Minutes:
In the Leader’s absence, the Deputy Leader made the following speech :
‘Members, whilst I
recognise, we held an extraordinary meeting in honour of Her Late Majesty,
Queen Elizabeth II in September, given this is the first Leaders Notifications
since her passing, I wanted to once again acknowledge her incredible
contribution to our country and Commonwealth, and place on record our
allegiance and best wishes to King Charles III.
For the same reason, I
also want to again formally acknowledge the tragic and untimely passing of our
dear friend and colleague, Mel Steadman, and also place on record my sincere
appreciation for her passion, contribution and commitment to her community and
this council. As well as for the humour and bravery she continued to show at
all times. We continue to offer our thoughts and prayers to her friends and
family.
Over recent years, you
will have heard us talk a lot about the pace of our housing improvements and
following the commitment and investment we made in 2019, and a lot of hard work
since, we have seen the benefit of those decisions, and that determination,
come to fruition in recent months.
I must continue to pay
tribute to our committed staff team and portfolio holder and wanted to share a
few notable highlights. In the last month, I know that a number of you were
able to attend a demonstration of our new housing management IT system, which
you may recall was something the council invested in through the Housing
Improvement Plan. A number of housing management policies have been approved by
the Cabinet with more to follow, and our housing asset management plan has been
considered by the scrutiny committee ahead of consideration by full council
later this year. We continue to build a clear, robust and evidence-based
approach to managing and investing in our homes.
One of our proudest
moments though, and perhaps the greatest signal of the transformation over the last
3 years, has been the conclusion of the most recent landlord health and safety
audit, which is due to be considered in more detail at the next Audit and
Standards Committee. The original audit in 2019, which offered limited
assurance, was a key trigger for the changes brought forward in the Housing
Improvement Plan. The recent audit provides substantial assurance for the
controls we now have and demonstrates the complete transformation of the
service and the grip the team now have on this most important issue. There is
no room for complacency of course but we should all be proud of what we have
achieved and be confident in the measures we have both taken and will continue
to take in our housing service.
On community safety, I
would like to thank our Scrutiny Committee members who arranged for the Police
and Crime Commissioner, Rupert Matthews, to come to Melton to discuss Crime and
Disorder issues within our Borough. The session was both positive and
productive and followed the PCC’s visit to a number of key locations within the
area, alongside discussions with myself on our safer communities work. I was
pleased to hear that the PCC has expressed an interest in following up on the
work our teams will be doing in priority neighbourhoods over the next few
weeks.
Over the summer, in
partnership with Rutland, we submitted our ambitious Levelling Up Fund bid for
a total of £23m. If successful it would enable significant investment at the
cattle market, and improvements to the theatre, which would create jobs and
improve the local offer in Melton. We had expected a decision on the outcome of
our bid in October but have since been advised that decisions on funding will
not now be made until the new year.
As you know we also
submitted our £1.2m UK Shared Prosperity Fund Investment Plan (also known as
UKSPF) and similarly understood we would receive an update on this in the early
Autumn. We again await an update on revised timescales and will keep members
updated as we learn more.
Pleasingly, through
the recently announced Rural England Prosperity Fund, Melton has been awarded a
further £400k capital funding. This welcome funding needs to be incorporated
into our 3 year UKSPF plan, and provides additional resources to respond to
challenges felt particularly by rural communities. We are working hard to meet
the submission deadline in November.
A cornerstone of our
UKSPF plan, and a key focus for us over the last year, is how we can better
support and create opportunities for young people. As a council we have actively
supported the development of the AMY project (Action for Melton Youth) led by
Mark Frisby and the Access all Areas team. We recently hosted an interactive
session for the young people at the council, and I am pleased to say that there
is an AMY meeting of young people happening right now, and that this evening
they will be considering how they can more effectively link in with some our
existing groups and structures to enable their voice to be heard more clearly
as we make decisions. This might include,
for example, our Safer Melton partnership or tenant engagement and we wish them
every success and look forward to working with them in the future.
In less positive news,
barely a day goes by where we don’t hear about the terrible impacts the cost-of-living
crisis is having on our communities right now.
We have taken positive
action to do all we can to help, and our teams are supporting residents across
the Borough, with a clear action plan in place which focusses very much on
communication and support. Our discretionary energy rebate scheme has been
implemented, and eligible residents will have started to receive payments. In
addition, we have launched an energy rebate hardship scheme and are currently
accepting applications, with a deadline of 4th November.
I’m grateful to those
members who were able to attend the recent cost of living briefing and I
understand a further briefing session will be added to member calendars shortly
to update on our work in more detail. One of the things we know, is that the
support we give to people can only be effective if people know it is there, and
how to access it. We have available this evening a number of leaflets and
posters for you to take away should you wish to do so. I would be grateful if
you could take them into your communities and if you come across anybody who is
struggling, please ask them to contact us so can do whatever we can to help.
Inflationary pressures
are also having an impact on public finances. As we heard at the recent State
of Melton Debate, inflation is putting significant pressure on our own
finances, and you will have seen the recent announcements by the Leader of the
County Council about their own significant funding gaps. As the new Prime
Minister has made clear, there are going to be some tough decisions and tough
times ahead.
We know the County
Council are considering how to manage their financial challenge, and they may
have to make some difficult choices, but we also know they, and we, will do all
we can to ensure the MMDR can proceed as planned.
Whilst we celebrate
and warmly welcome the recent principle commitment made by our health partners
to develop proposals for a second GP surgery with us, we must remember that the
funding package for this and any new leisure provision is not yet in place and
raising the required capital will, inevitably, now be harder due to the current
economic climate. We will continue to explore every possible option for this
over the coming months, as we work to develop our leisure procurement strategy
for provision post April 2024.
Increasing our
resilience, and our financial stability, is one of the reasons we have agreed
to explore the establishment of a strategic partnership with Harborough
District Council. Following the briefings provided a few weeks ago, you will
have seen that in early October, the Cabinets both here and at Harborough, gave
the green light to develop a business case for consideration at our Council
meetings in December.
The business case will
set out the rationale, potential benefits and risks of any partnership,
alongside, crucially ‘how’ any strategic partnership would work, and the
framework for establishing and operating any shared roles or services. This
work will ensure we have done sufficient due diligence, but also will ensure
that we have a solid basis upon which to build our partnership, and a shared
understanding across both councils of what could be achieved.
The work is moving at
considerable pace and members will have received an invite to an all member
briefing next Wednesday where a more detailed update on progress will be
provided. Before our Cabinet consider the proposals in early December, our
Scrutiny Committee will consider the draft business case, and our Audit
Committee will consider the draft memorandum of agreement and we continue to
welcome wide input and engagement as this work progresses.
I want to finish by
acknowledging a few recent achievements from our teams. Firstly, for their
great work during covid, our Regeneration Team was recently shortlisted in the
‘Programme of Business Support’ category in the regional Federation of Small
Businesses Local Government Awards. We know how hard our team worked to provide
support to businesses during that very challenging time so many congratulations
to them.
Secondly, I wanted to
pay tribute to our Environmental Health and Legal teams for their recent successful
prosecution in relation to a food safety offence. After pleading guilty to a
number of offences, Krispy Kreme were fined over £200k which attracted praise
from the Chief Executive of the Food Standards Agency and received
international media coverage. Councils are guardians of public safety and
whilst we focus on encouraging positive behaviours, when breaches occur it is
important, we take action to safeguard our residents. Again, well done to those
involved.
Thirdly, as you know,
as a Council we are committed to supporting our armed forces and I am proud
that for the first time the Council recently achieved a Gold Award for the
Ministry of Defence Employer Recognition Scheme – this is the highest badge of
honour for employers who support those who serve in the armed forces, veterans,
and their families.
We are one of only
three employers in Leicestershire to receive this award this year and it did
not happen by accident. To bring this to life we have updated our policies and
practices to support veterans in our workforce, provided guaranteed interview
where they meet the criteria, prioritised housing allocations and strengthened
our ties with the armed forces community. I am extremely proud to be joining a
team of officers who worked so hard to achieve this, to collect our Gold Award
on behalf of Melton Borough Council at the National Memorial Arboretum next
week.
Finally, I want to
draw your attention to the latest update from the Boundary Commission on the
revised proposals for parliamentary constituencies. We understand these are due
to be published on 8th November, when a third and final consultation will
commence lasting 4 weeks. We will promote the consultation widely and I’d
encourage any member who wishes to do so, to feed into the process. In addition, with the upcoming Borough /
Parish Elections in May 2023, officers are preparing to host two prospective
Councillor events on 15 November 2022 and we also have posters for these events
available this evening for you to pass on to your communities / groups.
I know that there is a
lot to take in in this report and I can tell you that many things we are doing
have been left out as it would not be possible to cover everything in the time
available. If you would like a copy of what I have said, please do contact
Democratic Services. Thank you.’