To receive the report of the Leader of the Council
Minutes:
The Leader thanked
Members for their ongoing support in what was now the end of his second full
year as Leader of the Council and his second review of the last year at the
Annual Meeting and said
(a)
he
wanted to spend the majority of his speech looking forward but it would be
remiss of him not to acknowledge the considerable achievements of the last
year. The Council had secured the Local Plan; an ambitious statement of intent
to deliver sustainable growth across communities. In support of this, alongside
the County Council, the Council had secured £50m from government for the relief
road and was pursuing a further £15m from the Housing Infrastructure Fund to
support the southern section. The Council had also been recognised across
Leicestershire as a “key centre for growth and regeneration” through the
recently adopted Strategic Growth Plan and had submitted an ambitious bid to
the Future High Streets Fund to help regenerate the town centre. The Council
was starting to see the impact of its growth plans, with a 60% increase in new
homes delivered in 2018/19 compared to the previous 12 months. The Council
would continue to maintain a strong focus in this area and would continue to
support the County Council in working to deliver the bypass. The Council had
already began implementing the improvements identified in its Planning Services
Review and during the course of the year would bring forward proposals for new
structures and resources to ensure it provided the best service possible;
(b)
following
a significant amount of work over the last year, the Council now had in place a
strong Melton Place Board and Place Plan, where a range of business and
community stakeholders were working with the Council to promote the town,
improve the visitor experience and encourage inward investment. The Council had
a clear ‘vision’ and ‘story’ it could
unify behind and he looked forward to seeing how the various sub-groups
could deliver improvements and genuinely deliver on the Council’s promise to be
the Rural Capital of Food’;
(c)
as well
as prioritising the delivery of new homes, the Council had also prioritised
improving its existing housing stock. Earlier this year the Council had
unveiled the £2.5m investment in Beckmill Court. The Council had also adopted a new Fire
Safety Policy and was working closely with TFEC on this and the renewed
commitment the Council had made to reach the Decent Homes standard for all its
stock. It would take time but the tide had turned and the Council was making
some steady improvements. In terms of housing services more generally, further
investment would be required but the
Council had started to re-build support for its tenants; including investment
in new housing officers and Neighbourhood Support Officers; refocussing on its
priority areas. The Council was making a renewed commitment to tackle
inequality, and work with schools, colleges and employers to secure the skills
required to support higher paying jobs. Increasing aspiration and reducing
dependency was a key part of stabilising families and tackling the causes of
crime and disorder;
(d)
the
Council also needed to continue supporting the health and well-being of its
communities. Over the last year the
Council had unified the service contracts for its two leisure centres up to
2022, and was undertaking development appraisals of both sites to establish how
it could enable investment in a long term and sustainable leisure
solution. As Melton grew, the Council
must ensure sufficient capacity in its local health services and it was
committed to working with the local CCG to secure a second surgery for the
town;
(e)
as well
as providing support to its communities, the Council was also now better
equipped to tackle poor behaviour where it needed to; whether ASB through the
housing team or environmental issues through the new enforcement officer. Working alongside its in-house legal team the
Council now had far better capability to address proactively key community
issues. At its first Cabinet meeting it
would be considering a report seeking
approval to begin consulting on a Public Spaces Protection Order. This would enable its communities to ensure
that any new powers the Council secured were focussed on addressing those
things which mattered most to its communities;
(f)
the
Council had also let a number of sizeable service contracts this year;
including housing repairs and waste collection; both of which had created
efficiencies and released finance to meet funding pressures. As part of the Council’s commercial aspirations, the
procurement team had secured new contracts itself and was now providing
procurement services to a number of new Councils including South Kesteven,
Newark and Sherwood and Rushcliffe. Becoming
more commercial was a key part of the Council’s desire to plug the funding gap
and become more business-like; something even more important in the face of the
current uncertainty due to the Fair Funding Review;
(g)
over
the coming months the Council would
consider and start to build its new Corporate Strategy setting out its
aspirations for Melton and the Council until 2025. The Council would no doubt want to build on the initial steps
the Council had taken to become more commercial, alongside responding to the
way technology was re-shaping the communities it served and the services they wanted to
receive. He looked forward to working
with all Members as the Council took stock, reflected on where it was and look
to the future. These undoubtedly remain turbulent times for local government
but he had no doubt that as a Council, with officers and Members working
together the Council could deliver an ambitious and exciting agenda for all its
Melton communities.