Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received on behalf of Councillor Jim Clifton, Councillor Tricia Clough, Councillor Paul Cooper, Victoria Dawson (Assistant Director of Housing Management and Enforcement) and Natalie Etches (Business Growth Manager).

To note any urgent items of business which the Chairman has consented to being considered under the provisions of Section 100(B) 4(b) of the Local Government Act 1972.

The Chair had no urgent items of business.

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 urgent additional items to be considered

c)  any matters arising out of those items and if appropriate, withdraw from the meeting at the relevant time.

 There were no declarations of interest.

To consider the minutes of the Local Growth Scrutiny Committee meeting on 2^nd March 2022.

Moved by Councillor Derek Adams and seconded by Councillor Tracey Cannon

RESOLVED that the minutes of a meeting of a Local Growth Scrutiny Committee held on 2^nd March 2022 be approved as a true and correct record.

(Members should contact the officer whose name appears on the List of

Key Decisions for any further information.  NB: If Members wish to discuss an exempt report under this item, the meeting will need to move into exempt business and exclude the public in accordance with the Local Government (Access to Information) Act 1985 and Local Government Act 1972, Part 1, Schedule 12a for that part of the meeting only).

The Scrutiny & Elections Officer presented the list of Key Decisions to Members.

The Scrutiny & Elections Officer advised that ‘Disposal of commercial property at Bramley Vale’ was the only decision on the Key Decision list published on 14^th April 2022.

RESOLVED that the List of Key Decisions and items to be considered in private document be noted.

The Assistant Director of Development and Planning presented a report on progress against the Action Plan attached to the Council’s Business Growth Strategy. He informed Members that the Economic Development team had appointed two new officers.

The Assistant Director of Development and Planning referred to requests at previous meetings for data on businesses for the whole District, and circulated a number of charts with percentages for numbers of employees, businesses, start-ups and closures.

Councillor Derek Adams was concerned that the chart information was taken from 2019 and 2020 and might be out-of-date, particularly since 2020 was when the COVID pandemic began. The Assistant Director of Development and Planning explained that some of the businesses listed would have maintained themselves, so Members could still take guidance from it. He added that Bolsover District did not have many big brands, which had also limited the impact of COVID.

Councillor Tracey Cannon enquired what kind of encouragement could be given to young people at college age.  The Assistant Director of Development and Planning explained that there was currently a lot of pressure on household incomes, and Bolsover District did not offer as much to post-16 students as Sheffield or Mansfield, meaning there were additional costs associated with accessing provision.

Councillor Tracey Cannon asked if officers had a plan to encourage businesses to take on apprentices. The Assistant Director of Development and Planning explained that a plan for bursaries to apprentices could be included as part of the Shared Prosperity Fund.

The Assistant Director of Development and Planning explained that more support would be given to start-up businesses beyond their first year. Councillor Derek Adams supported this idea, because he felt there were events in a business’ second year that they would not account for.

Councillor David Dixon referred to the Centre of Excellence mentioned in 2.5 of the Action Plan report (“we have recently been notified that we have an opportunity to draw down £500,000 of funding from D2N2 to support the creation of a skills academy in Shirebrook”) and asked if this would involve working jointly with a company. The Assistant Director of Development and Planning explained that the funding had come from the D2N2 low carbon growth fund, and the Council would be expected to produce two low carbon units as a result.

The Assistant Director of Development and Planning informed Members that GTEC specialised in electrical and renewal energy training, and the Council was working with private partners to utilise their training. He added that the Council also had a good relationship with Vision West Nottinghamshire College and Chesterfield College.

Councillor David Dixon was concerned that the lack of public transport links in the District might have a negative effect on the Shirebrook academy. The Assistant Director of Development and Planning explained that Network Rail were considering improving transport links to Shirebrook train station.

The Scrutiny & Elections Officer explained she would circulate to Members more information on the seven Kick Start placements that had been appointed at the Council.  ...  view the full minutes text for item LOC38-21/22

The Scrutiny and Elections Officer presented the Work Programme 2021/22 to the Committee.

Councillor Derek Adams and Councillor David Dixon both felt there should be regular updates included in the Work Programme about Section 106 money and in particular, how much the Council has got and what each Parish receives. The Scrutiny and Elections Officer explained that monitoring of Section 106 money was not relevant to this particular Committee, but she would try and investigate their requests for information.

Councillor Tracey Cannon enquired if there could be an item included in the Work Programme about takeaway restaurant limits. The Scrutiny and Elections Officer explained that there was a specific policy in the Local Plan covering Hot Food Takeaways (Policy WC9) with clearly defined restrictions, which the Planning Policy Manager could explain to them in more detail.

RESOLVED that Members note the Programme attached at Appendix 1.

(Scrutiny and Elections Officer)