Agenda and draft minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Steve Fritchley, Rob Hiney-Saunders, Duncan McGregor, Lisa Powell and Jeanne Raspin.

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.

Members were reminded by the Monitoring Officer that any Councillor in arrears of Council Tax by more than two months must not vote in decisions on or which might affect budget calculations and 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 and Finance Act 1992.

The Monitoring Officer added that any Members who were tenants of a Council property should declare an interest for any budget setting item, but these Members had an automatic dispensation to remain in the room to speak and vote on the items in question.

The Monitoring Officer also reminded Members that votes on budget and Council Tax setting items would be done by recorded vote as required by the Local Authorities (Standing Orders) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2014.

The Monitoring Officer confirmed that members of Dragonfly Development Limited and Dragonfly Management (Bolsover) Limited had a dispensation to remain in the meeting, take part in the debate and vote on the Medium Term Financial Plan 2025/26 (CL69-24/25). This dispensation was agreed at Standards Committee on 27^th January 2025 and applied to Councillors Anne Clarke, Emma Stevenson, Janet Tait, Deborah Watson and Carol Wood. 

However, in response to Councillor Debroah Watson’s question the Monitoring Officer confirmed that they would be required to leave the chamber during discussion of CL71-24/25 to add Alder Close, Shirebrook to the Bolsover Homes Pipeline.

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

Prior to making his announcements the Chair invited Councillor Sandra Peake to speak to Council.  Councillor Sandra Peake sought Council approval for a minute’s silence to reflect on the 80^th anniversary of the Holocaust, liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau and all victims of any war.  Councillor Sandra Peake stated that she had visited Auschwitz-Birkenau and one of the abiding memories was the quiet and stillness of the camps. 

Councillor Sandra Peake moved to hold a minute’s silence for the 80^th anniversary and all victims of war anywhere, this was seconded by Councillor Tom Munro RESOLVED to hold a minute’s silence and reflection.

Following the minute’s silence the Chair resumed the meeting and informed Council that following the resignations of Councillor Steve Fritchley as Leader of the Council and Councillor Duncan McGregor as Deputy Leader of the Council, he wished to place on record his thanks for their support over the last seven years in his role and wished them both the best. 

The Chair then read out a statement to Council on their behalf.

Councillor Sandra Peake also expressed her thanks for what Councillors Steve Fritchley and Duncan McGregor have done for the authority and their achievements stating that she felt sure that this would be echoed by other members in the room.

To approve the Minutes of the Council meeting held on 4th December 2024

Moved by Councillor John Ritchie and seconded by Councillor Phil Smith 

On being put to the vote the Motion was carried with 1 abstention.

RESOLVED that the minutes of a meeting of Council held on 4^th December

          2024 be approved as a true and correct record.

The Chair sought nominations for the position of Leader of the Council.

Moved by Councillor Ashley Taylor and seconded by Councillor John Ritchie

On being put to the vote the Motion was carried with 1 vote against and 1 abstention.

RESOLVED that Councillor Jane Yates be elected as Leader of the Council.

Councillor Jane Yates expressed her thanks to Council on being elected as Leader and advised that she had appointed Councillor Donna Hales as Deputy Leader and invited her to take her seat on the Dais.

The Leader to confirm the appointment of the Deputy Leader of the Council and Members of the Executive.

Councillor Jane Yates, Leader of the Council, advised Council of the Members of the Executive and their respective portfolios for the remainder of the 2024/25 Municipal Year.  This was confirmed as follows:

Councillor Donna Hales               Deputy Leader and Portfolio Holder –

                                                  Corporate Performance and Governance

Councillor Mary Dooley                Portfolio Holder – Health and Wellbeing

Councillor John Ritchie                Portfolio Holder – Growth

Councillor Clive Moesby              Portfolio Holder – Resources

It was confirmed that Councillors Sandra Peake and Anne Clarke had resigned from their Portfolio Holder positions and thanks were expressed for their support and work. 

Councillor Jane Yates expressed her thanks to the previous leadership which had supported her gaining experiencing as a Junior Cabinet Member, the achievements made under their tenure and plans for the future which included the creation of a new Portfolio Holder for Devolution.

In accordance with Council Procedure Rule 8, to allow members of the public to ask questions about the Council’s activities.  The following submission was received:

(a)   Question submitted by Christina Hope to the Portfolio Holder for Resources

In accordance with Council Procedure Rule 8, members of the public were able to ask questions to an Executive Member about the Council’s activities.

(A)      Question submitted to Councillor Jane Yates, Leader of the Council by

            Ms Christine Hope:

          “When will Bolsover District Council be able to report fully to all elected members and the public on their involvement in the current multi million pound financial debt crisis at Elmton With Cresswell Parish Council?”

          Councillor Jane Yates responded to the question as follows:

          “Thank you for the question, Elmton with Creswell Parish Council is being investigated by NALC, the National Association of Local Councils, so it is therefore inappropriate for Bolsover District Council to comment while the investigation was taking place.  We don’t know how long the investigation is going to take so we can’t give a specific date as to when we can report on it.  I do understand it is going to be probably by the end of this full year.  So, I am sorry I can’t expand on that further.”

          In accordance with Council Procedure Rule 8.8 Ms Christine Hope put the following supplementary question:

          “Given the supposed extent of the supposed involvement of council and officers are the council prepared to assist the NALC appointed investigative team, Derbyshire Association of Local Councils who are also involved and the Local Government Association who are all now actively together involved in that investigation of Elmton with Cresswell Parish Council?”

          Councillor Jane Yates provided the following response:

          “Yes, obviously we will be contributing to the investigation as and when we are asked. That is why we can’t comment further on it at the moment and we can’t compromise the investigation by commenting.  But we will be co-operating with it.”

Council considered a report presented by the Monitoring Officer, which sought approval to establish a new cycle of meetings for Scrutiny committees with effect from the 2025/26 Municipal Year.  Following feedback received from the Centre for Governance and Scrutiny and a review by the Scrutiny Officer into the scrutiny function it was recommended to reduce the number of scrutiny meetings from six to four per annum for the thematic committees which would meet on a quarterly basis except for the Finance and Corporate Scrutiny Committee which would continue on its current format.

Councillor Tom Kirkham sought clarity on the continued scrutiny of Dragonfly Shareholder Board updates at Local Growth Scrutiny Committee, with the reduced number of meetings how would updates and the findings of the independent review be reported?

The Monitoring Officer confirmed that the Dragonfly Shareholder Board meetings would be scheduled in line with the calendar of Local Growth Scrutiny Committee. Once approved minutes from the Shareholder Board were available, they would be shared at the next available Local Growth Scrutiny Committee meeting. It was acknowledged the Local Growth Scrutiny Committee would meet four times a year but this was considered to be an efficient use of the council’s time. If required members could request convening additional meetings.

Councillor Tom Kirkham asked whether the membership and scope of the Shareholders Board could include more councillors?

The Monitoring Officer confirmed that as part of the independent review they would be looking at everything for Dragonfly as well as the Council’s governance arrangements and part of that could include the expanding the membership of the Shareholders Board to include additional members.

Moved by Councillor Tom Munro and seconded by Councillor John Ritchie

RESOLVED that (1) the meeting schedule and number of meetings as outlined

          in paragraph 2.3 and 24 of the report be approved with effect from the

          Municipal Year 2025/26; and

(2) that the meeting dates for these committees will be included in the proposed schedule of meetings 2025/26 scheduled for submission to Council in March 2025 be noted.

The Portfolio Holder for Resources Councillor Clive Moesby presented a report on the Medium Term Financial Plan (MTFP) for 2024/25 to 2028/29. 

Councillor Clive Moesby advised that the report set out budgets and sought approval in respect of the current budget 2024/25 for the General Fund MTFP 2024/25 to 2028/29.  The report provided details of the General Fund attached at Appendices 1 and 2, Housing Revenue Account (HRA), details of which were attached to the report at Appendices 3 and 4 and the Capital Programme, details of which was attached to the report at Appendix 5.

The report had already been considered by Finance and Corporate Overview Scrutiny Committee on 28^th November 2024 and by Executive on 2^nd December 2024.

In particular, the financial projections were provided for:

·                 2024/25 Current Budget Position – this was the current year budget, revised to take account of changes during the financial year which would end on 31^st March 2025.

·                 2025/26 Original budget – this was the proposed budget for the next financial year, on which the Council Tax would be based and would commence from 1^st April 2025.

·                 2025/26 Original budget – this included proposed increases to rents and fees and charges for the next financial year for the Housing Revenue Account.

·                 2026/27 to 2028/29 Financial Plan – in accordance with good practice the Council agreed its annual budgets with the context of the MTFP which included projections for the next three financial years.

Councillor Deborah Watson stated that she was pleased with the creation of a new Portfolio Holder for Devolution it as disappointing that no changes had been made to the Council’s financial plans following the Government’s announcement on Devolution.  This was a missed opportunity to make full preparations but also ensure that best use was made of existing funding for residents and not propose an increase to the council tax. Clarity was sought on what would happen if the Council did not maintain its reserves considering the proposed local government reorganisation?

The Portfolio Holder for Resources stated they had a statutory duty maintain reserves and it would be retrograde step not to increase council tax as services still had to be delivered.

The Section 151 Officer confirmed that there was no detailed information available relating to the devolution proposals and the MTFP had to be produced based on the information available.  They had a statutory duty to deliver a balanced budget and to maintain reserves.

Councillor Deborah Watson asked what would happen to the Council’s reserves at the point Bolsover District Council no longer existed?

The Portfolio Holder stated that once more information became available Council would be informed.  They had a duty to continue to deliver services and to maintain reserves until such time it was dissolved or merged into a unitary authority.

Councillor Carol Wood stated that whilst there was no information available as to reorganisation proposals, some adjacent councils had significant debt, for example Derbyshire County Council. Bolsover had reserves and had built  ...  view the full minutes text for item CL69-24/25

The Portfolio Holder for Resources presented a report which set out the suite of Treasury Strategies for 2025/26 to 2028/29.  The following were appended to the report:

·       Treasury Management Strategy, Arlingclose Economic and Interest Rate Forecast at Appendix 1.

·       Capital Strategy, Capital Programme and Annual Minimum Revenue Provision Statement at Appendix 2.

·       Corporate Investment Strategy at Appendix 3.

The report explained that the Treasury Management Strategy provided the framework for managing the Authority’s cash flows, borrowing and investments and associated risks for the years 2025/26 to 2028/29 as well as the parameters for all borrowing and lending as detailed in Appendix 1.

The Capital Strategy provided a high level, concise overview of how capital expenditure, capital financing and treasury management activity contributed to the provision of the Authority’s services.

The Corporate Investment Strategy focused on investments made for service purposes and commercial reasons, rather than those made for treasury management.

The strategies provided an approved framework within which officers would undertake the day-to-day capital and treasury activities.

Moved by Councillor Clive Moesby and seconded by Councillor David Bennett RESOLVED that (1) the Treasury Management Strategy at Appendix 1, be

          approved, and in particular:

a)    The Borrowing Strategy.

b)    The Treasury Management Investment Strategy.

c)     The use of the external treasury management advisors Counterparty Weekly List, or similar, to determine the latest assessment of the counterparties that meet the Authority’s Criteria before any investment was undertaken.

d)    The Prudential Indicators.

(2) The Capital Strategy as set out in Appendix 2, be approved, and in particular:

a)    The Capital Financing Requirement.

b)    The Minimum Revenue Provision Statement for 2025/26.

c)     The Prudential Indicators for 2025/26 detailed in the Capital Strategy, in particular:

               Authorised Borrowing Limit          £163.548m

               Operational Boundary                  £158.548m

               Capital Financing Requirement    £153.548m

(3)  The Corporate Investment Strategy as set out in Appendix 3 be approved.

(Councillors Anne Clarke, Emma Stevenson, Janet Tait, Deborah Watson and Carol Wood left the room for the next item)

The Portfolio Holder for Housing presented a report which sought Council approval to update the schemes in the Bolsover Homes pipeline funding envelope of £36.2m to include the Alder Close, Shirebrook scheme.  It was confirmed that if the scheme was not within the Bolsover pipeline, then the Homes England and Brownfield Housing Funding which had been applied for as detailed in Appendix 1 were unlikely to be granted due to the timeline conditions to complete the development by March 2026 not being achievable.

The Alder Close scheme would provide the first 9 or 200 homes to meet the Council’s priority to deliver 200 new homes through the Bolsover Homes Programme using Dragonfly Development Limited by March 2028.  The land was considered by the Design Team to be an optimal site for development next.

Subject to funding being obtained there was sufficient in the Bolsover Homes budget to develop the scheme without potentially affecting the sustainability of the HRA as the scheme would break even at year 50. The planning application had already been approved and the scheme was ready to start subject to approval today.

Councillor Ross Walker sought clarification on whether the cost to build 9 houses was correct at  just over £2m?

The Strategic Director of Services confirmed it was the total build cost which would be offset by external funding from EMCCA and Homes England.

Councillor Ross Walker said that if external funding was received the cost would still be £1.365m and whether it included purchase of the land?

It was confirmed that it was just the building cost as the land was already owned by Bolsover District Council.

Councillor Ross Walker stated that this would be £230k per building without having to pay for the land.  He asked whether the Council could purchase local houses thus helping to improve the housing market in Shirebrook, sell the land and make some money instead of spending £230k per property?  He also asked about the value of the land?

The Strategic Director of Services was unable to confirm the value of the land and confirmed that due diligence had been undertaken and the value for money for build costs had met the viability tests which informed the approach for building high quality properties throughout the district. These nine properties being the first of the 200 corporate priority.

Councillor Ross Walker expressed surprise as there were new houses in Shirebrook up for sale that cost less.

The Portfolio Holder for Housing stated that the houses were of high quality, fully adaptable and good value for money for the council as well as being energy efficient and adaptable for those with disabilities.  The material costs for building had increased but it was believed these properties would deliver good value for money.

Councillor Tom Kirkham suggested that as housing was a priority for the Council, more homes should be built and perhaps this could be extended into buying properties as well?

The Portfolio Holder for Housing confirmed there may be scope  ...  view the full minutes text for item CL71-24/25

The Chief Executive presented a report to Council which provided details of the publication of the Government’s English Devolution White Paper published on 16 December 2024 and the emerging implications for Bolsover District Council and its residents. 

The White Paper set out proposals for devolving decision making and powers from Whitehall to Strategic Authorities (Combined Authorities) and for local government reorganisation in two tier areas.  Derbyshire County Council had already indicated it would be submitting a bid for a whole Derbyshire County Unitary Authority and had requested that the local county elections be deferred from May 2025.  However, there were other potential options which could be considered and the Chief Executive sought delegated authority, in conjunction with the Leader to participate in discussions with authorities across Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Derby City Council regarding any local government proposals and to present update reports to Council as appropriate.  This would ensure that Bolsover District Council could participate in the shaping of any local government reorganisation proposals.

Outline proposals had to be submitted to Government by 21^st March 2025 with detailed bids in November 2025.  Discussions had already begun locally and the Chief Executive confirmed that Council would be kept updated and provided with key milestones.  There was a short window to prepare the proposals and the amount of work this would involve could not be underestimated.  Shadow arrangements would be implemented approximately one year before the Government’s go live date to ensure a smooth transition.

Councillor Tom Kirkham confirmed that a large proportion of funding for the LEPs traditionally went to the cities such as Nottingham and Derby and that Bolsover District Council may be better placed with other similar sized organisations such as Bassetlaw and Mansfield to have more say and equitable share of funding.

The Chief Executive confirmed it was a very complex issue and that the LEPs had been consumed within the East Midlands Combined County Authority.  Lots of conversations were taking place and the Government had made it clear that it didn’t want any ‘orphan’ authorities and preferred unified bids.

Councillor Catherine Tite commented that Erewash Borough Council had indicated it was potentially looking to join a new Nottinghamshire Unitary which would necessitate redrawing boundaries and stated that the option to redraw boundaries should not be dispelled.

Councillor Will Fletcher asked whether the Borough/District local elections would be deferred.  The Chief Executive confirmed that if the Derbyshire County Council elections were deferred from this year it was possible that elections for a shadow authority would take place in 2026 and Borough/District elections may be deferred in 2027.  The Chief Executive highlighted that there would be many options to consider and that the elections may or may not be deferred.

Councillor Ross Walker left the meeting at 11.30 am.

Councillor Carol Wood sought assurance that there would be representation from the Dragonfly group of companies on these cross county discussions on local government reorganisation.  The Chief Executive confirmed that these meetings were only open to Leaders and Chief  ...  view the full minutes text for item CL72-24/25

The Portfolio Holder for Health and Wellbeing introduced the Bolsover Partnership Annual Report stating that teamwork was the foundation of the partnership and that the report showcased everything that was great in Bolsover which needed to be built on to face whatever challenges lay ahead in the future.

The Independent Chair of Bolsover Partnership, Mandy Chambers presented the report and delivered a presentation highlighting the work of the partnership. Adding that it was important to remember the real life impact of the work of the partnership, ensuring robust monitoring of spending the funding, effectiveness of projects and outcomes of project delivery.

Councillor Mary Dooley moved and Councillor Jane Yates seconded

RESOLVED that (1) the Bolsover Partnership Annual Report for 2023/2024 be           received; and

(2) the approach directing Bolsover Partnership’s evolution be endorsed.

Due to the length of the meeting the Chair proposed that the partnership video be shown at the end of the March meeting of Council.

The Chair invited the Strategic Director of Services and Chief Executive to speak and both expressed their thanks to the outgoing Leader and Deputy Leader for their support and hard work during their tenure and stated that they looked forward to working with the new Leader and Deputy Leader.