viewpoints would dilute the message.  He added that this would be an issue for discussion.

Councillor N Smith commented that he had worked with the Chief Executive for many years, and he assured members that she would not take on anything that she could not achieve.  He felt that it was a tremendous accolade to her that the rest of the county wanted her to represent them in this matter.

Councillor R D Bayliss referred to the Leicestershire Revenues and Benefits Partnership which was established four years ago in conjunction with Harborough District Council and Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council.  He stated that the purpose of establishing the partnership was to make savings, and this had become even more imperative due to the subsequent legislative changes.  He advised that significant on-going revenue savings had been made following the review of the staffing structure and increased operating efficiencies.  The total savings made in the last year were £315,000, of which the pro rata share for the Council by percentage income was £102,000.  He stated that this was a new initiative and the new structure had presented some major challenges, and as such a temporary dip in performance could have been expected.  He reported however that this was not the case; benefit turnaround times were met, business rate collection was maintained at the target rate of 99%, and Council Tax collection rates had improved from the previous year.  He commented that the Partnership was living up to its expectations.

Councillor R D Bayliss made reference to the successful completion of the Decent Homes Improvement Programme in March 2015 when 100% decency across the housing stock was achieved, and the long term business plan to ensure that the Council’s housing stock was maintained to the decent homes standard.  He advised that a further 590 properties would receive works this year, and added that there was still ongoing work to be done as decency was determined by the age of the components.  He stated that there was a £4.28 million programme of works this year, and the intention was to complete the works in October.  He advised that he would report back to Council in September to advise on progress.

Councillor T Neilson thanked the Head of the Leicestershire Revenues and Benefits Partnership for her work.  He commented that the policy had not been harmonised across the authorities and he felt that this should have happened by now.

Councillor R D Bayliss advised that in respect of the harmonisation of policies, this was a partnership rather than a single authority, and therefore each authority continued to employ its own staff and the service was administered according to its own policies and procedures.

Councillor T J Pendleton made an announcement about the recent Download Festival on behalf of himself and Councillor A V Smith.  He stated that Download was the largest event in the district which was attended by 80,000 people this year, 40,000 of which camped from Wednesday to Monday.  He commented that as with any event of this size, there was an impact upon the northern parishes.  The impact was positive in some aspects, with increased trade, and negative in others, in terms of increased traffic, noise and litter.  He thanked all staff involved from services including environmental health, street action, stronger and safer communities and waste for their excellent hard work.  He advised that officers were also involved in helping maintain traffic flow, food hygiene and supporting crown safety.  He reported that there was a further huge reduction in crime and disorder at the event.  He highlighted that in 2014, crime had decreased by an impressive 70%, and this year there had been a further 35% reduction.  He added that this was all the more notable as there were an additional 20,000 people present at the event.  He stated that this was due to proactive policing, and the event going cashless for the first time.  In terms of noise, he reported that there had been only 4 complaints received throughout the duration of the event, and this was due to pre event planning and on site management.  He concluded that there would always be room for improvement, however he was particularly pleased with the lack of noise complaints and the further reduction in crime figures.

Councillor J Legrys welcomed the improvements at Download and commented that such events brought a great deal of goodwill into the district.  He thanked the staff involved who had not only provided an excellent service at this event, but also at the events in Coalville this weekend.  He commented that the staff worked over and above what they were paid for.