Agenda and minutes

A webcast of the meeting can be viewed at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWFpwBLs6MnUzG0WjejrQtQ

Armed Forces Week

On Monday 19^th June to mark the start of Armed Forces week Neale Millet, an RAF veteran and Chairman of the local Royal Air Forces Association, raised the Armed Forces Day Flag at a ceremony at Stand Easy.

On Saturday 24^th June the Chairman, together with the Lord-Lieutenant and Lord Mayor of Leicester, attended Armed Forces Day in Leicester City. There was a parade through the City Centre which was made up of service personnel, veterans, and cadets.  Following the parade there was a ‘Drumhead Service’ in Green Dragon Square: a very moving occasion.

County Service

The Chairman would be hosting a County Service later in the year and all Members would receive an invitation in due course.

NHS

The Chairman reminded Members that it was the 75^th birthday of the NHS and invited them to look at the stand in the Members’ Lounge which included photographs of the early days of the NHS and how local people were involved.  He wished the NHS a Happy Birthday.

It was moved by the Chairman, seconded by the Vice-Chairman and carried:

“That the minutes of the meeting of the Council held on 17^th May 2023, copies of which have been circulated to members, be taken as read, confirmed and signed.”

The Chairman invited members who wished to do so to make declarations of interest in respect of items on the agenda for the meeting.

All members declared a non registrable interest in the report of the Independent Remuneration Panel on Members’ Allowances (minute 18(a) refers).

(A)     Mr Mullaney asked the following question of the Leader or his nominee:

“Given the news that the County Council is to get an additional nearly £2 million towards bus service improvements, would the County Council please reconsider the decision to withdraw funding for the 159 bus service from Hinckley to Coalville? The Service was one that was used by people in many rural areas like Newbold Verdon, Market Bosworth and Barlestone as well as Hinckley and Coalville. Restoring the subsidy to get the 159 bus service running again would be welcomed by people in many towns and villages in the County.”

Mr O’Shea replied as follows:

“The County Council has been awarded £1.78m Bus Service Improvement Plan Plus (BSIP+) funding in the current financial year and as a result, the Passenger Transport Policy Strategy (PTPS) review work on the supported bus services has been paused to allow a light touch refresh of the PTPS approach that better reflects the Government’s aspirations for this additional funding. 

Following that, the review of the current contracted services against this revised policy approach will restart from late 2023 into early 2024.  

The objective is to continue to support services that align to our revised policy approach (reflecting the additional funding) while ensuring we do not continue to pay for the lowest value services. It is not our intention to reinstate any services already withdrawn or to revisit subsidy arrangements for services that have ceased prior to the BSIP+ funding award. The BSIP+ funding will allow us to retain our existing subsidised bus services, the cost of which significantly exceeds the current budget while giving us the opportunity to help reshape our public transport model to a more sustainable one appropriate for a rural county like Leicestershire.

A briefing on this matter was issued to members on 1^st June and has been appended to the response to this question.”  

Mr Mullaney asked the following supplementary question:

“I'm sorry that the 159 subsidy couldn't be restored, it was a service that a lot of people used and appreciated in Hinckley and the villages. In the appendix that was part of the response to the question it does mention that there is to be a pause to the review of the 26 subsidised services, including the Hinckley to Nuneaton service that goes through my area.  Can the Lead Member offer some specifics to the residents that use those services as to what the term pause actually means? Do we take it that the pause to the review is in effect a permanent pause and those services won't be reviewed in future; is it a matter of next financial year; is it a matter of a few months? Could the Lead Member give any sort of specifics to residents who might be concerned as to what exactly that time frame mentioned there is?” 

Mr O’Shea replied as follows:

“A pause is a pause: it means it's going to start again.  We have been given this money that will temporarily let us pause [the review], but then all services across the County will be reviewed again later on in the year because the money will not last beyond the year. It will be paused for a temporary period but we will be looking at it across the whole piece, so that we can look at what is best for the whole County.  We don't want to cut bus services at all, and you appreciate that, but we are guided by the finances that this Council gets from Government. We want to do the best for our citizens,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 14.

The Leader gave a position statement on the following matters:

·       Active Travel England;

·       Greener Leicestershire Update;

·       Local Nature Recovery Strategy;

·       Supporting Veterans;

·       Household Support Fund;

·       Health in All Policies.

The Cabinet Lead Member for Children and Family Services gave a position statement on the following matters:

·       OFSTED Focus Visit;

·       Family Hubs;

·       Holiday Activity Fund;

·       Volunteers.

The Cabinet Lead Member for Resources gave a position statement on the following matters:

·       Financial Position;

·       Funding Reform;

·       Decarbonisation Funding;

·       Statement of Accounts;

·       Director of Corporate Resources.

A copy of the position statements is filed with these minutes.

It was moved by Mrs Richardson, seconded by Mr O’Shea and carried unanimously:

“That the Relevant Representation of the County Council on the Hinckley National Rail Freight Interchange proposal, as set out in Appendix A to the report, be noted.”

It was moved by Mr Mullaney, seconded by Mrs Page and carried unanimously:

“That the information contained in the Overview and Scrutiny Annual Report 2022/23, attached as Appendix A to this report, on its activities, be noted.”

It was moved by Mr Rushton, seconded by Mrs Taylor and carried unanimously:

“(a)   That Basic and Special Responsibility Allowances be increased by 3.88%, for the period 1^st April 2023 to 31^st March 2024;

(b)    That the Panel reconvenes in March 2024 to review the indexation of Basic and Special Responsibility Allowances from 1^st April 2024;

(c)    That further research be carried out during 2023 with regard to the indexing of allowances in other local authorities.”

It was moved by Mr Rushton, seconded by Mrs Taylor and carried unanimously:

“That Mr G. Grimes and Mr A. Maxfield be appointed to serve as independent members of the Corporate Governance Committee for a term of two years up to the May annual Council meeting in 2025.”

It was moved by Mr Phillimore, seconded by Mr Lovegrove and carried unanimously:

“That the Director of Law and Governance be authorised:

(a)  to make and seal Byelaws as appropriate for each of the Country Parks listed in accordance with the details set out in Appendix A to this report and to revoke all previous byelaws on those sites; and

(b)  to advertise the making of and to seek confirmation by the Secretary of State of these Byelaws.”

It was moved by Mr Shepherd, seconded by Mrs Fryer and carried:

“That Mr C Smith CC be appointed as Cabinet Support Member until the next Annual Meeting of the County Council, as provided for in Article 7 of the Council’s Constitution.”

38 members voted for the motion and 6 voted against.