In addition to any announcements made at the meeting, please see Paper BC/23/26 attached, detailing events attended by the Chairman and Vice-Chairman.
Minutes:
64.1 The Chair referred Councillors to Paper BC/23/26 for noting.
64.2 The Chair invited the Acting Leader of the Council to make his announcements.
64.3 Councillor Ward made the following announcements:
“We were pleased to hear we have been awarded funding of £115,000 to help offset increased utility costs at Hadleigh Pool & Leisure. The successful bid came from the Sport England Phase 1 Swimming Pool Grants funding. Unfortunately, a first-round bid for funding to help the Kingfisher Leisure Centre in Sudbury was unsuccessful. As councillors will know, swimming pools are particularly dependent on energy use, so inflation and soaring energy bills have put leisure providers under increasing financial pressure. We obviously welcome this funding, and hope for further support in the second round for all our pools and leisure centres facing the same challenge.
It is a month since severe flooding hit a number of our communities, and for many of our residents the recovery continues. The Government has announced grants for homes and businesses that were impacted - £500 for homes, and £2,500 for businesses – to assist with initial recovery costs. Babergh District Council has been working with neighbouring districts and Suffolk County Council to get these grants to those eligible as quickly as we can. We will be able to start distributing funding before the end of this month. I would like to remind everyone that all reports of property flooding need to be submitted via the Suffolk County Council website.
You may have seen the announcement earlier today that we have launched a new ‘Living Well in Winter’ grant to help communities tackle issues like social isolation and the need for ‘warm spaces’ this winter. The funding means that the councils can help communities tackle social isolation and address the choice for some residents of whether to heat or eat this winter as the cost-of-living crisis continues to take its toll. Community groups can apply for a minimum of £500 and a maximum of £2,000. Applications are now open and can be submitted until Sunday, 17th December.
You will all probably be aware now that the Suffolk Borough and District Leaders wrote an open letter of support to the leader of South Cambridgeshire District Council, Councillor Bridget Smith, regarding their trial of a four-day working week. This is not about the merits or otherwise of a 4-day week, but it is about local autonomy. This is a matter for a local authority alone and the government shouldn’t intervene: it sets a dangerous precedent. Councils must be allowed to make their own informed decisions. The decision to serve a Best Value Notice is heavy-handed and tantamount to bullying. The council must now answer up to 80 questions totalling 186 individual requests from government every week, which will be very time-consuming and costly to do. They also have to provide cost and performance data going back to 2018. It is a misuse of the Best Value Notice process and no evidence that one is necessary has been provided. Councillor Smith was very grateful for our support and thanked us for what she said was an incredibly kind and helpful letter.
You will have received an email from Councillor James Giles of the Royal Borough of Kingston at the weekend asking you to sign a letter regarding the situation in Gaza on behalf of an organisation called Councillors for a Ceasefire. The tone of the email has caused a lot of worry and fear for many, and the LGA chairman, Councillor Shaun Davies, has sent out an urgent message reassuring us that no contact data was supplied by the LGA. However, I know that some of you are concerned by the small print at the end of the email, which states ‘You are receiving this email because you opted in via our website’, and I have written to Councillor Shaun Davies to seek clarification. This is further complicated by Councillor Giles sending his email from his Kingston email address. I will update you when I have further information.”
64.3 Councillor Holt commented that not all Members were consulted on the letter sent to South Cambridgeshire District Council, and requested or this to happen for future correspondence to confirm Members’ agreement.
Supporting documents: