Agenda and draft minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Dooley, Fletcher, Hiney-Saunders, and Wood.

Members should declare the existence and nature of any Disclosable Pecuniary Interest and Non Statutory Interest as defined by the Members’ Code of Conduct in respect of:

a)  any business on the agenda

b)  any matters arising out of those items

and if appropriate, withdraw from the meeting at the relevant time.

The Monitoring Officer reminded Members that they were likely to have a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest in relation to the Level of Council Tax item as follows:

Any Councillor who was a resident of the District would need to declare an interest however there was an automatic dispensation to remain and to speak and vote on the item.

·       Members in arrears of Council Tax of more than 2 months must not vote on a decision which might affect budget calculations, and they must disclose at the meeting that this restriction applied to them.

·       A failure to comply with these requirements was a criminal offence under Section 106 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992.

The Monitoring Officer requested that Members indicate by a show of hands whether they were a resident of the District and all of those present bar Councillor Chris Kane indicated that was the case.  As previously advised the automatic dispensation applied.

Councillor Chris Kane indicated that he was not a resident of the District and therefore was not required to declare in interest in this item.

No Members indicated that they were 2 months or more in arrears with council tax which would preclude them from voting on the Level of Council Tax item.

There were no further declarations of interests in any of the remaining items of business.

To receive any announcements that the Chair of the Council may desire to lay before the meeting.

The Chair, on behalf of the Council sent best wishes to Councillor Hiney-Saunders and his family.

To approve the Minutes of the Council meeting held on 28^th January 2026.

Moved by Councillor Haywood and seconded by Councillor Munro

          RESOLVED that the minutes of a meeting of Council held on

          28^th January 2026 be approved as a true and correct record.

In accordance with Council Procedure Rule 8 members of the public are allowed to submit questions relating to the Council’s activities.  No questions were received by the deadline.

No questions were submitted to this meeting of Council under Rule 8 of the Council Procedure Rules.

In accordance with Council Procedure Rule 9, Members are allowed to submit questions about Council activities.  No questions were received.

No questions were submitted by Members of Council under Council Procedure Rule 9.

In accordance with Council Procedure Rule 10, to consider motions on notice from Members.  No motions on notice were received.

In accordance with Council Procedure Rule 10 no Motions on Notice were submitted by Members for consideration.

In accordance with Council Procedure Rule 17, to hear a deputation provided five clear working day’s written notice has been provided to the Monitoring Officer.

No petitions or deputations were received.

Council considered a report presented by Councillor Hales, Portfolio Holder for Performance and Corporate Governance which sought approval for a change to the Council’s Constitution as recommended by the Standards Committee.  It proposed the addition of the definition of Working Day to be included as follows:

          “working day to mean Monday to Friday excluding weekends and

          bank/public holidays.”

This definition was used in many pieces of legislation including the Companies Act 2006 and the Data Protection Act 2018 and recognised by organisations such as ACAS and HMRC.

Moved by Councillor Hales and seconded by Councillor Munro

          RESOLVED that approval be given to amend the Constitution to include a definition of the term “working day” to mean Monday to Friday excluding weekends and bank/public holidays.

Prior to consideration of the report the Section 151 Officer & Director of Finance provided an update to Members having received the final Local Government Settlement from Government which confirmed:

·       The Council Tax report was based on the approval of the Medium-Term Financial Plan (MTFP) report which was considered by Council in January 2026.

·       The MTFP figures had been based on the Government’s provisional finance settlement and as Members were previously advised there was a chance that the government had made an error this year in relation to the business rates pooling income which would lead to a revision of income in the final settlement.

·       This error was corrected by Government in the final settlement which meant a reduction in income for all years for Bolsover District Council.

·       Government was providing a grant for 2026/2027 which compensated for the  reductions in revenue support grant and income protection, but there was a loss of £725k in business rates which would not be compensated for.

·       This compensatory grant would only apply for the 2026/2027 financial year, so the reductions in income for future years compared to what was originally in  the MTFP would now be £2.1m for 2027/2028; £2.4m for 2028/2029 and £1.6m for 2029/2030. 

·       It was proposed to fund these losses from the National Non-Domestic Rates Growth Protection Reserve, so there would be no change overall to the bottom line of the MTFP.

·       Previously, it was predicted that there would be a balance of £16.9m in the reserve by the end of this financial year, and in the original MTFP this figure would not have changed by the end of the final year of the plan. However, taking account of the changed Government settlement, these figures were updated and it meant that by the end of the MTFP a balance in the reserve of £9.1m was predicted. This may change next year if a further grant for 2027/2028 was announced as part of the 2027/2028 settlement.

·       An updated MTFP report would be submitted to Council in May for approval.

Councillor Moesby, Portfolio Holder for Resources then presented the report which set out the proposed level of Council Tax for 2026/27.  Members were reminded that the Bolsover District share of the Council Tax was agreed at the January 2026 meeting at the maximum allowed for a Band D property.  This report included the increases for the remaining precepts for the Council Tax as detailed in the report.

The Localism Act 2011 required the billing authority to calculate a Council Tax requirement for the year.  The approved demand on the Collection Fund for the Council should be £5,087,952.  The Council had received all parish precept demands which totalled £5,395,398.45 so the total demand on the Collection Fund 2026/27 would be £10,483,350.45.

In order to calculate the Council Tax requirement for the area at the relevant bands, the demands of the County Council, Police Authority, Fire Authority, and Parish Councils also needed to be taken into account.  The Council had received all the relevant precept  ...  view the full minutes text for item CL87-25/26

Consideration was given to a report presented by Councillor Moesby, Portfolio Holder for Resources which sought approval for the implementation of a Domestic Abuse Policy to ensure that Bolsover District Council provided a safe, inclusive, and responsive working environment for all employees.  The policy formalised the Council’s approach to recognising, responding to, and supporting those affected by domestic abuse – whether as victims or perpetrators.

The Domestic Abuse Act 2021 introduced a statutory definition of domestic abuse and a legal framework to better protect victims.  Employers had a duty of care to safeguard their workforce, and this policy affirmed the Council’s commitment to uphold this responsibility.

Moved by Councillor Moesby and seconded by Councillor Munro

          RESOLVED that (1) the Domestic Abuse Policy at Appendix 1 to the

          report be approved; and

          (2) that the HR Team take steps to raise awareness of the policy among

          staff and management and provide training on how to identify and

          respond to domestic abuse in the workplace.

Council considered a report presented by Councillor Smith, Portfolio Holder for Housing which sought approval for the creation of a permanent Contract Administrator/Building Surveyor and a specialist Administrative Assistant to deliver the Housing Stock Condition Survey programme. 

The Council has circa 5,000 residential properties and the additional posts would ensure that the Asset Management Team would have the capacity to  deliver the stock condition surveys.  The Council’s aim was to carry out 1,000 stock condition surveys over a five-year period to maintain compliance with the Regulator of Social Housing Consumer Standards and accurately report on the Decency Standard.  The costs of contracting external contractors to undertake the surveys was too costly in comparison to delivering this in-house.

Councillor Davis left the meeting at 10.39 am.

Councillor Kirkham left the meeting at 10.40 am.

Councillor Davis returned at 10.41 am.

Moved by Councillor Smith and seconded by Councillor Ritchie

          RESOLVED that (1) approval be given for the creation of a new full-time permanent Contract Administrator/Building Surveyor (Grade 8 £52,903 to £59,308 including on costs) and a specialised Administrative Assistant post (Grade 5 (£37,841 to £41,287 including on costs), based on 2025/26 salary grades; and

          (2) approval be given to fund these posts from the existing Housing Revenue Account budget.

Council considered a report presented by the Strategic Director of Services which sought Council approval to increase the Council’s Health and Safety Team staffing level to establish resource capacity to undertake fire door safety inspections.  It was confirmed that the Council had identified approximately 1,001 fire doors which required inspections twice each year.  The proposal was to establish a Bolsover in-house service which could also be offered as a service to Parish and Town Councils for income generation. 

The Council had a statutory duty under the Fire Safety Act 2021 to inspect fire safety doors.  An assessment had been carried out which showed that the cost for this to be delivered by an external contractor was approximately £60,060 based on an annual inspection of 2,002 doors x £30 per door as compared to the in-house approach which was more economically advantageous at a reduced delivery cost of £11,669 based on 2025/26 salary costs.

Moved by Councillor Munro and seconded by Councillor Hales

          RESOLVED that (1) approval be given to the budget of £48,391 for establishing fire door inspections;

          (2) approves the establishment of an additional Health and Safety Advisor to the Health and Safety Team; and

          (3) approval be given for the Health and Safety Apprentice’s contract of employment to be established in the position of Health and Safety Advisor at Grade 7 (salary scale point 18).

Council considered a report presented by Councillor Hales, Portfolio Holder for Performance and Corporate Governance which informed members of the use of the Whistleblowing Policy during 2025.

The Whistleblowing Policy was last reviewed by the Standards Committee on 10^th November 2025 with the number of Whistleblowing instances being reported to the Committee on 9^th February 2026.

It was confirmed that the two Whistleblowing instances had occurred and were included in Appendix 1 to the report. Due to the need to maintain confidentiality the whistleblowing complaints were anonymised and detailed so as not to reveal the identity of the complainant and member of staff complained about.

Moved by Councillor Hales and seconded by Councillor Moesby

          RESOLVED that the report be noted.

Council considered a report presented by Councillor Moesby, Portfolio Holder for Resources which detailed the Council's pay for senior managers and employees in accordance with the requirements of Section 38 of the Localism Act 2011 and Supplementary Guidance 2013.

The Pay Policy Statement had to be approved by Council on an annual basis and reflected the current position based on decisions previously taken by Council.

Under the Local Government Transparency Code 2015 additional organisational information was required to be published annually on the website.  This consisted of third tier organisation charts, senior salaries information, including functional responsibilities, budget amounts, and numbers of staff responsible for, together with details of trade union facility time.

Councillor Renshaw left the meeting at 10.51 am.

Moved by Councillor Moesby and seconded by Councillor Bennett

          RESOLVED that the Annual Pay Policy Statement 2026/27 be

          approved.

Council considered a report presented by Councillor Hales, Portfolio Holder for Performance and Corporate Governance which detailed the proposed Calendar of Council Meetings for 2026/27.

Each year the Council approves a calendar of meetings for the forthcoming year which meets the needs of Members and facilitates decision making in line with statutory deadlines.

Moved by Councillor Hales and seconded by Councillor Smith

          RESOLVED that the Calendar of Council Meetings for 2026/27 be

          approved.

The following update was provided for Members by the Interim Strategic Director of Economic Growth:

·       The Government’s Local Government Reorganisation Statutory Consultion ends 22^nd March 2026.

·       The Chief Executive has received an invitation from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) to discuss the proposals submitted.

·       Derbyshire Chief Executive’s continued to meet on a weekly basis and were considering the next steps with a report on proposed governance arrangements for the workstreams etc to be submitted to the next meeting of Derbyshire Strategic Leadership Board in March.

·       Active engagement is now taking place with colleagues at Derbyshire County Council with fair representation across all of the Workstreams and working groups which were meeting.

·       MHCLG has asked for each proposal put forward by Derbyshire (the four options of the North/South split supported by the Boroughs and Districts and Derby City Council).  ‘Listening’ meetings were due to take place with each respective Chief Executive or group of Chief Executives meeting with MHCLG to ‘pitch’ the proposal that they supported.

·       Government was still pushing forward at pace on the deadlines, and it was hoped that a decision for Derbyshire would be announced by June.  This decision would kickstart a huge amount of work in the workstreams.                                                    

The Chair thanked Members and the public for attending and closed the meeting.