Agenda item

Committee considered the Council’s New Ambition 2024-2028. This would be considered by the other three Scrutiny Committees before submission to Executive and Council for adoption.

Members were advised that since the publication of the agenda, a further aim had been added, titled ‘Bolsover, our Future’.

For each of the five aims, the Improvement Officer provided and explanation of each priority and how these would be delivered.

Customer

The key points noted were:

·       Modernising the service through innovation;

·       Removing barriers to access information;

·       Promoting equality, diversity and inclusion.

Members welcomed the inclusion of a revised Complaints Procedure in line with the merged Complaints Code of the Housing and Local Government Ombudsman.

It was noted that the use of the Go Active Leisure facilities at The Arc had increased over the last year and there was scope for this to increase further and also more services to be provided.

Economy

The key points noted were:

·       Improving sustainability;

·       Working closely with partners to deliver the aims;

·       Unlocking further regeneration.

Work had started on the new crematorium in Shirebrook and it was hoped that this project would be completed and up and running by 2025. This would bring more employment to the local area.

Members noted that as the Council did not have direct control over bus routes, more needed to be done to encourage transport companies to better serve the smaller areas of the District and provide a more frequent and reliable service.

Housing

As Dragonfly was a wholly owned company of the Council, one aim was for 200 new homes to be completed by Dragonfly Development Ltd by March 2028.

Section 106 agreements remained a priority and Members noted that they were keen for developers to stick to the minimum10% for affordable housing on larger developments.

Further to this, a housing stock full condition survey would be undertaken by April 2025.

Environment

The key points noted were:

·       Crime and anti-social behaviour;

·       Environmental cleanliness;

·       Increasing recycling;

·       Making sure residents were proud to live within the District.

One of the main targets within this aim was to increase combined recycling and

composting rates to 65% to meet Government targets by 2035.

A Member queried what the Council was doing to reduce its diesel consumption as this had not been covered within the document. The Strategic Director of Services advised that this had been looked into but due to various factors would have proven more costly for the vehicles to be replaced early. The Council’s vehicle fleet did not contribute significantly to the overall carbon percentage and was under 1%. The biggest issue was the M1 corridor that ran through the District which could not directly be controlled. It was also hoped that new cars for the Council’s mobile wardens would be fully electric and in use by 2025.

The Strategic Director of Services advised Members that prior to Christmas, the

Communications, Marketing and Design team would be sending out communication to residents, in a bid to help tackle food waste. The Council was also looking at introducing a 25 litre bin for residents, solely for food waste, and information would be circulated once further details were available.

Moved by Councillor Justin Gilbody and seconded by Councillor David Bennett

RESOLVED that the draft New Council Ambition 2024-28 be noted.