Agenda item

Question 1

Question from Councillor Trevor Locke to the Portfolio Holder for Housing:

 

“In previous Council meetings the Portfolio Holder has informed the Council of the most welcomed investment of £40M for improvements to Council owned homes. Would he now please up-date the Council on how his plans are progressing towards the use of this new funding and when any improvements will start?”

 

Question 2

Question from Councillor Dale Grounds to the Leader of the Council:

 

“As we know the whole country is living in some extraordinary times due to the Coronavirus Pandemic. During the height of the pandemic in the spring, this Council kept all services operating, something that only Ashfield District Council achieved throughout Nottinghamshire.

 

Would the Leader please inform the Council of the help been given to local businesses as we are now in the grip of the second wave of the pandemic?”

 

Question 3

Question from Councillor Andrew Gascoyne to the Leader of the Council:

 

“As an ex service man, and one who has served as a commando in challenging campaigns, I would like to thank the Leader for instigating the cleaning of War Memorials in the district.  Would the Leader please inform me if this maintenance will be a regular service?”

In accordance with Council Procedure Rule 13, the following questions were asked:-

 

Question 1

Question from Councillor Trevor Locke to the Portfolio Holder for Housing:

 

“In previous Council meetings the Portfolio Holder has informed the Council of the most welcomed investment of £40M for improvements to Council owned homes. Would he now please update the Council on how his plans are progressing towards the use of this new funding and when any improvements will start?”

 

Councillor Hollis responded and thanked Councillor Locke for the opportunity to highlight what the Council was set to achieve over the next 2.5 years with regards to housing expenditure.

 

He thanked the Housing Team for going above and beyond their duties over the past year in order to ensure the health, well-being and safety of some of the most vulnerable people in the District.  Staff had delivered food parcels and medicines to residents, provided money advice, sourced white goods and grants and consistently undertook repairs in people’s homes even during the tightest of restrictions.

 

Spending of the £40m was already underway and would not only reach all parts of the District but would also benefit new and existing tenants alike. The Council had not built any family accommodation for over a generation but that had now changed and within the next 2.5 years it would be spending £14.5m on new housing provision.

 

The work was commencing in December 2020 with the development of 22 new units on the former social club site on Davies Avenue at Sutton to the tune of £3.1m. The department would then be going on to spend another £4m on various projects across Sutton, including a mixture of family and adapted bungalows, making use of underperforming assets and dis-used brown field sites and areas which currently attracted anti-social behaviour.

 

Also in the first half of 2021, the Council would be seeing the start of a £2.5m build programme in Hucknall for much needed family accommodation, where a single family house could get an average of 135 bids each time one became available. This investment in Hucknall and the £40m spend did not include the 15 or so properties the Council was in the process of acquiring on the former Rolls Royce site.

 

Kirkby would also receive just short of £5m investment in the first quarter of 2022, again picking up areas of underutilised assets and areas attracting anti-social behaviour. It was anticipated that one of the schemes could include a development exclusively made up of bungalows and with the objective of being close to net-carbon zero.

 

The bulk of the Council’s money would be going to existing tenants and over the next 2.5 years the Council would be installing new and upgraded fixtures within their properties. In the remainder of 2020 alone, the Council was also expecting to spend just over £4.6m on new fittings within its properties.  The money would not only provide new windows, roofs and kitchens but also important aspects such as fire doors, disabled adaptations and upgrades to communal areas.

 

Throughout 2021/22 and 2022/23, the Council was expecting to spend an average of £11.5m on its existing properties. This would include £2m on electrical replacements and upgrades across the District and £2m on new roofs, with the majority being in Sutton whose roofing programme was temporally delayed due to the Covid pandemic.

 

Nearly £1.8m was due to be spent on new windows with Hucknall being a priority area and over £1m on new communal heating systems including Brand, Stonyford and Summerhill Courts. The Council would also be giving serious consideration as to whether green alternatives could be fitted as opposed to natural gas.

 

In terms of the green agenda, the Council would be committing over £10m of expenditure over the next 10 years to ensure all owned properties were of a minimum EPC standard of level ‘C’, before spending many more millions to ensure all Council owned residential properties were net carbon zero by 2050.

 

The Council’s green programme was going to be front-loaded and in the 2021/22 financial year alone, the Council’s residents could look forward to just under £1.5m being spent on external wall cladding to solid wall constructed properties.  Many of these properties were located in Ashfield’s rural areas and were sometimes susceptible to issues of damp due to compatibility with modern lifestyles and their construction and ventilation.   On top of this the Council was also intending to spend a further £625k in that year on further carbon reducing initiatives.

 

To conclude, Councillor Hollis mentioned Kirkby and the installation of new boilers and central heating systems to the tune of £1m for its tenants.  He reiterated the Council’s commitment towards its disabled residents and its aim over the next 2.5 years, to spend over £1.3m on disabled adaptations within its properties, thus ensuring all tenants could live independent and comfortable lives within their homes.

 

In accordance with Council Procedure Rule 13.5, Councillor Locke was invited to ask a supplementary question but he duly declined.

 

Question 2

Question from Councillor Dale Grounds to the Leader of the Council:

 

“As we know the whole country is living in some extraordinary times due to the Coronavirus Pandemic. During the height of the pandemic in the spring, this Council kept all services operating, something that only Ashfield District Council achieved throughout Nottinghamshire.

 

Would the Leader please inform the Council of the help been given to local businesses as we are now in the grip of the second wave of the pandemic?”

 

The Leader responded by advising Councillor Grounds that the fourth meeting of the COVID-19 Response and Recovery Scrutiny Panel held on 5 November 2020 had been dedicated to how the Council could support its local businesses and Scrutiny Members had submitted some ideas/suggestions for Cabinet to consider and endorse as follows:

·       consultation to commence to establish the memorial tribute to celebrate and recognise the work of key workers;

 

·       business support unit established to support business, including grant applications and supporting with the latest Government guidelines;

 

·       expanding the Ashfield business forum through Discover Ashfield to enable local businesses to network, interact, and support each other as required;

 

·       expanding the business recognition scheme for businesses that have provided exemplary COVID-secure environments for customers;

 

·       the provision of hand sanitiser stations and signage in all Council owned pay and display car parks;

 

·       concerns acknowledged around the extensive cost of providing PPE to protect employees and a hope to see a tax relief or reimbursement scheme from the Government in the near future;

 

·       formulation by the Economic Regeneration Team of case studies to reflect the experiences shared by business owners and to highlight best practice across the District.

 

The next meeting of the COVID-19 Response and Recovery Scrutiny Panel was due to be held on 10 December 2020 and focus would be given to the work of the Council’s COVID Information Officers, as well as the impact of COVID-19 on crime and community safety in Ashfield.

 

Businesses continued to be offered assistance through the Council’s Economic Development Recovery Plan and a range of support initiatives including:

 

·       140 business support schemes identified and collated in a business support directory;

 

·       connections established with ninety partners detailed in a partner directory;

 

·       responses to 1,110 businesses support email enquiries with 64 client referrals to local partners, 86 partner meetings and liaison with 49 clients via online video meetings to explore business challenges;

 

·       revised approaches set to manage all Ashfield business start-up, growth and shop grants with 5 grants already awarded under this approach;

 

·       provision of new business support web-pages and a LinkedIn group;

 

·       development of a Covid-19 business financial support pack, both as a ‘pdf’ and a printable leaflet already sent out to 1,448 sector specific businesses;

 

·       the gathering of case studies from 3  local businesses to highlight positive Covid-19 adaptations to highlight success stories in Ashfield.

 

With regard to the provision of Lockdown Business Support Grants, since the start of the pandemic Ashfield District Council had issued millions of pounds in grants to local businesses.  In March 2020 the Council facilitated £22m in grants, a further £1m in June 2020 and more than £2m in the last few weeks to businesses affected by Tier 2 and 3 and the second lockdown.

 

Five new business support grants were launched on 13 November 2020 and closed on 29 November 2020.  These were promoted by sending out emails to local businesses which included the new business support packs. As ofWednesday 2 December 2020, 930 applications had been received with 573 businesses paid to date to a total value of £2.088m.

 

The Leader spoke about the recruitment of 1 senior and 4 new Covid Information Officers who had already visited over 800 businesses across the District, providing information and support to ensure they were operating in a Covid-secure way. The Council’s Environment Health and Licencing Teams had experienced additional demands, answering questions and dealing with complaints and disagreements as to interpretation of legislation for the latest lockdown.  A number of national companies had recently been challenging approaches, exploring loop holes and guidance which had taken some time to clarify and resolve.

 

To conclude, the Leader reiterated the ongoing support being offered in town centres with regard to thehand sanitiser stations and signage being installed in all Council owned pay and display car parks over the next few weeks including parking via the app. All parking was to be free on weekends in December in the town centre car parks, enhancing the existing two hour free parking already available.

 

On Saturday 5 December 2020, the Council would be supporting ‘Small Business Saturday’ and encouraging residents to shop small and support independent retailers this Christmas.

 

In accordance with Council Procedure Rule 13.5, Councillor Grounds was invited to ask a supplementary question but he duly declined.

 

Question 3

Question from Councillor Andrew Gascoyne to the Leader of the Council:

 

“As an ex service man, and one who has served as a commando in challenging campaigns, I would like to thank the Leader for instigating the cleaning of War Memorials in the district.  Would the Leader please inform me if this maintenance will be a regular service?”

 

The Leader responded to Councillor Gascoyne by firstly stating his disappointment that this year’s remembrance services had not been fully commemorated due to the pandemic but was hopeful that events next year would be back to normal.

 

There were currently 10 war memorials within the Council’s responsibility that were highly valued by the community and provided the focus for remembrance events across the District.  Over the past 10 years the memorials had fell into a state of disrepair and although well-meaning residents had tried to clean them, they had been further damaged by the use of incorrect cleaning materials.

 

However, with the arrival of the new Administration, it was agreed that a review would be carried out by the Council’s Scrutiny Members who made a number of recommendations including the creation of a cleaning schedule and associated budget along with the approval of a community protocol.

The Council recognised the importance of war memorials and the significance they held locally and nationally for preserving the memory of the servicemen they hold the names of.

 

To ensure the longevity of the war memorials for future generations, a management plan was agreed at Cabinet with a budget and schedule which involved the war memorials being inspected annually and any works identified being completed sympathetically by professionals. The annual management budget agreed for the war memorials now stood at £3000.

 

The schedule for cleaning the memorials would be on a rolling programme subject to any extensive works being identified during inspection by officers on an annual basis:

 

Year	Memorial
2021	Huthwaite Cemetery Memorial	Titchfield Park Memorial
2022	Jacksdale Memorial	New Cross Memorial
2023	Teversal Memorial	Luther Pepper Gardens
2024	Sutton Cemetery Memorial	Sterling Bomber Memorial
2025	Selston War Memorial	Kingsway Memorial

 

For 2020, the first programme of action took place in October and prior to this year’s events the Council had also committed a further £4780.50 to clean all 10 memorials ahead of the 2020 events. Restoration works were also carried out at the same time to Kirkby Cross with the monument being cleaned and the top section restored. Winter bulb planting was also underway around the memorials to ensure they remained a focal point all year round.

 

Recognising the high level of community interest in the maintenance of war memorials, a community protocol had also been developed to provide clear guidance on what aspects of maintenance around the war memorials can be carried out by groups.  The protocol enabled community groups to work in partnership with the Council and be involved in the preservation of the war memorials.

 

Funding was also provided to support the three town centre’s community organised remembrance services, with £750 being allocated to each to assist with the arrangements. In addition, the service for Kirkby was streamed live on Facebook.

 

In accordance with Council Procedure Rule 13.5, Councillor Gascoyne was invited to ask a supplementary question as follows:

 

“Do you think the agreed cleaning and maintenance of the war memorials every five years is too long a gap?”

 

The Leader advised that although the scheduled cleaning and maintenance would take place every five years, the war memorials would be inspected annually and any additional works identified at that point would be undertaken as necessary.