Agenda and draft minutes

Resolved to note that an apology for absence was received from Councillor G Shacklock.

To elect a Vice Chair, to serve for the remainder of the municipal year ending at the Annual Meeting of the Council in May 2024.

It was proposed by Councillor Wilkes and seconded by Councillor Coleman that Councillor P Irwin be elected as vice-chair for the remainder of the municipal year.

Resolved that Councillor Irwin be elected as vice-chair for the remainder of the municipal year.

Resolved that minutes of the meeting held on 5 February 2024 be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

The Chairman invited Members to make any relevant declaration of interest in respect of any items on the agenda.

Resolved that the following declarations be noted:

• Cllrs Anslow, Irwin and G Lawman made a personal declaration each on agenda item 8 - Asset Rationalisation and Use - Scrutiny Panel Feedback, as a member of Wellingborough Town Council.
• Cllr Pengelly made a personal declaration on the same agenda item, as a member of Corby Town Council.

Seven requests to speak had been received on minute 39, The future of Kettering Leisure Village - Options Review; one person had withdrawn their request and two speakers were not present.

As requested and agreed, the Chairman invited Councillors Hakewill, Lee, Pandey and Watts to speak in relation to agenda item 6 – the Future of Kettering Leisure Village - Options Review. In summary, the following key points were made during their representation:

• Kettering Leisure Village (KLV) was a critical asset to North Northamptonshire Council (NNC)

• Disappointment that the company, which had drawn up the options appraisal, was not present for the committee to scrutinise them directly, however, the Executive Member and senior officer responsible were present to respond to any questions and to provide specific details.

• Members were concerned that the report needed to include more financial details and conveyed their preference for NNC to bring KLV back under the control of the council. They sought the re-introduction of the services that had closed. They gave their full support to staff and users of the facility and asked whether the Council’s Leisure Strategy could be brought forward earlier to encompass the future of KLV. 

The Chairman thanked the speakers for their input on this item which provided further context and wider representation on this important item to be considered by the committee.

The Place and Environment Scrutiny Committee noted the circulated joint report of the Assistant Director Communities and Leisure and Assistant Director Assets and Environment, including the consultant’s appraisal, in relation to the Options Review for Kettering Leisure Village. The Chairman invited the relevant officers to present the report, highlighting salient points.

Mrs Purnell presented the report to committee, explaining that Compass Contracts Services UK Ltd (CCS) had decided to close KLV in 2023.  Action was taken by the council, executive and officers along with CCS and the leaseholder of the site, Phoenix Leisure Management (PLMS) to broker an interim solution to enable the site to remain open and to develop an options appraisal for the longer-term operation of the site. 

The history of the site in relation to the legal ownership was explained, informing the committee that KLV had been built in 1991/92 and consisted of a sports hall, conferencing centre, meeting rooms, bars, concert venue, creche and theatre.

The former Kettering Borough Council had been granted a lease for the site by BQ Farms Limited for a term of 125 years at a peppercorn rent.  Such lease expires in 2116.  In 2000, KBC granted an underlease of KLV to PLMS via a co-terminus lease expiring in 2116 and ownership sits with PLMS until such time. The council does not have control of the site but must work proactively with PLMS to mitigate any repair obligations and other lease covenants to avoid a breach of the council’s covenants.

The report detailed the current position in relation to KLV and introduced a business case, including associated options appraisal, setting out details of the agreements between North Northamptonshire Council and PLMS.  The report also clarified the legal ownership of the site detailing how limited the council’s options were in regard to exercising control.  It also informed of the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 39.

The circulated joint report of the Assistant Director, Highways and Waste, Graeme Kane and the Waste Services Manager, Charlotte Tompkins, was received.

Mr. Kane presented the report and explained that in September 2022, the Executive approved the council’s first Waste Management Three Year Plan (2022-2025) and that this report provided an update on the progress made.

Reference was made to the future delivery of waste collection and street cleaning services in the East Northamptonshire area with the committee being asked to consider what future delivery model they deemed would be most suitable.

The report detailed items included in the three-year plan and how this was currently operated, having progressed the harmonisation of services inherited from the former borough and district councils, along with the development of the service to reflect emerging Government regulations and guidance.

The Government’s plans to reform waste through its Simpler Recycling Strategy would ensure that people across England would be able to recycle the same materials wherever they lived for the benefit of the environment.  This had taken longer to implement than expected and some of the work on the three-year plan had been delayed because of this.

Details of the actions from the three-year plan that had been completed were contained within the report. Further actions yet to be implemented, originating from the three-year plan were also detailed within the report.

The committee was being asked to review the plan, including the progress made and the items to be completed, and to recommend the options for East Northamptonshire for the Executive to consider.

Such options included an extension to the contract with the current provider for up to a further seven years or to bring the service in-house. By bringing the service in-house, it would mean that all services are delivered directly by the council’s in-house teams. This would enable the authority to continue the integration of collection rounds and utilise resources across the boundaries of the former borough and districts.

A financial analysis based on the cost of delivering the services could mean that whichever delivery model was more cost-effective would be the basis for the decision.  Whilst this had not been carried out yet, potentially the external provider could be better value for money than an in-house service and the contract could be extended, resulting in a mixed approach to service delivery.

Should the contract be extended, the Executive could take time to consider its longer-term approach to delivering the services for the future and determine whether it wanted to externalise all the waste collection services through a procurement exercise or whether it wished to integrate them into one directly delivered in-house model.  

Consideration could also be given to the establishment of an arms-length organisation to deliver those services on behalf of the council.

The chairman thanked Mr Kane for his report and opened it up for debate.

The committee considered the report and thanked officers for the considerable progress made with the three-year plan.

They asked questions about the provider for East  ...  view the full minutes text for item 40.

There being no further business, the Chair thanked Members and Officers for their attendance and closed the meeting at 9.45pm.