RURAL SOUTH LOCAL AREA ASSEMBLY Minutes of the first MEETING of the RURAL SOUTH LOCAL AREA ASSEMBLY held at 7.30 pm on Thursday 19 August 2004 at Edenham Village Hall. PRESENT: Councillor Peter Martin-Mayhew South Kesteven District Council (Chairman) Lincolnshire County Councillors Councillor Roy Chapman Councillor Martin Hill SKDC Councillors Councillor Mrs Linda Neal (Leader) Councillor Reg Lovelock M.B.E. Councillor Mrs Angeline Percival Councillor Mrs Marjory Radley Councillor Ian Selby Councillor Gerald Taylor SKDC Officers Sally Marshall (Director of Regulatory Services) Lena Shuttlewood (Member Services Manager) Mick Start (Licensing Officer). Parish Councillors Councillor Harry Bakker (Castle Bytham PC) Councillor Mrs Jean Joyce (Edenham, Grimsthorpe, Elsthorpe & Scottlethorpe PC) Councillor Anthony Andrews, PC Chairman and Malcolm Fisher (Clerk to Kirkby Underwood PC) Mr. Simon Turner (Folkingham PC); Councillor Nigel Ruffles (Vice- Chairman Ingoldsby PC) Councillor Cliff Ashton (Chairman South Witham PC) Mr. David Gray (Old Somerby PC) Mr. Roger Callow (Pointon & Sempringham PC) Mrs. H. Winstanley (Colsterworth, Gunby & Stainby PC). Quentin Davis M.P. 5 members of the public 1 member of the local press 1 1. Welcome Councillor Martin-Mayhew welcomed those present to the first meeting of the Rural South Local Area Assembly. Following introductions, Mr. Quentin Davis M.P. congratulated the District Council on this public consultation initiative which he welcomed as a model for local government in the area. Councillor Mrs Linda Neal, Leader of SKDC then addressed the assembly. Although the agenda for this first meeting had been set by the District Council, she emphasised that it was the community’s local area assembly and should be driven by the community. She stated that these new assemblies were an experiment and could be reviewed and changed in the light of experience. The feedback from these meetings was vital in order to help inform the District Council’s future decisions. Councillor Mrs Neal then outlined the role of the local area assemblies, YELLS and the District Council’s annual stakeholder conference which would be held on 7th December 2004 at the Grantham Council Offices. She highlighted the YELLS which would act as a forum for the young people in the community and asked attendees to forward details of any young people they knew who would be interested in participating in these youth assemblies. 2. Apologies Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Norman Radley (Lincrest ward) Councillor Carl Brown (Chairman North Witham PC). 3. South Kesteven District – An Overview Councillor Martin-Mayhew then gave an overview presentation on South Kesteven District which covered the district’s population and demographics comparisons with national statistics services provided by the District Council and the Lincolnshire County Council; and the way forward for service delivery through partnership working with other agencies and the private sector. The Assembly AGREED to note the presentation. 4. Membership of the Local Area Assembly Councillor Martin-Mayhew emphasised the need to include within the LAA membership representatives from any hard to reach groups within the area. He urged those present to pass on any information to the Council to ensure that the assembly was as inclusive as possible. Councillor Martin-Mayhew referred to the valuable source of information which could come from business interests in the 2 locality, particularly those like independent retailers who were best placed to have direct contact with members of the community. AGREED to the existing LAA membership and to pass on details of representatives of any hard to reach groups to the District Council. 5. South Kesteven District Council Priorities for 2004/05 and beyond The District Council’s Director of Regulatory Services gave a presentation on the Council’s prioritisation process, explaining the restrictions on the Council’s financial resources and the need to direct its limited funds towards those activities which were determined as priorities. These priorities had arisen by way of a thorough process of public consultation earlier in the year and was also driven to some extent by certain service targets set by national government. The priorities were: Anti Social Behaviour Access to Council Services Street Scene Recycling Town Centre Development and Grantham as a Sub Regional Centre There was no new funding to meet these targets and therefore the District Council had a choice of raising its element of the Council Tax, which in itself had implications, or to look to its other lower priority services and either seek to make efficiency savings or to actively disinvest in some areas of service delivery. The areas identified for disinvestments were: Assistance in travelling Tourism Grants to Voluntary Bodies Pest Control The Director referred to the Council’s discretionary service to provide travel concessions to those of pensionable age. As a percentage of their district council tax charge, some people were receiving a huge benefit compared with the general population. The Council would therefore be examining this area to see how best those who genuinely needed the travel concession could be targeted. The assembly was asked for its views on whether the Council had chosen the right priorities and if it had selected the best way to assess these services. The following comments and questions were raised: was the Council going to withdraw funding from the Dial-a-Ride scheme and would it make resources available for improvements in flood prevention? 3 the public’s support for access as a priority for step change was queried given that it had not been supported in the public survey. The Council needed to do more to explain why this featured in the top priorities. the step change priority for Grantham as a sub regional centre; could this mean that the Government would bring back services to the Grantham hospital which had previously been withdrawn such as a consultancy led maternity service? how would the Council’s priorities would help vulnerable people in the community? antisocial tenants being allocated properties in villages adversely affected the elderly and the vulnerable within those areas. Could the Council not use redundant MOD properties for housing? AGREED to forward the above comments to South Kesteven District Council. 6. Licensing Act 2003 The Director of Regulatory Services drew the meeting’s attention to the generally accepted priority of crime and disorder both in rural and urban areas. The new Licensing Act 2003 had implications upon the issues surrounding crime and disorder and Mr. Mick Start, the Council’s Licensing Officer was present to briefly explain the main changes resulting from this legislation. Mr. Start advised that the new legislation would take away the responsibility for alcohol licensing from the Magistrates and place this with local authorities. As a result the Council was now in the consultation phase of this legislation and was required to prepare its statement of licensing policy as part of that process. He explained that the policy contained four licensing objectives to improve public safety, safeguard children, reduce crime and disorder, and minimise public nuisance. The meeting was informed about sources of information concerning the new legislation and how the consultation would be rolled out. AGREED to note the presentation. 7. Access to Council Services The Director of Regulatory Services made a further presentation on the proposals for access to Council services which had been selected as category A priority. She gave an overview of the seventy plus services delivered by the authority and the figures on customer interaction, reiterating the Government’s target on electronically accessible services. The assembly was asked what it would like to see in terms of the way people made contact with the Council. Comments were made as follows: 4 the benefits and potential difficulties some people faced in using information technology. Some rural areas still did not have access to broadband and this did not encourage use of the internet. many vulnerable people such as the elderly did not have access to the internet and that it would be helpful if within villages there was a facility they could use and someone who could help them. community use of technology should be encouraged. South Kesteven’s website had improved but could still do with further improvements. would the Council consider access via a 24 hour telephone service as well as the internet? AGREED to forward the above comments to South Kesteven District Council. 8. Matters for consideration at future LAA meetings There being no specific issues raised by the meeting, Councillor Martin-Mayhew requested that representatives forward any items for future meetings to the Council via the Member Services Manager or the Scrutiny Officer, contact details for which were listed on the agenda for this meeting. AGREED to pass on issues for consideration at future meetings via the SKDC officer contancts. 9. LAA Area The assembly was asked to consider whether its area had been correctly designated or whether any amendments needed to be made. AGREED subject to clarification at the next meeting on the division of Morkery ward, to accept the area covered for the Rural South LAA. 10. Issues raised by the public Four questions from the public had been submitted to the Chairman before the start of the meeting: (1) Question from Mrs Jean Joyce, Edenham PC In a nutshell, is this assembly going to improve the quality of life for the elderly in sparsely populated rural areas? Response given by the Chairman: Yes, we will push forward any ideas which put the rural areas on a par with the towns. I will ensure that this issue is discussed at the next LAA meeting. (2) Question from Mr. F. Holcombe to Councillor M. Hill 5 Please comment upon the Lincolnshire County Council policy on recycling and explain how they intend to reach Government targets of 25% for 2005/06 and 50% for 2015? Please speak on the ramifications of the Government’s “rubbish tax” on households.