The Mayor invited Members to observe a minute’s silence in memory of former Councillor Mick Muncaster.

Councillors Alistair Bradley and Alan Cullens paid tribute and sent their condolences to the family.

Resolved: (Unanimously)

That the minutes of the meeting held Tuesday, 13 December 2022 be approved as correct record for signing by the Mayor.

Members are reminded of their responsibility to declare any pecuniary interest in respect of matters contained in this agenda.

If you have a pecuniary interest you must withdraw from the meeting. Normally you should leave the room before the business starts to be discussed. You do, however, have the same right to speak as a member of the public and may remain in the room to enable you to exercise that right and then leave immediately. In either case you must not seek to improperly influence a decision on the matter.

No declarations of interests were declared.

The Mayor updated members on her fundraising activities and charity events, advising that she would be holding a Charity Ball on Friday 10 March in the Lancastrian and theme would be Alice in Wonderland.

The Mayor also took the opportunity to congratulate Chris Sinnott on his first Full Council meeting as Chief Executive.

Members of the public who have requested the opportunity to ask question(s) on any item(s) on the agenda will have three minutes to put their question(s) to the relevant Councillor. Members of the public will be allowed to ask one short supplementary question.

To view the procedure for public questions/ speaking click here and scroll to page 119

There were no public questions for consideration.

To consider a general report of the Executive Cabinet meetings held on 20 October, 10 November and 8 December.  The report for the meeting held on 19 January will follow. 

Members considered a general report of the meetings of Executive Cabinet held on 20 October, 10 November, 8 December and 19 January.

The Leader of the Council and Executive Member for Economic Development and Public Service Reform, Councillor Alistair Bradley proposed the report and The Executive Member for Resources, Councillor Peter Wilson seconded, and it was;

Resolved (Unanimously) that the report be noted.

To receive and consider the general report of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee held on 6 October, the Overview and Scrutiny Performance Panel held on 15 December and Task Group update.  The report of the Overview and Scrutiny Performance Panel held on 12 January will follow. 

Members considered a general report of the meetings of Overview and Scrutiny Committee held on 6 October, the Overview and Scrutiny Performance Panel held on 15 December, 12 January, and Task Group update.

The Chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee, Councillor John Walker proposed the report and the Vice Chair, Councillor Roy Lees seconded, and it was;

Resolved (Unanimously) that the report be noted.

To receive and consider the general report of the Governance Committee meetings held on 23 November.  The report for the meeting held on 18 January will follow. 

Members considered a general report of the Governance Committee meetings held on 23 November and 18 January.

The Chair of Governance Committee, Councillor Debra Platt introduced the report and referred to the meeting held on 18 January and the Internal Audit reviews due to be considered by members during the meeting.

Councillor Platt thanked the Leader for allowing the Internal Audit Reviews to be considered by full Council and expressed disappointment that the original proposal to bring forth the reports to Council was lost at the meeting of Governance Committee.

The Chair of the Governance Committee, Councillor Debra Platt proposed the report and the Vice Chair of Governance Committee, Councillor Mark Clifford seconded, and it was;

Resolved (Unanimously) that the report be noted.

To receive and consider the report of the Chief Executive. 

1.    Council endorse the outline Lancashire 2050 strategic framework as the strategic framework that will guide further development of shared detailed priorities and actions.

2.    Agreed that the Leader of the Council continues to work with Lancashire Leaders in line with the principles already agreed by the Council in January 2022 including that the Leader will make representations to that forum any matters arising from Full Council’s consideration of the report.

3.    Any additional proposals will require further approval by Full Council at the appropriate time.

The Executive Leader, Councillor Alistair Bradley presented the report of the Chief Executive that sought to present the work undertaken towards the development of strengthened joint working across Lancashire, a strategic framework and seek agreement on the adoption of collective priority areas.

Councillor Bradley explained that the framework was the result of collaboration of all Local Authorities within Lancashire and it outlined the aspirations and ambitions held for Lancashire.

The framework was received positively by members who supported the document and principles contained within it, it was acknowledged that collaborative working within Lancashire would bring more prospects and better outcomes for residents.

The Executive Leader, Councillor Alistair Bradley proposed and the Executive Member for Resources, Councillor Peter Wilson seconded, and it was Resolved (Unanimously)

1.    Council endorse the outline Lancashire 2050 strategic framework as the strategic framework that will guide further development of shared detailed priorities and actions.

2.    Agreed that the Leader of the Council continues to work with Lancashire Leaders in line with the principles already agreed by the Council in January 2022 including that the Leader will make representations to that forum any matters arising from Full Council’s consideration of the report.

3.    Any additional proposals will require further approval by Full Council at the appropriate time.

To receive and consider the report of the Chief Executive.

1.    Council approves the designation of the Neighbourhood Plan area for Mawdesley as shown at Appendix 1.

The Executive Member for Planning and Development, Councillor Alistair Morwood presented the report of the Chief Executive that sought to inform Members of an application from Mawdesley Parish Council for the designation of the whole of the parish of Mawdesley as a Neighbourhood Plan area and request its designation as a Neighbourhood Plan area.

Councillor Morwood explained he was pleased the plan had come forward and was hopeful for more. The process would take up to two years and is the beginning of what would be a good neighbourhood plan. The next step would be to make residents and employees in Mawdesley aware of the designation.

The Executive Member for Planning and Development, Councillor Morwood proposed and the Executive Leader, Councillor Alistair Bradley seconded, and it was Resolved (Unanimously)

1.    Council approves the designation of the Neighbourhood Plan area for Mawdesley as shown at Appendix 1.

To receive and consider the report of the Director of Customer and Digital.

1.    Council approves the revised Discretionary Housing Payment Policy.

2.    Council notes the reduction in government funding.

The Executive Member for Resources, Councillor Peter Wilson presented the report of the Director of Customer and Digital that sought to present the proposed revised and updated Discretionary Housing Payments (DHP) Policy, and to highlight the reduction in central government funding and the potential for overspend as a result.

Councillor Wilson explained the payments would be administered to the most vulnerable residents and were important as they targeted help to those most in need.

The Executive Member for Resources, Councillor Wilson proposed and the Executive Leader, Councillor Alistair Bradley seconded, and it was Resolved (Unanimously)

1. Council approves the revised Discretionary Housing Payment Policy.

2. Council notes the reduction in government funding.

A number of questions were received from Councillor Alan Cullens, but he agreed they could be considered under the urgent item and are included within that report.

No motions of notice were received.

The Mayor advised she had accepted an urgent item relating to an Internal Audit report that was considered by Governance Committee on 18 January.

The report was presented to Full Council to allow members the opportunity to consider its contents and debate the implications.

The Mayor has accepted this urgent item to present to council an internal audit report that was considered by the Governance Committee last week. The report highlighted two internal audit reviews that had been given limited assurance ratings and highlight weaknesses in the governance framework of the Commercial Services directorate.

To receive and consider the report of the Chief Executive.

The Executive Leader, Councillor Alistair Bradley presented a report of the Chief Executive that presented the Audit and Risk Interim Report that was considered by the Governance Committee on 18 January to highlight the findings of two internal audit reports that received limited assurance ratings.

Councillor Bradley explained that he had been made aware of issues within the directorate in 2022 by the former Chief Executive who indicated he wanted to investigate further. The Executive Leader did not request further information as it was a Chief Executive function. Proposed management actions were now in place and action had already been taken to rectify issues.

The Executive Leader explained that he was happy to answer Councillor Alan Cullens questions fully but had not provided a response before the meeting as he wanted to circulate the response to all members and potentially the public. A written response would be provided outside of the meeting, taking into consideration the confidential nature of the appendices.

The Leader of the Opposition, Councillor Alan Cullens explained he first became aware of the report when it was presented to Governance Committee at South Ribble and asked if the report could be made open if confidential information was redacted.

The Executive Leader explained he had seen the report week commencing 13 January and it had been shared with the Labour Group on 16 January, the opposition group should have been provided with the report at the same time as the Executive Leader. With reference to the Governance Committee at South Ribble it was explained that their meeting was held before the one at Chorley.

In response to the query on making the report open, the Monitoring Officer explained that it would be difficult to redact information from the report as issues were intrinsically linked.

Members debated the reports, including Councillors Sam Chapman, James Nevett, Debra Platt and Aidy Riggott. With members commenting on the further considerations within the report such as reporting the data breaches to the Information Commissioners Office and a report of potential fraud being logged with the Police.

Councillor Bradley proposed and the Deputy Leader, Councillor Peter Wilson seconded, and it was Resolved (Unanimously)

1.    Council notes the Audit and Risk Interim Report set out at Appendix A and note the proposed response set out in this report.