Agenda item

The Council is requested to note the appointment of the Deputy Leader, as may be announced by the Leader.

 

The Council is requested to note the appointment of members of the Cabinet, as may be announced by the Leader.

 

The Council is requested to note the Cabinet Portfolios, as may be announced by the Leader.

 

The Council is requested to note the Leader’s Scheme of Delegation.

 

The Leader to provide a verbal review of the last municipal year and to report on the proposed policies of the Council for the forthcoming year.

The Leader asked that:

 

Council noted the Deputy Leader, Cabinet Membership, the Portfolio Holders and the Scheme of Delegation is unchanged for the new municipal year.

 

The Leader gave thanks to the following:

 

• Councillor Alan Hewson for his work in the role of Mayor over the past year, as well as the support provided by the Mayoress. Helen Ainge behind the scenes and ensuring the Mayor knew where he ought to be.
• The new Mayor, Councillor Tim Webster and his consort Sally-Ann for the past year and high hopes for the coming one.
• Councillor Siggy Atherton for agreeing to become Deputy Mayor and to her consort, Councillor Ian Atherton for his support.
• The Caretaking team for helping to make this building tick, they are always cheerful, helpful, the first to come and the last to leave.
• The Election Services team and the wider team who ran the recent election and count for the Police and Crime Commissioner so efficiently. Melton was the first to declare the result on the Friday.
• The Leader also gave thanks to the many hundreds of residents who contribute so much to the life of the local communities. Most are unpaid, self-sacrificing, and dedicated to the job in hand. Without this volunteer army, so much of what we value would not be possible.
• The Leader congratulated to the re-elected Police and Crime Commissioner in the recent election.
• Thanks, were also given to 3 staff members as they leave the Council: Amelia Bailey, David Hayton-Hill and Pranali Parikh. We wish them all well.

 

The Leader then reflected on the past year and his consideration of the next one. He started by stating that the past year started with the tail end of the previous administration, an election with many new faces, new partnerships and for officers a period of upheaval and uncertainty. The year has been one of consolidation, preparation and focusing on both urgent issues and big-ticket items.  The coming year will continue some of that but with more detail, turning strategies into policies and policies into actions.

 

The Leader stated that on taking office, it was clear that in the short term the general position was stable but in the medium to long term it was precarious, based upon the Council’s resources and regulation by central Government. The administration agreed to not over commit on revenue or running cost expenditure, minimise drawing down from reserves, seek additional external funding and Government grants. The approach continues into this year.

 

Debt, post COVID was too high on the Housing Revenue Account. By devoting more resources this is now coming down. In doing this the Council have also been active in supporting tenants in financial difficulty. Officers are working with other agencies and charities to achieve this aim. Naturally this work will continue.

 

Part of the financial environment is of course asset management including the disposal of assets. Due to insufficient staff, record keeping and monitoring has been poor in recent years. This problem has been recognised with vacancies filled, and a start made to improve. The Leader thanked all staff involved for responding to Councillor Cox’s leadership on these matters. They are doing this at the same time as supporting multi-million-pound projects, Council housing and new proposals.

 

On sale of assets, the Council have proceeded with the previous decision to sell “site A” at the cattle market. The general policy options for a similar disposal of “site B” is on hold pending the works for the LUF constructions on sites E and D. From a practical point of view this will be the case for the whole of this municipal year. The Council must proceed with caution, as assets provide utility as well as one-off cash when sold.

 

The Council have made real progress in adopting the new asset management plan, as well as reset the focus for a GP surgery and rejected the scheme to provide a completely new build at the Melton Sports Village campus.

The new administration rejected the notion of a hotel development at Parkside.

 

As a result, the Council has secured a commitment from the NHS Integrated Care Board to develop a plan for incorporating a GP surgery at Parkside. The costed business case is being developed and will be considered over the coming months. This will mean surplus space at Parkside will cease to be a financial burden and local private hotels are expanding without uncertainty.

 

The Council have been able to retain an improved swimming pool serving 18 school curriculums and several other groups. The Council have a 10-year contract for Waterfield and MSV turning a £0.8m net loss into a £1m gain. While investing nearly £2m for building and service improvements. Thanks to our local schools, dry sport groups affected by the changes have been accommodated.

 

The Leader was very pleased that the Council were able to give a grant for the town’s soft play venue, Jungle Bugs.

 

Looking to the future, work is progressing on schedule for completion this year at Waterfield and MSV. Local Groups are being invited to consider the shape and provision more generally across the Borough and replacement facilities at the end of the 10-year contract.

 

The early focus of the new Council was to increase engagement with communities and make Melton Cleaner and Greener. The administration delivered a number of early quick wins, while developing our new corporate strategy, these included:

• Officers and members working alongside tenants with community cleanups and community action days.
• Promoted responsible dog ownership to combat environmental crime, ensuring local businesses can dispose of their waste and working alongside the Police on stop and search initiatives to catch fly-tippers as part of a focus on rural crime.
• Launched the Well-Kept Garden recognition scheme and unveiled the ‘Letters to Heaven’ memorial post box.
• Significant progress was made in planting trees with thanks to Councillors Glancy and Lumley for their support in this.

 

The administration established new working groups to focus on our Town Centre and Asset Development Programme and this has helped guide the work that has been undertaken this last year. With the conclusion of the Governance work it is hoped that the collaborative approach is enshrined into the Constitution at Council later this year.

 

The Council have allocated funding from the UKSPF, as well as the Council’s own resources to invest in greening the town, developing a new design guide, and supporting partners at Melton in Bloom.

The Council held a cost-of-living event in Bottesford and established the Rural Food Hub to increase focus on rural communities. A new health screening clinic for Farmers at the Livestock Market was launched, which focuses on mental health support.

 

As a Council more access to Household Support Grants has been provided than any other Leicestershire District Council, with almost 5000 household benefiting. Alongside this the Community Support Hub based as Phoenix House have supported hundreds of residents across the Borough. The digital support at Phoenix House is in demand and the digital support across the Borough is being increased though our UKSPF funding.

 

The Council have had incredible success with UKSPF funded work and skills project and are on course to exceed its targets by the end of the reporting period. The Council will shortly be launching a scheme for residents to access retail discounts on an ongoing basis,

 

The ‘Let’s Get Moving’ Roadshow was taken out to a number of rural communities, following the success of these events, the Council hosted the first Let’s Get Moving Awards in October for community and sports groups who have made huge contributions to physical activity, health, and wellbeing across the district.

 

Work on making the best use of the Levelling Up Fund continues, it is anticipated the application for the Stockyard would be submitted in the next month. Regrettably the College are not in a position to utilise the £2m Levelling Up Funding allocated to the theatre, due to intervention of the Further Education Commissioner. An agreement has been reached with Rutland to retain this money in Melton, options are being explored on how best this could be used to support the original aspirations of the bid, albeit in a different way. The Council will continue to work with the college on how to support them in safeguarding the future of the theatre and educational provision within Melton.

 

It has been a pleasure for the Council to administer capital community grants totalling £147K and business grants just over £152K.

 

The Council continue to manage our finances well, setting another balanced budget in February and have introduced e-billing for Council Tax bills to increase efficiency. The Council have completed the first stage of the Healthy Workplaces accreditation, showing focus on attracting and retaining the best possible team by being a great place to work.  The importance of Civic occasions is recognised with the co-ordinating a fantastic Remembrance Parade and service working alongside the Royal British Legion.

 

The Council have continued to focus on housing quality and improvement, a number of new tenant policies have been implemented and the Housing Asset Management plan has been refreshed. A tenant’s corner webpage has been launched and at Gretton Court there is a new independent living officer and the kitchens and bathrooms are being replaced. A Housing Support Review is being undertaken and a number of new council homes have been acquired. Alongside making preparations for the regulatory changes that took effect in April.

 

Melton Borough Council are one of the first Councils in the country subject to the first inspections and whilst the outcome is being awaited, the Leader stated that he is proud that the teams that have risen to the challenge.

 

The review of the existing Local Plan, which runs until 2036 is progressing well, the Council have set the agenda through a new Corporate Strategy to set out a longer-term vision, alongside a more detailed 4 year delivery plan.

The Council is continuing its commitment to engage with rural communities by establishing two Rural Area Liaison Forums. These are due to take place in August, with invites and more details to follow.

 

An issue that concerns many people is flooding, whilst the Council’s statutory responsibilities and resources are limited, the Council has played a full and active part in responding to issues caused by the storms over the last year and administering Flood Recovery Support grants to households and businesses affected. These issues will be discussed at the aforementioned Rural Area Liaison Forums.

 

The Council are committed to making Melton a cleaner and greener place and are in the process of appointing a dedicated new Waste and Environmental Services Manager. The Council will be undertaking an evaluation of current service delivery, so it can be clear what is possible within current resources to see which areas can be improved, alongside accelerating our focus on food waste collection which needs to be in place from April 2026.

 

The Council would maintain our focus on the town centre, delivering the investments promised within the UKSPF and reviewing our approach to car parking.

 

The Leader gave thanks to all Members and Officers, who have made this possible. It has been a privilege to lead the Council and he looks forward to more progress in the coming year.