Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Anne Clarke, Rowan Clarke, Chris Kane, Tom Kirkham, Ashley Taylor and Vicky Wapplington.

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.

There were no declarations made at the meeting.

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

The Chair stated that the Leader of the Council had asked offices to update Members regarding the Roseland Crematorium and the £15m regeneration fund as soon as possible.

To approve the Minutes of the Annual Council meeting held on 22^nd May 2024.

To approve the Minutes of the Ordinary Council meeting held on 22^nd May 2024.

Moved by Councillor Duncan McGregor and seconded by Councillor David Bennett        

RESOLVED that the minutes of the Annual meeting of Council held on 22^nd May 2024 and an ordinary meeting of Council also held on 22^nd May 2024 be approved as true and correct records.

Councillor Clive Moesby, Portfolio Holder for Resources, introduced a report by the Chief Executive which provided details of the Productivity Plan that had been submitted to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.

The report explained that in April 2024, the then Minister for Local Government had written to all Councils requesting the submission of a Productivity Plan by 19^th July 2024.  This request had been received following the Local Government Finance Settlement.  The letter from Simon Hoare MP, dated 16^th April 2024, was attached to the report at Appendix 1.

The Council had drafted a Productivity Plan, which had been endorsed by Executive and Junior Executive members on the 15^th July 2024.  The Plan had then been submitted to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government by the deadline of the 19^th July 2024 and place on the Council’s website, as required.  The Productivity Plan was attached to the report at Appendix 2.

Councillor Clive Moesby highlighted some of the challenges that Councils were facing from Government, including the lack of multi-year funding, complex ad-hoc changes and inconsistent processes.

Councillor Mary Dooley thanked staff and colleagues for the work on producing the Productivity Plan.  Councillor Ross Walker praised the Council staff he had dealt with but expressed concern over the current political leadership of the Council.

Moved by Councillor Clive Moesby and seconded by Councillor Phil Smith

RESOLVED that the Council’s Productivity Plan be noted.

Councillor Clive Moesby, Portfolio Holder for Resources, presented a report in relation to the Auditor’s Annual Report in respect of 2022/23.  The report, attached to the report at Appendix 1, had been prepared by Mazars, the Council’s External Auditor.

Both the Portfolio Holder for Resources and the Chair of the Audit Committee expressed their gratitude to the Finance Team for their continued hard work and welcomed such a great report.

Moved by Councillor Clive Moesby and seconded by Councillor John Ritchie

RESOLVED that the annual report from the Council’s External Auditor, Mazars, be noted.

Councillor Clive Moesby, Portfolio Holder for Resources, presented a report which sought approval for the implementation of a Neurodiversity Policy for the Council.  The proposed policy was attached to the report at Appendix 1.

The report stated that the Neurodiversity Policy aimed to foster an inclusive environment that recognised and valued the diverse strengths and perspectives of individuals with neurological differences.  The implementation of this policy aligned with the Council’s commitment to diversity, equality, and inclusion.  By embracing neurodiversity, the Council could tap into a wider talent pool, increase innovation, and create a more dynamic and supportive work environment for all employees.  Moreover, fostering an inclusive culture where neurodiverse individuals felt valued and supported could lead to higher employee satisfaction, retention and productivity. 

The report set out the principles and key components of the Neurodiversity Policy.  The Policy had been considered and was supported by the Senior Leadership Team and the Union / Employee Consultation Committee.

Moved by Councillor Clive Moesby and seconded by Councillor Duncan McGregor

RESOLVED that the Neurodiversity Policy be approved.

(HR Business Partner)

Council considered a report of the Chair of the Employment and Personnel Committee, which sought agreement for budget increases to fund changes to the Procurement Service, that had been agreed at Employment and Personnel Committee on 3^rd July 2024.

The proposal agreed at the Employment and Personnel Committee was to end the shared Procurement Service with North East Derbyshire District Council and to create a small Bolsover focussed team. The current Procurement Assistant (0.5 FTE) would remain with the Council and a new Procurement Manager (1 FTE) would be recruited.  The proposal had been considered in detail at the Employment and Personnel Committee and it had been recommended to Council to agree the required budget increase of £54,684 to fund the proposals.

The changes would require an increase to the Council’s General Fund budget.

Moved by Councillor Duncan McGregor and seconded by Councillor Sandra Peake

RESOLVED that the growth in salary budgets (General Fund) as recommended by the Employment and Personnel Committee on 3^rd July 2024 be approved.

(Director of Finance & Section 151 Officer)

Councillor Sandra Peake, Chair of the Member Development Working Group, presented to Council the Member Development Annual Report 2023/24.  The Annual Report was attached to the report at Appendix 1.

The annual report set out the member development activities that had taken place during 2023/24, training opportunities that had been made available to Members and information on the evaluation of member development activities that had taken place.

Councillor David Bennett thanked everyone involved in the training he had received as a new Councillor.  This was echoed by Councillor Tom Munro.

Moved by Councillor Sandra Peake and seconded by Councillor Mary Dooley

RESOLVED that the Member Development Annual Report 2023/24 be noted.

Council considered a report regarding the appointment of Member Champions for 2024/25.

The report stated that Member Champions were Councillors who acted as an advocate or spokesperson for a specific area of the Council’s business and activities.  The main responsibility of each Member Champion was to encourage communication and positive action over the issue they represented. 

The proposed Member Champions for 2024/25 were set out in Appendix 1 to the report.  The Member Champion areas were Armed Forces, Member Development and Local Nature Recovery.

In answer to a question regarding the appointment of Champions, it was stated that the Member Development Champion was traditionally the Chair of the Member Development Working Group.  Councillor Munro stated that he undertook a voluntary role with SSAFA and had approached Councillor Bennett to be a joint champion given his background in the Royal Air Force.  The Armed Forces Champion was part of the Armed Forces Covenant, which the Council was signed up to.

It was suggested that consideration be given to also having a neurodiversity champion in the future.

Moved by Councillor Tom Munro and seconded by Councillor Clive Moesby

RESOLVED that the following Member Champions be appointed:

Armed Forces Champion(s) – Councillors David Bennett and Tom Munro

Member Development Champion – Councillor Sandra Peake

Local Nature Recovery Champion – Councillor Anne Clarke

Therasa Garrod, Tourism & Place Manager, Dragonfly Management (Bolsover) Limited, gave a presentation on the Bolsover Place Launch.

The presentation covered the Bolsover Place Programme, including engagement with stakeholders, consultation findings, setting a positive place narrative, visual language and visual identity, embracing wider opportunities, the Bolsover Place Board and the Bolsover Place Action Plan.

One of the key aims was to embed the following phrases into everyday conversation, Bolsover:

·       was a place where people wanted to live, work, visit, or study.

·       was a great short break destination.

·       was somewhere you could experience a great range of cultural and historic attractions.

·       had a thriving business community.

·       was a place to be proud of.

·       provided a high-quality education offer, ambitious and skilled workforce with great employment opportunities.

The presentation ended with a video of recent Bolsover Place Launch event.

The Chair had nothing further to add and closed the meeting.