Agenda and minutes

The Mayor welcomed everyone to the meeting. He stated that it had been a great honour, privilege and rewarding experience for him and his wife Carol to be Mayor and Mayoress for a third term.

The Mayor referred to some of the highlights of his year in office as ‘normal life’ slowly began to resume because of the pandemic. He also thanked all those who had supported him throughout his year especially his wife - the Mayoress, his chauffeurs, his chaplain – Reverend Enid Knowles, his charity organisers/committee, all members and officers of the council – especially mayoral services and also to the Mayor’s Cadet Flight Sergeant Lewis Bartlett from the 119 Squadron of the Scunthorpe Air Cadets.  Finally, he reported that approximately £24,041.66 had been raised for his appeal fund which brought the total raised for his charities during his three terms of office to £100,099.27 and expressed his best wishes to the newly elected mayor and deputy mayor for 2022/23.

Following the opening remarks made by Councillor Peter Clark the council proceeded to elect a Mayor for the council year 2022/23 -

Moved by Councillor J Reed and seconded by Councillor R Waltham MBE -

That Councillor John Briggs be elected Mayor of North Lincolnshire Council for the ensuing year until his successor becomes entitled to act as Mayor.

Motion Carried

At this point Councillor Briggs took the chair.

Councillor Briggs then expressed his thanks to the council for his election, announced his mayoress, his chaplain, his charities as part of his appeal fund, his Mayor’s cadet and spoke of his hopes for his year in office.

Moved by Councillor R Waltham MBE and seconded by Councillor L Foster -

That the council expresses to Councillor Peter Clark its sincere thanks for carrying out the duties of Mayor of North Lincolnshire Council over the past year and for a third time.

Motion Carried

The council then proceeded to the appointment of a Deputy Mayor -

Moved by Councillor M Armiger and seconded by Councillor J Davison -

That Councillor Janet Longcake be appointed Deputy Mayor of North Lincolnshire Council for the ensuing year.

Motion Carried

At this point in the proceedings the meeting was adjourned for lunch and was then reconvened at 1:30pm at the Pods, Ashby Road, Scunthorpe for the formal business of the meeting.

Declarations of personal interests were indicated as follows –

Moved by Councillor R Waltham MBE and seconded by Councillor R Hannigan -

That meetings of the council be held at the time indicated on the following dates -

Tuesday 18 October 2022 - 2.00 p.m.

Monday 5 December 2022 - 2.00 p.m.

Wednesday 18 January 2023 - 2.00 p.m. (Budget Meeting)

Thursday 18 May, 2023 - (Annual Meeting) 10.30am (Mayoral), 1:30pm (Business).

Motion Carried

Report by the Director: Governance and Communities

The Director: Governance and Communities submitted a report which in accordance with section 15 of the Local Government and Housing Act 1989 (the Act) reviewed the political balance of the council and the allocation of seats on its ordinary committees. The political balance of the council was currently Conservative- 28, Labour-14 and Independent- 1. An appendix to the report set out the proposed allocation of seats to council committees applying the political balance.

Moved by Councillor R Waltham MBE and seconded by Councillor R Hannigan -

That following a review of the political balance of its committees in accordance with the principles of the Local Government and Housing Act 1989, the proposed allocation of seats available to political groups/members on the size of committees/panels appointed as set out in Appendix A of the report, be approved.

Motion Carried

That the following appointments below as notified to the Chief Executive, be noted -

Moved by Councillor R Waltham  MBE and seconded by Councillor R Hannigan -

(a) That the number, names below and portfolios of Cabinet Members and their executive delegations as detailed in Appendix A of the Working Papers be noted, and (b) that Chairs and Vice-Chairs of Committees/Panels as listed below be appointed -

Motion Carried.

TO ESTABLISH AND APPOINT MEMBERS TO COMMITTEES, SCRUTINY PANELS AND KEY OUTSIDE BODIES- Having regard to the report of the Director: Governance and Communities entitled ‘Local Government and Housing Act 1989 - Political Balance of the Council’ (minute 2841 refers) it was -

Moved by Councillor R Waltham MBE and seconded by Councillor R Hannigan-

(a) That in accordance with the requirements of Item 7(a) on this agenda, minute 2841 refers – the Committees/Panels as named below be appointed until the date of the Annual Meeting of the Council in 2023 or such earlier date as may be determined from time to time by the Council, and the number of members and appointments be as shown, and (b) that the number of members be appointed to key outside bodies (names to be notified) as listed below until the date of the Annual Meeting of the Council in 2023 or such earlier date as may be determined from time to time by the council-

PLANNING COMMITTEE (8 Members)

    LICENSING COMMITTEE (10 Members)

    STANDARDS COMMITTEE (5 Members)

APPEALS COMMITTEE (3 Members, two Conservative and one Labour)

Membership of appeals committees to deal with individual cases to be appointed as required from eligible members as set out below -

AUDIT COMMITTEE (5 Members)

CHILDREN’S AND EDUCATION SCRUTINY PANEL (7 Members)

Note:   The majority of seats on the panel to be maintained by the majority political group. Church Representatives and the Parent Governor Representatives are entitled to vote on education issues only. 

GOVERNANCE SCRUTINY PANEL (3 Members)

HEALTH SCRUTINY PANEL (3 Members)

PLACES SCRUTINY PANEL (3 Members)

APPOINTMENT AND EMPLOYMENT COMMITTEE (5 Members)

HEALTH AND WELLBEING BOARD

Moved by Councillor R Waltham MBE and seconded by Councillor R Hannigan -

(a)        That lead members be appointed to champion the following :-

Motion Carried

The Director: Governance and Communities submitted a proposed timetable of meetings for 2022/2023.

Moved by Councillor Waltham MBE and seconded by Councillor Hannigan -

(a) That the timetable of meetings for 2022/2023 attached as Appendix B to the Working Papers be approved and adopted, and (b) that meetings of Scrutiny Panels be scheduled and agreed by each Panel in accordance with D1.33 of the council’s Constitution.

Motion Carried

Report of the Monitoring Officer

The Monitoring Officer submitted a report requesting the Council to consider approving amendments to Committee Terms of Reference contained within the Council’s Constitution following a review undertaken as part of the periodic review of the Constitution.

The report explained that the Constitution was an evolving document and was periodically reviewed to ensure it remained legislatively compliant and accorded with best practice. As part of the review process, the opportunity has been taken to review Committee Terms of Reference to ensure that they accorded with legislative change and best practice but also to incorporate locally determined changes arising from the Council’s governance requirements as described in paragraph 2.2 of the report. Save for these matters, only minor amendments had been made to the existing Terms of Reference, which were attached at Appendix 1, with the changes shown in bold.

As the Committee Terms of Reference formed part of the Council’s Constitution, Council’s approval of the amendments was sought so they could be incorporated into the Constitution. Work also continued to update the Constitution, under officer delegations, following completion of phase 2 of the senior management review alongside minor revisions to the budget and policy framework rules following changes to the Local Authorities (Standing Orders) (England) Regulations 2001.   

Resolved – (a) That Option 1 contained in paragraph 3.1 of the report be approved, and (b) that approval be given to update the Constitution with the revised Committee Terms of Reference as detailed in appendix 1 of the report.

Report of the Director: Governance and Communities

The Director: Governance and Communities submitted a report seeking approval of proposed amendments to the CPRs (Part D Rule 7) and Article 14 of the Constitution following legislative change and local and national developments in procurement practice. Mandatory procedures on how procurement should be conducted were set out in the CPRs which formed part of the Council’s Constitution, and CPRs were last substantively updated and approved by Council in January 2021. Amendments to the CPRs were required to ensure that they continued to meet legislative requirements, reflected best practice, guidance and were aligned with the Council’s organisational development goals.

The Director in her report explained that in line with developments in electronic signature software and the move towards electronic contracting and document management, the Council had purchased electronic signature software (DocuSign), including an electronic Common Seal. It was therefore proposed to amend Article 14 of the Constitution to enable documents that were required to be executed by affixing the Council's common seal to include the flexibility to affix an electronic common seal in addition to the current paper common seal. The proposed changes to Article 14 were highlighted in Appendix 1 to the report.

The report also summarised and highlighted in Appendix 2 proposed key amendments to the CPRs to ensure that they continued to reflect best practice and enabled the achievement of the council’s goals, priorities and outcomes.

Resolved – That Option 1 set out in paragraph 3.1 of the report be approved, and the proposed amendments to the CPRs and Article 14 as detailed in the report be approved, adopted and incorporated into the Council’s Constitution.

Report of the Director: Governance and Communities

The Director: Governance and Communities submitted a report seeking Council’s approval of the North Lincolnshire Council Plan 2022-202 and for it to be adopted as part of the Policy Framework. The Plan was appended to the report.

The Director in her report explained that the Council Plan 2022-2025 was the key corporate document which set the strategic direction and outlined the priorities for the Council over the next three years. The Council’s Executive had the responsibility to formulate and set strategy, which was contained in the Council Plan. Council approve and adopt the Plan and the Executive is charged with its delivery. It was within the scope of the Executive to review and update the Council Plan, over its lifespan as deemed appropriate.    The Council was currently working to a Council Plan covering the period 2018-2021. It was reviewed in 2020; however, to ensure that strategic activity remained focused on priority areas and potential opportunities, a new Council Plan spanning the period 2022-2025 was now proposed. The draft Plan provided a strong framework that guided council activity and investment for the benefit of North Lincolnshire. It identified future priorities and desired outcomes which were evidence based, including local policy drivers, regional, national, and international contexts, residents’ feedback, and key macro and locally based data related to economic, environment, deprivation, and health matters. Much of the evidence base was contained in the recently completed North Lincolnshire Profile 2022.

The report stated that to determine the priorities for the new Plan an assessment had been made of the on-going relevance of the priorities and desired outcomes detailed in its predecessor. The outcomes for North Lincolnshire being -

·         SAFE

·         WELL

·         PROSPEROUS

·         CONNECTED

 With the priorities for the Council set out as:

·         Keeping people safe and well 

·         Enabling resilient and flourishing communities

·         Enabling economic growth and renewal

Having analysed and assessed data and information referred to above, it had been determined that both the current outcomes and priorities above remained relevant as the frame around which to build the new Plan. However, it was proposed that a fourth priority be added to explicitly identify how the Council would work to deliver against its intentions:

·           Providing value for money for local taxpayers    

Within each priority, a number of areas of focus had been identified. These were designed to help align Council activity on matters of particular significance and to take positive action over the lifespan of the new Plan. These were set out and summarised in the report. A series of key indicators under each priority would be used to show how the Council was progressing against the Plan. It was also proposed that reporting on these would form part of an annual Council Plan Progress Report overseen by the Executive.

Resolved – That the Council Plan 2022-2025 be approved and adopted as part the Council’s policy framework.

Report of the Director: Governance and Communities

Further to minute 2812, the Director: Governance and Communities submitted a report updating and informing Council of the final recommendations of the Local Government Boundary Commission for England (LGBCE) for new electoral arrangements for North Lincolnshire Council. The final recommendations come into effect from and form the basis of the council’s next scheduled elections in May 2023 following an Order made, laid before, and approved by parliament by this Autumn, when it would then become law.

The report explained that the LGBCE’s final recommendations for electoral arrangements in North Lincolnshire amended some of its initial draft recommendations following a consultation period and stated that as well as its residents being represented by 43 councillors, the same as current arrangements, North Lincolnshire should have 19 wards, two more than there are now, and boundaries of six existing wards should change. There would be seven three-councillor wards, ten two-councillor wards and two single-councillor wards across the borough. The LGBCE’s report on its final recommendations was attached as an appendix and its tables and maps on pages 9 to19 detailed the final recommendations for each area of North Lincolnshire. The council was required by the expected parliamentary approved Order and subsequent law to implement the LGBCE’s final recommendations

The final recommendations for new wards and amending boundaries of existing wards would require work to commence in due course on reviewing current arrangements for polling districts and places within those wards. Any proposed changes to polling districts and places within new wards and those where boundaries have been changed would be submitted to and required the approval of Council prior to implementation for the North Lincolnshire Council elections in May 2023. 

Moved by Councillor R Waltham MBE and seconded by Councillor N Poole –

(a) That the LGBCE’s final recommendations for electoral arrangements in North Lincolnshire as detailed in its document attached as an appendix to the report be received, and (b) that the commencement of a review of Polling Districts and Places as appropriate for new wards and where boundaries have been recommended to change by the LGBCE be approved.

Moved by Councillor S Swift and seconded by Councillor L Foster as an amendment –

(a) That Council receives the LGBCE’s final recommendations for electoral arrangements in North Lincolnshire as detailed in its document attached as an appendix; (b) that this Council recognises the independence of the Local Government Boundary Commission for England and welcomes its final recommendations in securing a warding system for North Lincolnshire that achieves community identity and electoral equality; (c) that North Lincolnshire Council recognises and thanks those residents and organisations that made contributions during the consultation processes and thus helped in securing a robust democratic outcome for the future, and (d) that the commencement of a review of Polling Districts and Places as appropriate for new wards and where boundaries have been recommended to change by the LGBCE be approved.

At the request of members and in accordance with Procedure Rule 1.22(d) the names of members voting for,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 2850.