Agenda item

The Leader provided his announcements under seven themes.

VE Day 80^th Anniversary

The Leader reminded Members about the Council’s VE Day 80th Anniversary small grant fund, which was previously announced by Councillor Pat Cumbers. The scheme will close at 11:59pm on 7 March 2025 and there is funding still available. A funding pot of £7,000 was allocated to support a range of community VE Day celebration projects. Eligible community groups, charities and parish councils organising events and projects can apply for funding between £70 and £700 to assist to make their local celebrations a success. The Leader added that information on grant funding, including eligibility criteria and allocations of payments, could be found on the Melton Borough Council website and that details of all the celebrations will be published on the Discover Melton website as they are confirmed. The Leader added that the Council had also made a grant award, as part of the Community Grants Scheme, to the Melton Mowbray 1940’s weekend, which will have a focus on VE day too. The Leader then urged Members to not forget those who had sacrificed themselves, in particular the Polish and the Commonwealth citizens of all faiths and cultures, many of whom battled on towards VJ on the 14th August 1945.

Children’s Homes

The Leader informed Members of the unresolved problem around proposals to locate more than one children’s home in small village communities, and the constraints, the Council had faced through the planning process alongside the absence of joined up policy at a national level.

The Leader stressed that the Council’s aim had always been to enable and support the provision of children’s homes but to do so in a way that also considered the needs of local communities. The Leader reminded Members that he wrote to Government about the Council’s concerns, and that the Council’s teams were proactive in engaging with departmental colleagues. In the recently updated NPPF, there are changes which reflect the requests made by the Council, particularly on the matter of establishing local need in respect of looked after children in policy making. This would enable the Council to consider if its own local policy can be reviewed and measures to manage the future development and provision of children’s homes. The Leader thanked staff for their efforts with this.

Changing Places

Members were informed that the Mayor and Councillor Glancy visited Birchwood School to be handed a petition. The Cabinet has now formally received the petition regarding toiletry needs and provision of changing places which create places of dignity, adequate space and safety for individuals, carers and families in their everyday lives. The Leader thanked the Mayor, the previous Head Teacher, and everyone at Birchwood School for raising awareness of this issue.  Last spring the Leader was asked for help on this issues and immediately instructed that a changing place facility be included in the LUF development. Later the Leader informed Members that he also considered the possibility of using 5 King Street to serve the town centre but unfortunately the location and project wasn’t suitable.

Levelling Up Fund (LUF) Project

The Leader informed Members that he had circulated his answers to various questions tabled at the Council meeting on 5 December 2024, including on the LUF project. Planning permission for the project was received at a Planning Committee held on 5 February 2025. The Leader stated that he had received emails about why money from the LUF project cannot be diverted to pay for a doctors’ surgery. The Leader stated that he asked if it is possible to divert some of the funding to a doctor’s surgery, however it was confirmed that it isn’t legally possible.

Doctors’ Surgery

Regarding the issue of the doctor’s surgery, the Leader referred to he replay given to Councillor Alison Freer’s question at Council on 5 December 2024. There is considerable activity on this important priority including the Leader’s meeting the Secretary of State and an invitation for further dialogue. The Leader confirmed that the new surgery would be funded separately to the LUF programme. It is important to note that the LUF programme would not prevent a new doctor’s surgery being delivered. The Leader committed to continue to keep Members and the public informed.

Devolution and Local Government Reorganisation

The Leader informed Council that he has now had 10 meetings and webinars, including with Ministers. The Leader stated that he wasn’t going to rehearse the pros and cons of various issues as there would be a chance at the Council meeting on 27 February. Although, the precise format and agenda has not been finalised, however the essential ingredients would include:

• The public would have the ability to ask a question.
• Members may also ask questions, but they are likely to be referred to the open discussion.
• Officers would provide a factual report including a statement about the constitutional and governance rules.
• Recommendations would be tabled in accordance with advice from the Monitoring Officer.
• Consideration is being given to the fairest way the general public can express their views to Council.
• It is important to re-emphasise that while Leicestershire’s seven District and Borough Councils, in partnership with Leicester City Council, Leicestershire County Council and Rutland County Council may submit an interim proposal to Government by the 21 March, the final proposal is not required until 28 November.
• Also, Devolution and Local Government Reform are separate proposals.
• Other facts are that Leicestershire County Council has already proposed a single unitary council absorbing all seven districts and borough councils and also requested that the County Council elections to be cancelled. The later has been refused, so those elections will take place on 1 May and present the opportunity for candidates and voters to reflect their views on Local Government Reorganisation and Devolution at that time.
• The question of whether or not the creation of a Town Council for Melton might be part of the process could be explored at the meeting on the 27 February.

The Leader added that he had received a copy of a letter from the Police and Crime Commissioner to the Mayor of Leicester and the Leader of Leicestershire County Council, which he would circulate to Members.

Flooding

The Leader thanked staff for all their efforts to help people at risk and needing support during the latest flooding event. He also thanked Melton and Oakham Waterways Society who removed debris from the town’s water ways. The Leader also thanked the Minister, Emma Hardy, with whom he discussed his concerns with directly. Although the extra money for flood defences of £2.65bn across the country is welcome, the Leader confirmed that the Borough will probably not benefit much from the fund, as the funding formula for allocating money currently favours towards major projects taking many years, however, consideration is being given to directing money to smaller prevention measures. The flood zone re-mapping exercise being carried out by the Environment Agency is due to complete soon and the Leader hopes this will better inform the Council’s own planning decisions. For parishes and riparian owners, a degree of self help is good but can present problems if one community solves its problem and the water moves down stream to its neighbour. The Environment Agency issues a range of permits to allow works to be undertaken which are technically appropriate and legally sound. This is a process the Council are keen to promote with parish councils. The Leader of Leicestershire County Council has reiterated her concerns about the limited capacity and funding for Lead Flood Authorities. The Leader agrees with the assessment and surmised that perhaps it is a task more suited to the new strategic mayoral authority under devolution.

At 6:53pm, during the consideration of this item, Councillor S. Orson entered the meeting.