Agenda item

Councillor Nunn submitted his report as Leader of the Council. He advised of a Member briefing session to be held on 18^th September; this would be relating to Local Government Reorganisation and it was important for members to attend.

In response to questions asked, Councillor Nunn explained that unitary work was taking up a lot of resources but the Structural Changes Order would be imminent, stating that he and the Leader of Northamptonshire County Council were continually lobbying central government. The Leader advised that unitary alone would not transform services, input was needed from district and borough chief executives who each fronted part of the unitary project. The Leader confirmed that he would invite the new Programme Director, Paul Helsby, to Northampton Borough Council for a briefing with Members. The Leader explained that the Programme Director post was not an additional one, nor did it incur an extra cost. However the overall cost remained a concern for all members.

Responding to a question regarding dredging of the Billing Brook lakes, the Leader confirmed that it was within the Council’s remit; this was a long-standing problem for the town which had now been resolved.

In response to a question relating to a motion calling for a “People’s Plan”, the Leader advised that a board meeting would be held on 24^th September with Northampton University to review the written consultation responses. This would then lead to confirming a final template for a People’s Plan. The Leader highlighted the importance of different demographics of people feeding into the consultation.

In response to a question relating to EV charging points, the Leader explained that some issues had been brought to light at the LGA conference, including charging points on terraced streets, but he saw this as an opportunity for more charging points in the town.

With regard to the St James Link Road, the Leader explained that a detailed land survey revealed higher levels of ground contamination which brought estimated costs to £4m, however the Council would continue to pursue opportunities to deliver it.

Councillor Larratt presented his report as Deputy Leader and responding to questions, advised that the Community Governance Review Working Group would always consult residents on what they had been asked to. With regard to street decommissioned street lights in the town, the Deputy Leader stated that he would be happy to check the council’s asset records to find out whether any lights were due to be switched back on.

Responding to questions regarding rail issues, the Deputy Leader reported that Northampton was losing out on direct services to Crewe, however he would continue to fight for the East West Rail to run through Northampton.

The Deputy Leader explained that a Planning Protocol had been drafted which he anticipated would give Members more involvement in planning applications and the pre-application stage, and more influence in shaping Section 106 Legal Agreements.

The Deputy Leader confirmed that he would take a suggestion to swap plastic bags for more environmentally friendly options to the next Market Advisory Group. He would also look into issues surrounding the “Report It” app.

Councillor Hallam submitted his report as the Cabinet member for Environment and explained that a paper on single-use plastics would be brought to the next Climate Change Panel in October and invited Mia and Ava Joyce to the meeting.

In response to questions, Councillor Hallam explained that the council had been spending increasing amounts of money on the town’s parks and the council were always fighting for more.

Councillor Hallam explained that the money saved on reducing the cost of bulky waste collections has been spent partly on increasing the number of booking slots available by 50%. This had been well received by residents but Councillor Hallam would be happy to look into any issues that had arisen around waiting times.

Responding to a question regarding street waste bins, Councillor Hallam stated that there were several in the town that were not the responsibility of Veolia; he would look into the issue further once provided with details by Councillor Cali.

Responding to a question relating to climate change working groups, Councillor Hallam advised that delays had been caused by diary clashes; meetings were due to start in October.