South Holland District Council was scheduled to hold its annual meeting on 14 May 2025. Councillors were expected to discuss committee and outside body membership, the schedule of meetings for 2025/26, and the appointment of a second Independent Person. Also on the agenda was a report from the Cabinet meeting on 1 April 2025, and a six-monthly update on the South and East Lincolnshire Councils Partnership (SELCP).

Here's a breakdown of the topics that were listed for discussion:

Political Group Regulations, Committee/Outside Body Membership Review, 2025/26 Schedule of Meetings and Appointment of Second Independent Person

Councillors were scheduled to consider several aspects of committee membership and appointments, including:

• Confirming the allocation of committee seats to political groups, in accordance with the Local Government and Housing Act 1989 and the Local Government (Committees and Political Groups) Regulations 1990.
• Agreeing to a reduction in the number of committee seats, with a further report to Full Council on the details.
• Confirming appointments to committees and outside bodies, and reviewing membership.
• Approving the 2025/26 schedule of meetings.
• Appointing a second Independent Person.

The report pack included Appendix A, detailing the allocation of committee seats, and Appendix B, outlining appointments to committees, panels, and working groups.

It was noted that changes in political group membership had necessitated a review of committee seat allocations. These changes included the formation of a new Reform UK group and a South Holland Independent Group, as well as Councillors Sally-Ann Slade and Sam Chauhan becoming Non-Aligned Members.

The report pack stated that political balance had to be achieved, as far as reasonably practicable, with prescribed principles for allocating seats.

The report pack noted that the default position for appointments to committees was on politically proportionate grounds, but it allowed for exceptions. South Holland District Council had adopted exceptions for the Standards Panel, Appeals Panel, and Settlements Agreements Sub-Committee.

The report pack proposed that the Standards Panel no longer be included within the list of exceptions to the political balance requirements and therefore be appointed to in accordance with political group regulations and that the Panel’s Membership be increased from 6 to 7.

The report pack also proposed that only the Licensing Committee be included in the political balance calculation as the Committee of the Licensing Authority is not an ordinary committee of the authority as defined by the 1972 LGA Act and the 2003 Licensing Act does not extend political balance requirement to this committee.

The report pack proposed a reduction in the number of seats to specific committees as detailed at Section 1.12 of this report to take effect from the Full Council Meeting in July 2025.

The report pack included Appendix C, a list of current outside body appointments, and Appendix D, a draft Schedule of Meetings for the 2025/26 Municipal Year.

The report pack recommended that Mr David Simpson be appointed as the second Independent Person, for the period 14 May 2025 for an initial three year term until the Annual Council Meeting in May 2028.

South and East Lincolnshire Councils Partnership Performance

The council was scheduled to receive a six-monthly update on the performance of the South and East Lincolnshire Councils Partnership (SELCP). The report pack included Appendix A, which set out the Performance Management Framework for 2025/26.

The report pack stated that all of the activities in the Alignment and Delivery Plan (ADP) for 2024/25 have either been completed, removed as no longer relevant or moved to the 2025/26 Delivery Plan.

The report pack stated that the ADP for 2025/26 has been approved alongside budget setting and published online at: Alignment and Delivery Plan 2025-2026

The report pack noted that the Partnership Business Case identified that £42m in financial efficiencies could be derived from the 3 Councils working together. The graph shows the financial efficiencies - both cashable and non-cashable - that have been identified so far (to the end of March 2025).

The report pack stated that the Partnership is already on track to achieve the efficiency savings up to 2028/29.

The report pack stated that a number of key Partnerships have been established as mechanisms for delivering the strategic priorities of the Partnership are set out in the table below:

The report pack included updates from the Growth and Prosperity Priority Partnership, the Healthy Lives Priority Partnership, the Safer Communities Priority Partnership and the Environment Priority Partnership/SELCAN.

The report pack stated that in September 2024, the Partnership commenced its third Joint Scrutiny of the Partnership. The final report included 7 recommendations around service reviews, partnership risks, delivery plans, MOA, LGR, lobbying, financial resilience, alignment and staffing.

Report from Cabinet meeting on 1 April 2025

The council was scheduled to consider the recommendations of the Cabinet in respect of the 2024/25 Quarter Three Finance update.

The report pack stated that the Portfolio Holder for Finance presented the report, and prior to commencing a more detailed summary, stated that this year, like recent years, would be challenging. This was however being offset by higher than anticipated investment income due to interest rate levels and increased cash balances.

The report pack stated that the revenue outturn forecasted an underspend position of £176,000 at the year-end.

The report pack stated that the proposed revised capital budget as at Quarter 3 for the General Fund was £6.116million.

The report pack stated that the HRA revenue budget was forecasting a surplus of £227,000.

The report pack stated that the Council’s cash continued to perform well with £422.7k forecast to be achieved in excess of budget.

The report pack recommended that Full Council amend the Capital Programme at Appendix A – Table 4b to take into account the changes set out in this report.

The report pack recommended that Full Council amend the Capital Programme at Appendix A – Table 5a to take into account the changes set out in this report.

Special Urgency - Non-Key Decisions - Application of Call-In

The council was scheduled to receive a report on the reasons for urgency relating to a Non-Key Decision, as required by the Council’s Constitution.

The report pack stated that one decision has been made since the last full Council meeting, that has fallen under the Special Urgency rules for Non-Key decisions detailed above. This decision is detailed within Appendix A, attached to this report. The decision met the criteria detailed within the Constitution, and agreement was obtained from the Chairman of the Performance Monitoring Panel. The decision has been published on the Council’s website and the Councillors advised of the decision upon publication. The decision can be viewed in full on the website via the following link:

Decision - Local Government Re-organisation – interim plan - South Holland District Council

Health Scrutiny for Lincolnshire Report

Councillor Glynis Scalese, South Holland District Council’s representative to the Health Scrutiny Committee for Lincolnshire, was scheduled to provide an update following the latest meeting of the committee. The report covered topics such as ageing well, social inclusion, mental health, dementia and carers.