Madame Mayor, may I start by wishing all Members and Officers in our ‘virtual chamber’ a very happy and peaceful Christmas. It has been a very tough year for many with the challenges we have faced by the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic.
I hope the spirit of the meeting and debate we have reflects the Christmas festive period.
Tonight on the agenda we have a report on our Licensing Policy which has been updated to reflect COVID requirements, and these have been endorsed by Licencing Committee. I am pleased to see the report on the Rural Strategy reflecting the extensive engagement we have had over the last year with our parishes. This demonstrates our continued commitment to support our rural as well as urban communities.
There are also reports on changes to Constitution, which primarily incorporates improvements for member and the public’s engagement at Planning Committee; and on changes to the Petition Scheme. I would like to thank the Cross-Party Member Working Group that has considered and proposed these changes. We also have some appointments to make on some local charitable bodies and four motions on some topical issues to consider.
There are a few other key matters that I want to highlight which are as follows:
Tiering Arrangements
As colleagues will know, when the country came out of the second national lockdown we were put into Tier 3 with the rest of Leicestershire and the City. This is the most restrictive tier. This is devastating for so many local businesses, particularly in the hospitality sector. I do not think this area deserved to be put into Tier 3, particularly as we have the lowest COVID infection rate of all Leicestershire authorities and well below the national average.
It was on the basis of this situation I instructed our Chief Executive to follow up on the legal challenge that Stratford-upon-Avon District Council have been pursuing against the Government. We will be told on the 17th December what our position and tier arrangement will be. Any change will come in from midnight on Saturday 19th December.
Shop Local
I am delighted we have launched our ‘Love Local, Shop Local’ business directories to help people source food, drink and other services online, while supporting ventures who are adapting to new ways of running their businesses.
One directory is for restaurants, cafes, pubs, coffee shops and takeaways, while the other is for all other retailers. Given this is a difficult time for many local independent businesses, we know many have adapted quickly to provide online sales, click and collect services, local delivery and more. We want to make it easier for customers to find local businesses and help everyone to shop local for food and gifts.
The new directories are an excellent source of information to help residents find these innovative local suppliers. As we continue during the pandemic and recovery phase, shopping for food and gifts in the borough will help support the local economy – so please love local and shop local this Christmas!
Electric Vehicle Charging Points
I am pleased to confirm that following feasibility work on a number of our carparks and recently having secured external funding, we will be installing 12 new electric vehicle charging points in two of our town centre carparks - Lower Bond Street and Castle Street. We have also been successful in securing funding from the LLEP for an additional 10 solar panel charge points in the borough. We are continuing to identify other carparks across the borough in anticipation of accessing further government funding for more charging points. I would like to express my thanks to Caroline Roffey and her team in Streetscene Services for the work they have undertaken to secure this infrastructure.
Britishvolt
Staying on the same theme, I am delighted to welcome the recent announcement by Britvolt that they will be setting up their new global headquarters at MIRA Technology Park creating up to 50 high skilled jobs. The company develops advanced battery technologies for electric vehicles. This announcement signals confidence in this area and underlines the importance of the borough for the future of battery technology development, which will power electric cars of the future. Given the national commitment to ban the sale of new petrol and diesel vehicles by 2030, innovation in powering electric vehicles will be an increasingly important industry in this part of the Midlands and a source of economic growth for this area, which will contribute to the Council’s Climate Change Strategy.
Klondyke
As many Members are aware, the area known as the Klondyke to the north of Groby has been subject to unauthorised development activity over a number of years and the Council has repeatedly taken action. This year the Council has issued three enforcement notices and I can confirm that the Council is preparing the next stage of formal action to address the breaches in the New Year, which could result in court action in May.
National Financial Settlement
Following the recent settlement announcement by the Chancellor, we are expecting to receive our allocation of the Settlement on 17th December. We expect this to be particularly challenging on our budgets and we will need to be making some difficult decisions that will need to be incorporated in the Council’s Medium Term Financial Plan over the next three years.
Despite all of the incredible work we have done as a Council in keeping services going alongside the magnificent response and recovery effort to the COVID pandemic, we have been told that the expectation for Councils like ours is that we should raise our council tax to meet the burdens and pressures we face. I firmly believe the Government should support us with hard cash and not place the burden on local tax payers, which sounds like it may be inevitable.
Stuart Bray, Leader of the Council
15 December 2020
Minutes:
In his position statement, the leader wished members, officers and residents a happy Christmas and expressed his pride in the work of staff. He congratulated Dr Evans, MP, for his recent Patchwork Foundation award, expressed his disappointment that the borough had been placed in tier 3, encouraged members to shop locally and highlighted the installation of electric vehicle charging points in two town centre car parks. He also referred to Britishvolt setting up its new global headquarters at MIRA Technology Park, progress on enforcement linked to the Klondyke and the national financial settlement.
In response to a question about the electric vehicle charging points, Councillor Bray agreed to arrange for a briefing note to be sent out to members.