Agenda and minutes

An apology for absence was received on behalf of Councillor Ashley Taylor.

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.

There were no urgent items of business to be considered at the meeting.

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 made.

To consider the minutes of the last meeting held on 17^th October 2023.

Moved by Councillor Rob Hiney-Saunders and seconded by Councillor Cathy Jeffery

RESOLVED that the Minutes of the Climate Change and Communities Scrutiny Committee held on 17^th October 2023 be approved as a correct record.

Moved by Councillor Catherine Tite and seconded by Councillor Janet Tait

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

document be noted.

Committee’s consideration was sought for the Council’s proposed new Council Ambition 2024-2028.

Under the current Council Ambition (2020-2024): there were three aims; Customers, Economy, and Environment. These three aims would carry forward on to the proposed new Council Ambition 2024-2028, with a fourth and a fifth aim being added;

·       (4) Housing - by delivering social and private sector housing growth.

·       (5) Bolsover, Our Future.

The Information, Engagement and Performance Manager took Committee through the actions which would help deliver the priorities under the aims. Members provided feedback and raised questions to which officers provided a response.

The Director - Economic Development, explained that the objective of the new fifth ambition, Bolsover, Our Future, was to align the Council’s priorities with what would be coming forward from the East Midlands County Combined Authority (EMCCA). Five themes would be worked to under the fifth aim; transport, land and housing, net zero, business innovation, employment, and skills.

The Information, Engagement and Performance Manager advised Members that the new Council Ambition would be considered by the other three themed Scrutiny Committees and feedback provided to Senior Leadership Team for review. A report would then be presented to the Executive, with a final report to Council for adoption of the new Ambition 2024-2028.

Moved by Councillor Catherine Tite and seconded by Councillor

RESOLVED that the report be noted.

The Information, Engagement and Performance Manager, the Director – Economic Development, the Head of Business Growth, Dragonfly Management Ltd, left the meeting.

Committee’s consideration was sought in relation to the Council’s refreshed

Safeguarding Policy for Adults and Children.

The Council’s current Adult Safeguarding Policy and Children Safeguarding Policy were separate policies and were not due to expire until 2025. If adopted by the Executive, the proposed refreshed policy would act as a single policy document, and would replace the two existing safeguarding policies.

There was a requirement for the district and borough councils in Derbyshire to work in partnership with DCC, who were the statutory lead for safeguarding in Derbyshire as they had responsibility for adult care and children’s services.

It had been agreed at a recent Derbyshire Safeguarding Leads Group that a

Safeguarding Policy would be developed by all district and borough councils across Derbyshire to ensure consistency of service. Therefore, the refreshed policy presented to Members had been developed to complement DCC’s Safeguarding Policy and procedures, and had the approval of the Derbyshire Safeguarding Boards.

Members were asked to note that the refreshed Safeguarding Policy had been

adapted in line with the Council’s reporting procedures, therefore, the current reporting procedures in place would not be amended.

A Member requested that reference to the Safer Derbyshire website be noted in the policy.

Moved by Councillor Emma Stevenson and seconded by Councillor Cathy Jeffrey

RESOLVED that the report be noted.

The Housing Services Manager left the meeting.

Committee considered a detailed report in relation to the Bolsover Partnership Annual Monitoring Report.

The Bolsover Partnership Annual Report - April 2022 to March 2023, aimed to provide a comprehensive overview of how the Leader’s Executive and Partnership Team had supported local communities, schools, young people, and local businesses, including key achievements, during the last financial year (2022/23). The Annual Report also provided a resource document for Members, officers, and partners.

Key achievements highlighted throughout the report included;

·       a collective response to supporting communities during the Cost of Living and ongoing pressure post pandemic, which included working closely with local communities, small and large local businesses, and the launch of the social prescribing platform Treacle.me;

·       the successful submission of an Investment Plan securing £1,963,993 through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, and the inclusive process to work up priorities and the allocation towards projects;

·       the additional award of £427,888 through the Rural Development Fund;

·       the implementation of the Councillor Community Grants, which resulted in 111 awards being made;

·       a rapid response to the Cost of Living crisis involving a wide range of partners to identify and address some of the most pressing issues;

·       the implementation of Treacle.me for the Bolsover District, a social prescribing platform that provides access to information about local support groups and services.

Members attention was drawn to an error in the report under the heading of ‘UK Shared Prosperity Fund’ and that the third bullet point should read 2024/25 and not 2022/23.

In response to a Member’s question, the Contracts and Commissioning Officer advised Members that the reason only £38k of the Rural England Fund had been spent in 2022/23, was due to a delay by the Government where the Council had received the funding very late in the year. However, funding had been rolled over to the current financial year.

Members welcomed the report and congratulated the Leader’s Executive and

Partnership Team for an excellent report.

Moved by Councillor Catherine Tite and seconded by Councillor Hiney-Saunders

RESOLVED that the report be noted.

Members considered a detailed report which provided interim post-scrutiny monitoring on the Committee’s recent Review of the Council’s Approach to Carbon Reduction.

The Committee had put together nine recommendations, as outlined in the appendices attached to the report, which would hopefully enable the Council to clarify immediate priorities for action, as well as longer term planning, to ensure the Council and District was net zero by 2050. To date, 4 out 9 recommendations had been achieved and 5 were on track.

The Monitoring Officer advised that a report regarding the creation of a Carbon

Reduction Officer Post, one of the recommendations made by Scrutiny Committee, would be considered by Council on 6th December.

Moved by Councillor Robert Hiney-Saunders and seconded by Councillor Janet Tait

RESOLVED that:

1)    progress against the review recommendations be noted;

2)    the report and findings be made public in accordance with Part 4.5.17(4) of the Council’s Constitution,

3)    officers continue to implement the recommendations and submit a further report in six months’ time highlighting progress and any exceptions to delivery.

(Scrutiny Officer)

Councillors Anne Clarke and Mary Dooley, the Partnership & Strategy Manager and the Commissioning & Contracts Officer left the meeting.

Committee considered their work programme 2023/24.

Moved by Councillor Emma Stevenson and seconded by Councillor Robert-Hiney Saunders

RESOLVED that the work programme 2023/24 be noted.

Moved by Councillor Catherine Tite and seconded by Councillor Robert Hiney-Saunders

RESOLVED that under Section 100(A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended), the public be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in the stated Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act and it is not in the public interest for that to be revealed. [The category of exempt

information is stated after each Minute].

The Community Safety Officer entered the meeting.

Committee considered a detailed report in relation to the Community Safety Partnership Deliberate Fires Group.

As part of the overall Structure of Bolsover Community Safety Partnership, one of its key Statutory Partners was Derbyshire Fire and Rescue.

All CSP partners worked together on numerous areas of Community Safety to

ensure that BDC’s residents, businesses, and visitors were best protected, and the aim was no different when it came to the effects of fires. As a result, a Deliberate Fires Subgroup had been set up in 2011.

The group worked to a specific term of reference and was made up of statutory and non-statutory partners, with the specific aim of reducing all risks associated with fire within the home, and public and business space.

In response to a Member’s query, the CSP Community Safety Officer advised

Members that he attended parish meetings at least once per year to discuss any issues in their areas. This was arranged via parish clerks and the Community Safety Officer.

The CSP Community Safety Officer also advised Members that he could request data from the Fire Officer for their areas, and Members could also find data on the Derbyshire Fire and Rescue website by entering their postcode.

A Member noted the report was a very good report and was pleased to see

Bolsover in the national picture.

Members thanked the CSP Community Safety Officer for attending the meeting.

The formal part of the meeting concluded at 1130 hours and Members then met as a working party to continue their review work. The working party concluded at 12:45 hours.