Agenda and minutes

There were no declarations of interest made at the meeting.

That the minutes of the meeting of Cabinet held on 6 February 2023 having been circulated amongst the members, be taken as read and correctly recorded and be signed by the chair.

Report of the Director: Public Health

The Director of Public Health submitted a report presenting his independent report on the state of people’s health in Greater Lincolnshire, with a particular focus on the communities of North Lincolnshire.

Directors of Public Health in England had a statutory duty to produce an independent annual report on the state of health of the people they serve. Local councils had a statutory duty to publish the report and the report should be as accessible as possible to the wider public. The annual DPH report was provided as appendix A.

The report stated that analysing health data on a Greater Lincolnshire footprint provided a better understand of common themes across each authority and, therefore, provided increased scope to consider collective solutions at both county and community levels. The annual report highlighted how Greater Lincolnshire had utilised the public health grant monies received to enhance the outcomes of the population and further understand people’s needs and future direction. It provided a strong evidence base for identifying opportunities for health and wellbeing improvement and a focus to engage agencies and communities about identifying collaborative solutions.

Councillor R Hannigan, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member Adults and Health thanked the Director for his annual report and work carried out by his officers and summarised and commented upon key aspects of its content.

Resolved – That the Annual Report be noted, welcomed and endorsed and it be published on the Council’s website.

Report of the Director: Economy and Environment

The Director: Economy and Environment submitted a report seeking approval for the Economic Growth Plan 2023-2028 which was attached in an appendix. This would ensure that North Lincolnshire Council had a coherent and strategic approach to enabling economic growth and renewal over the next five years. The report also set out steps taken to date to produce the draft Economic Growth Plan 2023 - 2028.

The Director in her report explained that the draft Economic Growth Plan presented the vision for North Lincolnshire.  It identifies future priorities and desired outcomes which are based on evidence collated from business engagement and surveys, data research and analysis and assessment of national, regional and local policy context. Oversight and development of the plan has taken place through internal working groups and has been driven by the Economic Executive Group who will continue to have oversight of the delivery of the Economic Growth Plan.

To determine the priorities for the new Plan an assessment has been made of the on-going relevance of the priorities and desired outcomes detailed in its predecessor Plan. Along with analysed and assessed data and information as above, it has been determined that some of the current outcomes and priorities remained. However, it was proposed they were designed into priorities and outcomes which reflected current and future economic matters of particular significance and importance over the lifespan of the new Plan.

Outcomes:

·            North Lincolnshire has a strong, competitive and productive economy that is well connected both digitally and multimodally.

·            North Lincolnshire has a good quality of life where the air is cleaner and homes are decent on every rung of the ladder.

·            North Lincolnshire residents have the opportunity to reskill or upskill to level 3 and beyond.

Priorities:

·            A place where people, places and products are connected globally to deliver sustainable economic growth

·            A place where businesses and residents make positive changes to create a cleaner, greener, healthier and more sustainable future for North Lincolnshire

·            A place which enables and encourages our businesses, residents and communities to achieve their full potential

Within each priority, a number of areas of focus had been identified which were also summarised in the report.

The report stated that achieving our vision for the North Lincolnshire economy will require successful implementation of this plan.  Against each priority a series of key performance indicators have been identified. These would be used to measure progress against the priorities and an annual update would be provided on progress to date.

Councillor Waltham MBE, Leader and Cabinet Member Place Shaping and Connectivity thanked the Director for her report and work carried out by her officers and highlighted, summarised and commented upon key aspects of its content.

Resolved – That the North Lincolnshire Economic Growth Plan 2023 – 2028 be approved.

Report of the Director: Economy and Environment

The Director: Economy and Environment submitted a report presenting the Skills and Employability Plan 2023 – 28 for approval, which was attached in draft as an appendix, and also sought agreement for the document to move forward to be designed for publication and for the Director: Economy and Environment to approve the final design in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Safer, Stronger Communities – Ashby, Bottesford and Scunthorpe (Urban).

The Director in her report explained that the Skills and Employability Plan was a key plan in the Council Plan 2022 – 25 supporting the priority ‘Enabling economic growth and renewal – to ensure there are highly skills jobs and opportunities for a highly skilled workforce and the local economy support effort to reduce carbon emissions’. The new Skills and Employability Plan had been developed following two specific pieces of research undertaken over the past year and a half to develop a robust evidence base on skills challenges and opportunities across North Lincolnshire.  The first study involved an analysis of current and future skills demand and supply in North Lincolnshire as well as considerable data analysis from national and local sources plus ‘skills’ conversations with over one hundred local organisations. The outcome of the first study was a report which has acted as a quantitative and qualitative evidence base in terms of both supply and demand of skills at a sectoral level and overall North Lincolnshire level.  The report provided a robust evidence base on which partners, skills providers, businesses and investors can make informed employment and skills decisions and forms the basis for the Skills and Employability Plan. 

The report stated that the approach to developing the new Skills and Employability Plan built on the work that had taken place to understand the system in which skills operate within North Lincolnshire.  Essentially, the council had looked at three inter-related elements – People, Employers and Skills Infrastructure and had closely aligned the council’s priorities and interventions to the Economic Growth Plan and evidence of need and demand. The contents of the Skills and Employability Plan had been guided by the Skills Transformation Board, comprising public and private participants.  The result of all the above work, the vision, priorities and resulting outcome objectives had emerged which were summarised in the Director’s report. 

Councillor J Davison, Cabinet Member for Safer, Stronger Communities – Ashby, Bottesford and Scunthorpe (Urban) thanked the Deputy Chief Executive and Director for the report and work carried out by their officers and highlighted, summarised and commented upon key aspects of its content.

Resolved – (a) That the Skills and Employability Plan 2023 – 2028 be approved and the plan be moved to the design stage, and (b) that the design of the document for publication be delegated to the Director: Economy and Environment in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Safer, Stronger Communities – Ashby, Bottesford and Scunthorpe (Urban).

Report of the Deputy Chief Executive

Further to minute 1462 when ‘A Green Future’ was adopted as the council’s policy to deliver the positive change we need to create a cleaner, greener, healthier and more sustainable North Lincolnshire, with a vision that –

‘North Lincolnshire is a ‘net zero’ area.  The environment is integral to all our decision making and everyone has a positive relationship with the environment.  We all play our part in making our area a cleaner, greener, healthier and more sustainable and attractive place to live, work and visit’ -

The Director: Economy and Environment submitted a report which provided an update on the impact and outcomes of this policy to date. In her report she explained that the council had mandated a programme, also called ‘A Green Future’, to ensure effective implementation of the policy.  The blueprint for this programme was that ‘we will all work together to protect our environment, end our contribution to climate change and all benefit from the wealth of the natural and economic opportunities we have in North Lincolnshire’.  The political lead is through the Cabinet Member for Environment and Strategic Planning and the Deputy Chief Executive had overall responsibility for ensuring the impact and outcomes of this programme were achieved.

A Green Future policy was centred around four themes and eight aims.  Taken together, achievement of these aims would ensure that every day we would leave the environment in a better state than we found it. They would ensure our environment was safe, self-sustaining and provided opportunities for everyone.

Significant progress has been made over the last year and more was expected. A summary of progress to date was detailed in the report together with supporting appendices.

Councillor D Rose, Cabinet Member Environment and Strategic Planning thanked the Deputy Chief Executive and Director for the report and work carried out by their officers and highlighted, summarised and commented upon key aspects of its content.

Resolved – (a) That the organisation and place related impact and outcomes of the Council’s ‘A Green Future’ policy and supporting programme, as set out in paragraph 2 of this report, to create a cleaner, greener, healthier and more sustainable North Lincolnshire be noted, and (b) that officers across all areas of the one-council approach involved in these achievements be thanked for their exceptional efforts.

Report of the Director: Economy and Environment

The Director: Economy and Environment submitted a report providing Cabinet with an update on funding and key benefits of the Green Homes Grant Schemes delivered across North Lincolnshire and to confirm continuation of Green Homes Grant funding and energy efficiency support for our residents.

The Director in her report stated that North Lincolnshire Council had attracted over £4.6m in government funding from the Green Homes Grant (GHG). To date 236 homes had benefited from energy efficiency schemes funded by the GHG. Funded through a government Green Homes Grant (GHG) totalling £822,950, the latest scheme was The Local Authority Delivery Phase 2 (LAD2) which commenced in April 2022 and closed in November 2022. The Council’s successful delivery of LAD2 follows its previous energy efficiency schemes via the LAD1a&b grants.

The LAD2 scheme focused on improving energy efficiency for low income households, targeted at homes within the lowest efficiency bands (E,F & G bands). To qualify, the householder needed to have a gross income of less than £30,000 or be in receipt of means tested benefits. Energy efficiency support was currently being delivered across North Lincolnshire by LAD3 and Home Upgrade Grant (HUG1). HUG1 had different funding criteria, targeting “off mains gas” properties. The overall funding for LAD3 and HUG1 was £1,826,000.00.

The Director confirmed that the council had successfully secured HUG2 funding from April 2023 to March 2025. This would be a funding provision of approx. £2 million, to provide further investment into the Councils #OneGreen Future via Aim 4, supporting Green Homes and energy efficiency across North Lincolnshire for the sustainable future of its residents.

Appendix one of the report contained examples of residents’ feedback on the impact from the work undertaken as part of the LAD2 scheme. These energy efficiency grants were additional to government support for help with energy bills.  North Lincolnshire expect nearly £1million to be shared across 2,500 households through £400 cash payments. People who would be able to receive the cash include care home residents and others in care facilities/sheltered housing, park home residents, houseboats, and caravans.

Councillor D Rose, Cabinet Member Environment and Strategic Planning thanked the Director for her report and work carried out by their officers and highlighted, summarised and commented upon key aspects of its content.

Resolved – That the content of the report be noted and that Cabinet receive a further report on progress and outcomes on LAD 3 / HUG 1 & 2 in March 2024.

Report of the Director: Children and Families

The Director: Children and Families submitted a report providing an overview of the government’s ‘Start for Life Family Hubs’ programme framework, with a summary of how local plans were progressing. The report sought continued support for the delivery of the programme in the context of transformation to an integrated neighbourhood model.

The Director in her report explained that North Lincolnshire had embarked upon a journey to strengthen further and integrate our local offer for families, aiming to enable children to thrive in their families, schools, and communities, building resilience and community connections. Grant funding of £2.8 million over 3 years had been made available for North Lincolnshire as part of the Start for Life Family Hubs programme. The funding aimed to support an improved offer for families who were expecting a baby or with young children as part of a transformation towards a more integrated multi-agency family hubs delivery model.

The report outlined delivery expectations – Year One (2022/23) milestones and summarised progress to date.

Councillor Reed, Cabinet Member Children and Families thanked the Director for her report and work carried out by her officers and summarised and commented upon key aspects of its content.

Resolved – That the key points in the report be noted and Cabinet continue to support programme delivery.

Report of the Director: Adults and Health

The Director: Adults and Health submitted a report seeking approval of the

publication of the Adults Strategy which was attached as an appendix. The strategy set out key areas for development and the change the council wanted to see in making a real difference to vulnerable adults and their carers.

The Director in her report explained that the Council was striving to achieve the best experiences and outcomes for its residents. Its ambition was for North Lincolnshire to be the best place for all our residents to be safe, well, prosperousand connected. It continued to drive our organisational goals of progressive and enabling in our approach, financially and environmentally sustainable. North Lincolnshire was a diverse place with strong and vibrant communities and the council wanted to use and build on the wealth of knowledge, expertise in our communities to help deliver our strategy. It knows that people stay healthier for longer when they are connected to and supported by communities. The people the council supported was described within the strategy -  ‘we support people with or who are at risk of, developing care or support needs, typically but these needs prevent people from managing daily living safely - albeit it temporarily – some just need support to find accommodation, others need intensive support to change their lifestyle - others need ongoing help to manage personal and intimate care – our aim at all points is to Keep people in their own homes, families, jobs & communities’.

The strategy sets out our four key priorities for 2023/25

·       Promoting independence – developing more models for independence utilising housing and technologies and ensuring paid work is a real option for people.

·       Embedding integration - the community first approach enables people to remain and return to their own homes, families, jobs & communities.

·       Transforming the care sector - care at home to be more modern, enabling and progressive - all care to be good or outstanding.

·       Enabling the workforce - to feel safe, supported, and enabled to be themselves, be well and healthy and are confident to Keep people in their own homes, families, jobs & communities.

The ‘I and We’ statements described what good looks like, from an individual perspective followed by ‘We’ statements that express how the council’s workforce would ensure people’s actual experience of care and support live up to the I statements. These would be used to measure ‘how we will know we are getting things right’.

Councillor R Hannigan, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member Adults and Health thanked the Director for her report and work carried out by her officers and summarised and commented upon key aspects of its content.

Resolved – That the publication of the Adults Strategy be approved and the key areas for development be supported including the change to be seen in making a real difference to vulnerable adults and their carers.

Report of the Director: Governance and Communities

The Director: Governance and Communities submitted a report setting out an update arising from the continuation of the Household Support Fund Scheme (originally Winter 2021/22) in North Lincolnshire.

The Director in her report explained that North Lincolnshire was allocated £2,647,786 in 2022/23 as two allocations of the Household Support Fund each for a six-month period (HSF2 and HSF3). The guidance was that it should primarily be used to support households in the most need particularly those including children and pensioners who would otherwise struggle with energy bills, food and water bills.

Throughout 2022/23, the scheme had delivered the following support to local vulnerable residents with final distribution continuing through March:

(a) Welfare Assistance: Citizen’s Advice Bureau was commissioned to deliver a welfare assistance grant scheme, open to all North Lincolnshire households who meet the eligibility criteria, to apply for support in compliance with the national guidance. In total £0.9m of the £2.6m allocation had been distributed through application-based support to over 6,000 households with assistance contributing to energy and water bills (26%), food (33%) and other essentials (40%).

(b) Food Voucher Scheme: An element of the grant was allocated to the direct provision of food vouchers. Partnership working with schools had been used to identify eligible families, and the local approach had also scoped in families with children outside of the free school meals cohort, and care leavers with immediate support needs. In total £0.7m of the £2.6m allocation had been distributed through the issue of food vouchers to over 8,000 families in summer and winter 2022.

(c) Energy payment: Data from HSF1 indicated a low rate of applications from pensioners despite the understood need so a proportion of the second and third allocations was allocated to c.5,000 pensioner households in receipt of council tax support. In total £1m of the £2.6m allocation had been distributed through issue of Post Office pay-out vouchers in September 2022 and January 2023.

The Director’s report stated that funding for Household Support Fund in 2023/24 was extended in the ‘Autumn Statement’. The allocation for North Lincolnshire is £2,647,786 and the associated guidance was being reviewed to develop proposals for cabinet consideration in preparation for the delivery plan submission to DWP by 17th May 2023. These would align with council priorities supporting community development and enablement.

Councillor Marper, Cabinet Member Finance, Governance and Veterans thanked the Director for her report and work carried out by her officers and highlighted, summarised and commented upon key aspects of its content.

Resolved – That the update and ongoing outcomes arising from the Household Support Fund Scheme in North Lincolnshire be noted.

Report of the Director: Economy and Environment

The Director: Economy and Environment submitted a report updating Cabinet on the Rural England Prosperity Fund.

The Director explained in her report that the ‘Rural England Prosperity Fund’ (REPF) was a top-up to the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) and was part of the suite of funds available through the government’s £2.6bn Levelling Up agenda.  It succeeded the European Union funding from LEADER and the Growth Programme which were part of the Rural Development Programme for England, which North Lincolnshire has previously benefitted from.

North Lincolnshire was asked to provide additional information as an addendum to the UKSPF Investment Plan to secure an additional £789,520 through the REPF.  This was submitted in November 2023 and was currently going through the assessment process.  A response was expected imminently with a view to funds becoming available in April 2023.The Fund was focused on specific challenges faced by rural areas:

·       lower productivity rates

·       poorer connectivity      

·       poorer access to key services

The Rural Fund provided capital funding to:

·       support new and existing rural businesses to develop new products and facilities that would be of wider benefit to the local economy.

·       support new and improved community infrastructure, providing essential community services and assets for local people and businesses to benefit the local economy.

The reported stated that it would contribute to the government’s Levelling Up White Paper and Future Farming Programme by providing support for capital projects for small businesses and community infrastructure. This would help to improve productivity and strengthen the rural economy and rural communities.

The Rural Fund sat alongside existing Defra schemes, including:

·       The Farming in Protected Landscapes programme

·       The Farming Investment Fund

·       The Platinum Jubilee Village Hall Improvement Grant Fund

DEFRA were hosting a webinar in March 2023 to highlight what other schemes were available to rural areas and to identify where there were potential cross over/additional sources of support for rural areas. This would help promote additionality as well as prevent double funding of projects.

Councillor Waltham MBE, Leader and Cabinet Member Place Shaping and Connectivity thanked the Director for her report and work carried out by her officers and highlighted, summarised and commented upon key aspects of its content.

Resolved – That the programme be supported and the initial call for projects be approved.

Report of the Director: Economy and Environment

The Director: Economy and Environment submitted a report updating Cabinet on progress of the home composting initiative since its launch in 2020. 

The Director in her report stated that North Lincolnshire Council launched its enhanced garden waste initiative in May 2020. Part of this initiative was the option for residents to relinquish their organic (brown) bin in return for a free composter. The council had continued to enable and promote the benefits of home composting to residents since 2020 through attendance at public events by Waste Services Officers, and via regular promotions on our NLC communications channels.

The Director’s report explained that each year since the introduction of the scheme there had been more residents participating in the composter scheme.

May 2020 to March 2021 – A total of 519 composters delivered in return for relinquishing brown bin.

April 2021 to March 2022 – A total of 213 composters delivered in return for relinquishing brown bin.

April 2022 to February 2023 – A total of 228 composters delivered in return for relinquishing brown bin.

The total number of composters delivered to residents in return for relinquishing their brown bins was 960 households as of the 27th February 2023. 960 garden waste bins would, on average, produce approximately 460 tonnes of garden waste material in a year (20kg per bin on average collection x 24 collections per year = 480kg per household, per year) That was over four hundred tonnes of garden waste material that was being utilised within the resident’s home to produce quality compost. The scheme had enabled over four hundred tonnes less of organic materials were having to be collected from the kerbside, transferred, and disposed of through our organic waste contract.

Councillor D Rose, Cabinet Member Environment and Strategic Planning   thanked the Director for her report and work carried out by their officers and highlighted, summarised and commented upon key aspects of its content.

Resolved – That the positive impact the scheme has had to date be noted.

Report of the Director: Economy and Environment

The Director: Economy and Environment submitted a report updating Cabinet

on strengthening of the Public Space Protection Order and on the One Council Enforcement transformation.

The Director in her report explained that North Lincolnshire Council introduced a Public Space Protection Order (PSPO) in October 2021 to enable the council to take measures to reduce anti-social behaviour across the county. The PSPO enabled the council to tackle anti-social behaviour alongside existing powers and enabled the council to support and protect vulnerable communities by targeting those who continue to be involved in anti-social behaviour. The Council promotes a zero-tolerance approach to nuisance. If any person failed to comply with the requirements of the PSPO, they were committing a criminal offence and, in most cases, it would be dealt with by way of a Fixed Penalty Notice (FPN).

The report stated that the Council was committed to reviewing the implementation of a revised PSPO, by October 2024, this had progressed with an early review being undertaken on four priority areas including: Open Water, Begging, Cycling, and consuming alcohol in public areas. A public consultation had commenced on 27 February 2023 and would conclude on the 27 March 2023.  All comments would be analysed and considered before a final decision was made on the proposed changes to strengthen the PSPO for North Lincolnshire.

The transformation of a #OneCouncil enforcement offer supported by PSPO pathways had been designed alongside a new training programme which would lead to an increase in capacity and capability to deliver enforcement across North Lincolnshire.  During the last six months, substantial progress had been made around Fixed Penalty Notice (FPN) enforcement action against environmental and PSPO Anti-Social behaviour, with in excess of 1000 FPNs being issued. This would be enhanced as the PSPO was strengthened and the #OneCouncil transformation was delivered. 

Councillor J Davison, Cabinet Member for Safer, Stronger Communities – Ashby, Bottesford and Scunthorpe (Urban) thanked the Director for her report and work carried out by her officers and highlighted, summarised and commented upon key aspects of its content.

Resolved – (a) That the progress in re-defining the Public Space Protection Order for North Lincolnshire be noted, and (b) that a further report be received following the conclusion of the consultation to approve the implementation of the revised NL Public Space Protection Order in or after May 2023.