Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors C L Adams, H Digby, P J Ducey, T P Eaton BCA, C Entwistle, G Freeman, J M Horrocks, J O Manners, F McFarland, D A Naylor, G A M Oxby, A Rhodes, S Scotthorne and J C Shephard.

To receive Declarations of Interest by Members and Officers.

There were no Declarations of Interest.

To approve as a correct record the Minutes of the Meeting held on 22^nd June, 13^th July and 31^st July 2023.

Resolved that the minutes of the meetings held on 22^nd June, 13^th July and 31^st July be approved.

Resolved that the Previous Motions Action and Implementation be noted.

To receive such communications as the Chairman and Chief Executive desire to lay before the Council.

Chairman’s Communications:

The Chairman thanked Members for the opportunity of Chairman. She noted that she had attended a lot of engagements since the last meeting including:

·        The Canch and Kings’ Park Flag Raising

·        Nottinghamshire Day Flag Raising

·        Bassetlaw Supports Ukraine

·        Tour of Britain

·        Kings Award

·        Onam Celebration

·        Rushcliffe Annual Civic Dinner

·        Broxtowe Civic Service

·        Corporal Thomas Highton CWWG Headstone

She noted that it is her Civic Service on Sunday and all are welcome.

Chief Executive’s Communications:

There were none.

Leaders Update:

The Leader noted that there has been a lot of work conducted since the last meeting. He updated Members on key activities:

·        Wilko response

·        Vision 2040 consultation

·        Main Modifications to the Draft Local Plan consultation

·        Meetings have continued in five main areas:

o   Devolution:

o   STEP:

o   National Grid ‘North Humber to High Marnham’ upgrade

o   Power station resident group meetings

o   Levelling Up Partnerships

·        Updates on Head of Service positions

·        Prosperity Fund activities

Finally, he informed Members that Thatchams Research has been shortlisted for a national award by the Association for Project Management and wished them the very best for the awards ceremony in London on 20^th November.

To answer questions of which notice has been given in accordance with Rules of Procedure Number 10.

None.

There were none.

To answer questions of which notice has been given in accordance with Procedure Rule Number 11.

From Councillor D. Bamford:

“In light of recent changes to economic forecasts can the council supply a projected profit and loss for S80 over the next five years which shows the financial impact on S80 and shareholders and its ability to repay the proposed £200,000 loan facility if utilised. Further will it clearly show the projected position of the balance sheet?”

From Councillor D. Bamford:

“In light of recent changes to economic forecasts can the council supply a projected profit and loss for S80 over the next five years which shows the financial impact on S80 and shareholders and its ability to repay the proposed £200,000 loan facility if utilised. Further will it clearly show the projected position of the balance sheet?”

Response from Councillor J Evans:

“Can I please give a response under Agenda Item No.9(a) with the related report.

(The Chairman confirmed that this was acceptable)

To consider motions of which notice has been given in accordance with Procedure Rule Number 12.

Proposed by Councillor A. Coultate and seconded by Councillor G. Dinsdale:

“This Council calls upon the Police and Crime Commissioner for Nottinghamshire to ensure that Bassetlaw receives its fair share of resources (including accessible Custody Services) and no longer has a “second rate Police Station” within the District.”

Proposed by Councillor J. White and seconded by Councillor J. Leigh:

“This Council: 

• Is saddened and disappointed that Wilko Ltd’s negative trading situation led to it entering into administration on 10th August 2023 with administrators, PwC, appointed on 23rd August 2023. 
• Recognises that this is a well-known and popular British retail company, a traditional family firm headquartered in Worksop which employs around 12,000 people across the country. Of these, more than 1,500 are based in Bassetlaw, working in its stores, distribution centre and head office.   
• Is disappointed that, at the time of submission of this motion, an outright buyer has not been found and that the company will be divided with many employees now facing redundancy, including employees based at the distribution centre and head office on Roebuck Way, Worksop.   
• Believes that there are a number of factors that have caused this business failure, including but not exclusively limited to the shift in consumer behaviours to online shopping, Wilko’s strategic response to market change and Government failure to overhaul high street business rates. 
• Is disappointed that despite Wilko playing a significant role in the life of hundreds of high streets and communities across the UK, the Government has shown limited interest in alleviating the situation. 
• Has a responsibility to support Bassetlaw-based Wilko workers at this time of crisis. It has, and will continue to, prioritise resources to do this alongside partners such as Citizens Advice Bassetlaw and DWP, including through the delivery of a full support service and by building links with local/regional/cross-regional employers to run jobs and support fairs.
• Is committed to supporting the Bassetlaw workforce at this difficult time and recognises that this is an ongoing responsibility of the Council as the local economy and workforce absorbs the impact of this sadly avoidable situation. 

Proposed by Councillor D. Pulk and seconded by Councillor C. Adams:

“This Council notes that UK100 is a network of local leaders who have pledged to lead a rapid transition to Net Zero with Clean Air in their communities ahead of the government’s legal target.

To accelerate action, UK100 believes in bringing together influential leaders across the country to learn together and agree on priorities for legislative and regulatory change while empowering them to engage with national decision-makers. It provides a network with the knowledge, tools and connections to make this happen.

This Council resolves to approach UK100 about becoming a member and, in doing so, agrees to the UK100 Net Zero Pledge (noted below). It also resolves as part of this Pledge to meet Net Zero council operations by 2030; to meet Net Zero areawide emissions by 2045; to  ...  view the full agenda text for item 41.

Proposed by Councillor A. Coultate and seconded by Councillor G. Dinsdale:

“This Council calls upon the Police and Crime Commissioner for Nottinghamshire to ensure that Bassetlaw receives its fair share of resources (including accessible Custody Services) and no longer has a “second rate Police Station” within the District.”

Councillor J Bowker proposed the following amendment:

“This Council calls upon the Police and Crime Commissioner for Nottinghamshire to meet her election commitment to ensure that Bassetlaw receives its fair share of resources (including accessible Custody Services) and no longer has a “second rate Police Station” within the District.”

The Council Solicitor advised that it was a valid amendment and it was accepted by the proposer of the motion.

Resolved that the amended motion be supported.

Proposed by Councillor J. White and seconded by Councillor J. Leigh:

“This Council:

·         Is saddened and disappointed that Wilko Ltd’s negative trading situation led to it entering into administration on 10th August 2023 with administrators, PwC, appointed on 23rd August 2023.

·         Recognises that this is a well-known and popular British retail company, a traditional family firm headquartered in Worksop which employs around 12,000 people across the country. Of these, more than 1,500 are based in Bassetlaw, working in its stores, distribution centre and head office.

·         Is disappointed that, at the time of submission of this motion, an outright buyer has not been found and that the company will be divided with many employees now facing redundancy, including employees based at the distribution centre and head office on Roebuck Way, Worksop.

·         Believes that there are a number of factors that have caused this business failure, including but not exclusively limited to the shift in consumer behaviours to online shopping, Wilko’s strategic response to market change and Government failure to overhaul high street business rates.

·         Is disappointed that despite Wilko playing a significant role in the life of hundreds of high streets and communities across the UK, the Government has shown limited interest in alleviating the situation.

·         Has a responsibility to support Bassetlaw-based Wilko workers at this time of crisis. It has, and will continue to, prioritise resources to do this alongside partners such as Citizens Advice Bassetlaw and DWP, including through the delivery of a full support service and by building links with local/regional/cross-regional employers to run jobs and support fairs.

·         Is committed to supporting the Bassetlaw workforce at this difficult time and recognises that this is an ongoing responsibility of the Council as the local economy and workforce absorbs the impact of this sadly avoidable situation.

Councillors D Bamford, C Tindle, J Potts, D Pressley, N Sanders, D Challinor, A Coultate, J Leigh and J White spoke to the motion.

C Tindle placed his thanks on record to all Councillor and officers who had setup support events.

A recorded vote was requested by in excess of the required seven Members.

For:                  Councillors J P Bowker, H M Brand, R B Carrington-Wilde, M M Carroll, D Challinor, M R Charlesworth, L A Dixon, J Evans, S Fielding,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 41.

Members were provided  an update on the current position of S80 Partnership Ltd and proposals for the future development of the company.

The report sought additional funding to finance the development of the company by

way of a loan to be repaid to the Council within 5 years.

In response to Councillor Bamford’s earlier question, Councillor J Evans, Cabinet Member for Corporate Strategy, noted she had met with Councillor Bamford and senior finance officers to discuss this matter, and it was explained that it would be very difficult at this stage to provide an accurate forecast over the next 5 years.

“The main reason for this is that there are various ideas for trading opportunities, in addition to the expansion of the existing S80 services such as CCTV, and each will have different income, expenditure and profit margins. Yes, we need to maximise our current commercial boundaries, but we also need to explore new business opportunities and spend time exploring these links. To do this properly, we need greater capacity which S80 hasn’t had previously. Identified opportunities will then be developed into detailed Business Cases with profit and loss projections and presented to the S80 Board for approval. Until we are in this position, producing any meaningful figures would be purely speculative.

Members have been provided with indicative figures of the net cash needed to repay the loan, and to cover the costs of the proposed staff members. These will be reviewed and included in future forecasts. The Council, as shareholder, will be entitled to scrutinise these figures in due course. I can assure members that detailed profit and loss statements will be produced at the appropriate point.

As has been discussed when meeting on S80, there is always a risk when investing; we all know that. We acknowledge that S80 will need to grow quickly to get to the stage where it can meet the projected ongoing costs, and this may require the organisation to be trading up to £3m per year if the selected trading routes have low profit margins. This turnover figure would be much lower for a high profit margin enterprise.

Either way, I should remind everyone that this Council is in a healthy financial position - unlike some councils – and S80 already has £100k put aside for the future development of the company from profits generated. It is important that Members understand that the proposed loan from the Council is in fact ‘seed funding’ or a loan facility - to be used, if needed, to support the growth of S80. We hope that it won’t need all this money.

Fundamentally, as I have pointed out to Council on numerous occasions:

This Council needs to be prepared for the future agenda and opportunities that the STEP fusion energy project will present, a multi-billion-pound investment that Bassetlaw has never seen before and may never see again. Therefore, as a Council, we need to have the right capability with the right people in place to move quickly  ...  view the full minutes text for item 42a

The report updated Members on progress of the Constitution review and to sought approval of the proposed amendments to Part 3 of the Constitution.

Resolved that the proposed amendments to Parts 4 and 5 of the Constitution and the increase of the threshold for a key decision be approved.

Members were presented with the Overview and Scrutiny Draft Annual for approval.

Resolved that the Overview and Scrutiny Draft Annual Report be approved.

Members were presented with a report which proposed a full Interim Polling Places Review commencing on 29th September 2023.

The report also sough Council’s approval for the establishment of an all-party Member Working Group to undertake the review and make final recommendations to Council.

Resolved that:

1.     The commencement of a full Review of Polling Places within the District of Bassetlaw be approved.

2.     The review be undertaken by an all-party Member Working Group on a 3:1:1 basis.

3.     The following Members be appointed to the Member Working Group:

•      Councillor Jo White

•      Councillor Neil Sanders

•      Councillor Lynne Schuller

•      Councillor Lewis Stanniland

•      Councillor Joan Sanger

4.     The timetable for the Review as set out in the report be approved.

5.     The Terms of Reference of the Review Working Group as set out in Appendix ‘A’ be approved.

Members were provided with an update on the upcoming Local Government Boundary Commission for England (LGBCE) review of Bassetlaw.

The report sought Council approval for the establishment a cross-party Member Working Group to make recommendations on a Council submission to the Commission.

Resolved that:

1.     That Council notes the outline of the Electoral Review process and the role of the Local Government Boundary Commission for England in undertaking the review.

2.     That the preparation of proposals for the Council’s submission to the Commission be undertaken by a cross-party Working Member Group on a 3.1.1 basis, and the proposals be submitted to Council in December 2023.

3.     The Terms of Reference (Appendix B) for the Electoral Review Working Group be approved.

4.     The following Members be appointed to the Working Group: Councillors A. Rhodes (Chair), Councillors H. Brand, D.Henderson, F. McFarland and J.Naish.

Members were presented with a report which sought to approve the key aspirations set out in the Council’s Vision 2040 and the draft Council Plan for 2023 to 2027 following consultation feedback.

Resolved that:

1.     The proposals contained within Vision 2040 be approved.

2.     Council approves the priorities or Council Plan Actions contained within the document, becoming the new Corporate Plan for 2023 – 2027.

3.     That progress against the Council Plan Actions is reported to Cabinet on a quarterly basis in line with the Council’s recently refreshed performance management framework.

Members were presented with a report which sought approval for amendments to Part 4 of the Constitution (Scheme of delegation to Officers) following the creation of one new Head of Service post (Head of Growth and Economic Prosperity) and the re-designation of another Head of Service (Head of Regeneration post becomes Head of post (to confirm the respective delegations to the Head of Planning and Place).

Resolved that Council approves the proposed amendments to Part 4 of the Constitution and the delegations to the Head of Growth and Economic Prosperity and the Head of Planning and Place.

As there was no other urgent business, the Chairman closed the meeting.