Agenda item

The Executive Leader Councillor S J Conboy to address the Council on behalf of the Joint Administration on the State of the District.

The Chair will invite the Leader of the Opposition to respond to the address.

[In the ensuing debate a Member may speak once and no speech may exceed 5 mintes in length without the consent of the Chair].

The Chair invited the Executive Leader, Councillor S J Conboy to address the Council on the State of the District and to open the debate which was scheduled to follow.

Councillor Conboy opened her address by reminding Members that 2024 represented a significant milestone as the Council celebrated its 50th Anniversary and by placing on record her sincere appreciation to Officers and Members who had supported everything that had been achieved in the past year.

The Executive Leader then went on to report upon the achievements of the Council over the past year. In this regard, Members were advised that through the adoption of the Council Tax Support Scheme which offered support of up to 100% off the Council Tax Bill for households on the lowest incomes, the Council had provided more support for the people who needed it most within the District.

The Council had also made significant achievements towards the aim of helping residents to live in a safe, high-quality home regardless of health, stage of life, family structure, income and tenure type. During 2023/24, 703 affordable homes had been completed, 494 of which were specifically for affordable and social rent which had offered much needed options for the community and had helped with housing waiting lists and prevented excessive use of temporary accommodation.  Through the Houses for Ukraine Programme, the Council’s Communities and Housing Teams had ensured that no families presented as homeless and the use of Disabled Facilities Grants had enabled 185 people to continue to live at home safely.

The Executive Leader was also pleased to report that the Council One Leisure’s Active Lifestyles and Sports Development programmes were continuing to see high levels of attendance and that the Community Health Prevention Project had enabled the roll out of free physical activity courses to prevent cardiovascular disease. Funding from the Integrated Care System had also supported the ESCAPE Pain Pilot System, a group rehabilitation programme for those suffering with chronic joint pain. The Council also noted that One Leisure Facilities had recorded over 1 million admissions.

The Executive Leader then drew attention to the role of good employment in improving people’s quality of life and the administration’s aspiration that local people should be able to develop their skills to take advantage of opportunities with businesses and education providers working more closely to deliver an inclusive economy. She was pleased to report on the opening of the East Anglia Energy Academy in St Ives in May 2024, which would bring new jobs, skills and investment to the District, together with the Academy a joint venture between Reed Environment and Oxford Energy Academies which aims to attract more people to the trade skills career path and upskill. The support of the District Council’s Economic Development Team had enabled Reed to accelerate their timeline significantly.

In terms of the local economy and the administration’s aspirations for it to be a place where businesses choose to start up, grow and invest, the Executive Leader reported that the Shop Front Grant Scheme had now been extended to include all market towns within the District. To date, a total of 31 grants had been awarded at a total value of £136,894. The Council were informed that in recognition of the unique challenges faced by rural enterprises, £350,000 had been secured from the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority to support the growth of rural business, which would enable them to diversify income streams and help create positive change, innovation and growth for the District. It was also reported that the Market Towns Programme continued at pace. Work had started at the beginning of the year in St Neots town centre to ensure that it was fit for the future, more accessible and could respond to the growing population and the number of people who live and work in close proximity. Investment in the Priory Centre would also make it a more attractive and exciting venue for amateur dramatics, touring shows and community events. Similarly in Ramsey, work was ongoing to improve the Great Whyte area by redesigning and enhancing public spaces and developing new, low-cost opportunities for independent traders to sell goods and services in the town centre.

Members were informed that the Council had also continued to take positive action to reduce carbon emissions and become net zero by 2040. A trial utilising hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) in refuse vehicles had been completed in collaboration with Cambridgeshire Police and Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue. Such that the HVO used by HDC, police and fire service vehicles had already reduced the combined services carbon footprint by 72 tonnes of CO2. In addition, the Council’s Biodiversity for All Programme was continuing to enable and encourage local people and businesses to reduce carbon emissions and increase biodiversity across Huntingdonshire. The Council had also held its first-ever Climate Conversation in November 2023 which had enabled residents, community groups, business owners, farmers, town and parish councils and environmentalists to learn and share ideas for tackling climate change. The Executive Leader was pleased to report that the Council’s ongoing efforts to tackle the causes and effects of climate change had seen the Council climb the ranking tables in the Climate Emergency UK scorecard results, to a position around the national average.

The Executive Leader went on remind Members that essential services formed the basis of the Council’s everyday work and around 80% of Council resources were aligned to business as usual and the Council must continue to set an excellent example of the standards it expected for its residents. The Council were informed that some of the day-to-day work over the last year had seen the Council collect 97% of Council Tax, the Council had administered over £250K of Energy Bill Rebate support payments and had been awarded Green Flag status at Paxton Pits and Hinchingbrooke County Park for the sixth year in a row. It was also reported that at the beginning of July 2024, nearly 43,000 households had successfully subscribed to the Garden Waste subscription service.

The Executive Leader reiterated that as more councils across the country faced financial difficulties, she was proud that Huntingdonshire continued to deliver on its promise of long-term financial sustainability. The Council had set a balanced budget, which did not spend reserves and protected front line services, all in a time of decreasing government funding, rising costs and greater pressure on services. By building strong financial foundations, it was hoped that the Council could plan and enhance services in accordance with the things that matter most to residents.

Looking forward, the Executive Leader remarked that whilst much had been achieved there was always more that could be done. The Council were reminded that it had recently participated within a Local Government Association Corporate Peer Challenge because it was committed to continuous improvement. Later this year it would be taking part in a Planning Peer Challenge. Whilst the introduction of a new Contextual Outcome Measures Dashboard to benchmark Council Performance and a new Continuous Improvement Delivery Plan would underpin and focus attention on the work which is undertaken over the next two years to ensure the Council is as efficient and effective as possible.

Members were advised that there was much to look forward to over the coming year. The Council would progress with the delivery of Civil Parking Enforcement across the District and would also be working on preparing to deliver a weekly food waste collection service for those that could not compost. Work would continue to update the Local Plan which sets out how the District would grow over the next two decades and Huntingdonshire Futures grants will continue to provide local organisations with funding to put on event or activities that support the Huntingdonshire Futures vision. Work would also be ongoing to deliver a Community Health and Wealth Strategy to link the broader social determinants of health with a Community Wealth-Building approach and the Council would continue to provide a wide range of existing statutory and important services seeking to improve their efficiency and effectiveness through the Customer Change programme.

The Executive Leader then took the opportunity to pay tribute to the Council staff and expressed her appreciation to them for the efforts they made to ensure that Huntingdonshire was the best place possible. She explained that following extensive engagement with staff a new Workforce Strategy focussed on attraction and retention, engagement and wellbeing would be rolled out over the forthcoming year.

The Council were also advised that ‘Do, Enable Influence’ would also continue to be a crucial phrase for the Council over the course of the year as it looks to take on a more enabling role, utilising partnership working and empowerment to reduce demand for traditional public services. Members were informed that the Council would continue to work constructively with the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority, Cambridgeshire County Council and health colleagues which would allow the Council to proactively influence and contribute to further devolution deals for Cambridgeshire and Peterborough. Work would also continue to invest in building positive and productive relationships with local town and parish councils, other public bodies and the third sector and a new Communications and Engagement Strategy would underpin this approach.

In concluding her remarks, the Executive Leader outlined her appreciation to all Members of the Council. She reiterated that the collective will of councillors within the Council Chamber had enabled the Council to put Huntingdonshire at the front and centre of delivery. It had been repeatedly demonstrated that work could be undertaken across party boundaries, valuing different opinions and treating others respectfully. The Council has achieved an awful lot over the last 50 years and as it looked ahead to the next 50 years, the Council continued to lay the foundations for a prosperous future that will deliver a greener, fairer Huntingdonshire for all.

In response and on behalf of the Opposition Group, Councillor R Martin thanked the Executive Leader for the work she had undertaken to champion the District at a local and national level and for the courteous and respectful manner in which she led the Council. He also took the opportunity to reaffirm the commitment made by his predecessor, that the Conservative group would seek to be a collaborative opposition and support those policies which were sensible. However, they would continue to oppose those things that they thought were wrong or ideologically driven.

Having commented on the positive initiatives which had been referred to by the Executive Leader during the previous year and the use of innovation, Councillor Martin also referred to the significant changes which had taken place within the Authority. These included the appointment of a new Chief Executive, new Director for Place and the formation of a new Independent Group within the Joint Administration. He also commented on external changes and the impact that these might have locally, including the change in the national government and the appointment of three new Members of Parliament, for the Huntingdonshire area.

Councillor Martin welcomed the progress that had been made within the One Leisure service following its challenges during Covid and with rising energy prices and was encouraged with the ongoing work which was being undertaken to develop a long-term operating model.  He suggested that the Council needed to undertake more long-term horizon scanning as it moved forward over the course of the next few years, to examine all areas of the District. He also took the opportunity to place his thanks and those of his group to all Members of staff within the District Council for their efforts and hard work over the past year.

Councillor Martin then went on to make reference to the poor visual state of the District, arising specifically from the growth of weeds in roads and footpaths. Having acknowledged that it had been the decision of Cambridgeshire County Council to cease their weed treatment programme, Councillor Martin enquired given there were members of the Administration who were also County Councillors and the references within the Executive Leaders speech to ‘do, enable, influence’, to what extent the Administration had sought to influence the County Council to reverse that decision. He went on to explain that not only were the growth of weeds unsightly, they had also blocked drains in many areas causing issues with flooding. Whilst the decision had now been reversed, he urged the Administration to reflect further on any influence they could have had going forward.

Councillor Martin then outlined concerns with regards to the Council’s continued use of the No Amendments Policy within the Planning Service. Whilst he argued that the Council were benefiting financially from applicants being required to reapply, there were many applicants who were unable to afford to re-apply. Having referred to a specific case in which the applicant chose to apply to another area of the county, rather than reapply, he urged the Administration to focus on the next year at looking at the policy and to make adjustments such that it worked better for what the Council was seeking to achieve in Huntingdonshire.

Turning to Overview and Scrutiny and the Council’s decision-making processes, Councillor Martin emphasised the need to utilise the expertise and experience of all Members of the Council and suggested that the role of scrutiny should be embraced, rather than feared to deliver the collective aim of a better Huntingdonshire and a thriving District Council.

Going forward, Councillor Martin advised the Administration that they could expect the Conservative Group to challenge and push back more on certain decisions. However, this would continue to be undertaken fairly and with respect.

In concluding his remarks, Councillor Martin made reference to his attendance at the Hunts Forum Awards Evening held the previous evening which had provided an opportunity for volunteers across the District to be recognised for their contributions. He reiterated that the District Council should be doing more to thank these individuals and recognise the work they were undertaking. Without these residents who give up their time, their energy and their efforts to ensure that the District is a better place to live, the District would not be where it is today.

Councillor N Hunt took the opportunity to reflect on some of the initiatives which had been delivered by the Administration for younger residents within the District. In doing so, he made reference to the delivery of over 700 new affordable homes, the provision of sports and leisure facilities, the arrival of new skills and training providers to the region and the support which the District Council’s Economic Development Team had provided to them. He also made reference to the Council’s activities in tackling the Council’s Carbon footprint, supporting the local energy plan and providing award winning parks and open spaces.  He went on to reiterate to all Members, that the impact of local government could be felt by everyone and urged all Members within the Chamber to keep this in mind. He also outlined his excitement at the challenges ahead for the forthcoming year which he was hopeful would be productive for Huntingdonshire residents and young people.

In seeking to respond to some of the comments which had been made by the Leader of the Opposition, Councillor T D Sanderson and S Taylor provided an update on the situation with regards to the reintroduction of the County Council’s weed treatment programme, which had not been helped by the recent period of wet weather. As part of which, Members were informed that chemical spraying was now taking place and the District Council had been working in collaboration with the County Council to manually remove weeds in response to complaints logged on the County Council’s ‘Report a Fault’ service. Although the process would be ramped up shortly. Further details were available on the County Council website.

With regards to planning, Councillor Sanderson reported that that the Planning Inspector was in the District Council’s favour when discussing the Council’s No Amendment’s Policy. He also reported on a number of positive developments within the planning service which included the clearing of the backlog and the success of the pre-application service. He was pleased to report that targets for determination of major applications and householder applications in June 2023 had been 100% and 95% respectively.

Finally, and having endorsed the comments of the Executive Leader, Councillor S Wakeford reiterated his thanks to the District Council staff and volunteers who had worked exceptionally hard to make the achievements of the past year possible. However, he reminded the Council that there was still much to do within the District over the remaining two years of the current administration and beyond.  Once the new National Government begins its programme of work, he looked forward to working with colleagues across the Chamber to take best advantage of the opportunities the new Government may enable for District Council. Having commended the tone and the spirit of the comments made by the Opposition Leader, Councillor Wakeford also took the opportunity, with reference to the No Amendments Policy, to outline the benefits which this had had upon the enormous backlog in cases which whilst not unique, had been inherited from the previous Administration which had had an impact on costs in terms of delayed decision making.