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Growth Scrutiny Committee - Tuesday, 10th June, 2025 10.00 am
June 10, 2025 View on council website Watch video of meeting or read trancriptTranscript
Good morning, Chairman. We are now live. Good morning. And welcome everyone present in the chamber and those listening online to the business of the Growth Scrutiny Committee. My name is Councillor Sam French and I am the chairman of this committee. Councillor Ruben Robinson, vice chairman, is also present. The audio-visual feed of this formal public meeting is being broadcasted live via the County Council's website and all your comments will remain accessible. There is no fire drill planned this morning. In the event of a fire alarm sounding, please leave the chamber, exit the building through the reception and assemble in the front car park that way. Any mobile phones, laptops and iPads, please put on silent mode as the hearing loop is now activated. Requests to speak will be collated by the vice chairman. Please indicate if you want to speak. And we will now move on to the formal agenda. Apologies for absence. Councillor Alistair Arundell, no replacement submitted. Councillor Bowles, no replacement submitted. And Councillor Woodruff, replaced by Councillor Reeve for this meeting only. Chairman, just whilst we're on apologies, is the executive member in attendance virtually? He's not in the chamber, I don't believe. No, okay, so the executive member is at present for the first meeting of the committee, is that correct? Yes, he was sent a calendar invite to this meeting, was notified of the meeting as his old members when we published the papers as well. Okay, thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Okay. On to the declaration of members' interests. This is an opportunity for members to declare any pecuniary or other interests. Do members wish to declare any? All right, please let the record reflect that nobody's declared any interests. And on to the minutes of the meeting of the previous, what was known as Environment and Economy Scrutiny Committee on the 11th of March 2025. This item is held to approve and sign the minutes of the last meeting as a correct record. Please turn to pages 5 to 20 of the agenda. Members are reminded that we are considering the minutes of the previous committee that was decommissioned on the 23rd of May 2025. And in relation to them being a correct record, rather than in relation to whether members were present for that meeting. With this in mind, do I have a proposer? I propose, do I have a seconder? Yeah, I will second that. Thank you. We'll now vote. Chairman, I've just got a question, if I may, on the minutes, if that's okay. On the minutes of the last agenda within the work programme, for the committee dated 10th of June, which is today, there was four items scheduled. One of those, I assume, has gone to the new Environment Committee. But the other three, broadband programme, Dedlethorpe Geological Disposal Facility Working Group update. I mean, we appreciate what that update would be. And LCC tenant satisfaction portfolio performance should have been coming to this committee meeting today. That doesn't appear to be the case. And the agenda for today's meeting is incredibly light. And it's nothing more than a briefing from officers, which could have essentially been done as a team call. So I'm just wondering why the work programme has been changed. And important items to discuss have been removed from the agenda for this committee meeting. I think when I've queried this, officers have said it's normal practice to have an introductory meeting. But the first meeting of the Environment and Economy Committee in 2021 had quite a heavy agenda. And it wasn't an introductory meeting. So if you or officers could clarify why that's the case, that would be appreciated. Thank you. Yeah, well, we'll get back to your question when we're at the part of the agenda where we can ask questions. But I would... It's a question on the minutes, Chairman. Oh, sorry. Okay. Yep. Thank you very much indeed. So in relation to this meeting agenda for today's meeting, some items, as you correctly identified, have been removed. There have been some changes made. But let me assure you that these items have not just vanished from the work programme. They have been rather deferred. So in relation to items such as the biodiversity net gain item, as you correctly identified, this is now within the remit of another scrutiny committee, which is the Environment and Scrutiny Committee, and has thus been incorporated into their work programme. In relation to the item on broadband, this has now been scheduled for the 9th of September. LCC can only deliver broadband when the businesses which are delivering the government's project gigabit programme have confirmed exactly when they will deliver. On the 28th of May, it was discovered that the government's implementation plans were delayed, and thus it will take another two months before they are confirmed, and therefore this is the reason why the paper has not been included and has been deferred. In relation to the LCC tenant satisfaction item, there is a paper on economic investment on the programme for the 29th of July of this scrutiny committee, and one of the considerations of the committee in determining the way forward is customer satisfaction as well as economic opportunity. There is therefore greater value in discussing tenant satisfaction at that same meeting as the economic investment paper will come in, and there will be a further update on the 29th of July to confirm that tenant satisfaction is running at more than 90%. That has been the update from leading officers. Lastly, in relation to the Federal Thorpe Geological Disposal Facility, let me give you assurances that this item is currently under consideration, and there will be reporting in future meetings. I hope this satisfies, but if there are further questions, I'm happy to take them offline with you. Thank you. Thank you for your question, and thank you for the answer. We just proposed a vote on the minutes, so we'll take that vote now. All those in favour, please raise your hand. Those against? Any abstentions? Okay, that's 5-4-0 against, one abstention. Thank you for those. Thank you, those minutes are agreed as correct. On to announcements by the Chairman, Executive Councils, and Lead Officers. Chairman announcements. As we convened for the first meeting of the newly established Growth Committee, I extend a warm welcome to all members, both returning and new. This committee succeeds the former Environment and Economy Scrutiny Committee, and I believe we have an important role to play here. As the financially educated will know, one of the best ways to get out of the debt that the Council has is to grow your way out of it, so I think we've all got a good role to play here. Before we move on to today's business, I'd like to briefly mention the induction program for newly elected members. As part of this, an introductory session on the place directive, which encompasses many of the key service areas relevant to this committee, was held on the 29th of May. The recording of that session, along with the accompanying presentation materials, is available on the Council Hub, on the intranet. Under the induction section, it provides a helpful foundation for understanding the wider context in which this committee operates. As part of today's agenda, we will also be receiving an introduction to the particular service areas that feed into this committee. Thank you. Moving on to the Executive Council announcements. The Executive is not present, it's the support. Okay. So, I have a question from Councillor Baxter. Thank you, Chair. I echo Councillor Dyer's comments about the absence of a lead councillor, executive councillor. I wanted to ask about the interface between the mayoral committees for employment and enterprise and this committee, and how they saw the interface working. How are we going to integrate between the two, but they're not here, so I can't ask the question. Chair, would you like to answer? Thank you very much. Thank you very much for your question, Councillor Baxter. We will take that back, and we will liaise with the Executive Portfolio Holder and supporting Portfolio Holder to get a response to this. And circulate to members if that would be okay. Thank you. Will I have to wait until the next meeting for that answer, or will it be sooner? No, Councillor Baxter. It will be done as soon as we get a response. Thank you. Okay. Thank you for that. And on to the main agenda, or senior office announcements, my apologies. Justin Brown. Chairman, thank you. I need to give a brief announcement about tourism, and particularly the demise of Destination Lincolnshire, an organisation which was charged with promoting tourism and with coordinating a public-private partnership around tourism. And I will bring a full paper to the next meeting, but at the moment, the various pieces of the jigsaw are still moving, so it's inappropriate to bring one today. But for information, the business ceased trading during week commencing 19th of May, and that led to a gap in terms of tourism promotion and a gap in terms of the public-private relationship with the government's organisation, Visit England. So we've worked closely with colleagues in district councils over the past two weeks. We have increased the promotion that we carry out on the Visit Lincolnshire website. So whereas previously we were running one or two, the odd commercial newsletter, etc., we've moved to four media posts, two consumer newsletters, and we've hosted four travel journalism visits in the past two to three weeks. We are continuing to work with district councils on populating the website with the various events that are taking place across Lincolnshire, events being something that tourists are particularly interested in visiting. And ourselves and the mayoral team relating to Councillor Baxter's question have spoken to Visit England about how we can fill the gap around that public-private partnership. Visit England are sticking very close to a very tightly defined model of partnership, which we are not convinced fits with the local tourism sector. And there are some meetings later this week to continue those discussions and to push back. So in terms of the update, if members were concerned in any way about gap in activity, very short-term, we have stepped in, we are carrying out more activity, and by the time of the next scrutiny committee, I'll be in a position to bring a paper which describes a bit more around the strategy and a bit more around the role the County Council will take in terms of greater levels of promotion. So as I say, I'll bring a full paper to our next meeting. Thank you. A question from Councillor Corey. Thank you, Chairman. Thank you, Justin. Interesting what you said about Visit England's position. And I don't want to, well, I'm going to pre-empt what's going to come out of further discussions with yourself and the mayor's office. But do you foresee any negative implications that if we were to work outside of that very prescribed model, that there would be negative funding implications for us? I believe it's information only correct, but if you want to answer, then. Just to say that the amount of funding that flows from Visit England to local areas is relatively small. We are weighing up the pros and cons, seeing what the risk may be. I don't want us to be in a situation where we don't have a relationship with Visit negotiating over. Councillor Baxter. Thank you. Could I ask Mr Brown, please? The demise of Destination Lincolnshire, I mean, it's sad and irritating from my point of view. Is the County Council out of pocket because of the decision? And if so, how much? Or have we got more available budget? And if so, how much? And also, what now is the status of the LVEP? Because Destination Lincolnshire was acting as the LVEP. Who now does that LVEP job? So, as I say, I will bring a full paper to the next meeting. Are we out of pocket? No. The funding, and therefore we've been able to move that money across and carry out the activity independently. The LVEP for members' information is the public-private partnership, which is accredited by Visit England, and that is the partnership that we are still working through with Visit England, the Mayor's Office, and ourselves. How we take it. Ruben, as a councillor, Robinson, has a question. Thank you, Mr Brown. A very quick question. What sort of plans do you have for Visit Lincolnshire going in the future? Do you have any big sort of ideas which you want to kind of push forward? And also, how do you kind of measure the success of Visit England? And would there be any outreach of maybe separating this into sort of minor areas as well? Things like Visit Lincoln, Visit Skegness, et cetera? Thank you. So, strategically, we will cover a lot of this in that paper next month, but we do a lot of work around analysing which people are taking holidays and which attractions, et cetera, we have in Lincolnshire where we can match across. So, for example, we know that typically young couples, weekend breaks, are increasingly seeing Lincoln as a place to come, so we would focus around that. Similarly, we recognise that families will typically enjoy coastal breaks, and we will market around that. So, I'll bring a lot more in that paper in July, and by I, I mean Samantha sitting at the end there, by the way. In terms of the approach, we've always taken the view that having a Lincolnshire strategy, which then directs people to local areas, is the best way of capturing potential visitors. And we assess the impact through a range of measures, a little bit of which will be in the induction slides in a moment, but some of it that we assess is around the amount of trade which results from the website that we use. Some of it is about looking at the volume of the sector and how it is growing, et cetera. All right, thank you. So, on to the main agenda, unless there's any more officer announcements. No, okay. On to the main agenda. The scrutiny report can be found on pages 21 to 24. The report outlines the remit and responsibilities of this newly established committee. It defines the committee's formal powers to review and scrutinise a range of services and its ability to monitor performance, challenge decision-making, influence policy development, and provide advice to the executive. It also explains how scrutiny operates the support roles of officers and how the committee fits within the broader governance and scrutiny framework. Actions for this committee. Members of this committee are invited to consider and comment on the role and remit of the Grove Scrutiny Committee. The report will be presented by Kiara Hatsioanu, our designated Scrutiny Officer. Before I hand over to Ms. Hatsioanu, please note that we will take questions later when we have had the opportunity to receive presentations as part of item 6, and therefore the resolution to this item and the next will be taken later jointly. Over to you, Ms. Hatsioanu. Thank you very much. Chairman and members, item 5 provides a formal overview of the remit and functions of the newly established Growth Scrutiny Committee. This committee succeeds the former Environment and Economy Scrutiny Committee, as we've heard already, with a revised focus on areas that directly support economic growth, infrastructure, and place-based development across Lincolnshire. The committee's scope includes scrutiny of services and policy relating to economic development, inward investment, regeneration, digital and broadband infrastructure, procurement, commercial activity, corporate property, tourism, and skills, amongst others. It also encompasses oversight of the strategic growth partnerships, such as the Greater Lincolnshire Local Enterprise Partnership and the Emerging Combined County Authority. Your role as a scrutiny committee is to provide constructive challenge, to contribute to policy development, and to ensure transparency and accountability in relation to executive decisions. While not a decision-making body, this committee can influence outcomes through considering recommendations, evidence-led inquiry and timely intervention, particularly where service delivery or strategic direction could be strengthened. You are supported in your work by the Democratic Services Team, who will ensure the efficient administration of the committee, as well as advise members, support you in the development of the work program, and providing you with analytical and procedural support. In the months ahead, you will consider a range of pre-decision and performance items, and may, where appropriate, commission reviews or invite external partners to provide evidence on matters of strategic importance. Members are encouraged to contribute to the development of the work program, as it will be highlighted again later throughout the last item to be taken on today's agenda, and also to raise issues that you feel warrant a deeper exploration. And I invite members to note the remit as set out in this report, and to consider how you may best approach your scrutiny role to support economic resilience and inclusive growth in Lincolnshire. Thank you very much. Thank you. Okay, on to item six, introduction to service areas under the purview of the Growth Scrutiny Committee. I'll shortly turn to the senior officers for their individual presentations, the aim of which is to inform members of the committee of the elements of the newly developed growth portfolio, which fall into our remit. Our actions are to consider the presentations, submit questions to gain a deeper understanding of the themes and the topics that fall within the remit of this committee, and endorse the presentations and the verbal updates to be received. We will begin with the presentation by Justin Brown, Assistant Director of Growth, then move on to Andrew McLean, Assistant Director of Transformation, Systems and Performance, and, lastly, Victoria Eaton, Assistant Director of Commercial. Other leading officers from each service area are also present to facilitate the discussions. We will take the questions at the end of each presentation. Please indicate early when you would like to speak. Over to you, Mr Brown. Thank you, Mr Brown. Thank you, I think Andrew's firing up some slides. Yeah, okay. So, in terms of my introduction, I'll probably explain that a lot of what we do is very data-driven, so it is driven very much by statistical information about both the strengths and weaknesses of the local economy. Many of the services are front-facing, and therefore you'll see in the proposed work programme that there are a lot of the papers relate to our services, but I think it's really important to stress that having property and commercial and procurement services alongside growth services gives us the chance to really use the Council's positioning and its financial power to the benefit of the economy. So, I think that's really, really valuable. And in terms of this presentation, hopefully it will feed into the work programme. So, as well as anything you'd like to clarify with us, then we'd really welcome the things that interest you, in terms of the way you want to scrutinise things, and that will help us in terms of the way that we prepare papers into the future. And before we move on to the next slide, something for you to recognise is that regeneration funding is really important to our services. So, we have a net budget, which is relatively small, it's £3.5 million, but our gross budget is about £12 million in terms of revenue, and it probably extends by another £4 or £5 million in terms of capital grants. So, when we talk about things, there's a lot which is about the way we've managed to attract funding to help us to extend our services. Next slide, please, Andrew. Thank you. So, a few statistics. As I say, we are very data-driven, and I sort of see the economy in these six boxes. So, the first one is that the economy of Lincolnshire ranges anywhere between £15 and £19 billion, depending upon how you count it. So, it is a significant value in terms of the nation's finances, and often our economy has a lot of real strengths, but they're a bit hidden. In terms of sectors, we have a series of very important sectors. So, it's very interesting to see that if you look at agri-food, agri-tech, it's the source of, look at that, 43% of new jobs in the area. So, it's very important. Our manufacturing sector is growing. Nationally, manufacturing is just shrinking a little bit, but ours is growing. And our defence sector is growing particularly fast, based around cyber security and around technology. We are, of course, an economy of small businesses, but I think it is really, really important to remember that large businesses employ a significant amount of our workforce, 36%. So, we always have a bit of a strategic challenge between working with those big strategic businesses who create jobs, create investment, and working with the smaller, everyday economy businesses. Labour market, we'll talk a little bit more about in a slide that's coming up, but one of the things I think is very important is that productivity in the county is lower than average. It's 14% lower than average. Series of factors around that, not least the fact that it is a large rural area and people have to travel, goods have to travel, etc. Barriers to business growth are important. You'll see more than half of the businesses that were surveyed have described access to premises, access to money and access to labour as being particular constraints to them. But they also identify a number of others that you can see at the bottom there. And then finally, whilst we are particularly focused on economic growth, you can't decouple economy and housing. And there are some really, really interesting points in there, particularly the fact that housing numbers and targets have increased significantly. And that puts a real pressure on both the private sector and the local planning authorities to address. And if you look at the growth in the 60-plus age group, it's greater in Lincolnshire than it is in the country. And that puts us a challenge in terms of affordability, in terms of housing design, etc. So those are the sorts of basic pieces of data that we are addressing. Next one, please, Andrew. Next slide, thanks. So I'm going to focus around three main things about business, workforce and infrastructure. So we have a series of economic portfolio properties spread across the county, managed by Mick and his team. And we have something like 170 businesses who are renting space from us. And we will talk more about them at the next meeting. But what we're particularly interested in is ensuring and remembering, we're particularly keen to make sure that we continue to invest, to provide more premises where the market is failing. And we will bring a paper next time around an economic investment program with a particular focus around sectors. So, yes, food, defence, manufacturing, as I described, but also around extending facilities in some other parts of the county. Next one, Andrew. So as well as providing business premises, we also provide advice and support. So whenever you as members are speaking to businesses and they say to you, I would like a grant, I've got a problem, etc., please do direct them to businesslincolnshire.com. And I've just put the front page up there. But businesslincolnshire.com is an information source led by Samantha's team and which provides really a Bible of information for the business community. And we also have a team of advisors, and we would typically in a year assist around about two and a half thousand businesses. But we also recognise that we need to attract business in and to help those bigger businesses to invest. So we've got a series of data led programs around supporting different sectors. And we have a group of people who go out and meet the biggest businesses in the county and support them in terms of their investment. And they support them in terms of helping to influence head office to invest in the area. Next one, Andrew. And in terms of tourism, so we have, as I said, visitlincolnshire.com, a really effective website. And what I think is really interesting is the bottom left panel on there. So at the moment, we are seeing something like 16% of people using the website and the book something. Now, the national average is between 4% and 5%. So that is a significant increase. But we've got to make sure that we don't rest on our laurels. So we'll bring a paper on that next time. Employment and skills. So there is a narrative changing at the moment with government where they've typically invested in skills and in training. And increasingly over the last year or so, they've been investing more in tackling unemployment. And these three columns I find particularly fascinating, which might tell you something about my personality. But in terms of the workforce, we've got 663,000 people of working age. And of those, as you can see up there, something like 496,000 economically active, 167,000 inactive. And so when we talk about economically active, that is both people in a job and people who are actively seeking employment. So that's about 24,000 people actively seeking employment. But we have about 167,000 who are economically inactive and particularly 58,000 people who are long-term sick. So if you think that at any time there's about 60,000 jobs of a number of people who are unemployed, doesn't map across to those jobs. So we are working on some programmes, which are about tackling economic inactivity. And Andrew, thanks. A question from Councillor Baxter. Thank you. I've got a question related particularly to that slide. Could you go back one, please? Thanks. I don't know many students who are not working in some form or other. So students, students who are in the green, or are we just looking at students who are inactive? And secondly, have you got any of these figures split by gender? So are women more likely or less likely to be economically inactive in your terms? So these are the Office of National Statistics terms rather than mine. And in terms of students, those are registered in terms of full-time students. So yes, I accept the point that many students will have a job on top of their student, on top of their education. But in terms of the way we're looking at this, this is partly about saying how many unfilled jobs are there in comparison to people within the labour market. So we're looking at a supply and demand thing, which means that the jobs that students will be carrying out will be being counted within the employment. And what I'm concerned about is the bit where businesses are saying to us, 56% of businesses are constrained by a lack of staff. So we are going to work through that data. I have got from Department of Work and Pensions a whole stack of data around age, gender, et cetera. I don't have it to hand, but we're at the Department of Work and Pensions. Next one, Andrew. I've got a question from Councillor Robinson, and then I'll get to you. Thank you. When it comes down to employment, is that mixed? Is that full-time employment? Is that mixed employment? Is that zero-wise contracts? How is that kind of split? And if you know the information, what sort of percentage-wise are full employed compared to the rest of the country? Are we higher up in Lincolnshire? Are there more? What's the sort of demographics around that area, please? Thank you. Okay. So the in-employment is absolutely people with a contract of employment registered with HMRC. So that will be how we count that. Typically in the Lincolnshire economy, we are a benefit of the seasonality of the economy. Thank you. And a question from Councillor Condor. From the student perspective, do we employ them? So, on this slide, thank you. We typically train in the order of about 8,000 people a year. Over the next couple of years, we're expecting that to go up to somewhere between 12,000 and 13,000, given the various funding streams. And realistically, we have at the moment three main products that we use. So the first one, top left, is called Skills Boot Camps. And that's typically a thought, sharp piece of training to help them to learn a particular skill that their employer requires. So that might be anything from repairing heat source, ground source heat pumps, through to being able to site a caravan on the caravan site or something like that. So very, very specific skills. We train about 2,000 people a year in that. We have a program called Careers and Enterprise Hub, which is all about going into schools and getting employers to go into schools. And that's all about telling young people about the economy and about the careers that they can have. And we're in nearly every school in the county now. And then we have an adult skills and learning service of about 6,000 people a year that we're training. And that service is typically providing literacy, numeracy, based type of things that people need for entry-level employment. We're not the only player in adult skills. So the colleges, of course, will be delivering things. The universities will be delivering things. And the private sector will. But that's sort of the things that we are doing at the moment. Sorry, and do you provide that outside of colleges and schools? So we commission the services from a range of people. Some of that is private training providers. Some of it is the colleges. The way that government routes, skills, and employment funding is extraordinary. And sometimes having somebody like the county council in there to manage the route of the funding gives us an advantage that wouldn't otherwise happen. Okay, next one then, Andrew. So finally on to economic infrastructure. And I think there's a couple of really, really interesting issues for us to address in terms of infrastructure. The first one is water stress. And what you'll see from that slide on the left is that the darker the colour, the bigger problem that there is in terms of water supply. Now, if you think of any industry that is in the county, it will be using significant amounts of water in its operations. And if you think about the amount of house building that is taking place, there is a need, obviously, for water supply, but also for waste water. So the fact that we are the second darkest red on the map of the east of England is a significant concern for us. Now, water companies are companies, and therefore, they are looking for investable propositions. And part of our job is to create the investable propositions that enable them to say, yes, I will invest there. Similarly, and you'll have to squint even more on the power slide on the right-hand side, but what I hope you can see is rather more red dots than you can see green dots. And what that essentially is, is a piece of work which sets out the scale of demand that we have for power in the county versus the scale of supply. So obviously, red is a problem, amber is a bit of a problem, and green is okay. And so we've got a significant challenge in terms of working with the energy companies. Same problem about investable propositions, again, to enable us to gain that power and to be able to take things forward. Vanessa and her team lead on that work. But for some evidence, some of the things that Mick has had to do in terms of gaining power for industrial estates mean that there is a real significant challenge. And if it's a challenge for us, it's a challenge for every investor. So those feel like really important infrastructure barriers. Next one, Andrew, please. Got a question from Councillor Corey. And apologies, and thank you for your indulgence, Chairman. I know you did say, take questions at the end. But going back to that water stress picture, Justin, I know you are our water supplier in Lincolnshire. Have you had any conversations with Anglian Water? Why they're piping or building a pipeline from Lincolnshire to Essex, which has got far lesser water stress than Lincolnshire? So, yes, yes, yes, we have. And part of the strategy around that is to ensure that some of that water is actually rooted locally as opposed to it going to Essex. And I think some of the narrative that Anglian Water have allowed is probably isn't quite right. They've always had plans to use some of that water locally. But certainly from our point of view, we have to be stronger at making the case for that investment because the general view is that moving water into the Cambridge Milton Keynes arc is the place where the growth will take place. So, we will be working through various business cases, various strategies, which we hope to bring to this committee to help to strengthen and make that case. Water is a tricky one, isn't it? Because the other side of water is flooding and we have significant problems, which are dealt with with a different scrutiny committee, obviously. But in terms of water, the whole debate is a significant one of supply of flood of sewage, et cetera. Strategically, the water companies want to talk to developers and therefore what we need to do in making business cases is focus absolutely on the economics and the growth case. And next to last slide. So, sectors, business sectors also, as I said, really important. I haven't mentioned defence sector and manufacturing sector and so on, but a couple of things to really outline. On the left, the step programme, which is a fusion programme, which is a new facility being built just over the water from Gainsborough. It's in Nottinghamshire. But the opportunities for us are really significant. We propose giving you a briefing paper on the subject at the next meeting. But essentially, step in West Britain is not about creating power. It is about creating a knowledge-based industry that the UK can sell across the world. And therefore, our work so far has been very much on helping Lincolnshire businesses, Lincolnshire students, et cetera, to be part of the way that the government creates that new business, that new sector, and that we get global opportunities on the back of it. You've got to hold your breath a bit. It's going to be 15 to 20 years before it's built. But actually, being part of the build now is still a significant opportunity for the county. And finally, UK Food Valley. So, the food sector is very, very strong. And we are really a technical sector, which is leading the way in terms of automation. I know Councillor French and I spoke about brokerage in terms of leadership, in terms of support. And that's something that I suspect we will bring here on several occasions over the next four years. And final slide, then. So, quickly, in summary, and apologies to Andrew and Vic because we said we'd all be 10 minutes and I've been rather more than that. But essentially, in summary, we're very data-driven. I hope you can see the golden thread that runs from the data through to the activities. We've focused around those three headings, business, workforce, and economic conditions. Very, very strong engagement with the business community and with other stakeholders. I've talked about businesses, colleges, universities, et cetera. We also have a strong relationship with Chambers of Commerce, Federation of Small Business, et cetera. And going back to the very first point I made, as a growth scrutiny committee, I think you've got a great opportunity to link and strengthen the link between economy, property, and procurement to deliver significant benefit. Thank you. All right. Thank you for your presentation. Are there any more questions? I think Councillor Baxter raised his hand early and put it back down. So, would you like to talk now? Yes, please. Thank you. About the step, Tokamak or whatever it was called, are we paying for that outside of Lincolnshire and it's not going to happen for another 15 years? From here, what can I do to affect that? So, as a team, we will be seeking ways of helping local business to get opportunities. We'll be working with education and learning providers to get training opportunities. And we'll be working with the promoter of the scheme to create investments in the area, Section 106, et cetera. Now, from a scrutiny perspective, you presumably will be wanting to assess whether we're doing too much, too little, whether we're being successful or not, how you think we are missing certain things. So, I see the scrutiny, as you described, Councillor Baxter, as being very much around testing and assessing the strategies that we are using and exploring the outcomes that we're achieving. To follow up, I still don't get it. It's not in Lincolnshire. And so, are we training people up in order that they can leave Lincolnshire and earn money in Nottinghamshire? Or are you expecting that they will expand and come into Lincolnshire? And it's an industry that is unknown anyway. I just don't understand why we would be putting that as kind of a first episode on the slide of the future when we've got so much within Lincolnshire that we could be promoting before we get to Redford or anywhere else. So, I'd hope that I gave an overview of a series of things as opposed to simply step. But it's about four miles across Trent Bridge from Gainsborough. And there will be significant opportunities in terms of things like business parks, which will probably be in the nearest town, i.e. Gainsborough. There will be significant opportunities for people like the University of Lincoln and Lincoln College to expand, which creates opportunities that are both for step but also transferable elsewhere in the economy, as well as creating stronger institutions in their own rights. So, we'll put all of that into the briefing note for the next meeting. But certainly, from our perspective, the fact that it is three or four miles over the county boundary is no different to the way we work in partnership with food tech in the Cambridgeshire and Norfolk area, no different to some of the conversations that we're having with Rutland about tourism and its relationship with Stanford and things like that. So, I'm less concerned than you about that. We'll put a lot of that into the briefing paper and maybe can come back to it into the future. And even though it will take a long time to be completed, work has started. Things are happening there and there are opportunities now for businesses and people. Question from Councillor Dyer. Thank you. Thank you, Chairman. And thank you for that response, Justin. I think it's so close to the Lincolnshire boundary. I think we'd be foolish and naive, quite frankly, not to be involved with it, Councillor Baxter. I'm not calling you naive, so let's not put in a complaint. Just one thing that wasn't mentioned, Justin, in your report, which is obviously a massive part of the growth agenda in Lincolnshire now, is the relationship between this authority and the new mayoral combined authority. Now, I appreciate that that organisation has its own scrutiny functions and bodies that has representatives from this council and also from the district councils. But the picture that you've painted today is only really half a story with what is going on now in respect to the growth agenda and how you work. I'm sure you do closely with the mayoral combined authority. So my question really is, how are we as a committee, or are we, going to have information fed towards in respect to the operations of the mayoral combined authority? I appreciate that's not within the remit of this council, but when we think about the growth agenda, we think about the funds being given out by the mayoral combined authority, UK, SPF, et cetera. Really, we're only looking at half of the picture, this committee here. So I'm just wondering what is being set up in the early days of that authority to see how that information is being fed here to us. Obviously, as a lowly opposition councillor now, all of those scrutiny positions on the mayoral combined authority are all filled by members of the ruling group, which is fine. And that's part of the devolution deal we agreed. But I do think this committee still has a role to play in that. So probably, if you can shine any light on that, Justin, I'd appreciate that. All democratic services. So my second question, and it's just on the item five, the role of the Growth Scrutiny Committee, because you did mention we could ask questions on that as well, Chairman. I do note the new executive member who's joined us, but he's put a list, terms of reference, what we scrutinise as a committee. But what it hasn't mentioned is veterans and veterans affairs, and I'm pleased to see that in his remit, his portfolio. And the council's taking an interest in that, which is a good move. So I'd just be curious to know as to why that's not included within the terms of reference of this committee. Because when we think about the council as an employer and employing veterans and the work that your team does, Justin, in supporting veterans, I do think we have a role to play there. And it would be nice, given that it was explicitly mentioned in your title, Councillor Kelly. Yeah, I think it's a shame that it's not in the terms of reference for this committee. I think we're missing a trick, really, if we're not supporting Councillor Kelly and his work in veterans affairs. So they're my two points for now, Chairman. Thank you. So if I take point one and Chiara takes point two. So in terms of combined authority, it is, of course, very early days, and we are still working through the processes. And you're absolutely right that we do work very closely with the mayor's team. One thing I would reflect on is that the approach of having a mayor gives you a really significant platform in terms of attracting investment. So we had a greater Lincolnshire presence at an inward investment event three weeks ago. And on both of the sessions where the mayor was in attendance, we were really, really packed in in terms of people visiting and so on. So I completely agree, and I would reflect that the opportunity that having a combined authority has to work with big private investors is significant. I'm recognising I think that's the third time the relationship between combined authority and this committee has been referenced. So what I will do is work with Dems services to develop something that we can bring here so that we can look at how that works. Early days, can't answer it yet, but we'll bring some. Thank you very much. And some reassurance from this end. The terms of reference were agreed in advance to the AGM meeting where they were considered and ratified. And there will be plenty of opportunity to work with the portfolio holder, with members and with leading officers in looking at ways that we can make positive interventions that encompass all elements that are being fed into scrutiny. Thank you. Thank you, Chairman. Thank you for both of those responses. Kiara, just on that point, I appreciate it might have been agreed before then, but is this going to be amended now to include Veterans Affairs? Amendments are not something that lays within the remit of this committee. And what I mean here is that for any amendment to be ratified, it needs to go to the next available council meeting where it can be ratified. So I will work with colleagues offline. And if you don't mind, I will get back to you in terms of a clear response in relation to when this can be amendment and how it will be formally amended. Thank you. Counselor Kay, would you like to have an input on that? Thank you, Chairman. Counselor Baxter, first of all, in regards to your STEP question, until last week, I knew nothing about STEP. So I sat down with an hour and a half and went through STEP in its entirety with a focus on how much is it costing us as a council at this moment in time? Because that was, you know, one of the key things from my perspective was are we getting value for what we're putting in and what are the benefits near term, medium term, long term, etc. I am very content with what's going on at this moment in time. I am getting a detailed response back in regards to what is the current cost, which I believe is negligible. We are seed corning for future growth and obviously, as Justin rightly pointed out, that even though the location is in Nottinghamshire, it will provide maximum benefit to Lincolnshire because of, you know, it has the main MSRs and everything else and the employment field, etc. around that location. So it is a good project going forward that does require our support, I would suggest, and also the other benefits from it is not only growth, but the byproducts is helium, and helium will, you know, will have a big market in itself, and also the fact that, you know, the carbon footprint, etc. In regards to the mayoral committees, Councillor Sheard is getting back to me, I know that the mayoral team are looking at meetings, are looking at strategy, are looking at terms of reference, etc. as well, but also ensuring that all of it accommodates for change management and builds in a level of flexibility, so more detail will come out of that in due course, and that will be promulgated. And in regards to veterans' affairs, at this moment in time, as you're aware, the mayor is very keen on all veterans' affairs matters, and we're currently scoping with other organisations, veterans' villages around Lincolnshire. So those are moving forward, and we hope to, you know, go a bit more solid on those in the near future and provide you with all that information accordingly. But as everybody is a stakeholder in regards to those matters, yeah, more than happy, more than content for everything to be scrutinised, because everybody adds value. And ultimately, you know, that value add, you know, is in regards to the well-being of veterans. So, yeah, point well made and well understood there, Councillor Dwyer. Dyer, sorry. That's twice in two days that Councillor Dwyer has done that. Thank you, Chairman. Thank you. Councillor Reeve has a question. Thank you, Chair. Yeah, the STEP project at West Burton, I've been following it since its inception. Went along last week to the presentation at the Gainsborough Trinity Arts Centre. It's a fantastic thing. Gainsborough's got a fantastic engineering heritage that's slowly declining, and this could really bring it back, and it's going to be fantastic for the area. Whether it ever works or not is another matter. They're pretty convinced it will work, but there's no guarantees with it. One concern that I do have going forward is that you stated early on that one of the big things that people want to come to the world in the future, should it all work or should the developments they come up with work. I asked them at the presentation about, such as Chinese, Russians, stealing that information and selling it on themselves. They didn't seem to think it was a particular concern. I personally find that a big concern. I don't know if this committee can have any influence on securing that sort of knowledge and making sure it doesn't escape, but it's something to me that is something that should be looked at by somebody somewhere. So, I think you're right. I think that's probably one for the promoter of the scheme rather than us. But I think you raise a really interesting point about international trade and about how we, as a council, support and promote international trade. And we will probably want to explore with you some strategies around target regions, target opportunities, which will partly be influenced by things like leverage in step, but will also be influenced by products we have and by the political guide that you give us. So, yeah, one for the promoter, but actually you've raised a point that probably Samantha and I have for a discussion with you. And Councillor Corry. Thank you. Justin, back to your bit about GVA. And you said that Lincolnshire is 14% lower than the UK average. And you touched on a few reasons. Do you have detailed data on this? For example, is it a worsening picture, an improving picture or just bobbing along? And I'm happy to receive that data via email or another. It's probably the most accurate description of where we're at at the moment. We're certainly seeing some productivity gain in some sectors, but the lack of investment on the other side. So we'll have some data, but it's not quite ready yet. Thank you. Just a quick supplementary on that. So 14% is a flat average, and some sectors are better and some significantly worse than others. I'll be able to get that data. Thank you. All right, are there any more questions? Justin, just a quick question about the fusion power. I'm not going to pretend to be an expert on this, but if it's 15 to 20 years down the line, will this sort of be a sort of HS2 effect where once it's built, it will be technology which is outdated? And another thing is, I mean, I presume this is a private and public sector movement or combination. And also, if the primary export of this is the technology and to create jobs and skills rather than actually create electric, what it's supposed to do, how are they going to sell it overseas if the whole point of it is to create electric and it's not doing that, if that makes sense. Thank you. So this is a public government investment and private partnerships within it. When I said its purpose is not to generate electricity, what I meant was that's a very much second or even tertiary purpose. So it will generate a bit. They have got various processes in place which will achieve some power generation. But that, as I say, is not the number one objective. I and a few others, the current head office of the agency, which is in Oxfordshire, and you really see a global sector being created there and that will be the focus. It's not really for us to sort of comment on the technology and the issue because that's very much a national thing. I'm thinking about how we capture. But certainly looking at the way that the programme management is, there are regular threshold checks where people are looking in and going, is this still the right direction? And there's a lot of learning from big civil projects which have been the past 20 years. All right. Is that a follow-up question? Sorry, one more quick question. The renting, you rent the council buildings to businesses. How sort of competitive is this compared to the private sector? And also what sort of businesses mainly occupy these sort of spaces? Are they start-ups? Are they big businesses? Are they technology businesses? Thank you. So mixed papers next time will go into a lot of detail on that. But the first thing to say is that we only invest where the market is failing. So we would not expect to be competing with the private sector at all. Sometimes tactically what we will do is service land and then sell it on to the private sector who can then develop it at a pace and a cost that they couldn't otherwise afford it. Most of our businesses are small local businesses. But we would like to bring, which I think is scheduled for September, a discussion with you about our letting and our sales strategies because we benefit from having big internationals. But at the same time, they might block out the small locals. And I think that will be quite a useful political debate to have. So at the moment, small and local, but we need to just keep kicking the tyres on that. All right. Councillor East. Thank you, Chair. Again, Justin, any update on our actual high-tech development of Scampton? No. Lots of meetings going on, lots of issues around ownership. And at this stage, a lot which is very much yet to be determined. And certainly Councillor Kelly and Councillor Bridgewood and I have had no... Is that all for questions? Okay. I'd now like to invite Mr. McLean to deliver his presentation. Over to you. Thank you. Okay. Good morning, everybody. I'm Andrew McLean, the Assistant Director for Corporate Transformation Systems and Performance and also the Interim Assistant Director for Corporate Property. I've been at the Council for 25 years this year, a range of roles and directorates. Currently in the Assistant Director role for the last five years and been supporting corporate property for the last seven months. With me today, I've got our property leads. I'll let them introduce themselves as they deliver part of this presentation moving forward. If we could move to the next slide, please. Okay. So, property sits within the Resources Directorate and oversees the end-to-end lifecycle of the Council's assets. We focus this on three key areas, the Think It, Build It and Manage It. So, under Think It is our strategy team and our estates team who work closely with our schools, children's services, adult care, fire and rescue, place directorate and corporate teams to understand what are the future needs of those service areas so we can support the business moving forward. Under Build It is our professional and project teams who will ultimately carry out those key infrastructure projects, managing and coordinating the build, development or indeed even demolition in some circumstances of our assets and manage it. And that's our facilities and workspace management team who cover everything from filling the paper towels to fixing leaking toilets right through to overseeing the repairs of roofs, walls, drainage systems to ensure buildings are kept safe and also watertight and also meet our compliance requirements. And like I said earlier, colleagues will give more information on that within the presentation. Can we move to the next slide, please? So, this just gives you a quick snapshot to give some context of the breadth of the property estate, which requires a significant resource to ensure it remains fit for purpose. As you can see there, we have over 1,000 properties with 470 operational buildings, 423 schools and over 16,000 acres of farmland. So, quite a sizeable asset portfolio that the council holds covering the breadth of all those services and the whole of the county. If we can move to the next slide, please. This just gives that estates overview in a little more detail, broken down by the different areas. As you can see, the 423 schools takes up a large proportion of that. A significant number of individual farms, 169 there. Fire service, 66 different properties. And then children's services, again, a large area of the 119, ranging from everything from children's homes through to family centres that support our most vulnerable families right through to children's centres that support a universal offer to all families. Next slide, please. So, this is our senior leadership team. Just a little visual of who we are as a team. Marie and Mark are with us today. Dave, unfortunately, couldn't be with us, but we're joined by Tina, who will cover his part of the presentation. Move to the next slide, please. Okay, thank you. So, this just gives you some high-level detail of what each service delivers. So, within the Thinkit, we've got that acquisitions, disposals, building it, design and construction of those sites, and managing it within the covering our statutory compliance, workspace management, repairs and maintenance. I won't go through those in detail, as colleagues will soon run through this shortly. If we can move to the next slide, please. So, we've recently implemented our new service delivery model from the 1st of April. This has seen a number of staff transferred back into the council, so we now directly run our estates function, and a number of professional services staff have transferred in also to provide a greater intelligent client model with those moving back in. We recently awarded our professional services contract to KIA and our facilities management to Vinci. Both of those started on the 1st of April. That's included an updated specification and performance requirements. So, collectively with the team, working with our two key strategic providers, oversee those three services that the function deliver. Next slide, please. So, it's a bit small on screen. We can share these afterwards. It just gives you a high-level overview of the contracts. So, with Vinci delivering that facilities management and compliance activities, as well as undertaking some small capital works, that cost is around 8.8 million per annum. And KIA, our main contractor for professional services, with those professions that are listed there on the bottom right, to develop and design our capital building programme. Now, within the KIA contract, there's no guaranteed level of work within that, but based on historic spend, this is estimated to be around 2 million pounds per annum. I'll now hand over to Mark, who'll walk through in more detail the Strategic Asset Management Service. Thank you, Andrew, and thank you, Chair, for providing me the opportunity to speak today. I really appreciate that. My name is Mark Eyre. I'm Head of Strategic Asset Management and Estates within corporate property. Just a brief overview of my team. Happy to take any questions afterwards as well. We're responsible for the think-it stage of the corporate property care cycle. Within that, a lot of strategic thinking to enable service delivery. So we actively engage with service teams to identify their property resourcing requirements, enabling effective delivery of their service within a context of a reducing estate. We have regular service representative liaison meetings, and we also engage through strategic asset management planning. So a good example of that, we're currently undertaking a programme of work which is strategic service asset management plans. These basically write a blueprint for what our service colleagues need to be able to deliver their service over the next, say, 5 to 10 years. Always subject to change. There'll always be new things that come within that range, but it's a useful document to have, so we have a forward plan of activity which we can deliver. Within that, we will have identified work such as relocations of service buildings, enhancements of their properties where it might not be providing what they need, appropriate co-location with suitable partners or industry colleagues, sometimes even a disposal of a surplus property. So actively engaging to make sure that if it's not needed for a service, we don't hold a property for too long. Properties are categorised so that there's a clear direction of travel for each of them, so everybody is aware of what's the intention. And we have key outputs from that which are improved utilisation and efficiency, capital investment, and also divestment over time. We're responsible for the creation of a management of a pipeline of property rationalisation activity as well. So this involves business case, conception, options appraisals, which will lead to opportunities for property disposals and to provide revenue savings, generate capital receipts so that that can be recycled into the central purse, but also then provide a fit-for-purpose estate so we're not remaining in properties which are unsuitable. We are making sure that our services are having properties which are suitable for their needs to deliver. A report on this is due to come to your committee in the, I think, at the network of scrutiny, so we should be able to bring that forward for review. I'd also like to touch on our corporate landlord model which places responsibility of property management and related issues onto corporate property so that we provide a consistent, safe and professional approach to property management. It just takes away that burden from service colleagues so that they get to focus on their skill expertise which is service delivery, our resource commitment to them. If we move to the next slide, please. So the school's asset management service, that also focuses on supporting children's services. As we've said, there's a huge amount of property that's involved within that, varying degrees, varying sizes, locations, but we support colleagues and headteachers to move forward their agendas when it comes to school buildings and land. Key aspects include school master planning and suitability surveys, highlights areas for schemes such as SEND hubs. So I'm always looking at suitability for, you know, and also ability to receive funding for building improvement enhancements. Finally, just to touch on our county farms estate, as Andrew said, it's a large estate of about 16,400 acres of land, land, small holdings, which are a variety of agreement types, but we've got just over 100 tenants, with an average tenancy size of about 154 acres. We support our farming tenants extensively throughout the year. We provide property and industry advice and support, and we make sure there's a key network available so that the challenges that they face, no matter how big or small, we are helping them. We also have a capital budget available for our county farms estate, which we bid on it usually each year. That sets out improvements that will help our tenant farmers, so improved drainage to land, reducing impact of things like flooding, as was discussed earlier, and also improving productivity of that land. So do solar panels on the roofs of some of our farm buildings as well, reducing their costs and also... ...to share with you the important work we do across the council. We're proud of the role we play in supporting the council's strategic objectives, that March has been talking through, in the delivery of a broad and ambitious capital programme, and a programme that improves our estate, enhances service delivery, and ultimately will make a difference to the communities that we serve. Our work spans a wide variety of assets and service areas, from schools and children's homes, to corporate offices, historic buildings, and highway depots, and the projects we deliver directly support those frontline services, and under programme value, just under £173 million. These projects can vary very widely in scope and in scale, smaller schemes worth tens of thousands of pounds, all the way up to major capital investments involving many millions. The range of there on screen will illustrate the complexity and breadth of the council's property state and the varying scale of those projects that we can deliver. A critical part of our success, very similar to Mark's team, lies with being very collaborative with our service areas and directorates, which enables us to gain deep understanding of each project-specific service requirements, ensuring outcomes are not only technically sound from a building point of view, but they're also aligned with the expectations and needs of end users, whether they're council staff, school pupils, residents, or service users. As Andrew mentioned earlier in the presentation, we are fortunate to have a highly skilled in-house team comprising experienced project managers, quantities, failures, and also clerk of works. Tated professional expertise is central to ensuring the successful delivery of our projects. It allows us to maintain rigorous oversight at every stage through the process, from planning and design, all the way up to the slides I've got. I'm just going to highlight a couple of examples of the projects our team delivers. So the first one there on screen is a project that we're delivering in conjunction with the Department for Education. A £79 million project delivering a new secure children's home in Sleaford. It's going to offer 28 beds. This project's been in conceptual design for a good couple of years now. We hit site in 2006, and then the facility eventually will open very early in 2027. This is quite a trial-blazing project. It's the first of its kind to be built. We've been all over the country to look at best practice for following this design. Next slide, please. So this slide, a little bit closer to home, is on campus here at Orchard House B. We've just recently enabled a lot of the rationalisation projects that Mark's looked at in conception to be delivered. And also our registration services are now housed in Orchard House B. So our weddings, £1 million basic need project for children's services, which completed in April. This design looks a little bit different. You can see the ceiling is exposed, showing all the services. And this is really just, we work with specialist heritage contractors who employed rope access techniques, which you can see on the picture there, to carry out a comprehensive defrass survey of the building to make sure that the walls were safe from any potential falling stone. And we also carried out some emergency repairs at the same time as a schedule. Thank you. That's all from me. And I'll pass over to Marie. Just got one question. No. Okay. We'll just wait to the end for questions. Yeah. On to Marie. Thank you. Good morning, councillors. Thank you, Tina. I'm Marie Marrier. I'm the head of facilities and workspace management. I've actually been in the council since February, so relatively new to post. My team are deliver the manager element of corporate property. So we're the kind of people that you would generally see in and around the buildings on a daily basis, delivering all those services around the sites. So we operate an intelligent client model, which means we have a very small team of professionals directly employed by the council. And what we seek to do is manage and deliver facilities management services through our partner, Vinci. We do this with regard to ensuring legal compliance and also ensuring that we get best value from that contract with that supplier. We have around 480 buildings that we provide these services to, varying things from essential statutory maintenance only to providing the full range of services from FM. We have a very diverse portfolio from officers to schools to we also provide the facilities management for the castle, for example. In addition to providing the corporate portfolio and corporate landlord portfolio with service, we also provide services to 130 schools. Now, these are schools that aren't within our corporate landlord model. They can buy into this service as an additional opt-in service. What that helps them to do is ensure that they discharge their statutory and essential duties under maintenance of that property. This helps them keep compliant and also ensures a safe environment for the children at school. We deliver around about 1,000 planned maintenance activities every month and we're doing so with 99.1% completion and we're averaging very up in the high 90s every month consistently. We respond to 650 on average reactive maintenance activities. That can be anything from a request to resolve a small maintenance issue within one of the buildings to supporting on a major incident and it can also be just for guidance and support from a statutory compliance perspective. We have a dedicated team who do look at our statutory compliance which also includes fire and we are making significant moves forward to kind of enhance that service to enable us to ensure that we are delivering all of the range of legal compliance requirements placed upon us. A lot of these actually originate from the Health and Safety at Work Act. We also manage capital repairs. We've got a capital repairs program this year of 2.4 million so my team also run those two projects one via VINCI and one via Kia supporting on some of the larger projects within that program. And then on the next slide please. This is just to demonstrate. Andrew did mention that we've recently embarked on a new relationship so a new contract with VINCI this is just to share with you what the enhancement has been in terms of response times. So this was one area that we were particularly focused on was ensuring that we were getting to resolve people's issues more quickly than we had in the past. Okay. Yeah. Thank you very much. Okay. Thanks Marie. So just finally just wanted to set out some examples of the type of activity to expect to come through to the Growth Scrutiny Committee moving forward. So not an exhaustive list just to give an idea. Tina earlier talked through some of the capital developments so we bring those corporate capital developments through here to this scrutiny committee moving forward. We're also finalising our planned rationalisation programme which Mark talked about over the next three years which again we look to bring here to the Scrutiny Committee before an executive decision both to increase our capital receipts and reduce ongoing revenue expenditure and any corporate disposals or acquisitions made outside of that programme would also come here in line with the Council's constitution. And Marie will also be bringing forward towards the end of this year around the 26-27 planned maintenance and repairs capital programme again as a further pre-decision scrutiny committee. So welcome any questions. Thank you. So we have first question from Councillor Corey. Thank you. It might be a question for Marie and apologies that you're so new in post but welcome. I do want to thank the team for looking after Lincoln Castle with its resident dragons. Always a challenge. So going back to facilities management and this is probably something that's going to come in future papers but I think it makes obvious total sense to split those two contracts the large capital bills and the refurbs of things like Orchard House from the relatively low level and short lead time repairs like heating ducts. So in the grand scheme of your work programme probably low priority but for those colleagues using those buildings and for service users high impact. So how are you going to monitor and how will we be able to support you through the scrutiny process to make sure that those numerous but short lead time facilities repairs and improvements are done quickly so that we're not constantly falling victim to increasing prices which are outside our control and then impact on our ability to those services and those repairs. Thank you. Thank you. So we do have like a prioritised approach to how we deal with any repairs and maintenance that's arising. So for the smaller items we have a budget that we use as a run-of-the-mill budget to kind of address those issues at source before they become bigger issues and therefore more impactful from a cost and impact perspective. We also have the capital R&M programme which we run. Again, that's in a prioritised state so we look to ensure first priority that all sites are wind and water tight and then to ensure statutory compliance to make sure that they're safe and then we move through the process of prioritising works in relation to their category so whether or not they're urgent works and moving them through our we have an ongoing rolling programme where we attend the sites and do condition surveys so we're continually capturing data about the properties so that we can respond to it I hope that answers your question Councillor Baxter Thank you Chair The government forced us to publish all expenditure over 500 quid that applies to all local authorities and I've got the list up here our payment to Vinci in the last quarter we only made one payment to Vinci it was £1,596,885 the purpose of the expenditure over 500 quid is to give transparency and visibility to what the council is spending how can I interrogate how that £1.5 million has been spent during the last quarter and further on I don't know if anyone mentioned Serco apologies if I missed it but we actually paid Serco nearer £2 million I think £1.9 million we paid to Serco last time now I recognise that Serco employ a lot of the staff that we see around and they are part of the Lincolnshire County family I'm sure but in terms of interrogating what goes on at Serco and in terms of us being able to manage what Serco and Vinci and Balfour Beatty and everybody else are doing to that where's the transparency and openness for us as scrutiny and also for people in Lincolnshire and to what extent have we got it can you guarantee that we've got it all under control thank you with regards to Vinci which is a property Serco is not linked to property so can't really comment on that specifically with regards to Serco but from a Vinci perspective we have a range of contract management where we monitor costs monitor activity that goes through it has oversight from an operational level through to myself and Marie meeting we record and monitor their performance every pound that's spent so as officers we've got that detail in place we've got the contract and I suppose in supply management roles in place we're supported by Vic's team and our commercial colleagues to make sure we've got some of that commercial robustness to make sure that we're constantly reviewing the contract and challenging to make sure they perform within the contract so lessons learnt as well previously from your own role in understanding that I think that's something for the scrutiny committee to make recommendations on around how we present back to you around the performance of both Vinci and Keir well in terms of scrutiny certainly I'd like access to numbers which are smaller than 1.5 million pounds per quarter but in terms of members whether it's executive members or scrutiny or anybody else that doesn't look like a very transparent figure from here and if you're not talking about read on what is contractually required to be sent in that's reviewed we then pay an invoice subject towards approving it that includes any service credits like that so we go through a very robust process related to Serco as well Councillor Kelly would you like to have an input yes Councillor Baxter obviously the items that you're referring to were under your stewardship last time in regards to not necessarily yourselves but the Conservative Council going forward though however I'll just reiterate that the due diligence processes the value for money processes the supplier selection process all of those transparent activities that do take place and that should take place are currently under review and there will be changes where required going forward to ensure that the council taxpayer in Lincolnshire is getting value for money and that all of those activities will be transparent so that they can be scrutinised accordingly and like you I am very keen for all of those processes to be done so so that we can challenge them where required to ensure that we are providing best value for money for the link council taxpayers thank you do you want to just finish Councillor Baxter yes thank you yeah I'm with you please don't blame me for the mess left behind I don't but in terms of the for example the Serco contract I think it runs until 2029 so no no the part of it the customer service centre I believe runs for a period of time but we're currently exiting the IT services by March 26th Councillor Kelly just reiterating the Serco contract there council of Baxter yeah there have been challenges with that and as I'm sure you can imagine we are new in the chair so to speak but you know we're running where we can do in order to ensure value for money for the council taxpayers and the contracting arrangements going forward and the levels of flexibility it affords the council and the value for money it provides the council taxpayer and the return we get from it and other efficiencies we're able to identify from it that benefit the council and the council taxpayer are quite significant but again there's been a good review process in regards to the Serco contract and the replacement contract and you know it is good quality and good value for money and myself and others have been all over it with the council team Tom and his team for hours scrutinising all aspects of it to ensure transparency to ensure good due diligence and to ensure good value for money thank you councillor Dyer thank you very much chairman I must say when I found that property was going to be on this committee I was quite excited because in my four years on the council when you speak to officers from an array of departments doesn't matter what service area if you talk to them about their problems it always property is always mentioned so this is either your chance to prove them wrong or for them to be proven right and I look forward to this opportunity and to be honest councillor Kelly what you just said I'm quite excited for that due diligence to be carried out as well because what councillor Baxter said was basically one of my questions because my question was how much would it cost to change a light bulb or paint a wall that's all I want to know just a regular light bulb in an office building maybe this building how much would it cost the taxpayer so that's what I wanted to know so if you could respond to that or email that would be appreciated but I do have a few more questions as well at the start of your presentation Andrew you mentioned that the council has 54 vacant properties that either are not used they're going to be sold or to be repurposed where are they can you provide a list to this committee please in respect to workspace management I know that the administration during the election made a point about bringing all staff back into the office permanently what would the cost implications be to ensure that the Lincolnshire County Council had the capacity to bring every single member of staff back into the office five days a week can that please be provided to the committee in respect to the comment about reviewing the county farm strategy I think hopefully finished was the phrase used I've put that in quotation marks hopefully finished doesn't say it isn't very reassuring to me it sounds like there's maybe a bit of uncertainty there so I just want to know when will that strategy be finished and when will this committee get to see and review that strategy please I trust that we will have that opportunity before it's completed and I'd be curious to know if you could outline at this stage what the headline changes would be to that strategy Tina within your program your report you presented information about the capital program the council's undertaking various very nice shiny buildings and what appeared to be a half finished sixth form block but you've assured me that it was supposed to not have a ceiling but my question would be that again the administration during the election made a number of political points repeatedly over and over again about Lincolnshire County council having x amount of debt many of these sorry my phone's ringing many of these capital programs but not all of them can be funded through prudential borrowing and then paid back sensibly over a period of time my question would be to you has the election promises of the new administration changed the operation of your team in respect to our ability to deliver any capital programs because I assume if they're going to cut borrowing we either borrow that money internally or we don't borrow it at all so how would that impact your ability to deliver the capital program and finally chairman Orchard House B the ceremony centre the photograph that was also reported I find it a remarkably ugly building I let the previous portfolio holder know my thoughts on it and the courtyard outside of that I'm just wondering whether we can go and have a look after committee today or another point have a tour around that building and hopefully be proven wrong that the photographs don't do it justice because I would quite like a tour of that and the courtyard outside if possible please thank you chairman okay so first question about light bulbs how much does it cost to change a light bulb I'll take that one thank you I'm going to have to come back to you every light bulb in every building is going to be different and every cost will be different I can't give you a figure right here right now I can try and find an average if you want to pick a particular building let's just say a light bulb out in the corridor okay in county hall outside the leader's office how much would it change to replace a light bulb there that would be okay I'll find out I'll come back to you thank you and then we had about 50 vacant properties right 54 vacant properties yeah we'll bring that into the rationalisation paper so the programme where we look to put forward the proposals for the disposals over the next three years the capital receipts we'll build that into that so it identifies what's currently vacant what's still occupied but due to be vacant or is still occupied but as part of the Samp process we'll have that available okay and then strategy you want to see the strategy yeah the county farm strategy question I think Mark do you want to pick that up yeah sorry I wasn't very clear in my estimations of time scale but expectation it would be sort of for the autumn cycle so probably around sort of September time it would be ready for review and we can bring it to this committee that's that's the expectation that would be scrutinised sorry just again just totally clear we can bring it to the committee are you definitely bringing it to the committee and if you're not bringing it to the committee can I request that it does come to the committee please chairman we can yeah it can our intention would be to bring it to the committee absolutely and within that it's the management approach we take to the estate so looking at the support that we give to the farmers as the tenants as well so sort of I mentioned the capital programme we'd have sort of reference to that I've mentioned as well sort of our approach to holding sizes as well within that so we're basically kind of guiding a principle of estate management which takes up a modern view of some of the issues the modern issues that have been encountered by farmers so going back to that strategy last being drafted in 2015 the issues have changed since then so we need to be able to have a strategy which supports them within that and will that include the relationship with Savills as well we've got a contract with Savills which is due for renewal so that is it's still got time to run but that procurement is something that's on our procurement cycle so we'll have that as part of a sort of a strategy that we'll have a commitment to when that goes out live for review and retender we'll build the details of the Savills contract approach does that answer all your questions there was the Orchard House B Ugly Tour I think as it was referred to I think it's quite we get very positive feedback from staff being based in there I can assure you of that but absolutely happy to offer the scrutiny committee a guided tour of that we can work with democratic services to arrange that and have some of the managers who oversaw the construction to walk you through that if that's something that's wanted and then I think there was a question around election promises that's not something I think as officers can comment on in terms of Tina's team and our capital build we're continuing with our capital programme I fully respect that Andrew I suppose my question would be then the programme that you are continuing with does that involve borrowing from the public works loan board or whoever to fund these capital projects and if so what would the value of that be over the next four year council term we'll use that not something to have to hand but can get away the figures and share with the committee you haven't answered my first point now in respect so this is borrowing from the public works loan public works loan board is that that's the thing I'd have to clarify exactly where all the funds for the capital programme come from can be a mix of funds packed that's in situ at the moment like Tina touched on earlier some are heavily funded by the DfE and such so we can get that clarification for you yeah if that could be provided please that would be appreciated thank you I believe we had a question from Councillor Condor thank you Councillor Dyer has always asked it for me so I don't need to follow up and Councillor East thank you Chair just going back to transparency again I'm assuming that the Keir and the Vinci contracts are driven by KPIs is that something that we're going to see the targets that they achieve or don't achieve yes certainly there's a whole list of KPIs within within each of those contracts that might be something for how as officers we bring the performance of those on an annual basis of how the contracts are performing something that's been done in the past so we can look to build that in and work with the committee on Councillor Kelly Councillor Dyer in regards to the light bulbs I completely understand you're using that vehicle that scenario to establish costs etc which is rightly so as well but I wouldn't like all the council staff to be running around all the buildings to cost up how much it costs to change a light bulb because I think that may be not a good use of our resources so to speak however we will provide a cost accordingly in regards to buildings and the portfolio of buildings and such like there are you know we are reviewing the portfolio of buildings to ensure that we maximise the opportunities and revenues that those buildings bring into the council whilst also looking at the maintenance costs etc for keeping them so we will be conducting detailed reviews cost benefit analysis so to speak of the buildings portfolio to identify and firm up a strategy going forward that always has the best interests of Lincolnshire at its core and ensuring we have best value for money over many years now many of those buildings have remained dilapidated etc costing the council costing the council taxpayers money so we just need to make sure that we are smarter in our approach to the management of the buildings portfolio and such like so that we optimise the return to the council and to the county thank you thank you for that councillor Kelly just to reiterate my point wasn't clear I wasn't asking for a cost of every single light bulb under the portfolio it's changed one light bulb outside the leader's office in county hall that's all I'm asking for chairman are there any more questions councillor Robinson is there anybody in your team who specifically manages the finances specifically regarding bang for book and also you spoke about condition survey surveyors who go around are these are these surveyors experts in their field i.e. are they builders are they real people who know the cost and everything or are they or do they or do they contractors kind of dictate to you like how much things cost and you you kind of work out through yourselves thank you in terms of the budgets each head of service is a budget owner so manages the budgets and forecasts them each month so we start our budget and forecasting cycle this month with forecasts to go in and so and I'd say so Marie Mark Dave and myself are all budget holders so using our business world system run that understand costs run multiple reports see how that compares against expected costs that come through and build in that forecast so and that's across revenue and capital we work extremely closely with finance colleagues as well as part of that to get that due diligence and challenge and do internal challenge amongst ourselves as well to make sure we're able to forecast as accurately as possible and then from a capital perspective work closely to draw down funds to support objectives and prioritise and such so yeah as officers we do that directly in terms of the the surveys we will use professionals in them depending on the type of survey that's required so bringing in professionals for a demolition which might have masses of asbestos could be attached to a grade 2 listed building all need a specialist and professional advice in that front right through to digging up ground works in a former military site which could have all sorts underneath again as a different specialist so pending on the nature of it we'll might direct you know or heritage sites like the castle need again something different so we do work with Kia who've got access to those across the country some of them are very specialist you can only get a few individuals to carry it out so that gives us that opportunity to do so versus others it might be more general where we can go to a local construction partner who can give us a more general briefing on that but tend to use a professional services and construction contractors that we have so just to be clear sometimes the contractors are in charge of giving you the price not necessarily the contractor who would deliver the works just a contractor who can give us a depends if there's a detailed survey right through as point of a conception of an idea what might you look to do right through to moving forward to this is something we want to move forward politically and as a senior officers and now need a I suppose a deep deep delve assessment pending on what it is so it can vary depending on what stage the question's being asked you know I might want to do that over there with a day centre versus we want to demolish this and rebuild would be two different approaches so make sure it's scalable in terms of who we contact at the time are there any more questions okay would we like to take a five minute break no okay we'll continue thank you for your presentations guys on to the next part tourism Miss Eaton yeah I think I'm just doing the final presentation on commercial I think we've touched on a little bit already so pleased to meet everyone my name is Victoria Eaton I'm the assistant director for commercial and just because everyone else did it I've been here about 18 months so I'm going to say still relatively new but not the newest in the room so I'm going to give you a brief summary of what we do we're slightly different services service to the previous presentations because our services if you could move on please in terms of slides we obviously do all commercial activity I think the ones you'll be most probably heard about our procurement and contract management but I really want to make it clear that's not what we do a really key focus and services and I'm sure we've picked up some of the contracts where you have questioned some of that already so we do that via obviously strategic procurement our partnerships that we have with the suppliers partners and I guess really importantly for this particular scrutiny buying power will influence what we can do with the economy and growth we have commercial really strong contract management activity we don't cover every contract but we certainly focus on the big big ones that we've talked about this morning our commercial services are very much about generating value ensuring that long term sustainability and again we have really to drive efficiency if we can move on please just to set the scene we don't just do procurement I think there are services and suppliers that can deliver some of the key services we need we obviously do do the procurement which I think is the process bit but really important in terms of getting those contracts in place that suit our needs then there's the ongoing performance and contract and supplier management which is an area we are improving on but we need to make that consistent across the whole of our contract portfolio we tentatively do some activities around income generation and commercial opportunities it's an area we need to look at in the future of this scrutiny committee one thing that I don't think we get much you know we don't shout about is some of the negotiation skills and some of the brokerage really negotiating down some of the prices we've paid restricted in our adult social care and brokering some better deals we have obviously got to comply with the transparency and legal framework I will talk about some of our transparency big thing we do is drive value for money and we do ensure that we deliver the savings of the council so I'm flying solo today if we can meet if we can move on please and I've got two heads of service supported by a brilliant team and we cover two areas of focus really one area is called infrastructure which is covering all the commercial activity and the resources a lot in place fire and the corporate directorate we also provide commercial services to our districts and in the short term to the combined authority of the corporate activities and categories to support place Alina heads up our people services which is very much focused on supporting our adult care and community well-being the largest market to manage our commercial dealings with so really strong team lots of professional skills we've got contract managers procurement experts that we use for the brokerage and negotiation next slide please this is a really really summary and I'm sure you'll want to probe into this in due course at some point but this is to give you a sort of give you a flavour and obviously it's only relevant on the day we pull it off but we've got about 650 live contracts probably from the really big juicy stuff that you're all interested in to very small small contracts value and it is around 3 billion of those contracts that doesn't mean we're committed to spending that that's just the contract value which is an important difference we've got 90 contracts that are over 2 million in value but that covers all the council the range of services we provide we have in fire the road maintenance contracts etc etc we've got 130 active procurements on our books at the moment with a total estimated contract spend by sharing that forward look pipeline if we could move on please this is the I guess the boring bit but maybe the most important bit is we do have within all things on here we've obviously got the constitution which sets out how we can govern ourselves we've got a document called the contract and procurement procedure rules CPPRs our details what we as officers can and can't do in terms of contracting but the ones that I guess are the most interesting are the legal framework that we sit in so February this year it was an exciting time for some commercial geeks of us when the procurement act 2023 actually came into law and we are now governed by this framework and this legal framework so which sets out how we have to conduct ourselves in terms of our commercial activity and in here there's some really interesting things that I think are pertinent to the discussion this morning very much about flexibility of our procurement processes I think we've often in the past we're not very open we're quite bureaucratic you know make it very difficult so the barriers to entry are there this act will allow us to be much more flexible and much more innovative in the way we do procurement and get access to the council's buying power in there as well there's particular new innovations around not innovations transparency and where we actually there's much more transparent obligations on us as a local authority forward so we will have to publish all contracts over £5 million that are under the new act and they will be open for obviously we can't publish commercially sensitive information but those contracts will be published similarly any payments over £30,000 will have to be published and prompt payment will also have to be published now they're coming later in the year it's only went live in February so we're still going through that transition and implementation we're waiting guidance from central government in terms of when those particular activities need to be done but we will have to be more transparent than they are key point though is only for contracts that have been let after February so some of the recent ones particularly IT services which we've mentioned will fall still under we don't have to legally do some of that publications because that went into those acts but anything now moving forward we'll have to follow those rules got a question do you want me to keep going and then ask at the end I'm happy I was just desperate to match the eye but it's one and I want to keep going is that okay so we've got two legal regime at the moment so when we talk about transparency we are limited in terms of what we can publish under the contract regulations but as I said moving forward we'll have much more we'll have to be much more transparent so that's a legal framework there are obviously lots more to that in terms of how timescales thresholds and things like that but probably not for today's session move oh you've moved on already thank you in terms of one thing that I'll definitely be coming back to the scrutiny committee in is at the moment we don't have a strategy in terms of commercial so we have drafted something that we will be coming for decision later in the year so this is just a flavour a bit of a tease really in terms of what we want to do in our commercial strategy so obviously deliver value for money up in the centre of what we need to do as a local authority innovative where this adds benefits I think you know we need to be more innovative in what we do and how we buy so that will be something that is up front of the commercial strategy locally driven with councillors at the heart of decision making I'm sure you'll all agree to that and I guess the big one for the scrutiny committee is the champion of Lincolnshire's economy environment community so obviously that might change but we will come back through the scrutiny in terms of that strategy I'm on the wind up now you'll be pleased to know so a couple of commercial priorities we which are sort of set within our strategies absolutely we need to be effective at suppliers within our supply chain which we need to be ensuring our delivering we need to streamline our processes and documentation I think I've heard that many times before so we come from the profession and make sure we've got the right commercial skills doing the right commercial things and then finally in terms oh no I think I've got two more slides so commercial and growth we I think absolutely can play a critical role in advancing growth we so we you know I anticipate we'll come back and talk to you about what we're doing we need to be more innovative so we can encourage suppliers developing the solutions start-up scale-ups and things like that that I can see that we're delivering in terms of our activity and obviously gender working with their partners in terms of promoting some of the activity we do and and then finally in terms of scrutiny themes these are the proposed items a little bit light but in terms of we will be coming back on the 9th of September in Turkey talking about what we've done to implement the new key items for us open to questions okay any questions we have one from Councillor Corey yes very very informal got a question from Corey thank you very much yeah that's what he calls me so thank you thank you for your presentation Victoria and as we've heard this morning the work of running a council is never done there's there are always changes always improvements always looking for to scrutiny and new ideas from whichever side of the chamber they come from so I want to take you back to income generation and how your team works with Marie's team so when prioritising works including relatively minor repairs you can gather from my questions that when I was a portfolio holder this was you know quite a niggle of mine how much waiting is given to income generation and how do your two teams liaison this so because this ability the future of that service or that venue thank you so answering for Marie we haven't had that conversation about income generation services facilities management it is I will say just for me I've not actively done a huge amount on on really progressing frameworks we've set up sorry just get you out of a hole that wasn't your income generation the ability of a venue or a service to generate income sorry to make it sustainable for example a cultural heritage services venue may have to have some relatively minor repairs to make sure that then it can generate an income and sustain its services without being a drain on the the wide council tax base of the council so something that's relatively minor like moving a radiator or a heating duct relatively minor in the massive scheme of things but to that service to that venue that could be the difference between it being a financially sustainable venue and not so how do you two work together and what's that waiting okay I'm passing over yeah so this is probably one for me so all the heritage sites and any of the income generating sites are flagged on our CAFM system which is our the computer system that basically holds every piece of information about every property in the portfolio we use that CAFM system to drive our help desk so when a call comes in to our partner Vinci to the property service centre there is a flag to that team to let them know that this is one of the heritage sites or one of the sites that's open to the public as well so we also have a number of different categories within there but in answer to that yes we are able to see when those calls come through and they are progressed as quickly as we possibly can so the complexity it may seem something very relatively simple at the time but the complexity of some of those buildings can be a challenge as well to undertake the work which may make you feel that there is a delay but those buildings are flagged so that we are aware that that issue is within one of those buildings thank you and in this this new bright new world of scrutiny that we find ourselves in can we can we see that how can we how can we check either individually or strategically that these flags are actually picked up with a certain window and what impact they are having on that service delivery of the venue or the service certainly that is part of our ongoing contract management with the provider so we have officers who check that manage that on a day to day basis and that forms part with the supplier and then we have regular meetings with CLT where we feed back so certainly we would get it back from the service as well if they weren't feeling so we engage with the relevant heads of service assistant directors directors within that area to make sure from their perspective they're seeing that those remedial works take place so as not to affect the income generated by those cultural sites that have people in there so we do manage it there's thousands come through they're flagged up just in the same way if there's a something where there's people resident like a children's home you know we've got to fix it so we have those flags and alerts on there so that we respond because again it has not just the ability to receive income it's reputation trip advisor reviews things like that acted so we do monitor that through that and that's where from the early discussion we say the annual review of how the contracts are performing we can bring some of that data to the committee so you've got an oversight okay thank you are there any more questions okay moving on so on to the suggested proposal and I will include councillor Dyer's formal proposal I move that the committee endorses the presentations and verbal updates received I further move that members initial comments and questions be noted as a constructive starting point for shaping our scrutiny work this term I propose officers continue to support the committee's development through regular updates on key areas of growth and then and then to implement the formal request that the county farm strategy be brought to the committee at the earliest opportunity would you like to speak on that councillor Dyer chairman could I just also ask and just request rewinding probably about an hour or so on the promise that Justin made in respect to scrutiny of the mayoral combined authority I appreciate you might not be in a position Justin to put a formal report together but if we could have a verbal update at the committee meeting on the 29th of July with a view if something has emerged that can be agreed at the full council in September are we okay to also request a verbal update on that as well chairman would you like to have a few words and then yeah I said I'd do it I'll take it away verbal because we're not ready yet or it'll be a paper yeah okay so adding the verbal I guess presentation on the combined authority and Lincolnshire County Council role together in this committee to be added to the next agenda okay so we'll have a raise of hands for who accepts these this proposal and any dissent abstentions no that's seven four seven votes four which so that means thank you that is agreed and let the record reflect the seven people who voted yes so this leads us on to the growth scrutiny committee work program and this is the last item on today's agenda and the report can be found on pages 25 to 30 of the agenda pack this item enables the committee to comment on the content of its work program and it will be presented by Kiara Hatsioani it's greeting the officer our actions are to review the work program and highlight any additional scrutiny activity which could be included for consideration in the work program so over to you Kiara thank you chairman the draft work program for the growth scrutiny committee outlines a forward plan of activity for 2025-2026 council year and it aligns with the committee's revised remit following the decommissioning of the former environment and economy scrutiny committee the work program includes a balance of pre-decision scrutiny policy development and performance monitoring with items scheduled to support the economic growth and place-based environment development there are plenty of key themes planned for the year ahead of us I'm not going to go into further detail as you've all had a chance to engage with the report I would just like to add that a caveat to this program is the introduction of new items identified from today's meeting and I will work with officers to make sure that we bring these forward at the earliest opportunity and just to remind everyone that this is a living document and you're more than welcome to engage with us directly even offline into introducing topics and themes that you wish to see further scrutiny on in the next year and beyond that thank you very much thank you and now I'd like to invite members of the committee to make any relevant statements or ask any questions regarding this agenda item and then we'll move forward with the proposal okay so I move that we note the reports and approve the existing work program as detailed in pages 25 to 30 and the changes made about the county farm strategy and the mayoral authority as well and do we have votes for and against abstentions okay so the motion passes with seven votes four and let the record reflect that which brings us to the end of the meeting so thank you all for coming and presenting and taking part in the scrutiny the business of the first growth meeting has concluded and yeah thank you
Summary
The Growth Scrutiny Committee convened to discuss its role and responsibilities, receive introductions to key service areas, and review its work programme for the coming year. Members agreed to endorse the presentations and verbal updates they received, and requested that the County Farm Strategy be brought to the committee at the earliest opportunity. The committee also requested a verbal update on the relationship between Lincolnshire County Council and the Mayoral Combined Authority at the next meeting.
Role of the Growth Scrutiny Committee
Kiara Hatsioanu, Scrutiny Officer, presented a report outlining the role and remit of the newly established Growth Scrutiny Committee. The committee's responsibilities include reviewing and scrutinising services related to economic growth, development projects (including broadband), procurement, property, skills, business support, tourism, and attracting funding to Lincolnshire. The committee has the power to review decisions made by the executive, provide advice, and request in-depth scrutiny reviews.
Service Area Introductions
Senior officers provided presentations on the service areas under the committee's purview:
Growth
Justin Brown, Assistant Director of Growth, presented an overview of the local economy, highlighting key sectors such as agri-food, manufacturing, and defence. He noted that productivity in the county is 14% lower than average, and that businesses face barriers related to premises, funding, and labour. He also spoke about the importance of regeneration funding, the council's economic portfolio properties, and the services offered through businesslincolnshire.com. He also discussed the importance of the Visit Lincolnshire website.
Mr Brown also addressed employment and skills, noting a shift towards investing in tackling unemployment and economic inactivity. He highlighted programmes such as Skills Boot Camps and the Careers and Enterprise Hub. He identified water stress and power supply as significant infrastructure challenges. He also mentioned the STEP fusion programme at West Burton and the UK Food Valley.
Councillor Baxter questioned the value of investing in the STEP programme, given its location outside of Lincolnshire. Mr Brown responded that the project would bring opportunities for Lincolnshire businesses and educational institutions. Councillor Dyer raised the issue of the relationship between the council and the new Mayoral Combined Authority. Mr Brown said that he would work with Democratic Services to develop something that the committee could look at to see how that relationship works. Councillor Reeve raised concerns about the security of knowledge produced by the STEP project. Councillor Corey asked for more detailed data on Lincolnshire's GVA1.
Property
Andrew McLean, Assistant Director for Corporate Transformation Systems and Performance and Interim Assistant Director for Corporate Property, provided an overview of the council's property estate, which includes over 1,000 properties, 470 operational buildings, 423 schools, and over 16,000 acres of farmland. He outlined the responsibilities of the property team, which include strategic asset management, design and construction, and facilities management. He also discussed the council's new service delivery model, which involves partnerships with KIA and Vinci. Mark Eyre, Head of Strategic Asset Management and Estates, spoke about the strategic asset management service, school asset management, and the county farms estate. Tina Teague, Building Programme Manager, discussed the council's capital programme, highlighting projects such as the new secure children's home in Sleaford and the refurbishment of Orchard House B. Marie Marrier, Head of Facilities and Workspace Management, discussed the facilities management services provided by her team.
Councillor Baxter asked how he could interrogate how the £1.5 million paid to Vinci had been spent during the last quarter. Councillor Dyer asked how much it would cost to change a light bulb, and requested a list of the council's 54 vacant properties. Councillor Dyer also asked what the cost implications would be of bringing all staff back into the office permanently. Councillor Dyer requested that the County Farm Strategy be brought to the committee for review. Councillor Corey asked how the council was going to monitor short lead time facilities repairs and improvements. Councillor East asked for an update on the high-tech development of RAF Scampton. Councillor Robinson asked who specifically manages the finances, and whether the surveyors are experts in their field.
Commercial
Victoria Eaton, Assistant Director – Commercial, provided an overview of the council's commercial activities, including procurement, contract management, and income generation. She highlighted the importance of the Procurement Act 2023, which promotes flexibility and transparency in procurement processes. She also discussed the council's commercial strategy, which focuses on delivering value for money, innovation, and supporting Lincolnshire's economy and community.
Councillor Corey asked how the commercial team works with the facilities management team to prioritise works that support income generation.
Work Programme
Kiara Hatsioanu, Scrutiny Officer, presented the draft work programme for the Growth Scrutiny Committee, outlining key themes and activities for the year ahead. The committee agreed to note the report and approve the existing work programme, with the addition of the County Farm Strategy and a verbal presentation on the Combined Authority. The Growth Scrutiny Committee Work Programme outlines a forward plan of activity for 2025-2026, aligning with the committee's revised remit and including a balance of pre-decision scrutiny, policy development, and performance monitoring.
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Gross Value Added (GVA) is a measure of the total value of goods and services produced in an economy, less the value of intermediate consumption (the cost of materials, supplies, and services used to produce those goods and services). It is an indicator of the economic performance of a region or country. ↩
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Topics
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