Minutes:
The Chief Executive provided a verbal update on the Dragonfly Shareholder Board.
Members were informed future meetings of the Dragonfly Shareholder Board would be reconvened before the Committee met (the next Dragonfly Shareholder Board meeting would be taking place later that day).
No minutes could currently be provided due to the Dragonfly Shareholder Board meeting of the 6th November 2024 being adjourned and the minutes of the 27th November 2024 meeting were being approved later that day.
The Committee were informed the current Chair of the Dragonfly Shareholder Board had stepped down, and with the recent change in Council leadership, an update would be provided at the Committee’s next meeting.
The Woburn and Pendean project at Blackwell remained on track.
For the Roseland Crematorium, architects had been reappointed.
For the Briar Close project, demolition had taken place in 2024 and with the £15 million Regeneration Fund, the Chief Executive, the Head of Business Growth and the MP for Bolsover were coordinating to ensure the Council speedily received the Memo of Understanding from the Secretary of State.
The Executive had received the Quarter 2 2024/25 Delivery Update on Dragonfly Development Ltd. (DDL) (this was publicly available). The Quarter 3 2024/25 Delivery Update would be provided to the Dragonfly Shareholder Board meeting later that day.
It was noted there had been some delay by the auditors of DDL, but this would be discussed by the Audit Committee that week.
The Chief Executive listed the reviews currently taking place, including on Local Partnerships and what happened to local authority owned businesses and properties when councils moved towards a unitary body (the latter a response to the UK National Government’s English Devolution White Paper).
A Member stated it was important for the Committee to scrutinise the minutes of the Dragonfly Shareholder Board and review the DDL Delivery Updates. The Chief Executive agreed; the minutes and Delivery Updates would be circulated with the Committee after the meeting.
It was reiterated Dragonfly Shareholder Board meetings would be scheduled before the Committee met in future.
To questions on who the next Chair of the Dragonfly Shareholder Board would be and which body would select them, the Chief Executive stated this would be discussed at the next Dragonfly Shareholder Board meeting and that the next Leader of the Council would provide their thoughts before any decision was made. An update on this would be provided after the Council meeting next week.
To a question on the financial arrangements of the Roseland Crematorium, the Head of Business Growth stated an update would be available in the next cycle of meetings. To a question on how this would align with the Council’s budget setting, the Chief Executive stated the Section 151 Officer would be consulted.
To a question on the financial arrangement delays, the Scrutiny Officer offered it might have been difficult to finalise due to the current limited resources within the Council’s Finance team.
The Chief Executive added the legal requirements of public sector accounts were different to that of private sector accounts; some delays had been caused by DDL’s own accountants who had been unaware of the Council’s more stringent practices.
Due to disturbances in the public gallery, the meeting was adjourned at 10:34 hours. The meeting was reconvened at 10:44 hours, with the decision taken to suspend the rest of the formal meeting.