Welcome to the last Council of the year and the final council business before we enter into the Christmas festive period.
You will see on today’s agenda a report on the refresh of the Council’s values. This builds on the positive feedback we had almost exactly a year ago following the peer challenge where we were encouraged to celebrate and share the exceptional culture we have within the council. I’m sure that the values will resonate with you all:
· We are positive
· We are ambitious
· We are collaborative
· We are customer focused.
Week in and week out the council demonstrates these values in the services it provides to our communities and there have been some fantastic examples of this only this week.
Council success
At the Go Leicestershire Tourism and Hospitality awards on Wednesday night there were many fantastic achievements for our borough, with many local establishments winning recognition. The council won a commended certificate for the Mallory Mile event and the Snap Dragon Family Festival was nominated through a public vote for the best day out. The highlight of the night was the council winning an “outstanding contribution to tourism” recognition for our Bosworth 1485 project, which we will be celebrating at Council tonight. Special mention in relation to this goes to Simon Jones who, through his vision, determination and tenacity, ensured the project was supported and delivered over a seven-year period.
Tourism is an important part of our local economy, creating over £280m in GVA per year and employing 2500 people in Hinckley and Bosworth.
Christmas events for our communities
On Wednesday we also held the annual Christmas car trail through Hinckley, enabling those who aren’t able to walk around the town to see the Christmas lights the opportunity to drive around the route, along with festive music, entertainment and mince pies. Over 97 cars took part, and many residents including those in care homes in the borough were able to join in the Christmas fun.
On Thursday we hosted the Steady Steps Christmas party which saw over 240 elderly residents who participate in the Steady Steps and Chatty Chairs programmes come together to enjoy a delicious Christmas meal served by council staff and volunteers.
At the same time on Thursday a group of LD/SEND adults performed a dance as part of the celebration to mark the end of their health and wellbeing programme which had been led by Donna Lee and Graeme Chilvers from Cultural Services. The group performed in front of an audience of carers, parents and friends and the joy and positivity in the room was incredible. The difference that this programme, funded and led by the council, has made to the lives of all involved is immeasurable.
Over the last few weeks we have seen our Christmas light switch on and light show in Argents Mead which attracted bumper crowds, and the Market Bosworth switch on. I wish all our other villages well in their Christmas celebrations and switch on events.
Food waste funding
Our teams have been doing an excellent job preparing for the start of the food waste service in April 2026, including the development of a new depot to accommodate the new trucks and associated infrastructure and staff. We are therefore extremely concerned at the recent lack of clarity on the funding being provided by the government to support councils rolling out food waste collections.
Since this new additional statutory service was announced, the government has consistently confirmed to us that it would be a fully funded service and be subject to new burdens funding. This included capital costs, implementation costs and importantly ongoing revenue costs. We have received the capital and implementation funding and had understood that the revenue costs would have been covered through new burdens funding. Unfortunately, over recent weeks, we have been receiving messages to the contrary.
Myself and the Chief Executive have written to the Chancellor of the Exchequer and ministers for MHCLG and Defra to ask for urgent clarification on the funding and to advise that if the necessary funding required and previously promised is not received, we will not be in a position to roll out the service.
Business rate relief impacts and advocacy
Many of you would have picked up on the growing concern amongst businesses in the hospitality and retail sectors over the government’s scrapping of the 75% business rate relief reducing this down to 40% from April this year. The Leicester Market Towns group, led by our Chief Executive and comprising BID managers and directors and senior town centre managers from across Leicestershire and supported by the police, recently undertook some work to identify the overall impact on our businesses. The impact for Leicestershire market town businesses is a staggering £26m. An advocacy document has been prepared for lobbying MPs and ministers on this matter.
Business networking event
Last week we held our third business networking event hosted by MIRA Technology Institute. The event was attended by over 80 businesses who heard speakers talk about subjects including the use of AI in business, cyber security and modern work experience opportunities. The feedback has been extremely positive and we will be holding more events next year, alongside our regular Employment and Skills Taskforce.
Meeting with the Social Housing Regulator
Yesterday Councillor Mullaney, senior officers and I met with the Social Housing Regulator to discuss our preparedness for a future inspection of the council housing service. We were able to share the work officers in the service, alongside tenants, have undertaken to ensure the Social Housing Regulator consumer standards are met and our tenants receive high quality services, live in safe and well-maintained homes and are treated fairly and respectfully. The meeting was very positive and we will continue in our work to ensure our tenants get the best possible service as we prepare for a likely inspection.
Local government reorganisation (LGR)
I can report that the North, City, South proposal prepared by seven districts of Leicestershire and Rutland County Council was formally submitted to government by the deadline of 28 November. You are all familiar with my strong views and I know many of you share them – that local government isn’t broken, and the key issue is the lack of funding support to the sector from the government that is the issue. The next key stage will involve the government undertaking consultation on its preferred proposals for Leicestershire and Rutland prior to a decision being taken, which we expect to be by summer 2026. You will all have picked up the news last week, that the government has announced a delay in the mayoral combined authority elections for a number of areas who were supposedly on the LGR fast track, hence delaying devolution deals for the areas.
Christmas and New Year wish
I would like to take this opportunity to wish all members, officers and their families a very peaceful and safe Christmas and hope you all enjoy the festivities. Also, I wish to extend my festive wishes to all of our communities across the borough.