Agenda item

Councillor Nunn submitted his report as Leader of the Council indicating that a briefing for Members on Local Government Reform would be held on 20 June 2019.

In response to questions asked Councillor Nunn indicated consideration would be given as to what could be done regarding the clash of events on 20 June 2019.  The Government and Commissioner had indicated there was a good evidence base to create a Children’s Trust and he agreed that the best solution should be considered.  The Children’s Trust needed to be locally engaged to ensure the best outcomes and he would do his best to influence this.  He clarified that all the district and borough councils had oversight on all service transformation during the move to unitary authorities. 

Councillor Larratt submitted his report as Deputy Leader of the Council and in response explained that the Far Cotton Residents Association in conjunction with others has put in the request for a Community/Parish Council for Far Cotton.

Councillor Hill submitted his report as Cabinet Member for Planning and in response explained that the Planning department did not have resource issues.

Councillor Hadland submitted his report as Cabinet Member for Regeneration and Enterprise and urged everyone to respond to the Town Centre master plans consultation before it closed on 30 June 2019.  Work on the repairs to the Queen Eleanor Cross had been progressing well and it was hoped to be completed by the autumn.

In response Councillor Hadland explained that if the repairs to the Queen Eleanor Cross were not completed before the winter he had received advice that it would be detrimental to cover it during that time. 

Councillor Hallam submitted his report as Cabinet Member for Environment explaining that 1500 notices had been issued by the neighbourhood wardens in the last year.  The wardens had done a great job. 

In response Councillor Hallam explained that as part of the legal process around fly tipping warning notices had to be issued before fines.  The trial to replace recycling boxes in Far Cotton with single use recycling sacks would continue with further investigation being conducted in the disposal of the waste before the scheme was rolled out to other locations. 

He would resend the email detailing options for toilet facilities at allotments to all members.  The public had made it clear that they did not want encampments on parks and where bollards had been installed it enabled the police to act quickly when there was evidence of clear destruction.

He felt the teams were doing well to keep up with the grass maintenance given the current weather climates.  It was a four week schedule which he would share with members.

He clarified that there were two electric vehicle charging points close to St James Retail Park.  He understood the number of fly-tipping instances were dropping but accepted this was dependent upon the location.  It was a challenge to manage particularly when there was a change of people living in houses of multiple occupation.  Evidence was gathered and people were prosecuted where possible.

Councillor Hibbert provided an update as Cabinet Member for Housing and provided information on the Call Care survey.  The survey had indicated that out of 80,000 calls received 98% had been answered within 60 seconds.

Councillor King submitted her report as Cabinet Member for Community, Engagement and Safety and gave her thanks to the Community Safety team.  She explained the forums were still going strong.  She thanked Councillor Smith for her support with the PRIDE event.  600 year 6 students had attended community safety events.

In response Councillor King said she had been assured that the insurance costs had been covered by the Council for the Terry Wire Memorial Run.  A mixture of events had been held however all forum and community days were managed by the Council.

Councillor Eldred submitted his report as Cabinet Member for Finance and explained that the final year end budget position was an overspend of £0.732m.  He welcomed the hard work done to reduce that amount and explained the overspend would be covered by reserves.

In response to a question Councillor Eldred clarified that the income targets for the Guildhall were included in the budget report previously submitted to Cabinet and Council.