Annual General Meeting
10.00am, Friday 9th July 2021 MS Teams (Virtual)
9.15am Political Group Meetings
10.00am Annual General Meeting
1. Apologies
2. Declarations of Interest
3. Minutes of EMC Meeting held on 5th February 2021
4. Presentation Nigel Mills MP (Amber Valley) Alex Norris MP (Nottingham North), Co-Chairs, East Midlands All-Party Parliamentary Group
5. Chair’s Presentation of the Annual Report and Accounts 2020/21
6. Questions to Chair or Nominee
7. Political Appointments a) Political Group Leaders b) Vice Chairs of East Midlands Councils c) Chair of East Midlands Councils
8. Motion(s) to East Midlands Councils
9. Chairs Report
10. Regional Infrastructure and Investment
11. Asylum and Refugee Resettlement in the East Midlands
12. Regional Employers’ Report
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Minutes of the East Midlands Councils Meeting Friday 5th February 2021 (Virtual via MS Teams)
General Meeting
Cllr Martin Hill OBE chaired and welcomed everyone to the meeting
1. Apologies
Cllr Reg Adair, Cllr Jason Atkin, Cllr Richard Auger, Cllr Patricia Bradwell, Cllr Stuart Bray, Cllr Steve Fritchley, Cllr Matthew Golby, Cllr Jeremy Keynon, Cllr Rebecca Langton, Cllr Ian McCord, Cllr Russell Roberts, Cllr Simon Whelband
2. Declarations of Interest
2.1 Cllr Martin Hill declared an interest in land on the edge of Melton Mowbray – this is a standing Declaration of Interest held on file since September 2015.
2.2 Dr Terri Eynon declared an interest as a GP vaccinator and registered medical practitioner in relation to the item on Coronavirus.
3. Minutes of EMC Annual General meeting held on 9th October 2020
3.1 These were agreed as a true and accurate record.
4. EMC Chair’s Report
4.1 Cllr Martin Hill updated members on key issues for the sector. He stated that he is grateful for the level of support government has given over the last 12 months and that the Government is listening to the concerns of the sector. The settlement is only a one-year settlement and there is a need to continue to lobby
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to Government to address funding for next year and pit in place longer-term arrangements.
4.2 Schools are mostly closed except for the children of key workers. Rumours are primaries schools will be opening next month and other schools following this. Arrangements for testing in schools need to be clarified.
4.3 Care homes remain a significant issue, however it appears things are now improving.
4.4 In terms of elections, local elections and those for police and crime commissioners will be held on 6th May.
4.5 The EMC Business Plan is in the process of being finalised and Cllr Hill asked members to engage with this process and inform officers if they have any views on this.
4.6 Cllr Hill updated on EMC’s budgetary position. There is a likely £50,000 deficit, however EMC has a good level of reserves to meet any predicted shortfall in income.
4.7 Cllr Philip King highlighted the funding for councils, in particular district colleagues, where there is inequality with the governments funding for leisure centres and, in particular, those who are contracted out as they do not qualify for the funding. Also, there are concerns in relation to fairer funding and the government’s decision to withdraw the new homes bonus.
4.8 Cllr Martin Hill highlighted the alleged big reform of local government finance.
4.9 Cllr David Mellen also highlighted the issue on finances and feels there hasn’t been an equal situation from the government. He acknowledged some support has been received, however there is a need for government to meet full costs as promised.
4.10 Cllr Hill highlighted to members the need to fund adult care in a more sustainable way and increasing council tax is not a fair way. Better Care funding money is always on a year-by-year basis. The reform of business rates is also overdue.
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4.11 Cllr Lucy Care stated the way in which the community has risen up to support communities is encouraging and she feels this is something we need to be looking at and encouraging in the future.
Resolution Members of East Midlands Councils: . Considered the work programme and progress made by EMC, its member councils and partner organisations in supporting local communities in responding to the Covid-19 pandemic. . Considered and advised on the key issues that EMC should include within its proposed work programme for 2021/22.
5. Motion to East Midlands Councils
5.1 Cllr David Bill proposed a motion in relation to funding for railways and transport infrastructure which had been previously emailed to members. This was seconded by Cllr Alan Rhodes.
5.2 Cllr Kay Cutts submitted an amended motion which was seconded by Cllr Tricia Gilby. This revised motion is attached as Appendix 3(a).
5.3 Members held a discussion around this and felt the amendment was more positive and supportive. It highlights the work of all Leaders and also cross-party support.
5.4 Cllr Alan Rhodes feels the amendment strengthens the Motion and extremely important that cross-party support is recognised, and he supports this amendment.
5.5 Cllr Tricia Gilby highlighted the need for investor confidence and the need for HS2 to be delivered in full.
5.6 Cllr Gale Waller agreed on the need to continue to put pressure on Government and the HS2 investment programme should include the Eastern leg. There is additional infrastructure that the Eastern leg will bring, and this is why the Motion was submitted, however now having heard the revision she endorses the revised motion.
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5.7 Cllr Milan Radulovic stated he is a strong advocate of the HS2 station going ahead at Toton and is strongly in favour of this. The connectivity to South Yorkshire and Leeds makes it a key location site.
5.8 Cllr Simon Spencer echoed comments made. The business case originally proposed on HS2 should continue and that it should be delivered in its entirety. The economic benefits will be destroyed by moving an integral part of the programme.
5.9 Cllr James Hakewill also highlighted the road infrastructure around the A43 Kettering – Northampton route.
5.10 Cllr David Bill accepted the amended motion.
5.11 Members held a vote around the amended motion: . None against . 1 abstained
6. Covid-19 Report – epidemiology and vaccinations report
6.1 Helen Marks, Ann Crawford, Trish Thompson and Ash Banerjee addressed members on the latest epidemiology and vaccinations information.
6.2 Members received a presentation from Ann Crawford on the latest epidemiology data which included number of case rates and age range of cases.
6.3 Case rates now appear to be declining and lowering in levels across the region. There are some variances however and public health are looking at localised outbreaks.
Questions/Comments 6.4 Cllr Tom Beattie stated that in relation to the figures from Corby, one of the issues/concerns is the nature of the industry in Corby and people not being able to work from home. He has written to the Prime Minister to express concerns over this and also concerns of people working in in a non-covid secure environment.
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6.5 Car sharing is happening, and non-essential places are opening that should not be. He feels there isn’t the level of support now for employees that was happening in March 2020.
6.6 Ann Crawford confirmed this has been looked at and flagged.
6.7 Cllr Sarah Russell enquired around the South African variant and whether there is lab testing on this. She stated that PCR doorstep testing has been ongoing in Leicester for some time.
6.8 Leicester has been running its own track and trace programme for a while which has been successful. They also have a ground team insisting on people isolating if they have been in contact with someone who has tested positive. This also includes using incentive payments. She feels other councils could also do this.
6.9 Cllr Barry Lewis highlighted the case rates around the industrial estates and along the M1 corridor. He feels there is no doubt that there is correlation between industries. The solution is to continue with the vaccination programme. Derbyshire was a pilot for the Community testing model which could be a route taken and, in particular, in hotspots.
6.10 He also enquired around early years settings and how this is dealt with in relation to community testing. He feels priority should be given for them for tests.
6.11 Helen Marks confirmed that community testing is available across the whole of the East Midlands. In terms of PCR testing there are only 2 labs doing genomic testing.
6.12 In terms of early years, regional partnerships have raised this as an issue and public health are trying to look at solutions in particular around home testing. Ann Crawford confirmed that national discussions are currently taking place in relation to early years testing.
6.13 Helen Marks stated that they continue to work closely with Directors of Public Health and that this will then feed into the national partnership team.
6.14 Cllr Philip King highlighted that there are a large number of lorry drivers coming into and out of the area and asked about testing of mobile workforce up and
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down the country. He also asked when the local vaccination data would be received.
6.15 Helen Marks stated that work is starting to focus on employers who employ more than 50 employees to start making arrangements for testing of their workforce.
6.16 Most local teams have their own local contract tracing teams and getting information to these teams is a lot quicker. Currently working with Derby to trial a pilot where they identify hotspots.
6.17 Cllr Tony Aslam enquired around the Black and Minority Ethnicity community and rumours around this community not wanting the vaccine.
6.18 Ann Crawford stated that a national piece of work is being undertaken to encourage and support these communities to have the vaccine.
6.19 In terms of why some communities are more affected than others a lot of work has been undertaken. Older people and also people with long standing health conditions are more vulnerable and more susceptible to the virus. Also, people from Asian backgrounds are more likely to have diabetes that puts them at greater risk.
6.20 Cllr Paul Goodale stated that in Boston there are 3 testing sites. Boston has a large migrant population and a number do not speak English. He asked whether there are there any records kept from testing centres as to how many migrants are going for testing? Most of these people work in the food packaging industry and are moving in and out of the town and district.
6.21 Helen Marks confirmed this data is kept and broken down into ethnicity. The data is shared with Public Health teams.
6.22 Cllr Martin Hill highlighted the confusion in relation to the 2 systems of local centres and mass centres. People are confused which they should go to, and information is not clear.
6.23 Trish Thompson confirmed that mass centres were designed to get more throughput. GP practices received phased supplies in relation to availability of
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the vaccine. Letters have now been refined so people know they will get something from the GP practice.
6.24 Members received a presentation from Trish Thompson on the vaccination update.
6.25 The region will have vaccinated 2.5million people by the end of February. There have so far been 1.64million vaccines administered across the region and some have received their 2nd vaccination.
6.26 Cllr David Mellen highlighted the mammoth exercise to vaccinate the whole country and there is a need to work more collaboratively. He expressed concerns in relation to not receiving timely and accurate data on vaccinations.
6.27 Locally each STPs are working with authorities as part of the planning to get centres in the right places.
6.28 Cllr Simon Spencer highlighted that everybody involved in this roll out needs to be congratulated. He stated that there is very little in the public arena about which group is being worked on in each area and asked if the NHS have considered about making it clear in each centre about what groups are being worked on.
6.29 Ash Banerjee confirmed there is a lot of national consistency about moving through the cohorts. The rules are the first 4 cohorts should be vaccinated by 15th February and the first 9 by Spring. Everyone should be getting the same offer.
6.30 Cllr John Boyce stated that the limiting factor of vaccination is the supply of it and asked whether the East Midlands is getting their fair share of it and is it being delivered equally.
6.31 Trish Thompson stated that the allocation of vaccine is distributed where it is needed and felt the East Midlands is receiving its fair share.
6.32 Cllr Craig Leyland stated the vaccine prevents illness from being serious but not transmissibility of it. He feels there needs to be more clarity around the message.
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6.33 Ash Banerjee stated that people may still get symptoms. It is likely that the transmission of the virus will have gone down if you have received the vaccine however, we do not yet have the evidence. As evidence comes through, can get to know more.
6.34 Cllr Lucy Care expressed concerns in relation to wastage of vaccines and also ‘no shows’. She asked what action is being taken to ensure there isn’t any waste.
6.35 Trish Thompson stated the golden rule is no vaccine gets wasted. In a hospital setting they have an emergency list who they can call in and this is also the same in vaccinations centres.
6.36 Cllr James Hakewill commented on multiple surgeries who are directing people to other surgeries. He feels there needs to be more communication. He also asked what the 119 number is and how does this operate.
6.37 Trish Thompson confirmed the idea of multiple surgeries is you get a letter and book into the best place. The 119 is a help line to navigate people to the correct place.
6.38 A lot of transmission is in the younger age group and transmitting to older age groups.
6.39 Resolution Members of East Midlands Councils considered this report and the presentation on the latest epidemiological situation for the East Midlands that was provided by Public Health England.
7. Economic Resilience and Recovery
7.1 Andrew Pritchard updated members and stated in relation to other infrastructure issues we are still looking through TfEM. The levels of investment remain too low in the East Midlands and there are a number of priorities we are trying to pursue. The Newark Northern Bypass is now being publicly consulted on.
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7.2 Cllr Kay Cutts stated the development corporation is very much going forward and the Freeport is being discussed. The Alchemy Board is working well.
7.3 Cllr Martin Hill state that Midlands Engine are looking at governance and are hoping to add members. In terms of delivery, they are looking to the future have secured a further £2.5million of government support.
Questions/comments
7.4 Cllr David Bill stated that have been pressing for Midland Mainline since the early 1980s and also the Coventry/Leicester rail enhancement. He feels there is a need to move to implementation.
7.5 Cllr Chris Poulter stated he feels the freeport expression of interest bid is fundamental. The Government are looking for support from Local Authorities for these Expressions of Interest.
7.6 Cllr Simon Spencer echoed Cllr Poulter’s comments and stated that could be putting in a bid as an inland port. This will have benefits to the whole area. He feels this is a real opportunity and should write in support of the bid. There is Cross party-political support for this proposal.
7.7 Cllr Martin Hill stated that the Humberside bid, and the airport bid are not in competition with each other.
7.8 Members proposed to send a letter of support to both bids.
7.9 Cllr Sarah Russell enquired whether we need to do more as East Midlands Councils across our MP groups to help them understand priorities as a region. Cllr Hill agreed with this.
7.10 Resolution Members of East Midlands Councils: . Noted with great concern the relative decline in public investment in the East Midlands over the last 20 years, which is inconsistent with the current Government’s stated objective to ‘level up’ the UK economy. . Welcomed Government resources towards the delivery of the North Hykeham Relief Road (Lincolnshire) and further business case development
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for the Maid Marion Line (Nottingham) announced following CSR 2020, and support further TfEM representations to Budget 2021. . Noted with great concern the NIC Rail (HS2) Needs Assessment and implications for the East Midlands Development Corporation proposition and the long-term economic position of the region relative to the rest of the UK.
8. Sector Support and Workforce
8.1 Cllr Tom Beattie, Chair Regional Employers’ Board introduced this report and updated members on Europe/CEEP. As an organisation EMC has been on a rolling 12 month notice to withdraw from this based on the outcome of the Brexit negotiations and the transition period. Early indications are that the LGA do not see much of a future for the organisation and the NHS are in a similar position and it is likely that the decision will be taken to wind-up the organisation.
8.2 Stuart Young thanked Cllr Beattie for his work over the past 12/18 months on these matters.
8.3 Cllr Martin Hill placed on record his thanks to Cllr Beattie who is standing down from Local Government at the next election. Members echoed this.
8.4 Resolution Members of East Midlands Councils: . Noted the contents of the report. . Provided comments and feedback on the key employment issues identified within the report.
9. Asylum and Refugee Resettlement in the East Midlands
9.1 Cllr Alex Dale, Chair Regional Migration Board introduced this report and informed members there are currently many pressures in the system and asylum numbers are likely to increase in the coming summer months.
9.2 Inspections of properties was discussed at the last meeting, and we are working with the Home Office and Serco to try and drive down the use of hotels.
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9.3 In terms of UASC, the numbers are decreasing but the number of care leavers are rising.
9.4 Cllr Sarah Russell highlighted the use of contingency accommodation and hoped can respond as East Midlands Councils to the review which is being undertaken as there is an impact on individuals and also wider authority issues.
9.5 Cllr Chris Poulter stated that have now started to take people out of hotels in Derby and the hotel occupancy is now reducing.
9.6 Stuart Young confirmed the hotel issue has been a real concern and there is a need to see how the Home Office respond to this issue.
9.7 Resolution Members of East Midlands Councils: . Advised on impact and experience of local authorities’ participation in asylum dispersal including response to Covid-19 pandemic. . Advised on the impact and experience of local authorities whereby contingency accommodation has been sourced. . Considered the need and opportunity to widen asylum dispersal in the region. . Continued to advise the secretariat of the impact and implications of the UASC National Transfer Scheme in relation to funding and other key considerations to inform further discussion with the Home Office, at both Ministerial and civil servant level. . Considered the implications of the introduction of the new immigration route for Hong Kong BN(O) citizens.
Cllr Martin Hill closed the meeting at 12.30pm.
11 Item 3, Appendix (a)
The East Midlands remains at the bottom of the national league table for transport investment a point made repeatedly by EMC over many years.
And now the latest report from the National Infrastructure Commission (NIC) published last month continues this trend by advocating the cancellation of the Eastern Leg. This damaging proposal will affect not just the 4.5m people in this region but millions more along the proposed Eastern Leg and will condemn this region to a second class infrastructure system for generations to come. This article below presents a compelling overview of the problem.
And at a time when we emphasise the potential of ‘levelling-up’ and the wider investment proposals, is there not a challenge to credibility when we do not have the transport infrastructure in place to support and enable this growth?
We thank the Minister Andrew Stevenson for his unwavering support and recognise the work of the East Midlands Councils, and many councils over the years of all political backgrounds, has done over many years for their work in campaigning and arguing for vital infrastructure in the East Midlands.
We move that the East Midlands Councils calls on the Government to address the historic and further declining of investment in the region and deliver the HS2 Eastern Leg in full and without further delay and supports all council leaders and Members of Parliament in the region, in their continuing lobbying, both collectively and individually, to government.
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Annual General Meeting 9th July 2021
Annual Report 2020/21
Summary
The Annual Report will be presented by the Chairman of East Midlands Councils.
Recommendation
Members of East Midlands Councils are invited to consider and endorse the Annual Report 2020/21.
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ANNUAL REPORT 2020-2021
July 2021
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EMC Annual Report 2020/21
1. Chairman’s Report
Welcome to the East Midlands Councils (EMC) Annual Report 2020/21.
This Annual Report is a summary of our work over the past 12 months and provides EMC with an opportunity to account to its membership for the work undertaken on its behalf. We continually strive to improve and widen our service offer to the sector and to deliver against the membership’s agreed priorities.
This Annual Report covers the full breadth of EMC’s offer, including proposals for greater investment and infrastructure funds, our work on HS2, providing focused member and officer development programmes and our role as the Regional Employers’ Organisation; as well as taking forward the management of important refugee and asylum resettlement programmes.
Looking back over the past year, it was one dominated by the sector’s response to Covid-19. The way in which the sector has responded should be applauded and EMC has continued to direct its resources to supporting its membership throughout this challenging time.
The 4 pillar approach continues to provide the framework for EMC’s work with our focus on being an all-member organisation, policy development, collective work and lobbying, and improving communications. This fits well with the national context, particularly with the opportunities of the evolving levelling-up and recovery agenda and the White Paper expected in the Autumn.
As an ‘all-member organisation’; we routinely offered all councillors and officers in the region opportunities to attend our briefing, skills development and training events. There have been over 2300 councillors and officer places taken throughout the year.
We have continued to offer advice, access to low cost services and capacity support to our member councils - and all councils in membership accessed at least one of these discounted services during 2020/21, with EMC delivering savings on behalf of its member councils estimated to be £548,000.
A significant focus remains on infrastructure and growth. Local authorities in this region continue to lead work with Midlands Connect and Midlands Engine in delivering investment into this region. EMC established a new model for rail franchise
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management with an influencing role for local authorities in the region, and council leaders continue to play a full role in the region’s collective leadership on HS2. Uncertainty remains and our partners, including investors, need greater certainty. Following the publication of the Okervee Review and the National Infrastructure Commission’s (NIC) report, we look to the Government’s forthcoming publication of its Independent Rail Plan to set the scope for the HS2 route, its station and connectivity.
EMC has also provided support to the developing East Midlands Development Corporation proposition, and we will offer all support in taking forward the Chancellor’s recent announcement that the Humber Ports and East Midlands Airport will become the locations for two of the eight new Freeports in the UK; subject to confirming successful completion of their business cases.
It has remained important that EMC provides effective leadership on asylum and refugee resettlement work – providing support for this vulnerable group of people while working with Government to put in place more resources that are needed at the local level. While we’re rightly proud that councils voluntarily resettle refugees and vulnerable children, there remain concerns with asylum dispersal and how we can put in place a more equitable solution for the care of UASC.
The workforce implications of Covid-19 have been significant and in its role as the Regional Employers’ Organisation, EMC refocused its work to support councils in managing these issues. Councils were provided with timely advice and information, with EMC responding to more queries in a month than is usually received across a year. Three main themes that EMC focused on to support council as part of its overall work programme were employee wellbeing, particularly relating to mental health; supporting managers with the implications of managing people remotely; and assisting the transition to new ways of working for managers, team members and from an organisational culture perspective.
This was delivered through regular advice, guidance, events and networks. These were quickly adapted to operate effectively within an on-line and virtual environment. EMC continued to provide additional capacity and services on HR and organisational development issues through 43 separate assignments to councils in the region.
And on finances, EMC continues to tightly manage its budget, ensuring a balance of external grant, consultancy funding and membership subscriptions. However, the Covid-19 pandemic and national/local restrictions reduced EMC’s earned income activities (e.g., consultancy, fees, recruitment, events) and affected the budget. Alongside the disruption of EMC external income activities, the refocus of activity from
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income generation-type activities to providing direct sector support to councils to assist in responding to the pandemic, as part of the core offer, further impacted on the budget leading to a £47,000 deficit that was fully met by previously accrued reserves.
As we look towards 2021/22, as the impact of Covid on our local communities becomes clearer, and as the Government lays out proposals for levelling-up and recovery, local government in this region has an opportunity to put in place new arrangements to strengthen leadership and resilience.
We remain grateful to EMC staff, councillors and officers across the region for their efforts and on-going engagement. We look forward to continuing to work with colleagues across the East Midlands during 2021/22.
Cllr Martin Hill OBE Cllr David Mellen Cllr Jonathan Morgan Chair Vice Chair Vice Chair East Midlands Councils East Midlands Councils East Midlands Councils
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2,000 councillors sent our weekly policy brief
£548,000 61 different savings delivered HR assignments undertaken
£1m Landmark Rail Collaboration 2,300 councillor and officer places taken on Agreement signed with the DfT EMC training and development programme
1057 refugees and vulnerable children supported separate employment related requests by councils across the East Midlands 97 for information and advice - all completed
12 organisations and 100% of councils in membership benefitted 63 coaches in EMC's coaching network from at least one of EMC's service offers
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2. Annual Accounts 2020-21
This financial statement details the financial position of East Midlands Councils for the year ending 31st March 2021. Reserves stood at £588,400 as of 31st March 2021.
Management Accounts (Period 1st April 2020– 31st March 2021)1
2020/21 BUDGET BUDGET* ACTUAL VARIATION INCOME £ £ £
Grants 417,500 417,500 0 Subscriptions 279,000 279,000 0 Other Income 262,400 295,100 32,700
TOTAL INCOME 958,900 991,600 32,700
EXPENDITURE
Staffing Costs 811,800 822,800 11,000 Member Allowances 23,500 23,500 0 Premises 23,500 23,500 0 Direct Costs 147,900 167,900 20,000
TOTAL EXPENDITURE 1,006,100 1,037,100 31,000
OPERATIONAL DEFICIT (47,200) (45,500) 1,700
The Statement of Accounts will be audited and presented to Management Group at its meeting on 10th September 2021. *Original Budget amended to incorporate the impact of Covid19
1The accounts of East Midlands Councils are formally consolidated within those of Nottingham City Council (our accountable body during 2020/21), who are responsible for the providing the formal Statement of Accounts.
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3. The 4 Pillar Approach to Regional Work
A four-pillar approach provides the framework for all work that EMC undertakes on behalf of its member councils: a) An ‘all-member’ organisation - offering opportunities for all councillors to become actively involved. b) Policy development with a clear membership mandate. c) Linking EMC’s campaigning and lobbying activities with the collective work of member councils. d) Improving communication with the membership and better promote the region.
East Midlands Councils Councillor-Led and Voice for the Region
Pillar 1 Pillar 2 Pillar 3 Pillar 4 All-Member Policy Collective Work Improve organisation Development and Lobbying Communication
Governance: Full EMC Membership Management Group, Executive Board and Regional Boards
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4. Achievements 2020/21
Pillar 1: All-Member Organisation
Members have long been clear that EMC must be an ‘all-member organisation’ that offers opportunities and involves all councillors and officers in the work of the organisation, rather than a limited number who comprise the actual membership or are senior officers.
EMC therefore continues to try to engage with all 2,000 councillors in the region, and through officer networks. All councillors and officers are regularly offered opportunities to attend briefing and development events at nil or low additional cost. All councils and councillors are offered opportunities to inform our work and our weekly Policy Brief is routinely sent to all councillors in the region.
All activities were quickly and effectively transferred to virtual and on-line platforms, and East Midlands Councils stepped in to help councils share information, guidance and approaches to assist them in moving their democratic processes to the virtual environment. A 4-part virtual development programme was delivered for Democratic Services officers in the region and their colleagues to support them with their councillor development objectives and programmes.
We ensured that key issues being addressed by local authorities were reflected in our programme, with highlights including: a) Conferences & Key Events
A Modern Slavery Summit was held virtually on 11th and 14th December 2020 to support councils in their work to eradicate human trafficking and modern slavery. Speakers at the event included Dame Sara Thornton, Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner, Daxa Pancholi, Head of Community Safety & Protection at Leicester City Council and colleagues from academia, the Home Office and the East Midlands Special Operations Unit.
This was the first time these issues have been raised at a joint regional forum and offered an opportunity to consider how to respond to the prevalence and impact of modern slavery on individuals and local communities. As well as being covered by BBC East Midlands, feedback and on-going engagement from across the sector has been excellent.
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b) Councillor Development Skills Workshops A tailored programme of virtual workshops was launched to support councillors to further enhance skills relevant to their roles working on behalf of their local communities. The programme included chairing skills, scrutiny – reset and recovery, and communication skills in the virtual environment. c) Climate Change workshops for Councillors Climate Change is one of the stand-out priorities for the sector, and to support this agenda, EMC launched a programme of free workshops in partnership with the LGA and the Midlands Energy. 47 councillors took part in a programme looking at innovative approaches to climate change reduction plans and initiatives including improving community engagement, and housing and energy efficiency. d) In-house Councillor Development Support In response to requests from Councils, EMC provided in-house councillor development, with workshops on: Scrutiny, Chairing skills, Presentations and Public Speaking. e) Networks EMC has a pivotal role in supporting a collective approach between councils across the region on matters of common importance and a focus on key responsibilities and services for local authorities. Our network activity plays a key part in this, and during 2020/21 we managed the following regional lead member networks on behalf of its members: ▪ Children’s Services ▪ Scrutiny ▪ Councillor Development f) Delivering Value through Discounted Services for Member Councils Delivering value for our member Councils is at the heart of East Midlands Councils and this is achieved by providing discounted services tailored to the needs of councils, and by negotiating preferential rates with other providers on behalf of our councils. As a result, Councils in membership saved at least £548,000.
These services included consultancy support for individual councils, the East Midlands Jobs recruitment portal, and XpertHR – an on-line information system to support HR compliance, good practice and benchmarking. All councils in membership accessed at least one of these discounted services during 2020/21.
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g) Support for Officers
For the 2nd year running, over 2000 officers attended EMC’s development programmes, signalling the important role EMC plays in supporting councils and officers to meet their objectives for service delivery and personal development.
A feature of EMC’s offer is that it is tailored to the needs of Councils and this year the programme has been focused on helping officers meet the challenges presented by Covid. This has included: ▪ Hosting a series of seminars so that councils and other partners could collectively learn and plan in response to the Covid pandemic. ▪ Co-ordinating fortnightly meetings of chief executives to cascade and share information and approaches. ▪ Fortnightly briefings for HR colleagues to keep pace with emerging information and shape national guidance. ▪ Virtual exchanges to share practice and collaborate on topical issues such as shielding, supporting wellbeing, new ways of working. ▪ Workshops on the impact of a crisis on behaviour and on supporting wellbeing in the context of remote working. ▪ Practical workshops to help councils move their training to on-line platforms.
East Midlands Coaching Network (EMCN) Coaching is a particularly effective way of achieving performance and personal development. Through EMC’s coaching network, councils can access high quality coaching and materials for coaching in a cost-effective way (saving up to £18,000 per year). EMCN provides workshops and access to a network of qualified coaches for local councils to build their own coaching capacity. An additional council joined the network last year, so now has 12 organisations as members, 63 coaches from across local government and 6 independent coaches.
The development programme provided by EMC for coaches in the network recognised the challenges that Covid-19 presented for employees being coached and for the coaches themselves. These workshops included: ▪ How a crisis influences behaviour ▪ Selfcare for Coaches ▪ Solution Focused Coaching
Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Programmes Being able to maintain expertise and continue professional development is critical for councils to be able to deliver excellent services. EMC’s CPD programmes for planners and environmental health officers provide a low-cost
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way for this to be achieved and their value can be seen in the high participation levels. To ensure that councils were able to continue to benefit from these programmes last year, EMC adapted the programmes to run through virtual platforms and widened access to even greater numbers of participants. The approach proved successful, 627 delegates attending the webinars provided for Environmental Health Officers and 260 delegates attending the webinars for Planners.
EMC’s Learning & Development Offer To meet the needs arising in local authorities, EMC designed and delivered tailored training and development, maximising the opportunities provided through virtual platforms. This included: ▪ Action learning sets for two councils to help individuals resolve challenges being faced within the context of COVID and new working arrangements. ▪ Coaching Confidence Workshop – to help those employees who act as coaches within their councils to build confidence in their coaching. ▪ How a crisis influences behaviour. ▪ Wellbeing conversations for managers. ▪ Report Writing. ▪ Virtual Communication Skills. ▪ Employment Law – two sessions were held including one focused on the implications of the exit pay cap regulations.
Virtual Networks The ability for councils to be able to share information and best practice helps them to address common issues facing the sector in an efficient and effective way, as learning and experience is shared across the region. EMC’s networks are therefore a highly valued service and EMC successfully transformed their networks to run virtually. The approach opened opportunities for more people to be able to participate than in face-to-face settings traditionally used. The networks cover the following themes: ▪ Performance Management Network ▪ Democratic Service Officers network, held in conjunction with the Association for Democratic Service Officers (ADSO) - Meetings focused on supporting officers with the move to virtual committee meetings ▪ Scrutiny Network ▪ Councillor Development ▪ HR and organisational development
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Cyber Security Network Cyber security is a priority for local authorities and during 2020/2021, EMC’s Cyber Security Network increased the frequency of its meeting, with virtual meetings taking place every other month and regularly attended by the East Midlands Special Operations Unit. The network membership included 31 councils from across the East Midlands.
Kickstart Scheme The Government has introduced a range of initiatives to help alleviate the impact of the Covid pandemic on employment opportunities. EMC has been working to make it easier for councils to participate in the Kickstart scheme, which provides funded work placements and employability development for young people at risk of long-term unemployment. During the year, EMC gained accreditation as a gateway organisation, to co-ordinate the grant/funding process on behalf of the group of Local Authorities who have offered job placements. EMC is also providing training and development to support employability of the young people on the scheme using grant funding for this purpose.
Advice on HR Issues There was a 100% increase in the volume of queries and requests for advice on HR and employment issues last year. EMC provides a free advice service to councils as part of its role as the Regional Employers’ Organisation, and councils found this particularly valuable given the significant workforce implications of the COVID pandemic and response. EMC responded to 136 separate requests for advice – this represents a 100% increase in the volume of queries and requests for assistance compared to previous years. Additionally, fortnightly information and newsletters were provided to all councils, which included advice on common queries and benchmarking results so that all councils were able to benefit from pooling knowledge and information.
Research and Information Requests 56 separate research assignments were carried out for local authorities. This service enables councils to share policies and practices on a broad range of matters. h) In-house Support to Councils EMC provided individual support to councils on a not-for-profit consultancy basis on a range of projects with 43 separate assignments being completed. The service receives excellent feedback, with councils returning to EMC for repeated support having had such positive experiences. This year support provided included: ▪ Strategic HR capacity
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▪ Interim HR capacity ▪ Pay and grade structure reviews, equal pay audits and job evaluation ▪ Mediation ▪ Assessment Centres ▪ Providing advice on approaches to job evaluation ▪ Chief Executive appraisal facilitation ▪ Independent investigations ▪ Outplacement Support ▪ Inhouse support, providing two cohorts of ILM 5 Leadership programmes for an authority ▪ Top Team development support
This support has included a range of recruitment and selection advice and support to local authorities through the design and development of assessment centres for a range of senior roles and a graduate development programme. We have also supported member panel interviews, provided psychometric assessments and ability testing and delivered training to both councillors and officers.
EMC staff are qualified to design and deliver assessment centres and carry out psychometric testing and during the year, EMC provided this service using on-line platforms. Virtual assessment centres were delivered to support appointments to senior officer roles as well as for 40 people shortlisted for a graduate development programme in a County Council. This has been so successful that it is likely to be continued as a virtual approach in future years.
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Pillar 2: Policy Development
To support councils’ engagement in key areas of policy development East Midlands Councils undertook the following work, not solely to inform a ‘regional position’ on policy, but also to ensure that policy is better informed by, and reflects, local priorities, concerns and opportunities. a) Employers’ Board and Regional Joint Council
The Regional Employers’ Board provides political leadership on employment issues and forms the Employers’ side of the Regional Joint Council. East Midlands Councils (EMC) through its role as the region’s Employers Organisation, has the responsibility of supporting employment relations through the operation of the Regional Joint Council. The Regional Joint Council (RJC) provides a forum for joint trade unions and leading Members to discuss employment matters and to agree areas for joint working.
The following workforce priorities for 2020/21 were agreed: ▪ Coronavirus response and planning ▪ Supporting Change and Transformation ▪ Employee Wellbeing – mental health, supporting attendance ▪ Attracting & Developing Talent ➢ Apprenticeships - supporting councils to maximise return on the levy and identify apprenticeships to assist with skills shortage areas ➢ addressing skills shortage areas promoting local government as an employer ➢ modernising recruitment & selection ➢ officer and councillor development ▪ Pay and Rewards - national pay negotiations, pay benchmarking, revisions to NJC JE scheme, refreshing approaches to job evaluation ▪ Supporting diversity and addressing the gender pay gap ▪ Brexit: maintaining a watching brief and reviewing the value of CEEP UK ▪ Local Government Reform
Meetings of the Regional Joint Council covered the workforce implications of Covid – including employee wellbeing and new working arrangements, local government reform in Northamptonshire, national pay, union and union learning representatives.
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Significant employment issues during the year have been the COVID implications on the local government workforce and the public sector exit pay cap which was introduced in November 2020 and revoked in January 2021.
The workforce implications have centred on navigating the requirements to support employee safety and wellbeing and sickness absence provisions/policies, the regulations relating to furloughing, managing casual and relief workers, redeployment and transforming working arrangements. As the pandemic and response developed, then new and changing issues arose affecting the workforce and how services could be delivered. To support councils with these challenges, EMC has provided regular briefings and newsletters and ensured that feedback from councils were used to inform the development of national guidance.
On the public sector pay cap, EMC supported councils with their responses to the consultation and submitted a regional response to represent the views of local authorities. This emphasised concerns relating to the practical implications and unintended consequences which included potential adverse and unfair impact on certain employees. When the legislation was implemented in November, a major issue was that it put councils at legal risk by contradicting prevailing pension legislation. The exit pay cap was revoked ahead of judicial reviews that were due to take place in early 2021. It is expected that the government will introduce new regulations to restrict exit pay over the coming year and this would be subject to consultation.
Within the context of Brexit, along with its fellow subscribers, EMC has been reviewing the ongoing value of membership of CEEP UK, which represents the interests of UK public service employers as a negotiating body for the development of EU directives. Options are currently being explored before a final decision is taken on the viability of CEEP UK.
The Employers Board and Joint Council have been kept informed of the Local Government Reform in Northamptonshire and will be working to capture any key learning points that may be useful for any future significant transformation/reforms. b) Asylum and Refugee Resettlement
Asylum and refugee resettlement is an important issue for local communities and councils, particularly in the effective planning for and delivery of public services.
Asylum and refugee resettlement programmes have become an increasingly important area of work. With the onset of the pandemic and the unprecedented
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increase in spontaneous arrivals, the asylum estate nationally witnessed significant pressures on available bed spaces. As a result, contingency accommodation was commissioned nationally including within the East Midlands to increase bed space capacity. The focus in the coming year is to ensure contingency accommodation is exited as swiftly as possible but to meet this end, there is an urgent need for additional dispersal areas and dispersal accommodation across the region.
The National Transfer Scheme for Unaccompanied Asylum-Seeking Children (UASC) has seen the transfer of over 120 children from Kent, Portsmouth and London Boroughs, in region transfers from Northamptonshire, via the ‘Dubs’ amendment (children already in Europe) or the Vulnerable Children’s Resettlement Scheme (VCRS) (from the Middle East and North Africa). The focus over the past year has been on unaccompanied children arriving on small boats across the Channel, and the region has offered support to those local authorities on the south coast which have been particularly affected.
Our comprehensive review of the costs of supporting UASC was a factor in the Home Office providing additional funding for local authorities supporting UASC. That uplift represented an estimated additional £2.25m p.a. into East Midlands Children’s Services. More recently, EMC completed a companion paper - the first of its kind - analysing the costs and pressures of supporting former UASC care leavers and has worked with the Home Office to ensure councils are better funded to meet these responsibilities, including a meeting of the East Midlands Lead Members for Children’s Services Group and the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Immigration Compliance and Courts. The Home Office announced additional funding for former UASC care leavers, which now stands at £240 per care leaver per week, up to 60% increase. For the East Midlands, this is an additional £4.4m p.a. for councils’ Leaving Care Services.
Councils in this region have every reason to be proud of their record in resettling vulnerable people fleeing the conflict in Syria. As part of the Vulnerable Persons and Vulnerable Children’s Resettlement Scheme, councils have now resettled over 930 refugees.
With the Vulnerable Persons and Vulnerable Children’s Resettlement Schemes now ended, the UK has continued their commitment to resettling the most vulnerable refugees overseas by agreeing to resettling refugees through the UK Resettlement Scheme (UKRS). We are pleased to announce that several councils have agreed to continue participation in the UKRS with families due to arrive in the coming months.
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Another significant development has been the UK’s response to new laws affecting citizens of Hong Kong. The government announced its intention to provide a route for Hong Kong citizens with British National (Overseas) status to come to the UK and live and work. With some uncertainty around the numbers arriving from Hong Kong and more importantly, the locations people are likely to be resettled, East Midlands Councils will play a key role in supporting local authorities but also assisting new arrivals by delivering one of twelve national Welcome Hubs. The hubs will provide a one-stop shop for new arrivals to support in accessing statutory services and voluntary organisations.
Wider work included: ▪ The Regional Migration Board has continued to support effective leadership and accountable decision-making on all matters relating to asylum and refugee resettlement programmes in the East Midlands. ▪ Strengthened EMC’s role as a key regional partner for Government in the management and delivery of asylum and refugee resettlement programmes. ▪ Developing a regional response for the prevention and response to UASC that may become/are missing from care. ▪ Operating a region wide UASC foster carer recruitment project with Leicestershire County Council, in partnership with all Children’s Services in the East Midlands which has received regional and national media interest. ▪ Recruiting to a regional immigration solicitor post – the first of its kind in the UK – providing legal advice, guidance, and training to local authorities on asylum and immigration matters, particularly in relation to UASC, former UASC care leavers, the EU Settlement Scheme, and families with no recourse to public funds (NRPF). ▪ Provided the platform for senior officer and political engagement for all councils involved in the delivery of these programmes. ▪ Represented the local authority concerns and priorities in the development and delivery of national programmes. ▪ Put in place improved working arrangements between local authorities and key sectors, e.g., health, education providers, employers and the voluntary and community sector. ▪ Continue to support partners in widening participation in English as A Second Language (ESOL) courses. ▪ Continue to promote and advise partners in ensuring European Union nationals residing in the region are provided with information relating to the European Union Settled Status (EUSS).
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Pillar 3: Collective Work and Lobbying
The past year has seen the organisation continue to place significant effort on its collective, partnership work and lobbying activity. It is important that East Midlands Councils provides an effective platform for councillors’ leadership; to speak authoritatively on the important issues for the region and to establish a more effective joint approach with the region’s MPs, MEPs, and business leaders.
The leadership by the region’s transport board, ‘Transport for the East Midlands’ (TfEM) chaired by the Mayor of Leicester, Sir Peter Soulsby has continued to provide a strong focus for our work on strategic transport investment supported by Cllr Richard Davies (Lincolnshire CC).
Cllr Kay Cutts MBE (Nottinghamshire CC) has led the HS2 Executive Board supported by Cllr Simon Spencer (Derbyshire CC) leading on mitigation issues and Cllr Trish Gilby (Chesterfield BC) leading on Chesterfield/Staveley growth proposals. a) EMC Infrastructure Priorities
EMC undertakes an annual review of Treasury Statistics that continue to show the extent that the region is losing out in terms of funding for economic growth, transport and wider infrastructure. TfEM is leading the region’s work with Midlands Connect in lobbying for the Government funding to match our ambitions as set out in six key priorities for transport investment in the East Midlands.
▪ Making the most of HS2 ▪ A Midland Main Line fit for the 21st Century ▪ Improving access to East Midlands Airport ▪ A46 Growth Corridor & Newark ▪ A5 Growth Corridor ▪ Transforming East-West Connectivity
The document is available here: b) Road Investment
TfEM continues to work with Midlands Connect to promote DfT investment into the Major Road Network and for ‘Large Local Major’ transport projects from across the
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Midlands for the period 2020-25. Priorities for this period 2020-25 agreed by TfEM comprise:
▪ A614 (MRN): Nottinghamshire County Council (development funding secured). ▪ A511 Growth Corridor (MRN): Leicestershire County Council (development funding secured). ▪ North Hykeham Relief Road (LLM): Lincolnshire County Council (capital grant secured – see below). ▪ Chesterfield-Staveley Regeneration Route (LLM): Derbyshire County Council (development funding secured). ▪ Newark Northern Bypass (RIS2): Highways England (Committed for delivery in RIS2/3).
In November 2020, the Government announced a capital grant of £110 to Lincolnshire County Council towards the delivery of the North Hykeham Relief Road Large Local Major Scheme.
TfEM responded to a non-statutory consultation by Highways England on proposals for the Newark Northern Bypass and made a comprehensive submission to the Government’s Union Connectivity Review highlighting the importance of investment into the A1. c) Midland Main Line Upgrade & Electrification
EMC continues to promote the delivery of Midland Main Line upgrade and electrification, working closely with Network Rail and individual councils.
The upgrade work, including enhancements to Derby, Leicester and Market Harborough continue, along with the electrification of the line to Corby – and then to Market Harborough by 2023. Combined with the commitment to electrify between Clay Cross and Sheffield, this means that 62% of the MML will be electrified over the next decade or so.
The business case for the full electrification of the Midland Main Line remains strong as it will significantly reduce the running costs of the railway, reduce CO2 emissions, improve air quality and enable the faster acceleration and deceleration of trains. It will also promote the future integration of the HS2 and existing rail networks by enabling high speed conventional-compatible running.
EMC continues to work closely with a range of delivery partners and MPs to make the case for a rolling programme of incremental electrification.
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d) East Midlands Rail Services
In September 2020, TfEM (through EMC) signed a multi-year Collaboration Agreement with DfT to provide local input into the management of the East Midlands Franchise, following earlier collaboration with DfT on the franchise competition: Greater voice for rail passengers in new collaboration between Government and East Midlands transport leaders (emcouncils.gov.uk)
This landmark agreement is the first outside of metropolitan England and builds in a process of collaboration with DfT which started during the earlier franchise competition. It is also consistent with the emerging recommendations of the Williams Review (subsequently published as the Williams-Shapps Rail Plan in May 2021). The key elements of the Collaboration Agreement comprise:
▪ The ability for TfEM to develop incremental improvements to the franchise working directly with DfT officials. ▪ The ability for TfEM to report performance issues directly to DfT officials and to secure resolution. ▪ Quarterly meetings with the DfT franchise management and LTA lead officers to oversee the implementation of the Collaboration Agreement (the Steering Group) - with a reporting line into the TfEM Board. ▪ Annual meeting between the Chair of TfEM and Ministers to review franchise performance and the potential for further improvements. ▪ Agreement to last the length of the franchise - with a 12 month notice period on either side.
The Collaboration Agreement enables the creation of two new TfEM posts 50% funded by DfT with match from Local Transport Authorities and EMC. Whilst the focus on both posts will be services delivered by EMR, they will also support TfEM’s input into other relevant routes, consultation exercises and wider rail processes and structures, which will evolve over time. Recruitment to the senior post, Head of Rail Improvement was successfully completed in January 2021. e) HS2 We are grateful to the work of Cllr Kay Cutts MBE, Chair of HS2 Executive Board, Cllr Tricia Gilby, Chair of the Chesterfield & Staveley Delivery Board and Cllr Simon Spencer, Chair of the Mitigation Board for their leadership on HS2. The way the region has established and maintained a clear and strong position on HS2 is a credit to all those involved.
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EMC has worked closely with councils, LEPs and other stakeholders to take forward the East Midlands HS2 Growth Strategy which sets out proposals to use HS2 investment in the East Midlands to create an additional 74,000 jobs and £4 billion of GVA across the region.
EMC has promoted the development on local connectivity proposals to ensure that all parts of the East Midlands have the opportunity to benefit from HS2 investment through the ‘Access to Toton’ Study, which formed a key part of the region’s submission to the National Infrastructure Commission’s Rail Need Assessment Call for Evidence.
EMC was extremely disappointed in the NIC’s final Rail Needs Assessment published in November 2020 which failed to recognise the benefits of the Hub Station at Toton as part of a wider Development Corporation proposition, or the regeneration potential of HS2 connectivity to Chesterfield and the proposed Infrastructure Maintenance Depot at Staveley.
EMC continues to advocate strongly to influence Integrated Rail Plan which will confirm the Government’s approach to HS2, and which was originally due to be published by the end of 2020, but which is now expected sometime during 2021.
In particular, EMC has continued to work as part of the HS2 East Partnership to promote the delivery of the Eastern Leg of HS2 and the improved connectivity to
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the North-East and Scotland, Co-Chaired by Cllr Cutts MBE and Cllr Judith Blake (Leeds City Council). Further information is available at www.hs2east.co.uk. f) Midlands Engine
The Midlands Engine, chaired by Sir John Peace, was established in late 2015. In rebalancing the UK economy and supporting economic growth, trade and investment across the East and West Midlands, the Midlands Engine has a significant role to play.
The region has been represented on the Midlands Engine Board by four local authority leaders: Cllr Martin Hill (Lincolnshire County Council), Cllr Chris Poulter (Derby City Council), Cllr Barry Lewis (Derbyshire County Council) and Cllr David Mellen (Nottingham City Council). g) Midlands Connect
EMC continues to work closely with LEPs and Local Transport Authorities across the Midlands to develop the Midlands Connect Initiative, which aims to develop a strategic economic case for boosting strategic transport investment across the Midlands.
The region has been represented by Sir Peter Soulsby (Leicester City Council), Cllr Kay Cutts (Nottinghamshire County Council) and Cllr Nick Rushton (Leicestershire County Council), with Cllr Simon Spencer as an ‘alternate’ member.
Key areas of activity this year have included initial work to refresh the Midlands Connect Strategy last published 2017, proposals for decarbonisation of transport including analysis of the current deployment of EV charging facilities, and further business case development for the Midlands Rail Hub and Nottingham – Leicester - Coventry Rail Enhancement h) Working with East Midlands MPs
East Midlands Councils, in conjunction with East Midlands Chambers of Commerce, continues to work with the region’s MPs to support the East Midlands All-Party Parliamentary Group, co-chaired by Nigel Mills MP (Conservative, Amber Valley) and Alex Norris MP (Labour, Nottingham North).
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Pillar 4: Improve Communication
EMC must ensure that its Members are kept abreast of the work it does on their behalf - and it is our responsibility to better communicate with our membership to enable this. Alongside the weekly policy brief sent to over 2,000 councillors and officers in the region, we’ve now updated our website and make greater use of our virtual networks.
EMC Business Plan 2021/22
The business plan reflects the priorities that our membership wants EMC to focus upon and deliver. EMC has reviewed its business plan and associated work programme to ensure we meet the needs of our membership. This will be kept under review to ensure responds to future priorities and challenges faced by the sector.
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East Midlands Councils Councillor-Led and Voice for the Region
Pillar 1: All-Member Organisation Pillar 2: Policy Development Pillar 3: Collective Work & Lobbying Pillar 4: Improve Communication
Outcomes: Outcomes: Outcomes: Outcomes: ▪ Councillors are more informed on issues that ▪ Councillors have a better understanding and ▪ Councillors better able and supported to provide leadership on key ▪ Councillors better able to promote and adopt matter to them. engagement with policy of relevance and issues. best practice locally and regionally. ▪ Councillors are able to plan for and importance to the region. ▪ Councillors are more effective in lobbying on key regional issues and ▪ Councillors better able to engage and inform implement new policies in their local council. ▪ Councillors, MPs, MEPs or other partners (e.g., securing a better funding deal/investment and resources for the region. the work of EMC. ▪ Councillors have greater ‘ownership’ of EMC. business leaders) have an effective relationship ▪ Collective leadership on strategic issues for the region. ▪ Secure greater resources/benefit to the region and joint approach. ▪ More effective and collective approach between councillors, MPs, MEPs, through an enhanced profile. ▪ Policy is better informed by, and reflects, local business leaders and other partners. priorities, concerns and opportunities. ▪ Enhanced public profile for EMC and its leadership. ▪ EMC is able to more effectively represent member ▪ The East Midlands has a greater profile and ‘speaks’ authoritatively on councils at the national level. key issues. Services: Services: ▪ Every councillor offered opportunities for ▪ Highlight best practice and case studies. member development and to inform the Services: ▪ Online forum for councillors, officers and ▪ High quality briefings and support for councillors on priority issues. policy work of EMC. Services: partners. ▪ New councillor inductions after council ▪ A greater number of events on specific issues to provide a platform to ▪ Peer challenge and support. ▪ Policy Briefs (EMC members and MPs). influence and lobby. elections. ▪ All councillors offered the opportunity to inform ▪ Joint procurement to secure efficiencies for ▪ Online forums. ▪ Enhanced councillor leadership and support for ‘portfolio leads’ amongst sector. the development of EMC policy/response. Executive Board members. ▪ Member Development events, action learning ▪ Reviews focused upon clear conclusions and ▪ Opportunities for councillors to share thinking and peer mentoring. ▪ Enhanced links with the national (trade press), regional and local media. with wider sector. recommendations. ▪ Update prospectus on investment and infrastructure opportunities. ▪ Provision of bespoke and cost effective HR ▪ Represent the region on a range of key issues of ▪ A weekly Policy Brief for EMC members, and on and organisational capacity support. ▪ Secretariat and co-ordinating role for EM APPG (MPs). a monthly basis for the regions’ MPs. collective concern; economic growth and ▪ Provide an ongoing ‘Limited Management Role’ for TfEM in the next ▪ Provision of discounted services for member infrastructure [e.g., HS2, Midlands councils, e.g., pay benchmarking database, franchise agreed by the TfEM Board in January 2018. Engine/Connect], asylum/refugee resettlement, IT security and online recruitment portal. health and well-being, children’s and adult’s services, apprenticeship levy, regional pay Actions: negotiations and consultation. Actions: ▪ Better use of EMC website including a ▪ More active approach to communications and media work. discussion facility, Twitter and other social ▪ Coordinate joint external/lobbying work of EM APPG, business, trades media. Actions: unions and VCS, Government Departments. ▪ Targeted promotion of specific regional/sub- ▪ Respond to changing policy environment and ▪ Identify lobbying opportunities and provide a platform for councils’ voice. regional issues. Actions: provide platform for Councillor leadership on key ▪ Undertake specific and time-limited reviews, led by task and finish groups, ▪ Calls for evidence from the sector to identify ▪ Meet the learning and development needs of policy issues: e.g., Covid & vaccinations, public on growth and infrastructure, regional investment and funding, housing, best practice within region and nationally. new and existing members. investment and government funding, affordable asylum and refugee resettlement. ▪ Specific events on best practice and wider ▪ A further expansion of the member housing investment, apprenticeship levy, health ▪ Respond to consultations/calls for evidence/select committees to provide opportunities for the sector. development programme (delivered both and asylum/refugee resettlement. single voice on issues of common concern. ▪ Further develop links with partner regionally and locally). ▪ Develop policy forward plan that reflects risk, ▪ Campaign of key issues that include increasing levels of public investment. organisations, e.g., Government Departments, ▪ Member briefing and consultation events on opportunities and actions required. ▪ Providing leadership and governance for key regional initiatives, e.g., voluntary and community sector, business key/significant issues. ▪ Regular meetings with MPs through APPG. Regional Employers’, Hs2 Strategic Board, Midlands Engine/Connect, East organisations. ▪ Delivery of mentoring/coaching offer and ▪ Regular councillor and officer briefing Midlands Rail Franchise. support. opportunities. ▪ Focused work to secure a greater share of investment through delivery ▪ Widen opportunities for member-leads on ▪ Collaborative approach on specific issues; health, against regional investment priorities: st specific issues/priorities. asylum/refugee resettlement and ‘Brexit’. Making the most of HS2, Midland Mainline fit for the 21 Century, A5 ▪ Facilitating personal development plans for ▪ Promote more effective co-ordination with key Growth Corridor, A46 Growth Corridor and wider Newark Enhancement, councillors. partners, e.g., Midlands Engine/Connect, LEPs, Improving Access to East Midlands Airport, Transforming East-West BEIS, MHCLG. Connectivity. ▪ Management role for East Midlands Rails ▪ Focused work on employment priorities: recruitment/retention; pay Franchise (TfEM). &rewards; wellbeing & resilience; workforce change; apprenticeships.
Governance: Full EMC Membership Management Group, Executive Board and Regional Boards EMC budget 2021/2022 - £1,044,300
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EMC Budget 2021/22
The following EMC budget 2021/22 was approved by the Management Group and by the Executive Board in March 2021. Fee Paying Member & Events Core Contracts Learning & Services & Grants Development Consultancy Services TOTAL INCOME £ £ £ £ £ £ Subscriptions 259,100 259,100 Grants 447,700 447,700 Earned Income 1,000 12,100 165,000 160,000 338,100 Total 260,100 447,700 12,100 165,000 160,000 1,044,900
EXPENDITURE £ £ £ £ £ £ Staffing 182,300 424,300 44,400 119,600 63,500 834,100 Members Allowances 25,700 25,700 Direct Costs 31,500 46,100 6,750 32,250 67,900 184,500 Total 239,500 470,400 51,150 151,850 131,400 1,044,300
Surplus / (Deficit) 20,600 -22,700 -39,050 13,150 28,600 600
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Our Leadership (July 2020 - June 2021)
Executive Board Cllr Martin Hill OBE (Chairman) Lincolnshire County Council Cllr David Mellen (Vice Chairman) Nottingham City Council Cllr Jonathan Morgan (Vice Chairman) Charnwood Borough Council Cllr Jason Zadrozny Ashfield District Council Cllr Tricia Gilby Chesterfield Borough Council Cllr Chris Poulter Derby City Council Cllr Barry Lewis Derbyshire County Council Cllr David Bill MBE Hinckley & Bosworth Borough Council Cllr Sarah Russell Leicester City Council Cllr Nicholas Rushton Leicestershire County Council Cllr Roger Blaney Newark & Sherwood District Council Cllr David Lloyd Newark & Sherwood District Council Cllr Richard Wright North Kesteven District Council Cllr Jonathan Nunn Northampton Borough Council Cllr Matthew Golby Northamptonshire County Council Cllr Kay Cutts MBE Nottinghamshire County Council Cllr Alan Rhodes Nottinghamshire County Council Cllr Oliver Hemsley Rutland County Council
Management Group Cllr David Mellen Chairman Cllr Martin Hill OBE Vice Chairman Cllr Jonathan Morgan Vice Chairman Cllr Roger Blaney Conservative Party Group Leader Cllr Jason Zadrozny Independent Group Leader Cllr Alan Rhodes Labour Party Group Leader Cllr David Bill MBE Liberal Democrats Party Group Leader
Regional Employers’ Board Cllr Tom Beattie (Chair) Corby Borough Council Cllr Byron Rhodes (Vice Chair) Leicestershire County Council Cllr Gale Waller (Vice Chair) Rutland County Council Cllr Matthew Relf Ashfield District Council Cllr Mick Barker Derby City Council Cllr Garry Purdy Derbyshire Dales District Council Cllr Phil King Harborough District Council
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Cllr Ian Jelley Kettering Borough Council Cllr Terri Eynon Leicestershire County Council Cllr Ian Fleetwood Lincolnshire County Council Cllr Robert Parker Lincolnshire County Council Cllr Dave Saunders Mansfield District Council Cllr Kate Foale Nottinghamshire County Council Cllr Jen Walker Rushcliffe Borough Council Cllr Kelham Cooke South Kesteven District Council
Regional Migration Board Cllr Alex Dale (Chair) Derbyshire County Council Cllr Sarah Russell (Vice Chair) Leicester City Council Cllr Paul Goodale Boston Borough Council Cllr Mick Barker Derby City Council Andy Keeling Leicester City Council Cllr Lee Breckon Leicestershire County Council Cllr Patricia Bradwell Lincolnshire County Council John Robinson Newark & Sherwood District Council Cllr Richard Wright North Kesteven District Council Cllr Matthew Golby Northamptonshire County Council Alison Challenger Nottingham City Council Cllr Rebecca Langton Nottingham City Council Linda Sellars Nottingham City Council Cllr Philip Owen Nottinghamshire County Council Colin Pettigrew Nottinghamshire County Council Cllr John Boyce Oadby & Wigston Borough Council Cllr Mike Gaunt Rushcliffe Borough Council Cllr Tony Aslam Wellingborough Council
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Our Staff
Lisa Bushell Learning & Development Advisor Lisa Butterfill HR & Development Manager Kyle Butterworth Head of Rail Improvement Matthew Clarke Senior UASC Policy Advisor Brein Fisher Regional Migration Manager Lisa Hopkins PA to Executive Director Kirsty Lowe Learning & Development Advisor Sam Maher Director of HR & Councillor Development Mila Pereira HR & Learning and Development Co-ordinator Andrew Pritchard Director of Policy and Infrastructure Hannah Smith Programme Officer Jaswinder Thapar Immigration Solicitor Stuart Young Executive Director
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Annual General Meeting 9th July 2021
Chair’s Report
Cllr Martin Hill OBE
Summary
The following report provides a summary of the outcome of the Local Government elections held on 6th May 2021, including its implications upon the governance of East Midlands Councils; and wider priority issues for the sector, e.g., the Government’s Levelling Up programme.
Recommendations
Members of the East Midlands Councils are invited to: . Consider the outcomes and implications of the local government elections. . Endorse increasing the number of additional top-up places to 41, rather than 40, due to rounding up considerations and amend EMC’s Constitution to reflect local government restructuring as detailed in Paragraph 2.2 of this report. . Welcome the recent successful Towns Fund and Future High Streets Fund announcements. . Consider and discuss the contents of this report.
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1. Local Government Election Results
1.1 The following changes in political control occurred:
Derbyshire County Council (Conservative hold) Leicestershire County Council (Conservative hold) Lincolnshire County Council (Conservative hold) Nottinghamshire County Council (NOC to Conservative gain) North Northamptonshire (Conservative) West Northamptonshire (Conservative)
Derby City Council (NOC/Conservative control hold) Amber Valley Borough Council (Conservatives gain from Labour) Lincoln City Council (Labour hold)
The changes to the leadership of councils are as follows: . Cllr Kevin Buttery, Amber Valley Borough Council . Cllr Jason Smithers, North Northamptonshire Council . Cllr Jonathan Nunn, West Northamptonshire Council . Cllr Ben Bradley MP, Nottinghamshire County Council
1.2 On behalf of EMC, I would like to extend a warm welcome to the new leaders of Nottinghamshire County Council, and North and West Northamptonshire Councils: Cllrs Ben Bradley, Jonathan Nunn and Jason Smithers.
Police and Crime Commissioners: Derbyshire (Angelique Foster, Conservative) Leicestershire (Rupert Matthews, Conservative) Lincolnshire (Marc Jones. Conservative) Northamptonshire (Stephen Mold, Conservative) Nottinghamshire (Caroline Henry, Conservative)
Regional Political Balance
1.3 Conservatives have increased their share and, by some margin, are the largest group in the region in terms of political balance. The political balance figures for all political groups are as follows:
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Political Balance All authorities 2019/20 2021/22 Conservative 48.8% 49.9% Labour 34.1% 31.9% Liberal Democrats 7.4% 6.5% Independent/Others 9.7% 11.7%
1.4 This translates to the following number of Board places:
Con Lab Lib Dem Other Total 49.9% 31.9% 6.5% 11.7% 100% Added (40) 20 (19.96) 13 (12.76) 3 (2.6) 5 (4.68) 41 REB (15) 7 (7.485) 5 (4.785) 1 (0.975) 2 (1.755) 15 Migration (15) 7 (7.485) 5 (4.785) 1 (0.975) 2 (1.755) 15
1.5 With the figures rounded up, the number of additional top-up places equates to 41, rather than 40. The Executive Board, upon the recommendation of the Management Group, agreed that the number of added places should be increased by 1 (given rounding up). There is precedent for increasing the number of added places as similar issues were encountered as a result of the May 2017 local elections, and EMC’s membership agreed that the Constitution be amended to allow for this flexibility.
1.6 Members are reminded that political balance is based on political proportionality information provided by the LGA rather than the number of councils held by each political group.
2. Implications for EMC
2.1 The following EMC Members stood down or lost their seat at the local elections: . Cllr Kay Cutts MBE – Leader, Nottinghamshire County Council, Executive Board, and Chair of HS2 Strategic Board. . Cllr Alan Rhodes – Labour Group Leader, Nottinghamshire County Council; Labour Group Leader, EMC; Management Group and Executive Board Member. . Cllr Tom Beattie – Leader, Corby Borough Council; Chair of Regional Employers Board and Executive Board Member. I am sure Members will join me in passing on our thanks to all previous EMC Members for their support over a number of years.
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2.2 It is pleasing to report that both North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire Councils have confirmed their membership of EMC. This together with Local Government restructuring in Northamptonshire has the following impact on EMC: a) The number of Local Authorities in the region has fallen from 46 to 40 (less 1 county council and 7 districts, plus 2 new unitary councils). b) Council membership therefore falls from 46 to 40, with the commensurate reduction in the number of balancing places (previously 46, with Peak District National Park Authority). c) The size of boards and the number of board places is unaffected. d) North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire Councils have been offered one seat each on EMC Executive Board by virtue of membership and being an upper tier council. e) EMC’s Constitution is amended to reflect these changes.
3. Levelling Up White Paper
3.1 The sector has highlighted some concerns regarding the structure of recent funding packages with the focus on bidding processes and centralised decision making, alongside employment and skills and education programmes steered from the centre. While Local Authorities have an increasing role to play, vis-à- vis LEPs for example, the Government still holds the purse strings, managing pots of funding made available through a combination of grant and competitive bidding.
3.2 The much-heralded, and delayed, Devolution and Recovery White Paper is subsumed within the Levelling Up White Paper expected to be published later this year. While this emphasis on levelling up rather than devolution may give a steer on Government’s proposed direction of travel, uncertainty remains. However, it is important that the region has a credible response to the White Paper and takes opportunities to feed into it.
3.3 The Levelling Up White Paper will be led by the Prime Minister with a new No10/Cabinet Office Unit led by Neil O’Brien, MP for Harborough, as the PM’s Levelling Up Adviser.
4. Levelling Up Fund
4.1 While announced at last year’s the recent Spending Review, the Budget published the prospectus and guidance for local areas on how to submit bids for the new £4.8 billion Levelling Up Fund that will invest in infrastructure
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across the UK. The £4.8 billion fund will support town centre and high street regeneration, local transport projects, and cultural and heritage assets. 14 Local Authorities in the East Midlands are included within the ‘1st Priority Category’.
4.2 To apply for investment from the first round of the Levelling Up Fund, eligible local institutions must have submitted their bids to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government by noon on Friday 18th June 2021. Decisions are expected in the Autumn.
5. Future High Streets and Towns Fund
5.1 The Towns Fund provides investment with the aims of boosting local economies, create jobs and new homes, and improve skills. Part of Government’s levelling up programme, plans are designed to transform public spaces, deliver green transport links and revamp cultural and tourist attractions
5.2 The aim of the Future High Streets Fund is to renew and reshape town centres and high streets in a way that drives growth, improves experience and ensures future sustainability. It is intended to do this by providing co-funding to successful applicants to support transformative and structural changes to overcome challenges in their area.
5.3 On 5th July 2019, the then Minister for High Streets, Jake Berry, announced that over 50 places had been successful in progressing to the business case development phase of the Future High Streets Fund.
5.4 The Prime Minister announced on 27th July 2019 a £3.6 billion Towns Fund. This included an additional £325 million for the Future High Streets Fund, taking the overall Future High Streets Fund to £1 billion. The following towns in the East Midlands are among the 45 of the 101 Towns Fund areas who have had their funding confirmed at the Budget (3rd March 2021). Boston £21.9m Clay Cross £24.1m Lincoln £19m Mansfield £12.3m Mablethorpe £23.9m Newark £25m Northampton £25m Skegness £24.5m Staveley £25.2m
5.5 On 8th June 2021, the Government announced the latest round of awards from the Town fund including:
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Ashfield (Sutton & Kirkby) £62.6m Corby £19.9m Long Eaton £24.8m Loughborough £16.9m Stapleford £21.1m
5.6 On 26th August 2019, the Prime Minister confirmed that Round 1 of the Future High Streets Fund had been expanded to 50 more areas.
5.7 On 26th December 2020, the Communities Secretary announced that up to £830 million has been allocated from the Future High Streets Fund. Fifteen areas were awarded £255 million, with a further 57 areas in receipt of provisional funding of £576 million.
5.8 The Communities Secretary announced on 19 May 2021 confirmation of funding for all 57 places that previously received provisional offers in December 2020. In total, 72 places will share over £831 million from the Future High Streets Fund to deliver projects intended to support towns and high streets to reopen and recover from the effects of the pandemic. The places awarded funding from the East Midlands are: . St Peters Cross, Derby City Centre, Derby City Council £15m . Sutton-in-Ashfield, Ashfield District Council £6.3m . Grantham, South Kesteven District Council £5.6m . West End Point, Nottm City Centre, Nottingham City Council £12.5m . Heanor, Amber Valley Borough Council £8.6m . Northampton, West Northamptonshire Council £8.4m . Buxton, High Peak Borough Council £6.6m
5.9 £107 million of the Future High Streets Fund is allocated to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport to support the regeneration of heritage high streets. Remaining funding has been used to support local capacity, the High Streets Task Force and other related priorities including the development of a new parking code, and support for Business Improvement Districts.
6. Community Renewal Fund
6.1 Also at the Budget, the Government launched the prospectus for the UK Community Renewal Fund that will provide £220 million additional funding to help places across the UK prepare for the introduction of the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.
6.2 13 local authorities in the East Midlands are identified as priority places for the £220 million Community Renewal Fund. Local Authorities, through respective
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lead authorities, will be invited to appraise and prioritise a shortlist of projects up to a maximum of £3 million per place (as defined in the glossary of terms and set out in the list of 100 priority places); and submit a shortlist of projects to UK government.
6.3 The shortlist of projects needed to be submitted by lead authorities to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government by noon on Friday 18th June 2021. Bids received after the deadline or not through a lead authority will not be considered.
7. Government Review of Local Enterprise Partnerships
7.1 The HM Budget included an announcement that the Government intends to undertake a review of LEPs, “We [Gov’t] will also be working with local businesses on the future role of Local Enterprise Partnerships. We want to ensure local businesses have clear representation and support in their area, in order to drive the recovery. We will work with Local Enterprise Partnerships over the coming months, with a view to announcing more detailed plans ahead of summer recess. This will also include consideration of Local Enterprise Partnership geographies.”
7.2 Members will note with interest that the role of LEPs in the management and allocation of funding has become more limited, with responsibility increasingly being given to Local Authorities, including the £4bn levelling up fund and £220m pilot for the UK shared prosperity fund.
7.3 Consultation with Local Government colleagues has initially been undertaken through Chief Executives meetings, with discussions led by the BEIS/MHCLG Cities and Local Growth Team. An offer was made to all local authorities to follow up in more detail should they wish to do so, ideally by the end of June.
7.4 Responses are invited on 4 initial questions, but Members are welcome to highlight any further points they wish: a) Which elements of current LEP activity have been most helpful to supporting a) your individual organisations; and b) wider growth in the region over the last ten years? b) What role do you believe that local/regional business institutions can best play in supporting future growth in the region, particularly given the economic changes as a result of the Covid pandemic?
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c) What – if any – changes would you like to see made to the LEP model in future? What would you miss if they weren’t there? How would you fill any gap? This could cover functions, geography or governance. d) Which areas of current LEP support do you believe most require tailoring for local geographies/needs? Are there any that would be most helpfully standardised nationwide?
7.5 A statement on the direction of travel, if not the final conclusions and recommendations, as to the future role of LEPs is likely to be made before Parliament's summer recess.
8. Freeports
8.1 The Chancellor announced the Humber Ports and East Midlands Airport could be the locations for two of the eight new Freeports in the UK; subject to successful business cases being agreed by HMT. These Freeports are anticipated to begin operations from late 2021.
9. Recommendations
Members of the East Midlands Councils are invited to:
9.1 Consider the outcomes and implications of the local government elections.
9.2 Endorse increasing the number of additional top-up places to 41, rather than 40, due to rounding up considerations and amend EMC’s Constitution to reflect local government restructuring as detailed in Paragraph 2.2 of this report.
9.3 Welcome the recent successful Towns Fund and Future High Streets Fund announcements.
9.4 Consider and discuss the contents of this report.
Cllr Martin Hill OBE Chairman East Midlands Councils
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Annual General Meeting
9th July 2021
Infrastructure and Growth
Summary
This report: . Summarises the region’s current economic position in the context of long-term trends of growth and investment. . Updates Members on key Government initiatives and recent announcements. . Seeks endorsement for the work of the East Midlands HS2 Executive Board and the TfEM Board.
Recommendations
Members of East Midlands Councils are invited to:
. Endorse the work of the East Midlands HS2 Executive Board and the TfEM Board. . Endorse a continuation of current representation on the Midlands Connect Strategic Board for its next meeting on 20th July 2021, pending confirmation of representation on both Midlands Engine and Midlands Connect for 2021/2 by the EMC Executive Board. . Note the rest of this report.
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1. Growth, Productivity & Investment in the East Midlands
1.1 The East Midlands is a region of 4.8 million people and 365,000 businesses. Total regional output in 2018 was £125 billion, equivalent to 5.8% of the UK economy. The East Midlands employment rate (2020) is above the UK average at 77.3% (UK=76.4%) but median weekly earnings (2019) are below: £547 pw compared to £585 pw. 11.9% of the workforce work in manufacturing, compared with 7.6% for the UK1.
1.2 GVA growth in the East Midlands over the last 20 years has been better than most other regions/nations, but generally just below the UK average - 1.7% p.a. between 1999 and 2017 compared to 1.9% p.a. for the UK2.
1.3 Similarly, productivity has remained below the UK average over the last 20 years and has been declining relative to the UK to 85.5% in 20183.
1.4 However transport spend per head has been very significantly below the UK average level for all of the last 20 years, declining to just 55% of the UK average in 2018/19, the lowest level of any UK region or nation4. GVA Growth 1999-2017 UK & East Midlands 5 4 3 2 1 0 -1 -2 -3 -4 -5 -6 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 UK East Midlands
1 https://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/SN06924/SN06924.pdf 2https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/grossvalueaddedgva/bulletins/regionalgrossvalueaddedbalanceduk/1 998to2017 3https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/economicoutputandproductivity/productivitymeasures/datasets/ann ualregionallabourp 4 https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/public-expenditure-statistical-analyses-2020
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Source:https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/grossvalueaddedgva/bulletins/regionalgrossvalueaddedbalanc eduk/1998to2017
Productivity in the East Midlands 1999-2018 100 = UK average 91 90 89 88 87 86 85 84 83 82 81
Source:https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/economicoutputandproductivity/productivitymeasures/datase ts/annualregionallabourp
Transport Spend in the East Midlands 1999-2019 85 100 = UK average 80 75 70 65 60 55 50 45 40
Source: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/public-expenditure-statistical-analyses-2020
1.5 Transport investment is a key driver of productivity and economic growth. The fact that the East Midlands has consistently delivered GVA growth close to the UK average from very low levels of transport investment is testament to commitment and ingenuity of the thousands of SMEs that are the backbone of the region’s economy. But declining relative productivity means even this level of performance cannot be sustained.
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1.6 The trend for transport investment is reflected in other forms of public investment in the East Midlands. The most recent HM Treasury report5 confirms that the region also has: . The lowest level of public expenditure on ‘economic affairs’. . The (joint) lowest level of public expenditure on services per head.
1.7 There is a growing investment gap between the East and the West Midlands, which is likely to widen substantially over the next decade due to HS2 Phase 1 and associated investment.
Transport Spend per capita 100 = UK average 110 100 90 80 70 60 50 40
East Midlands West Midlands
Source: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/public-expenditure-statistical-analyses-2020
2. Transport for the East Midlands (TfEM)
2.1 Transport for the East Midlands brings together the Region’s Local Transport Authorities under the auspices of East Midlands Councils to provide collective leadership on strategic transport issues and meets on a quarterly basis. TfEM is chaired by Sir Peter Soulsby the City Mayor of Leicester, Cllr Richard Davies, Transport Lead of Lincolnshire County Council, is the Vice Chair.
5 The data has been drawn from the HM Treasury publication Public Expenditure: Statistical Analyses 2020 published in July 2020. The most recent data available is 2018-19.
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2.2 The TfEM Board last met on the 14th of June 2021. The Board considered a report on the ‘Williams-Shapps Plan for Rail’ and the establishment of Great British Railways (GBR), and agreed to focus engagement with DfT on ensuring previous franchise commitments are delivered and on migrating the current Collaboration Agreement with DfT to the new arrangements.
2.3 EMR provided a comprehensive update on the implementation of the May 2021 timetable. Whilst the enhanced Inter-City and new electric Connect services had generally gone relatively well, the introduction of the new Regional timetable had resulted in a significant decline in performance. TfEM had been engaging regularly with EMR since the Bank Holiday weekend as the situation unfolded, and the EMR MD met with the Chair of the TfEM to provide a briefing on Friday 11th June 2021.
2.4 EMR confirmed to the Board that the problems with the regional timetable were due to:
. Fleet: Late Delivery of Class 170s creates exceptionally complicated fleet position which has been much more difficult to overcome than expected. . Nottingham: Operations in Nottingham station and Eastcroft Depot are more complex making it more difficult to recover delays. . Resource: Continue to carry a high absence rate (over 5%) and seeing higher than normal one-off absences linked to Covid vaccinations. . Industrial Relations: Although strikes have been confined to Sunday on EMR Regional services we are experiencing problems in agreeing rosters and seeing an increased reluctance in Rest Day Working.
2.5 Although EMR has now established an Operational Delivery Plan to address the situation, it will take several months to resolve in full. As a result, EMR introduced a new temporary timetable (from Saturday 19th June) which will reduce pressure on Nottingham Station/Eastcroft and enable around 75% of Regional services to run, including strengthened services to Skegness over the summer months.
2.6 It is not anticipated that all Regional services will be reinstated before December 2021. However, EMR expect that many can be added back into the timetable on an incremental basis over the coming months as specific issues are resolved.
2.7 TfEM is continuing to liaise closely with EMR on the implementation of the necessary changes to restore the timetable and with DfT to ensure that lessons are learned for future timetable enhancements. The Chair of TfEM Sir Peter
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Soulsby wrote to the Rail Minister Chris Heaton Harris MP on the 2nd July highlighting the Board’s concerns and proposing mitigating measures, set out in Appendix 10 (a).
2.8 Finally the TfEM Board also received a presentation from Highways England on the process for determining investment priorities for RIS3 (2025-30).
3. HS2 in the East Midlands
3.1 HS2 activity, including work to implement the East Midlands HS2 Growth Strategy (2017), is led by the HS2 Executive Board which until May 2021 was chaired by Cllr Kay Cutts MBE. In addition, Cllr Tricia Gilby continues to chair the Chesterfield and Staveley Delivery Board and Cllr Simon Spencer led on mitigation issues up to May 2021.
3.2 Following the publication of the Okervee Review in 2019, the Government asked the National Infrastructure Commission (NIC) to advise on how HS2 Eastern Leg, Northern Powerhouse Rail (NPR) and Midlands Engine Rail (MER) should be implemented. The HS2 Executive Board’s response to the NICs initial call for evidence is available at: https://www.emcouncils.gov.uk/write/EM_Response_FINAL.pdf
3.3 The NICs Rail Needs Assessment Final Report was published in December 2020 and is available at: https://nic.org.uk/app/uploads/RNA-Final-Report-15122020.pdf . Whilst the NIC did not recommend a preferred option, the report favoured an approach based on ‘regional connectivity’, which in the East Midlands involved the HS2 line from Birmingham joining the Midland Main Line south of East Midlands Parkway (EMP) station and not continuing to Leeds as currently proposed.
3.4 This EMP option is likely to give quicker direct services between London/Birmingham and Derby/Nottingham, but is considered inferior to Toton and the full Eastern Leg because it: . Radically reduces connectivity from the East Midlands to Leeds, Yorkshire and the North East along with associated regeneration, agglomeration and social benefits. . Gives the East Midlands a much poorer HS2 service compared to the West Midlands and the North West.
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. Places greater pressure on existing infrastructure in particular the Midland Main Line (and Derby and Nottingham Stations) and reduces released capacity for local services and for freight. . Reduces regional and local accessibility to the HS2 network. . Undermines the Toton development proposition, including the proposed innovation campus and the emerging Toton & Chetwynd Masterplan. . Undermines the wider East Midlands Development Corporation proposition and financial model (currently estimated at 84,000 jobs and additional £4.8 billion GVA). . Undermines the regional political consensus in support of HS2 and the Development Corporation proposition. . Increases development pressure on the Greenbelt, particularly in Rushcliffe.
3.5 The NICs Rail Assessment will inform the Government’s Integrated Rail Plan (IRP) for the North & Midlands - which should be the final decision on HS2 (12 years after the project was first proposed). The IRP will not just a Department for Transport document but will also need to be agreed by the Treasury, Cabinet Office and the Prime Minister.
3.6 The IRP was originally due to the published by the end of 2020 and then early in 2021. The 2021 Budget made a commitment to publish the IRP by the beginning of June 2021, but this target was missed. There is currently no confirmed publication date. If the IRP is not published by the time Parliament rises for the Summer Recess (22nd July), then it is most likely to be published as part of the Chancellors Comprehensive Spending Review Statement in the autumn of 2021.
Costs, Benefits & Affordability 3.7 The NIC’s 2018 National Infrastructure Assessment assumed a cost of the whole HS2 project was £46.5 billion. However, the HS2 Minister Andrew Stephenson’s statement to Parliament in March 20216 effectively confirmed that this would now only be sufficient to build Phase 1 (to Birmingham) and Phase 2a (to Crewe).
3.8 Government has never published a cost estimate or benefits assessment for the Eastern Leg of HS2 alone – comprising the line from the West Midlands to the EM Hub Station at Toton, Chesterfield/Staveley, Sheffield, Leeds and then a link to the East Coast Main Line. These figures have always been subsumed within the wider
6 https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/hs2-6-monthly-report-to-parliament-march-2021
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business case for Phase 2b - which also includes the route between Crewe and Manchester.
3.9 Recent independent assessments suggest the current cost of the Eastern Leg is around £24 billion and the cost of Crewe-Manchester is around £12 billion. Based on this cost apportionment and the Government’s 2017 Phase 2b business case, the benefits of the Eastern Leg are estimated to be around £32 billion (using traditional Green Book analysis).
3.10 However, this assessment excludes the economic impact of the 160,000 new jobs and 38,000 new homes that would be unlocked by HS2 along the route of the Eastern Leg - which would pay for the cost of the railway many times over.
Latest Developments 3.11 There has political change since the May 2021 local election including the retirement of Kay Cutts MBE and the elevation of Judith Blake CBE (Leeds City Council) to the House of Lords and well as new Members joining the East Midlands HS2 Executive Board.
3.12 The new leader of Nottinghamshire Cllr Ben Bradley MP and the new leader of Leeds City Council Cllr James Lewis have agreed to become co-chairs of HS2 East. HS2 East Leaders have collectively written to Ministers as have East Midlands Leaders to make the case for the delivery of the Eastern Leg in full. A separate letter from Chief Executives has highlighted the economic importance and the proposed HS2 depots. Copies of the most recent correspondence are set out in appendices 10 (b & c). Further social media videos have been released with support from Connecting Britain:
. https://twitter.com/ConnectBritain/status/1365278331680288769 . https://twitter.com/ConnectBritain/status/1396752940380135426?s=20 . https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/15148085/fears-for-hs2-next-phase/
3.13 From an East Midlands perspective, over the last month Cllr Ben Bradley MP has been able to meet with key decision makers within Government to press the case for the EM Hub at Toton, Chesterfield/Staveley and the Eastern Leg as whole.
3.14 The HS2 Executive Board met for the first time since the May 2021 elections on 24th June 2021 with Cllr Ben Bradley MP in the Chair. The Board reviewed current
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activity to influence the Governments IRP and agreed to support Cllr Bradley MP in making further representations to MPs and Ministers on the IRP.
3.15 The East Midlands APPG met on 29th June 2021 chaired by Nigel Mills MP and agreed to make further joint representation to Ministers in support of HS2.
3.16 Cllr Bradley subsequently met the Prime Minister on 30th June 2021 to press the case directly for HS2 and Toton in particular - details here
4. Midlands Connect
4.1 The region has been represented on the Midlands Connect Strategic Board during 2020/21 by Sir Peter Soulsby (Leicester City Council and Chair of TfEM), Cllr Kay Cutts MBE (Nottinghamshire County Council) and Cllr Nick Rushton (Leicestershire County Council).
4.2 The recent focus for Midlands Connect has been on work to inform the fresh of the Midlands Connect Strategy published in 2017 and on efforts to inform and influence the Government’s Integrated Rail Plan.
4.3 Midlands Connect published a Strategic Outline Business Case (SOBC) for the Nottingham – Leicester- Coventry Rail enhancement on the 26th May 2021 with support from Sir Peter Soulsby. The SOBC represents the first stage of the Rail Network Enhancement Pipeline (RNEP) process and a summary is available at: Building Back Greener (midlandsconnect.uk).
4.4 The Midlands Connect Strategic Board will next meet on the 20th July 2021, where agenda items will include progress on the Midlands Connect Strategy Refresh and proposals for phasing the delivery of the Midlands Rail Hub.
4.5 As this meeting will fall prior to the EMC Executive Board agreeing representation for both Midlands Connect and Midlands Engine (see below) for 2021/2 in the normal way, it is proposed to ‘roll over’ existing Midlands Connect representation (including Cllr Bradley MP as the new Leader of Nottinghamshire) for this meeting.
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5. Midlands Engine
5.1 The region has been represented on the Midlands Engine Board during 2020/21 by Cllr Martin Hill OBE (Lincolnshire County Council), Cllr Chris Poulter (Derby City Council), Cllr Barry Lewis (Derbyshire County Council) and Cllr David Mellen (Nottingham City Council).
5.2 Midlands Engine has just published a ‘10 Point Plan for Green Growth’ available on the Midlands Engine website.
6. Recommendation
Members of East Midlands Councils are invited to:
6.1 Endorse the work of the East Midlands HS2 Executive Board and the TfEM Board.
6.2 Endorse a continuation of current representation on the Midlands Connect Strategic Board for its next meeting on 20th July 2021, pending confirmation of representation on both Midlands Engine and Midlands Connect for 2021/2 by the EMC Executive Board.
6.3 Note the rest of this report.
Andrew Pritchard Director of Policy & Infrastructure East Midlands Councils
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Chris Heaton-Harris MP Minister of State for Transport House of Commons London SW1A 0AA
2nd July 2021
Dear Chris
East Midlands Railway: May 2021 Timetable Performance
It is with disappointment that I write to you on the matter of East Midlands Railway (EMR) May 2021 timetable changes.
The introduction of the May 2021 timetable was anticipated to be a positive step forward for the region’s passengers. However, whilst EMR Intercity and EMR Connect service changes appear to be bedding in reasonably well, we have seen periods of unacceptable performance on EMR Regional services in recent weeks (overall EMR PPM down to 80-85% - with some Regional routes below 70%).
From 19th June 2021, a further temporary ‘resilience timetable’ was introduced with significant Regional service reductions (equivalent to around 75% of the May timetable), specifically to services through Nottingham. However even this is proving difficult to deliver.
As Chair of TfEM I was briefed by the Manging Director of EMR on the situation the 11th June 2021, and EMR provided a further update to the full TfEM Board on the 14th June 2021, with your officials in attendance.
As a result, we understand that the reasons for the poor performance include both rolling stock challenges and inadequate resource management assumptions. We have also been reminded that constrained areas of the network incur added complexity to operational recovery choices, for example in and around Nottingham Station. It seems that mitigation planning about risks associated with rolling stock, resources and network constraints were all collectively insufficient to deliver a resilient timetable.
I am aware that there is a set of wider rail industry dependencies and DfT decisions to be resolved in order for rolling stock cascade to be achieved in the East Midlands as originally proposed. It appears this cascade chain has several commitments which are in some delay, with passengers adversely affected in the meantime. Enduring uncertainty with these dependencies is impacting on management choices.
In the light of the cascade delay, and also noting that the current fleet mix is sub-optimal, I would urge you to consider improvement options and to communicate a fixed rolling stock roadmap based on assumptions that do not move.
East Midlands Councils, Pera Business Park, Nottingham Road, Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire, LE13 0PB
T: East01664 M idlands502620 C ouncilE: infos,@emcouncils.gov.uk First Floor Office, Park , WNottingh: www.emcouncils.gov.ukam6 R0oad, Melton Mowb ray 0PB T: 01664 502 620 E: [email protected] W: www.emcouncils.gov.uk Item 10, Appendix (a)
The replacement of all existing (2019) rolling stock by new or refurbished trains by 2024 was the major positive outcome of the recent Franchise Agreement, and this objective remains a key priority for TfEM and local communities.
In addition, I would urge you to provide clarity on the roadmap for the reintroduction of lost services; as well as an investigation into the risk assessment within the May 2021 timetable planning process, and the accountable decisions that led to implementation of the temporary reduced June 2021 timetable.
There is widespread local concern that the inability to resiliently deliver on the planned May 2021 timetable and the significant reductions subsequently implemented in June 2021 will damage passengers’ ability to travel and their trust of rail services at this critical time in our recovery from Covid.
As a result, for the duration that these timetable changes are in place, I would encourage your Department to dedicate resources to:
• ensuring passengers have appropriate access to simple compensation mechanisms and alternative public transport arrangements;
• ensuring capacity on the services operating across different Operators on regional lines mitigate emerging overcrowding (e.g. Nottingham to Sheffield);
• driving urgency of the improvement initiatives to secure resilience of the planned May 2021 regional services; and
• redoubling efforts to robustly plan for future enhancements to regional services as anticipated to be introduced within the original franchise agreement.
Finally, I want to reassure you that TfEM remains committed to working constructively with you and your Department through our Collaboration Agreement and with EMR to find a way through the current problems and to realise the planned improvements that I know we all want to see delivered.
Yours sincerely
Mayor Sir Peter Soulsby Chair of Transport for the East Midlands
Copied to: Will Rodgers, MD East Midlands Railway
East Midlands Councils, Pera Business Park, Nottingham Road, Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire, LE13 0PB East Midlands Councils, First Floor Office, Park, Nottingham Road, Melton Mowbray 0PB T: 01664 502620 E: [email protected] W: www.emcouncils.gov.uk61 T: 01664 502 620 E: [email protected] W: www.emcouncils.gov.uk Item 10, Appendix (b)
Rt Hon Boris Johnson MP Prime Minister 10 Downing Street London SW1A 2AA
18th May 2021
Dear Prime Minister
HS2 IN THE EAST MIDLANDS
Last week’s Queen’s Speech included a Government commitment to bring forward legislation to build and operate the next stage of the High Speed Two (HS2) network from Crewe to Manchester. As your Government makes clear, the main benefits of the Bill will be:
• Creating thousands of jobs and providing certainty at a time when people need it the most. HS2 is at the heart of our plans to build back better from COVID-19.
• Bringing our biggest cities closer together which is key to levelling up, will boost productivity and provide a low-carbon mode of transport and alternative to planes.
As local political leaders representing the East Midlands, we welcome your continued commitment to the delivery of HS2 in full. As previous assessments have all confirmed, only by completing the whole HS2 network can the transport and economic benefits of the Government’s investment be realised.
That is why we are urging you to confirm a legislative timetable for the full delivery of the Eastern Leg of HS2 in the Government’s forthcoming Integrated Rail Plan, including the Hub Station at Toton, HS2 connectivity for Chesterfield and the Staveley Infrastructure Maintenance Depot.
It is now 12 years since the HS2 ‘Y’ network was first proposed by Government, during which time there have been numerous public consultations, Ministerial Statements and independent reviews. Yet whilst work is now starting on Phase 1 of HS2 to Birmingham and the line to Manchester is all but committed, we still have no certainty about the Eastern leg to Leeds via the East Midlands.
In the East Midlands we have worked tirelessly over the last five years on a cross party basis developing detailed plans which use HS2’s arrival at Toton in Nottinghamshire and in Chesterfield as the centrepiece for joined-up economic strategies. These plans will create thousands of jobs and transform connectivity between the towns and cities of the East Midlands, Birmingham, Leeds, and the North East – a combined area of over 13 million people.
At their heart, our proposals are driven by two fundamental principles: to deliver the maximum public value from investments that have the capacity to transform our economy, and to ensure that these benefits will be felt by local people in ‘left-behind’ communities across the East Midlands.
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Importantly, our plans also safeguard and enhance our precious natural resources, reversing over 100 years of pollution and environmental degradation caused by industry and creating a new low carbon future for our region, restoring our natural capital for generations to come.
The Hub Station at Toton and associated development is a fundamental part of the wider East Midlands Development Corporation proposition developed with support from MHCLG, launched by Midlands Engine Chairman Sir John Peace and which will deliver up to 84,000 new jobs and additional £4.8b of GVA. The Chancellor’s recent announcement of a ‘Freeport’ around East Midlands Airport will complement these proposals.
In Chesterfield and Staveley local leaders have been working with the private sector on proposals for 4,740 new homes and 10,220 new jobs which will deliver £270m net additional GVA and bring 176 ha of brownfield land brought back into use and establish a new international gateway into the Peak District National Park.
Treasury statistics have consistently shown the East Midlands to the lowest funded UK region/nation per head for transport, which in 2018/19 stood at just 55% of the UK average. The forthcoming Integrated Rail Plan is a golden opportunity for your Government to redress this historic underfunding, and to make ‘levelling up’ a reality.
We urge you to set out a clear plan for the delivery of the Eastern Leg of HS2 in full, including the East Midlands Hub Station at Toton, HS2 connectivity for Chesterfield and the Staveley Infrastructure Maintenance Depot. Yours sincerely,
Cllr Martin Hill OBE Sir Peter Soulsby Leader of Lincolnshire County Council City Mayor of Leicester Chair of East Midland Councils Chair of Transport for the East Midlands
Cllr David Mellen Cllr Ben Bradley MP Leader of Nottingham City Council Leader of Nottinghamshire County Council Vice Chair of East Midlands Councils MP for Mansfield
Cllr Barry Lewis Cllr Christopher Poulter Leader of Derbyshire County Council Leader of Derby City Council
Cllr Jonathon Morgan Cllr Nicholas Rushton Leader of Charnwood Borough Council Leader of Leicestershire County Council Vice Chair of East Midlands Councils
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Copied to:
Rt Hon Rishi Sunak MP, Chancellor of the Exchequer Rt Hon Michael Gove MP, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Rt Hon Stephen Barclay MP, Chief Secretary to the Treasury Rt Hon Grant Shapps MP, Secretary of State for Transport Rt Hon Kwasi Kwarteng MP, Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise & Industrial Strategy Rt Hon Robert Jenrick MP, Secretary of State for Housing, Communities & Local Government
Neil O’Brien MP OBE, Advisor to the Prime Minister on ‘Levelling Up’ Darren Henry MP, Chair of the Midlands Engine APPG Sir John Peace, Chairman of Midlands Engine & Midlands Connect
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From the Minister of State Andrew Stephenson MP
Great Minster House 33 Horseferry Road London SW1P 4DR
Tel: 0300 330 3000 E-Mail: [email protected] Councillor Martin Hill OBE Web site: www.gov.uk/dft Leader of Lincolnshire County Council Chair of East Midland Councils Our Ref: MC/344422 Pera Business Park, Nottingham Road Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire LE13 0PB
1 June 2021
Dear Councillor Hill,
Thank you for your joint letter of 18 May to the Prime Minister, about HS2 in the East Midlands. I am replying as the Minister for HS2.
The Government is committed to ensuring the East Midlands, Yorkshire and the North East reap the benefits of high-speed services. The Integrated Rail Plan (IRP) will set out how best to deliver HS2 and other major rail investments in the North and Midlands, so that the benefits of these investments are delivered to passengers and communities more quickly – as things stand, communities on the Eastern Leg will be waiting until 2040 for the benefits of high-speed rail services, and that is clearly too long to wait. There are difficult choices to be made within the IRP, but Government is carefully considering in full the analysis and evidence from metro mayors, council leaders, and representatives from the North and Midlands, as well as the National Infrastructure Commission’s (NIC) Rail Needs Assessment, and the Government’s own analysis, ahead of making final decisions on the IRP.
As you will be aware, over the past year I have met Northern and Midlands council, city and business leaders along the entire route of the Eastern Leg. I have listened to a diverse range of views on the scope and delivery of the Eastern Leg. The IRP will set out the opportunity for improving productivity in the North and Midlands as well as driving regeneration and employment. This is central to the Government’s levelling up agenda and I know that regional leaders have strong ambitions to maximise the benefits of major rail investment for their communities.
In the East Midlands, I am aware of the ambitious regeneration plans put forward as part of the proposed development corporation as well as at Chesterfield.
65 Item 10, Appendix (c) The NIC set out several options for progressing the HS2 Eastern Leg which include accelerating HS2 to the East Midlands and Sheffield by building a new line connecting to the Midland Mainline near the existing parkway station. This could bring significant benefits to Nottingham and Derby. However, I want to be clear that no decision has yet been taken on this issue. Plans for legislation for the Eastern Leg will be confirmed following the publication of the IRP.
ANDREW STEPHENSON MP
MINISTER OF STATE FOR TRANSPORT
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Annual General Meeting
9th July 2021
Asylum and Refugee Resettlement Report
Summary
This report sets out the progress of the Regional Migration Board and key challenges for the East Midlands on these matters including asylum dispersal, resettlement schemes, Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children, Hong Kong British Nationals Overseas (BNO) and Afghan Locally Employed Scheme (LES)
Recommendations
Members of East Midlands Councils are invited to: . Advise on impact and experience of local authorities’ participation in asylum dispersal including response to Covid-19 pandemic. . Advise on the impact and experience of local authorities where contingency accommodation has been sourced. . Consider the need and opportunity to widen asylum dispersal in the region. . Continue to advise the secretariat of the impact and future implications of the UASC National Transfer Scheme in relation to funding and other key considerations to inform further discussion with the Home Office, at both Ministerial and civil servant level. . Consider the implications of the introduction of the new immigration route for Hong Kong BN(O) citizens. . Consider the need to assist in the resettlement of Afghan Locally Employed Staff (LES).
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1. Introduction
1.1 East Midlands Councils, though the Regional Migration Board, is responsible for the management of a range of asylum and refugee resettlement programmes including asylum dispersal, Vulnerable Persons Relocation Scheme, and the National Transfer Scheme for Unaccompanied Asylum-Seeking Children. Alongside this, EMC provides the regional lead on the promotion of the European Union Settlement Scheme, the new immigration route for British National (Overseas) (BN(O)) citizens in Hong Kong which came into effect on 31st January 2021 and the recently announced Afghan Locally Employed Staff (LES) resettlement scheme.
1.2 Managing an effective and proportionate asylum and refugee resettlement programme remains a national priority – but one that can only be delivered in partnership with local authorities and community organisations. In the East Midlands, local authorities continue to be at the forefront in the management and delivery of these programmes. There have been challenges but the progress achieved to date has been testament to a collective approach in this region.
2. Asylum Dispersal
2.1 The East Midlands has been an asylum dispersal area since 2001. Recent increases in the flow of asylum seekers nationally, pressure on local housing markets and changes in Government policy have increased the pressure to ensure more equitable dispersal arrangements both nationally and within the East Midlands.
2.2 At the end of March 2016 there were just over 3,000 supported asylum seekers in dispersal accommodation in the East Midlands. At the end of March 2021, there were 2277 asylum seekers in dispersed accommodation across the region located in 6 dispersal areas across the East Midlands: 712 persons in Derby City, 702 in Leicester City, 773 in Nottingham City, 40 in Broxtowe, 39 in Oadby & Wigston and 5 in Gedling. Overall, the numbers regionally have decreased by 4% on the previous quarter with all Local Authorities seeing a decrease in numbers on the last quarter.
2.3 5770 asylum applications were made nationally between 1st January and 30th April 2021. Overall, 3311 (57%) were granted Asylum/Humanitarian Protection/Other Leave during this period with 1643 applicants having their applications rejected (28%). The remaining 15% had their application withdrawn.
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2.4 During the same period, 939 appeals were heard nationally; 416 were allowed (44%) with 405 dismissed (43%). The remaining 13% of appeals were withdrawn.
2.5 In the East Midlands, 765 properties are currently being utilised with 472 (62%) classified as family accommodation and 293 (38%) HMO properties. Local authorities have requested assurance on accommodation standards, potentially through on-site visits and/or random quality checks.
2.6 The demographics within the region are predominantly families (42%) and single males (41%). Other categories include single females (8%), unknown (6%) and mother with babies and children (2%). Couples and fathers with children equate to less than 1%.
2.7 The most common nationalities of asylum seekers are (in order) Iraq, Iran, Albania, China, and Pakistan.
Widening Asylum Dispersal in the East Midlands
2.8 The number of asylum seekers accommodated in dispersal accommodation across the country continues to be disproportionate with areas in the north and midlands accommodating most asylum seekers. Dispersal is similarly uneven within the region.
2.9 It is recognised that both across and within regions, levels of dispersal and the associated pressure this puts on statutory services needs to be addressed. In this region a key concern is that the current system places pressure on local areas already under considerable strain, particularly in Derby, Leicester, and Nottingham.
2.10 The reframing of the relationships between local and central government around asylum dispersal and the equitable distribution of asylum dispersal remains a priority area and EMC are involved in discussions with the Home Office and the LGA. There remains a need for the Home Office to provide assurance to local authorities on their influence and control of numbers and location of dispersal, as well as addressing wider barriers to participation that include: a) A lack of appropriate support and infrastructure. b) The continued use of contingency accommodation in areas already experiencing significant burdens on statutory services. c) The risk of additional pressures on localities that are already having to address cohesion or lack the social and/or financial capital to manage further arrival and transitory communities.
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d) Councils volunteering to participate and then offers not being taken up by the Home Office and/or their contractors. e) A lack of control - the concern that local areas will not be able to inform and influence the numbers and where and how asylum seekers are housed. f) The current anti-immigration sentiment across parts of the political discourse and wider society. g) Continued Covid-19 pressures on LA’s housing homeless residents through the “everyone in” policy and the ban on rental property evictions being lifted.
2.11 The Home Office have confirmed that in support of redistribution and the need to widen dispersal areas, there will be a review of the costs, pressures, and social impact of asylum dispersal in the UK.
Contingency Accommodation
2.12 Due to a continued increase in Asylum applications nationally coupled with the announcement made in March 2020 by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Immigration Compliance and the Courts whereby for three months service users will not be required to leave their accommodation because their asylum claim or appeal has been finally decided as a result of COVID-19 situation, the Home Office and the accommodation providers are required to accommodate Asylum Seekers in contingency accommodation throughout the UK including the East Midlands specifically Derby, Leicester and Nottingham.
2.13 Although the suspension of positive cessations was lifted on 11th August 2020 evidence shows a marked increase in hotel and Ministry of Defence contingency usage both nationally and regionally.
2.14 Local Authorities have repeatedly emphasised concerns on the unsuitability of hotel contingency accommodation for both asylum seekers themselves (particularly those with young families) and the pressure it places on local services and communities.
2.15 EMC and local authorities are working with the Home Office and Serco to alleviate these pressures and to end hotel use with arrangements in place to reduce numbers and ultimately exit contingency accommodation in the region.
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Response to Covid-19
2.16 With asylum seekers continuing to arrive on small vessels, there continues to be significant concerns on risks not only the asylum population but also the wider community. As a result, each new arrival is subject to Covid-19 screening which classifies those who are symptomatic with individuals displaying symptoms placed in isolation accommodation provided by the Home Office.
2.17 Individuals residing in contingency, initial or dispersed accommodation are provided with translated guidance and contacts for health providers should they display symptoms.
2.18 The Home Office, Serco, Directors of Public Health and the Regional Local Resilience Forum conveners continue to discuss Covid compliance at contingency and initial accommodation, and management of local Covid-19 outbreaks.
3. Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children
3.1 The National Transfer Scheme (NTS) for Unaccompanied Asylum-Seeking Children (UASC) was introduced in July 2016 as part of a suite of measures included in the Immigration Act 2016.
3.2 To date the transfer scheme has focused on the transfer of children from Kent and some London Boroughs which are above the 0.07% threshold set by the Government.
3.3 The substantial majority (87%) of unaccompanied asylum-seeking children in the care of East Midlands’ Children’s Services arrived spontaneously in the region, rather than via planned transfer or resettlement routes.
3.4 At the end of April 2021, 212 UASC were looked after by East Midlands local authorities. This is 13% lower than the same time last year. In contrast, the number of former UASC care leavers in the region is currently 696, which represents a year- on-year increase of 7%.
3.5 A total of 121 UASC have been voluntarily transferred into the care of local authorities in the region. This figure does not include children who arrive ‘spontaneously’ into the region, which as noted above comprise much of the current regional LAC UASC cohort.
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Migration pressures on the south coast
3.6 Since June last year, the situation along the south coast has been widely reported, where significant numbers of migrants, including unaccompanied children, have been arriving across the Channel in small boats. The number of unaccompanied children being taken into the care of local authorities in the affected areas, principally Kent and Portsmouth, placed unprecedented pressure on their Children’s Services.
3.7 As well as coordinating offers of support to authorities on the south coast, EMC has looked at options to increase the degree of participation by local authorities in response to the situation. Funding continues to be a key barrier, and on behalf of the region EMC proposed that the Home Office continue to fund UASC transferred from Kent at the enhanced rate (£143 per child per night) while they were in the care of the receiving authority (rather than the £114 per child per night.
3.8 East Midlands’ authorities responded to the request for assistance with pledges to find placements and accept full responsibility under s.20 of the Children Act 1989 for up to 27 children to be transferred from the south coast through the NTS, and 18 children have been transferred to the region so far, with offers of a further 4 transfers being progressed at the time of writing. Numerically, this response places the East Midlands currently 8th out of the 9 English regions.
3.9 A meeting was held on 24th February 2021 with Chris Philp MP, Parliamentary Under- Secretary for Immigration Compliance and the Courts, and the East Midlands Lead Members for Children’s Services Group to discuss the pressures on local authorities along the south coast and to consider the national request for support and the region’s response. The discussion also informed longer-term considerations in relation to the anticipated announcement of the new national rota arrangements for the National Transfer Scheme.
3.10 Although the numbers making the crossing fell during the winter months, arrivals have picked up again recently, and indeed are reported in the media to be significantly higher so far this year than the same period last year (50 UASC were taken into Kent’s care over the late May bank holiday weekend alone) and pressures on the London Borough of Croydon are also increasing.
3.11 On 7th June, and again on 29th June, joint letters from Home Office and DfE officials, attached as Appendices 11(a) and 11(b), were sent to all local authorities requesting urgent support in response to the worsening situation in Kent, and offering the
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enhanced funding rate of £143 per UASC per night payable for any child transferred in response to this situation. The letters state that the number of placements needed from each local authority is small. The request is for: a) offers to receive transfers of UASC currently in the care of Kent County Council; and b) offers to receive newly arrived UASC directly from the Port of Dover, following Kent County Council’s decision that it can no longer accept further arrivals into care.
3.12 On 10th June, Kent County Council announced its refusal to accept any more UASC citing that levels in the county had reached ‘unsafe’ levels, and served a formal letter before action to the Home Office of a proposed judicial review directing the Home Secretary to use existing powers to mandate local authorities other than Kent to receive a greater number (‘their fair share’) of unaccompanied asylum-seeking children, under the National Transfer Scheme (NTS) protocol.
3.13 EMC is coordinating responses for the region to the urgent requests for support and officers will continue to liaise with local authority UASC Lead officers and the Home Office while pressures along the south coast remain.
National Transfer Scheme Consultation
3.14 On 28th August last year, the Home Office and Department for Education launched a joint consultation on the National Transfer Scheme. Ministers wrote to Local Authority Chief Executives, Council Leaders and Directors of Children’s Services, seeking their views on potential changes to the operation of the NTS, principally a proposed national rota. National and regional engagement events were held, and local authorities were invited to respond to the consultation by the 30th September.
3.15 The consultation offered the opportunity for a number of long-standing issues in relation to the National Transfer Scheme to be reconsidered and, if the new operating model is to be sustainable, to be resolved. Each local authority determined its own response to the consultation based on local considerations. In addition, the Regional Migration Board identified several shared concerns across the region, particularly in relation to funding, placement sufficiency, measures of equitable distribution, the open-ended nature of the proposal, and the option to make the Scheme mandatory. The Board submitted a regional response on 30th September 2020 to the Minister for Immigration Compliance and the Courts, and the Minister for Children and Families.
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3.16 On 10th June, a letter was sent by Home Office Minister Chris Philp to Directors of Children’s Services, Chief Executives and Lead Members confirming the launch of the new National Transfer Scheme, attached as Appendix 11(c). Key points include: . A new voluntary national rota system reflecting pressures relating to children’s services and the supported asylum population. . An uplift to the Home Office funding rates for former UASC care leavers, from £240 per person per week to £270 representing a 12.5% uplift. . The higher UASC daily rate of £143 for authorities with larger UASC numbers will now also ‘follow the child’. That is, if a UASC is transferred via the NTS from a higher rate receiving local authority the new local authority will also receive the higher rate for that child regardless of their total UASC numbers. . A £3m exceptions costs fund that will be made available to support local authorities experiencing exceptional costs. . A review of the funding provided to local authorities in relation to Personal Advisor support for care leavers up to age 25. . Support for local authorities with age assessments. . Operating model improvements to improve the effective operation of the new scheme.
3.17 The central element of this package is a new voluntary national rota system. The expectation is that each region will have its own rota, and will take turns to be ‘on duty’ to take an allocated number of children each cycle of the national rota.
3.18 Based on EMC’s UASC costs analyses, the increased UASC daily funding rate to £143 covers 95% of the regional average cost of caring for UASC, and the increased funding for former UASC care leavers to £270 per week covers 85% of the average local authority costs.
3.19 The new NTS arrangements and national pressures were discussed by the Regional Migration Board and the East Midlands Lead Members for Children’s Services Group, where the potential benefits of a voluntary rota were recognised, as well as areas needing further details identified. Based on these discussions, a consensus is emerging that the region wants to do its fair share, subject to local decision-making, as part of the national response.
4. Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme
4.1 Since March 2020, no additional families have arrived due to the suspension of the Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The region
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has resettled 903 refugees through the Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme. A summary of the numbers resettled by LAs is: . Derbyshire - 112 refugees (Bolsover, Chesterfield, Derbyshire Dales, Erewash, High Peak, South Derbyshire). . Leicester City – 196 refugees. . Leicestershire – 160 refugees (Blaby, Charnwood, Harborough, Melton, Rutland, Northwest Leicestershire and Hinckley and Bosworth). . Lincolnshire -40 refugees (East Lindsey, North Kesteven, South Holland and South Kesteven). . Nottingham City - 121 refugees. . Nottinghamshire – 268 refugees (Ashfield, Bassetlaw, Broxtowe, Gedling, Mansfield, Newark and Sherwood, Rushcliffe). . Northamptonshire – 1 refugee (Northampton).
4.2 The Government announced in January 2021 that a new UK resettlement scheme will be launched in the April. The new scheme will replace the Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme and will incorporate the Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme (VPRS), Vulnerable Children’s Resettlement Scheme (VCRS) and Mandate scheme. The focus of the new scheme will be global not just the MENA region. Funding relating to the scheme will be fundamentally the same with Local Authorities able to draw down a 5-year tariff with funding available for Health, Education and ESOL.
5. Hong Kong BN(O) visa
5.1 The UK Government introduced a new immigration route for British National (Overseas) (BN(O)) citizens in Hong Kong from 31st January 2021 following the decision of the Chinese Government to impose a national security law on Hong Kong. The new national security law is in direct breach of the Sino-British Joint Declaration and restricts the rights and freedoms of the people of Hong Kong. This new route will provide the opportunity for those with BN(O) status and their family members to live, work and study in the UK, should they choose to do so.
5.2 Broadly, once living in the UK, they will have a right to work and study, with their children (under age 19) having the same rights as those with permanent residence in the UK, to attend school and further education. Unlike most other regular migration routes, there are no requirements for a job offer, qualifications or minimum English language ability.
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5.3 Whilst there is a high degree of uncertainty surrounding the numbers of BN(O) citizens expected to arrive on this route, a central range estimation of between 123,000 and 153,700 BN(O) citizens and their dependants coming in the first year and between 258,000 and 322,400 over five years. However, analysis of a wider range suggests that for the 1st year, inflows could be as low as 4,300 or as high as 500,000. Over five years, the equivalent range is as low as 9,000 or as high as 1 million.
5.4 With 6.4% of the population identified as Chinese/Hong Kong nationals currently residing in the UK living in the East Midlands (census 2011), the impact on the region could equate to 12,232 arrivals per year.
5.5 Data released on 25th May 2021 by the Office for National Statistics showed that nationally 20,600 applications were made with 5,600 applications granted between 1st January 2021 and 31st March 2021.
5.6 There are several potential financial and service impacts on Local Authorities including but not limited to, access to education and health provision, English Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) accessibility for new arrivals and pressure on Social Care services as individuals will have No Recourse to Public Funds (NRPF).
5.7 A letter from the Secretary of State for MHCLG to all Local Authorities leaders, was sent on 5th March 2021 outlining the route and the essential role local authorities have in providing support and promoting integration.
5.8 EMC will work with local partners and Government colleagues in developing and delivering a programme of support including: a) Work closely with partners to share resources, triage requests for support and assist with joint commissioning between areas. b) Communicating and raising awareness of the Department’s wider Hong Kong BN(O) Welcome Programme throughout regional networks. c) Providing constructive feedback to the Department on issues and challenges that cannot be resolved locally. d) acting as a critical friend to the Department, facilitating continuous improvement in community cohesion and support for local areas. e) Acting as a conduit for the sharing of information and evidence between central Government and local authorities and local partners and the existing SMP network, including regular reporting on the volumes, destination, needs and characteristics of BN(O) status holders in their region. This is to be achieved by ensuring a two-way flow of information and data so that central government is
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aware of issues and priorities relating to migration in each region and nation across the UK.
5.9 The BN(O) visa comes with a no recourse to public funds (NRPF) condition attached to the visa although Applicants can apply for a change of conditions if the applicant’s financial circumstances have changed since being given permission to stay in the UK and they are no longer able to provide food or housing for themselves or their family and/or the applicant’s child is at risk because of their very low income.
5.10 If there is a delay between BN(O) status holders applying to have the NRPF condition lifted, and the application being granted, in instances where local authorities are providing accommodation and/or financial support until S17 Children’s Act 1989, they will be eligible to apply to MHCLG’s £16 million targeted support funding to manage and cover costs where BN(O) status holders are at risk of destitution which will include support with any housing costs and translation up to £2,720 per BN(O) household for destitution support. VCSE groups may also be able to offer additional levels of support in the case of destitution.
6. Afghan Relocation and Assistance Policy (ARAP)
6.1 The Secretary of State for Defence, Ben Wallace MP, announced on 1st June 2021, that following the decision to begin the withdrawal of military forces from Afghanistan, the Prime Minister has agreed the Ministry of Defence, Home Office and MHCLG to rapidly accelerate applications through the policy. ARAP was first introduced to help vulnerable Afghans, who risked their lives supporting British troops, to relocate to the UK and start new lives.
6.2 On 3rd June 2021, the MHCLG Secretary of State, the Home Secretary and the Secretary of State for Defence, jointly wrote to Local Authority Chief Executives and Leaders seeking support in the accelerated relocation of locally employed staff (LES) who have been supporting the UK forces in Afghanistan. The letter is attached as Appendix 7(d).
6.3 The strategy is for approximately 600 families to relocate over the summer months with the first relocations arriving imminently and the remaining families early Autumn.
6.4 A factsheet was revised in May 2021 outlining Local Authorities key responsibilities in assisting new arrivals and supporting integration including available funding.
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6.5 The local authority is responsible for providing a four-month integration package which includes: . Reception arrangements upon arrival at the airport including handover from flight escorts and welcome briefing. . Accommodation. . A package of advice and assistance covering employment, welfare benefits, housing, health, education, and utility supply. . Registration with GPs and local Job Centre Plus including receipt of a National Insurance Number. . Assistance in securing school places for school aged children. . Cash support.
6.6 It should be noted that new arrivals will not be eligible for benefits until they can satisfy the Habitual Residency Test set by the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) which can take up to 3 months, so the local authority provides financial support to those who arrive under the relocation schemes for up to 4 months.
6.7 Discussions are ongoing with Local Authorities and a number of pledges are considered and indeed, have already made. We also continue to work with Government departments on issues relating to the delivery of the programme including housing availability and contingency arrangements.
7. Recommendations
Members of East Midlands Councils are invited to:
7.1 Advise on impact and experience of local authorities’ participation in asylum dispersal including response to Covid-19 pandemic.
7.2 Advise on the impact and experience of local authorities where contingency accommodation has been sourced.
7.3 Consider the need and opportunity to widen asylum dispersal in the region.
7.4 Continue to advise the secretariat of the impact and future implications of the UASC National Transfer Scheme in relation to funding and other key considerations to inform further discussion with the Home Office, at both Ministerial and civil servant level.
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7.5 Consider the implications of the introduction of the new immigration route for Hong Kong BN(O) citizens.
7.6 Consider the need to assist in the resettlement of Afghan Locally Employed Staff (LES).
Cllr Alex Dale Chair Regional Migration Board
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Emma Haddad Director General, Asylum and Protection 2 Marsham Street London SW1P 4DF
Indra Morris, Director General, Social Care, Mobility and Disadvantage Department for Education, Sanctuary Buildings, Great Smith Street
Monday 7 June 2021
Dear colleagues,
URGENT NATIONAL SUPPORT TO UNACCOMPANIED ASYLUM-SEEKING CHILDREN
Firstly, a thank you to all those who are working tirelessly to ensure that the approximately 3,000 unaccompanied asylum-seeking children (UASC) enter the United Kingdom are cared for. However, some local authorities are receiving a disproportionate number of UASC in their areas and, as we enter the summer months, we are already seeing increasing pressures from growing numbers of UASC arriving on small boats on the south coast. There is a lot of ongoing work to reduce these crossings that put lives at risk. In the meantime, the Home Office and Department for Education are doing all that we can to support those local authorities such as Kent and Croydon that receive large numbers of new arrivals and ensure that these young people are properly cared for. We are therefore writing to you to ask that you consider if there is more that your local authority can do to help.
As you will know the National Transfer Scheme for UASC has not worked as effectively as we had envisaged. Following a consultation last year our two departments are working together to establish a reformed National Transfer Scheme as soon as possible. The transformation package will address many of the barriers identified through the consultation and we hope will lead to a more equitable and sustainable solution. We hope an announcement on that will be made within the next few weeks.
Over the last year many local authorities have already responded to calls for support with care for UASC with more than 600 UASC having transferred to 112 different authorities across the UK. We know too, that many local authorities continue to support high numbers of unaccompanied children, both those who arrive spontaneously and those they have taken through the National Transfer Scheme. We also appreciate that many authorities provide support for the wider asylum population, refugees being resettled to the UK and are also now considering what support they can offer for Afghans being transferred to the UK. We are very grateful for this.
While the reformed National Transfer Scheme is being finalised and put in place, we need to do what we can to help alleviate current pressures and are therefore asking whether you are able to provide support to these young people now. It only needs each authority across the UK to assume
80 Item 11, Appendix (a) statutory responsibility for a small number of unaccompanied asylum-seeking children over the course of a year. If every local authority could commit to assuming statutory responsibility for a small number of unaccompanied asylum-seeking children with immediate effect, then we would very rapidly secure a more equitable distribution of UASC across the UK.
Last week we visited one of the reception centres in Kent housing many young people who have arrived recently. We had the privilege of spending some time talking to them and know that whilst working with unaccompanied asylum-seeking children can be challenging it can also be extremely rewarding. We know that there is a great deal of expertise among local authorities in how to support these young people. We are happy to help make connections between local authorities if those less familiar with this work feel they would benefit from an opportunity to learn from the considerable experience of others.
We urgently need a pipeline of offers of placements and, as above, the number we need from each local authority is incredibly small. We can also confirm that any local authority assuming responsibility for a transferring UASC as part of this request will receive funding at the higher rate of £143 per young person per night Separately round 200 available placements have been identified across the UK, and our teams would be happy to discuss with you whether and how any of those places might be secured for UASC arrivals.
Please do not hesitate to get in touch should you find it helpful to have further information or would welcome a discussion with one of our team. Please contact [email protected] with details of what you are able to provide either immediately or over the coming weeks.
Finally, we will, of course, share information on reforms to the National Transfer Scheme at the earliest opportunity and look forward to working with you to ensure that this provides a sustainable way of supporting UASC in the longer-term.
With very many thanks for your help and support.
Yours sincerely,
Emma Haddad Indra Morris Director General, Asylum and Protection Director General, Social Care, Mobility and Disadvantage
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Emma Haddad Director General, Asylum and Protection Home Office 2 Marsham Street London SW1P 4DF
Indra Morris Director General, Children’s Services, Communications and Strategy Department for Education Sanctuary Buildings Great Smith Street London SW1P 3BT
Tuesday 29 June 2021
Dear Colleagues,
URGENT NATIONAL SUPPORT TO UNACCOMPANIED ASYLUM-SEEKING CHILDREN
We wrote to you on 7 June underlining the increasing number of young people arriving on small boats on the south coast, and the help needed to ensure that each unaccompanied asylum-seeking child is given the appropriate support by a local authority. In response, many of your teams got in touch with offers, or further offers, of placements. Over the last couple of weeks, these offers have ensured that each young person only spends a minimum amount of time at the port before being moved to suitable and safe accommodation with the right care around them. Thank you so much to all of you who have been able to help.
We have now exhausted all the offers that came in. We know some authorities are working to have placements ready for later in the year, for which we are very grateful. However, young people continue to arrive. We are severely limited in what we can offer at the port, and urgently need more placements to continue to move every young person into local authority care as quickly as possible after arrival. If every authority was able to assume statutory responsibility for a very small number of unaccompanied asylum-seeking children, we would be able to look after arriving young people safely as well as ensure a fair and equitable distribution across the UK.
We remain ready to help make connections between local authorities if those less familiar with this work feel they would benefit from an opportunity to learn from the considerable experience of others. Please contact [email protected] with details of what you are able to provide either immediately or over the coming weeks.
82 Item 11, Appendix (b) In the meantime, you will have seen the announcement of the revised National Transfer Scheme, Changes to the National Transfer Scheme - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). We are working hard to implement the new national voluntary rota asap in July. The new scheme comes with increased funding, which will be backdated to 1 April. This includes the higher rate of £143 which will now ‘follow the child’.
With very many thanks for your help and support.
Yours sincerely,
Emma Haddad Indra Morris Director General, Asylum and Protection Director General, Children’s Services, Communications and Strategy
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10 June 2021
To: Directors of Children’s Services, Chief Executives and Lead Member in all Local Authorities (England only)
Dear all,
The new National Transfer Scheme (NTS)
We are pleased to write to you about the launch of the new NTS. We would like to express our gratitude for the invaluable support that so many local authorities are providing to vulnerable young asylum seekers, including to those local authorities that have provided over 600 placements to unaccompanied asylum-seeking children (UASC) arriving on the south coast since June 2020. We recognise that delivering this support can be challenging but can also be extremely rewarding and that this national responsibility needs to be shared across all areas of the United Kingdom.
As you will be aware, the NTS was established in 2016 to provide a mechanism for the statutory responsibility for a UASC to be transferred between an entry local authority and another local authority in the UK, ensuring UASC get the crucial care placements that they need whilst facilitating a more equitable distribution of responsibility for UASC across the UK, alleviating pressures felt by entry authorities, and those local authorities caring for significant numbers of UASC and former UASC.
Since 2018 the NTS has experienced significant challenges. This led to a joint Home Office and Department for Education consultation with local authorities in August 2020. At the centre of the consultation was a proposal for a new rota system, which had been developed in partnership with the Local Government Association (LGA), Association of Directors of Children’s Services (ADCS), Devolved Administrations and Strategic Migration Partnerships (SMPs), building on the success of regional rotas in London and the East of England.
We are grateful for the responses to the consultation, we received over 200 formal responses including 60 specifically capturing the views and experiences of young people, as well as further responses from several Non-Governmental Organisations. You will recall that a summary of the consultation responses was attached to our letter of 23 December 2020.
Today we are pleased to announce a package of measures that we believe will address the key barriers that local authorities raised during the consultation.
The key elements of the package are:
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• A new voluntary national rota system reflecting pressures relating to children’s services and the supported asylum population.
• An uplift to the Home Office funding rates for former UASC care leavers, from £240 per person per week to £270 representing a 12.5% uplift.
• The higher UASC daily rate of £143 for authorities with larger UASC numbers will now also ‘follow the child’. That is, if a UASC is transferred via the NTS from a higher rate receiving local authority the new local authority will also receive the higher rate for that child regardless of their total UASC numbers.
• A £3m exceptions costs fund that will be made available to support local authorities experiencing exceptional costs.
• A review of the funding provided to local authorities in relation to Personal Advisor support for care leavers up to age 25.
• Support for local authorities with age assessments; and
• Operating model improvements to improve the effective operation of the new scheme.
More detailed information on the broader package is attached at Annex A.
We know that some local authorities wanted there to be a mandatory NTS, however, there was no clear consensus emerging from the consultation on this issue and we have concluded that an enhanced voluntary scheme is the right way forward at this time, although the Home Secretary will retain the existing statutory power in Section 72 of the Immigration Act 2016.
Next steps
The new national rota represents a positive and progressive change from previous arrangements, and we acknowledge that authorities and regions will need some time to develop their own local arrangements. Our officials have already started joint work with Strategic Migration Partnerships (SMPs) and representatives in regions and local authorities to prepare for the new national rota; that work will continue to support the early phases of implementation.
The new national rota will come into effect as soon as possible in July and the funding changes will be backdated to 1 April 2021. Whilst all the changes are put in place, we would be extremely grateful to local authorities for supporting the NTS through offering placements for newly arriving young people.
Over the course of the next few weeks there will be opportunities to speak directly with ourselves and our senior officials through a series of regional and national engagement events to launch the new NTS. Officials will coordinate these arrangements via SMPs, and they will be in touch regarding these plans very soon.
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Finally, we look forward to continuing to work with you to achieve our shared aim of ensuring vulnerable children and young people are provided with crucial care placements and support from local authorities via the new NTS, and where all parts of the UK play their part in this important national responsibility.
Minister Philp is writing in similar terms to the Devolved Administrations.
Kind regards,
Yours sincerely,
Chris Philp MP Vicky Ford MP Minister for Immigration Compliance Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State and Justice for Children and Families
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Annex A – Detailed Information on the new NTS
National rota
The consultation responses told us that a key barrier to participation in the NTS has been the lack of certainty over the number of children local authorities will be required to support and when they will arrive.
The new national rota will give regions and local authorities greater clarity about what is expected from them under the NTS, allowing them to plan ahead for transfers. This rota will also determine a fair allocation of NTS referrals to each region, reflecting a range of pressures on local authorities. Each region will take its turn on the rota so it will be clear where responsibility lies for placing newly arrived children. It will then be for the regional Strategic Migration Partnership (SMP) UASC Co-ordinator to allocate a referral to a local authority in that region according to their own locally determined arrangements. Responses to the NTS consultation were clear that previous modelling based on two factors alone did not fully reflect the range of pressures that local authorities are under. We have, therefore, developed an enhanced rota model that takes account of the size of each local authority, their supported asylum population and the pressures on their children’s services, including from UASC and former UASC care leavers. We have worked closely with local government partners including the Local Government Association (LGA), Association of Directors of Children’s Services (ADCS), SMPs and Devolved Administrations to determine the appropriate weighting to be applied to each factor. The resulting rota takes account of the key concerns of local authorities, while ensuring an approach that continues to act in the best interests of the child.
Full details of the rota will follow shortly.
Funding uplift
We are pleased to announce an uplift to the funding contribution provided to local authorities by the Home Office. Going forwards, in addition to those local authorities supporting the greatest proportion of UASC, all local authorities will also receive the higher rate of £143 per child per day for any UASC transferred to them through the NTS. This funding uplift will take immediate effect and will be backdated to 1 April 2021.
UASC care leavers in all local authorities will receive an uplifted rate from £240 to £270 per week. This funding uplift will also take immediate effect and will be backdated to 1 April 2021.
The Department for Education is committed to reviewing the funding it provides to local authorities to implement the duty in the Children & Social Work Act 2017, which requires them to offer Personal Adviser (PA) support to all care leavers to age 25. A survey will be issued to all local authorities in England shortly, asking them to provide details on the number of care leavers aged over 21 who are taking
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up the offer of PA support; and DfE has begun to have detailed discussions with a sample of local authorities and ADCS/LGA, to complement the survey findings.
Exceptions costs funding
We recognise there are sometimes exceptional costs associated with supporting UASC. We have therefore established a £3m contingency pot of additional money which, we envisage, could be used to support local authorities facing legal costs relating to age assessment challenges to ensure these are robustly defended or where the needs of a particular child carry significant additional costs.
More details will follow soon.
Support for local authorities with age assessments
The Home Office are building a team of specialist social workers to support local authorities across the UK in a pilot scheme to conduct age assessments and provide guidance and support. This includes bringing expertise from local authorities with more experience of conducting age assessment. It is expected that this offer of support will remain in place until the National Age Assessment Board, as outlined in the New Plan for Immigration policy statement, is established.
Operational improvements
A revised National Transfer Scheme Protocol will be published to reflect the new national rota and to incorporate operational improvements that have been made in response to feedback from the NTS consultation. This will include an escalation procedure that outlines the pathway to resolving any disagreements between entry authorities and receiving authorities and a more transparent data sharing package to assure local authorities that the scheme operates effectively and fairly.
Other support
We recognise the concerns, expressed through the NTS consultation, about care placement sufficiency and addressing this is a priority issue for the Government.
In addition to the £24m announced at the last Spending Review, the Department for Education will be developing plans, backed up by additional investment, to support local authorities to create more places in children’s homes. Bringing new foster carers into the system and retaining the skills of experienced carers is also a priority for Government and we continue to work with local authorities and fostering services to make sure we have enough of the right foster carers in the right place at the right time for the children who need them.
We will continue to consider how we can further support local authorities to provide more care placements, including for unaccompanied asylum-seeking children.
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To all local authority chief executives and leaders in England, Scotland and Wales
Dear All,
AFGHAN LES RELOCATION SCHEME ACCELERATION
We are writing to seek your support in the accelerated relocation of locally employed staff (LES) who have been supporting the UK in Afghanistan.
As many of you will know, the Government has been running a scheme to relocate Afghan former LES to the UK since 2013, in recognition of the fact that they are at increased risk of intimidation, having worked side by side with our armed forces and officials. For example, many of those who are eligible under the scheme have worked as military interpreters.
Under our new relocation policy launched at the beginning of April, we assess that around 1000 Afghan LES and their families may be eligible to apply for 5 years ‘Leave to Enter the UK’ with a pathway to resettlement thereafter.
Following the announcement that NATO military forces will withdraw from Afghanistan, we intend to accelerate the pace of relocations under the scheme. The precise number of people, and the timing of their relocation to the UK, will depend on a number of factors, including the wishes of the families themselves. For planning purposes, we believe we should be prepared to relocate up to 600 families over the summer, with the first of the relocations beginning in the middle of June. However, we should emphasise that the scheme has no cut-off date, and we will continue to fulfil our obligations to all those who are eligible under it, whenever they decide to apply.
A collaborative, cross-government approach is being taken to support the effective integration of all those LES who choose to come to the UK, including engagement with Local Authorities and each of the 11 Strategic Migration Partnerships across the UK.
The Home Office provides a funding package to support local authorities who come forward to offer support to welcome LES arrivals and enable them to deliver integration support for families which includes a package of advice and assistance covering employment, welfare benefits, access to health and education. This existing offer will be enhanced through additional central government integration support, including an online welcome pack for all LES new arrivals and local engagement networks for participating local authorities, to share information and resources. More information is contained in the attached factsheet.
Providing a safe haven to these individuals and their families is a significant priority for both this Government and the United Kingdom. I am therefore extremely grateful for your
89 Item 11, Appendix (d) support and assistance as we fulfil our moral obligation to support those who have served this country.
RT HON ROBERT JENRICK MP RT HON PRITI PATEL SECRETARY OF STATE FOR HOUSING, HOME SECRETARY COMMUNITIES AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT
THE RT HON BEN WALLACE MP SECRETARY OF STATE FOR DEFENCE
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Annual General Meeting
9th July 2021
Local Government Employment Developments
Summary
This paper updates Members on significant issues relating to local authorities as employers over the last year and identifies those being faced during the forthcoming year.
Recommendations
Members of East Midlands Councils are invited to:
. Note this report. . To provide comments and feedback on the employment issues identified within the report to inform EMC’s input to future Employers’ meetings at Regional and National level.
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1. Introduction
1.1 The Regional Employers’ Board provides political leadership on employment issues and forms the Employers’ side of the Regional Joint Council. East Midlands Councils (EMC) through its role as the region’s Employers Organisation, has the responsibility of supporting employment relations through the operation of the Regional Joint Council.
1.2 This report provides information for members on the key issues being faced by Councils in their role as employers, focusing in particular on the workforce implications of COVID, developments with local government pay and the exit pay cap, as well as support for councils in the region on workforce matters and councillor development.
2. Regional Employers’ Board Update
2.1 Work Plan
At its meeting on 1st June 2020, the Regional Employers’ Board agreed a work plan for 2020-21, taking into account the support that Councils would require in response to the new ways of working and the workforce implications of COVID- 19. The key themes agreed for the workplan are: . Coronavirus response and planning . Supporting Change and Transformation . Employee Wellbeing – mental health, supporting attendance . Attracting & Developing Talent: o Apprenticeships - supporting councils to maximise return on the levy and identify apprenticeships to assist with skills shortage areas o Addressing skills shortage areas promoting local government as an employer o Modernising recruitment & selection o Officer and councillor development . Pay and Rewards - national pay negotiations, pay benchmarking, revisions to NJC JE scheme, refreshing approaches to job evaluation . Supporting diversity and addressing the gender pay gap . Brexit: maintaining a watching brief and reviewing the value of CEEP UK
2.2 Update on Meetings since the last EMC General Meeting
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2.2.1 The Board met on 25th November 2020 and focused discussions on latest developments relating to the exit pay cap which had been implemented earlier that month (and was later revoked), prevailing workforce issues relating to COVID, local government reform in Northamptonshire and broader reforms. It was agreed that work should take place to capture the lessons from the experience of LGR in Northamptonshire. The meeting also received information on sickness absence rates across the region and the potential impact of new ways of working. Average sickness absence for 2019/20 was the same as the previous year, with 9.2 days lost per full-time equivalent employee. Councils generally reported a reduction in sickness absence since March 2020, mainly relating to short-term absence. Some councils are starting to see an increase in absence cases relating to mental health problems.
2.2.2 The Regional Employers’ Board (REB) met on 26th March 2021 and discussions focussed on national pay developments.
2.2.3 The most recent Regional Employers’ Board (REB) took place on 9th June 2021. The REB discussed the national pay offer and the tensions between affordability and recognising the contribution of the local government workforce. It also discussed the merits of remaining in CEEP UK within the context of Brexit. EMC’s Councillor Development offer, which was shaped with input from REB was shared. (A copy will be circulated to EMC members).
3. Regional Joint Council Update
3.1 The Regional Joint Council (RJC) met following the Employers’ Board meetings set out above and provided an opportunity for the Employers to formally thank staff and unions for the flexibility shown to enable such a positive response by the sector to the COVID situation.
3.2 At the meeting held on 25th November 2020, EMRJC received a presentation on the latest developments with COVID-19 testing within the workplace and on the regional approach to Kickstart being offered by East Midlands Councils.
3.3 At its meeting on 26th March 2021, the Union Learning Fund was discussed and it was agreed that the Joint Secretaries would explore opportunities for joint working in support of the aims of the Union Learning Fund which was being
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discontinued. At that meeting, EMC provided information on initiatives councils were taking to support employee wellbeing.
3.4 The June meeting of the EMRJC received a presentation from ACAS on the potential for a Good Work Charter for the region. Both sides of the Joint Council expressed their interest in the initiative and wanted to ensure the Charter would not add bureaucracy for businesses. Representatives were invited to join the project team and EMC’s HR & Councillor Development Director has taken up this offer and has met with the project team.
4. Pay
4.1 The Board will recall that the joint unions put forward a pay claim for 2021 for employees in the main negotiating group of Local Government Services (those on “Green Book”) terms and conditions.
4.2 The claim comprises two elements – one for pay and the other for changes to terms and conditions. A copy of the claims can be found here (pay claim) and here (terms & conditions). In summary, the claim seeks: . A substantial increase with a minimum of 10% on all spinal column points. . Introduction of a homeworking allowance for all staff who are working from home. . A national minimum agreement on homeworking policies for all councils. . A reduction of the working week to 35 hours with no loss of pay, and a reduction to 34 hours a week in London. Part-time staff to be given a choice of a pro rata reduction, or retaining the same hours and being paid a higher percentage of FTE. . A minimum of 25 days annual leave, plus public holidays and statutory days, for all starting employees, plus an extra day holiday on all other holiday rates that depend on service. . An agreement on a best practice national programme of mental health support for all local authorities and school staff. . A joint review of job descriptions, routes for career developments and pay banding for school support staff, and completion of the outstanding work of the joint term-time only review group. . A joint review of the provisions in the Green Book for maternity / paternity / shared parental / adoption leave.
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4.3 The National Employers conducted regional consultation meetings in March and in May an offer was made as outlined below (a copy can be accessed here).
4.4 The offer is for an increase of 1.5% across all pay points. The offer refers to completing the outstanding joint review of terms and conditions for Term-Time Only staff and also proposes that the NJC begins immediate exploratory discussions on three other elements of the claim: . A national minimum agreement on homeworking policies for all councils. . An agreement on a best practice national programme of mental health support for all local authorities and school staff. . A joint review of the provisions in the Green Book for maternity/paternity/shared parental/adoption leave.
4.5 The employers have rejected the following aspects of the unions’ claim: . The introduction of a homeworking allowance for all staff who are working from home. . A reduction of the working week. . Increasing annual leave. . A joint review of job descriptions, routes for career developments and pay banding for school support staff. This was rejected on the basis that these are matters entirely for local determination.
4.6 The unions have rejected the offer and asked for an improved offer and urgent discussions. In response Lead Members met with unions and re-affirmed their original offer and impressed on the unions the need to specify what they are seeking in relation to the terms and conditions aspects that the Employers had agreed to explore. The lead members explained that the request to improve the offer had been noted and would be considered at the next meeting of the full Employers’ Side and sought to manage unions’ expectations by setting out the financial reality that all councils are struggling with. A date for the Employers’ meeting is yet to be finalised and is likely to take place in late May.
4.7 Last month the National Employers wrote to the staff sides of the other bargaining groups for which they have responsibility (Chief Officers, Chief Executives and Craftworkers) to inform them that they will not be able to respond to their respective pay claims until the main NJC pay agreement has been settled.
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5. COVID-19
5.1 The workforce implications of COVID have clearly been significant over this last year, and in its role as the Regional Employers’ Organisation, EMC refocused its work to support councils in managing these issues. Councils were provided with timely advice and information, with EMC responding to more queries in a month than is usually received across a year.
5.2 Three main themes that EMC focused on to support councils have been employee wellbeing, particularly relating to mental health; supporting councils with the implications of managing people remotely; and assisting the transition to new ways of working for managers, team members and from an organisational culture perspective. This was delivered through regular advice, guidance, events and networks. These were quickly adapted to operate effectively within an on-line and virtual environment. In addition, EMC has been working with the other regional employers and the LGA on the development of national guidance and sharing information and best practice.
5.3 At each stage of the pandemic and response, EMC has supported councils with the emerging workforce issues, with current concerns outlined below.
5.4 Long COVID has been the subject of several queries that EMC has responded to and advised on as part of its free advice service to local authorities. The issue had also been raised as a concern by the Regional Employers Board, and further information was provided for the Board at its June meeting.
5.5 EMC has signposted to guidance recently issued by ACAS for employers and employees on managing the issues raised by Long COVID which includes guidance on making reasonable adjustments where this is appropriate. The guide can be accessed here: https://www.acas.org.uk/long-covid
5.6 A national joint circular has also been issued to provide updated guidance relating to COVID, including on absence caused by Long COVID. A copy can be accessed here
5.7 Last week the Government announced its intention to introduce mandatory COVID vaccinations for workers/visitors in care homes for elderly people, with exemptions for those unable to be vaccinated for medical reasons, those
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entering to assist with an emergency or carrying out urgent maintenance work, those aged under 18 and participants in clinical trials.
5.8 These proposals are subject to parliamentary approval and the Government has laid draft amended Regulations under Section 162 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008, with the intention these will be debated before the summer recess on 22 July. The draft Regulations include extending the vaccination requirement to all CQC-registered care homes accommodating people requiring nursing or personal care, and to everyone entering a care home, regardless of their role, unless they meet specified exemptions.
5.9 Assuming the draft regulations are voted through, there will be a 16-week grace period for staff to take up vaccination. Operational guidance to support implementation is planned. DHSC has also published Stakeholder Questions and Answers about the policy and its implementation.
5.10 EMC is liaising with colleagues at the LGA and will keep HR leads in councils informed of any national workforce guidance that is developed.
6. Public Sector Exit Pay Cap
6.1 Last year the Government carried out a consultation on its proposals to implement a cap on exit pay for public sector workers of £95,000. EMC supported councils with their responses to the consultation and submitted a regional response to represent the views of local authorities. This emphasised concerns relating to the practical implications and unintended consequences which included potential adverse and unfair impact on certain employees.
6.2 The legislation was implemented in November, presenting a significant issue for councils, as it placed them at legal risk by contradicting prevailing pension legislation. The exit pay cap was revoked ahead of judicial reviews that were due to take place in early 2021 and councils were required to pay the shortfall in exit pay to those individuals who had been affected by the cap while it had been in place.
6.3 It is expected that the government will introduce new regulations to restrict exit pay over the coming year and this would be subject to consultation.
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6.4 In the meantime, MHCLG last month has required councils to provide information on exit payments that have been made over the past six years, with the intention of publishing the data. This requirement has not been placed on other sectors that would be in scope of an exit pay cap.
7. Europe
7.1 SGI is one of the bodies that conducts negotiations on the development of EU Directives and represents the interests of public sector employers. CEEP UK is a member of SGI, representing the interests of the UK. Members are reminded that EMC’s membership of CEEP UK has been under review while the UK’s position in relation to the EU and the post-Brexit deal became clearer.
7.2 Now the nature of the deal is known, the decision on the future of CEEP UK is being assessed and options are being explored to consider whether there remains any benefit of continuing in order to maintain some influence on EU legislation as it developed and negotiated. Norway, for example, is a member of CEEP whilst not being a member of the EU. The decision may, of course, be to wind up the organisation.
8. Regional Activity & Support
8.1 Kickstart
8.1.1 The Government has introduced a range of initiatives to help alleviate the impact of the Covid pandemic on employment opportunities. EMC has been working to make it easier for councils to participate in the Kickstart scheme, which provides funded work placements and employability development for young people at risk of long-term unemployment.
8.1.2 During the year, EMC gained accreditation as a gateway organisation, to co- ordinate the grant/funding process on behalf of the group of Local Authorities who have offered job placements. EMC is also providing training and development to support employability of the young people on the scheme using grant funding for this purpose.
8.1.3 Last month young people started their Kickstart placements in councils who are using EMC as a gateway organisation and this first cohort will start their first
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development session next week. Councils can join the gateway throughout the year and can also access the funded employability training that is being provided by EMC which is tailored to meet the needs of the trainees to ensure that they can maximise the benefits of their placements and develop insights and skills to help them gain future employment.
8.2 Future & Agile Working Arrangements
8.2.1 EMC facilitated a successful virtual information exchange on 12th May on the theme of Future and Agile Working Arrangements. Over 40 officers participated to share approaches and ideas and the feedback has been excellent. The session included expert input from the LGA on the employment law aspects of new ways of working. Information was also shared on models and approaches from councils and public sector bodies in the North East region courtesy of EMC’s counterparts NEREO. As an outcome, a further meeting is being arranged to enable councils to explore the issues in more depth.
8.3 Councillor Development
8.3.1 EMC’s programme of Councillor Development has been launched and a brochure that outlines the offer is provided at Appendix 12 (a). The programme has been influenced by feedback from Councillors through the REB and the Councillor Development network and features events that have been popular in previous years. Through the course of the year, the programme will see the addition of new events on topical and emerging themes.
8.3.2 Charnwood Borough Council were successful in gaining re-accreditation of the Councillor Development Charter following assessment in April. The Charter provides a framework of good practice and helps organisations to understand strengths and areas for development in their approach to member development, to ensure development is effective. The assessment approach has been streamlined in recent years and further information is available from Lisa Butterfill or Sam Maher at EMC.
8.4 Consultancy Update
8.4.1 Over the last year, 43 separate assignments were delivered for councils on a range of HR aspects. During the past three months, this has included:
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. Pay and grading support and job evaluation training . Team development . Coaching . Disciplinary investigations . Psychometric testing . Mediation . Interim and Strategic HR Management support
8.4.2 A recent highlight has been supporting a County Council for the 3rd successive year with an assessment centre to select graduates for its graduate development programme. For the last two years the assessments have been successfully translated to the virtual environment, proving to be an effective and efficient approach that is likely to be continued in future years.
9. Recommendations
Members of East Midlands Councils are invited to:
9.1 Note the contents of the report.
9.2 Provide comments and feedback on the key employment issues identified above to inform EMC’s input to future Employers’ meetings at regional and national level.
Cllr Gale Waller Vice-Chair Regional Employers’ Board
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EMC Councillor Development 2021 - 2022
East Midlands Councils (EMC) provides a comprehensive, value for money Councillor Development programme for member councils in the East Midlands. Supporting Councillors is a key area of our work, more information on how we support Councillors and Councils can be found on our website here. This brochure provides a brief overview of our development and support offer for Councillors across the East Midlands which ncludes; • Policy / thematic based events for Councillors in the East Midlands, highlighting specific areas, such as our current programme of events on climate change specifically designed for Councillors • A weekly briefing service with the latest digested news for local government emailed to you every Friday WORKSHOPS FEATURED • Skills workshops delivered in house, online and face to face at our • The Role of the Civic Head headquarters (when conditions allow), on areas such as Chairing • Chairing and Effective skills, Time management and Presentation skills Meetings • The East Midlands Regional Councillor Development Charter, we • Overview and Scrutiny lead the assessment and validation of Charter status, as well as on going support workshop for Councillors • Personal Development Planning for Councillors • Overview and Scrutiny workshop for Chairs and • Action Learning Sets for Councillors Vice Chairs • Developing Impact and Influence Workshops for Councillors • Communication skills for Councillors We also host networks for Councillors, bringing both Councillors and Officers together on areas such as; With details to follow on further sessions, including; • Councillor Development • Workshop for Newly • Overview and Scrutiny Elected Councillors
• Social Media
• Local Government Finance
101 Item 12, Appendix (a) CLIMATE CHANGE WORKSHOPS East Midlands Councils, the LGA and A series of workshops will be held Midlands Energy Hub working in during 2021, the themes will explore: partnership are offering a series of • Transport (Public and Private) virtual interactive workshops for • Behavioural change Councillors on Climate Change. • Green Economic Recovery / The interactive virtual workshops will renewable and green energy provide Councillors from across the East Midlands with the opportunity East Midlands Councils, the LGA and to hear from both Councillors and Midlands Energy Hub have already Officers on innovative approaches to delivered workshops on; climate change reduction plans and • Community engagement initiatives. • Housing and Energy Efficiency
The workshops will include both Further information on the events in keynote presentations and small the programme will be available group working, providing space for shortly, along with the dates for the discussion, sharing and exploring workshops on Transport and ‘what does this mean for me and my Behaviour Change. community?’ and ‘what role can I play?’.
CHAIRING AND EFFECTIVE MEETINGS Some of the positive feedback we have EMC is hosting a 3 hour virtual session on Chairing and Effective meetings. The received from our workshop is suitable for new and continuing chairs. This virtual session will be workshops for interactive, drawing on people’s experience and insights from the tutor with some Councillors group work. It covers formal roles such as chairing full council or a planning committee, as well as less formal approaches to chairing eg. for scrutiny activity and public meetings. It explores the implications of remote working for holding and “The course was managing meetings and the value of protocols for engagement. interactive and the This virtual interactive workshop will include breaks, to ensure that those taking part exercises worked in a can get the most out of the session. very standard way. I feel that it is one of the better The sessions will offer councillors courses I have been on.” • Checklists and protocols for virtual meetings
“It will help me to • Briefing and activity cover preparation for meetings, management of a meeting implement some and follow up for effective outcomes intergenerational project • useful phrases for chairs groups within my ward” The focus is guided by participants so we can include problem solving around challenges chairs might face “Great, this was really useful and enjoyable, I Audience - The workshop is suitable for new and learnt a great deal in continuing chairs. such a short period of Date and time- Friday 18 June, 10:00 - 13:00 time” This virtual course will be held using MS Teams. Costs - £75 per person for EMC Members (Costs subject to VAT). Please note that places are limited, we recommend early booking to ensure a place. 102 How to book – please book places online here. Item 12, Appendix (a) OVERVIEW AND SCRUTINY WORKSHOP EMC is hosting a 3 hour virtual session on Overview and Scrutiny. The Councillor workshop is suitable for new and experienced non-executive councillors Development and co-optees involved in O&S activity. The workshop will draw on people’s Network experience and insights from the tutor.
This workshop will cover the principles behind scrutiny and the different ways of working, as well as skills for the roles. We will look at the formal The Councillor Development roles such as O&S committee meetings, less formal approaches to scrutiny Network supports both local such as task and finish groups and inquiry days and the importance of all authority Members and parts of the system collaborating constructively through scrutiny. Scrutiny Officers responsible for skills include work programming, project scoping and questioning, listening councillor learning and and evidence gathering. development, by sharing knowledge, information and Date and Time - Thursday 24 June, 10:00 – 13:00 ideas across the region These workshops will be 3 hours in length, breaks will be included through discussions and throughout the session to aid concentration and enjoyment of the virtual presentations. Over the past workshop. twelve months the network Costs - £75 per person for EMC Members (Costs subject to VAT). have discussed engagement, This virtual course will be held using MS Teams. role profiles, induction, evaluation and identifying How to book – please book places online here. learning needs. The network webpage is WORKSHOP FOR CHAIRS AND VICE CHAIRS available here. OF OVERVIEW AND SCRUTINY Lead Officer - Lisa Butterfill, East Midlands Councils EMC is hosting a 3 hour virtual session on Overview and Scrutiny. The For more information about workshop is suitable for new and experienced non-executive councillors this network contact Lisa and co-optees involved in O&S activity. The workshop will draw on people’s Butterfill experience and insights from the tutor. [email protected] This workshop will cover the principles behind scrutiny and the different v.uk ways of working, as well as skills for the roles. We will look at the formal roles such as O&S committee meetings, less formal approaches to scrutiny such as task and finish groups and inquiry days and the importance of all parts of the system collaborating constructively through scrutiny. Scrutiny skills include work programming, project scoping and questioning, listening For more information on our and evidence gathering. Councillor Development support Date and Time - Thursday 24 June, 10:00 – 13:00 contact These workshops will be 3 hours in length, breaks will be included Kirsty Lowe throughout the session to aid concentration and enjoyment of the virtual [email protected] workshop. or visit Costs - £75 per person for EMC Members (Costs subject to VAT). www.emcouncils.gov.uk/ This virtual course will be held using MS Teams. Councillor-Information-and- How to book – please book places online here.
103 Item 12, Appendix (a) HITTING THE GROUND RUNNING A WORKSHOP FOR NEWLY ELECTED MEMBERS East Midlands Scrutiny Network EMC and the LGA are hosting a virtual workshop on 2 July for newly elected members from across the East Midlands elected in May 2021. The event is to give you a wider perspective on your role, enable you to The East Midlands Councils meet newly elected councillors from other local authorities, and learn Scrutiny network is a local about the support available from the Local Government Association authority network for (LGA) and East Midlands Councils (EMC) so as to help you hit the ground Councillors and Officers running in your role. involved with Scrutiny. The programme will enable you to do this through exploring what your The network provides role means, hearing from experienced councillors on their top tips and Councillors and Officers with unrivalled insights to help equip you in your role for the months ahead. the opportunity to share Date and Time - Friday 2 July 15:00 – 17:00 knowledge, work programmes and information, as well as How to book - please book places online here. providing an opportunity to Cost—free to attend explore national developments concerning VIRTUAL COMMUNICATION SKILLS FOR scrutiny. The network webpage is COUNCILLORSWORKSHOPS available here. Chair of the Network - Cllr EMC is offering a one-hour virtual communication session for Gale Waller, Rutland County Councillors. This one-hour session offers an interactive introduction to Council online communication skills. Lead Officer - Kirsty Lowe, The outcomes will include: enhanced awareness of positive virtual East Midlands Councils communications, how to improve personal communication skills, Future meeting dates reputation and transferability of skills to the real world. 2021 Meeting dates- We are Date and Time - Thursday 23 September 14:00 – 15:00 scheduling dates in 2021, all Costs - £55.00 per person for EMC Members (Costs subject to VAT). meetings are at this point planned to take place virtually This virtual course will be held using Zoom. using MS Teams. How to book – please book places online here. Timings – 10:00 – 11:30 • 25 June 2021 COMING UP…. • 24 September 2021 In the autumn we’ll be launching a series of policy events, covering; • 10 December 2021 • Planning For more information on how to join the network meetings • Housing and Homelessness contact • Levelling up – economic recovery and restart (Devolution White Paper) [email protected]. • Health and Wellbeing uk With details to follow on further sessions, including;
• Social Media
• Local Government Finance
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