No disclosures were received.

To approve and sign the minutes of the meeting held on  25 February 2025 (enclosed).

The minutes of the meeting held on 25 February 2025 as circulated, were approved and signed as a correct record.

The Chair, Cllr. Nick Chapman made announcements in respect of the following:

·         Attended the Leicestershire Melton Proms at St Mary’s Church in Melton on 10 March 2025.

·         Attended the Mayor of Charnwood’s Borough Council’s Charity Dinner on 21 March 2025.

·         Hosted his own Chairman’s Charity Coffee Morning on 26 March 2025 raising nearly £200 for the East Midlands Air Ambulance Charity.

·         Attended the East Midlands Ambulance Charity Event to celebrate their 60^th Birthday of passenger transport.

·         Joined Officers and Cabinet Members for a few hours to support them with the Great Tommy Sleep Out which took place on 27 March 2025.

The Chairman, Cllr. Nick Chapman invited Cllr. Cheryl Cashmore to provide more information on the Great Tommy Sleep Out to Members.

Cllr. Cheryl Cashmore announced that £2,245 was raised for homeless veterans. Cllr. Cheryl Cashmore thanked Cabinet Members and Senior Leadership Officers at Blaby District Council for getting involved and supporting the cause.

The Leader, Cllr. Terry Richardson presented his statement in respect of the following:

·         Rail Freight Hub Rejected

·         Local Government Reorganisation

·         Flooding Funding

·         County Council Elections

·         Fresh Tourism Strategy

·         A big thankyou and goodbye to Bev Welsh, who had stood down from her position as Ward Councillor in Glen Parva after almost 14 years of service.

Cllr’s Antony Moseley, Luke Cousin, Paul, Hartshorn and Nick Brown all paid tribute to Bev Welsh adding their own thanks and best wishes.

To consider the report of the Senior Democratic & Scrutiny Services Officer (enclosed).

Considered - Report of the Senior Democratic Services & Scrutiny Officer.

Requests received by the Protocol deadline to be reported by the Monitoring Officer with details of the Agenda Item to which they relate. (Such persons entitled to use the Protocol attend for the purpose of making representations, answering questions or giving evidence relating to the business of the meeting and the time allocated to each person is a maximum of three minutes unless extended at the discretion of the Chairman).

No requests were received.

Any Members wishing to submit questions must do so to the Monitoring Officer no later than 5 working days before the meeting.

The Monitoring Officer will report if any questions have been submitted.

Cllr. Antony Moseley to raise the following question to Cllr. Les Phillimore – Housing, Community Safety and Environmental Services Portfolio Holder:

“The forecasted income for car parks in Blaby has once again declined. Businesses in Blaby village have consistently seen tangible benefits when car parks are made free at certain times during the year. Given this, will the Executive Member for Car Parks now accept that the current strategy of making car parks break-even is not the right approach? Will they commit to reintroducing a period of free parking to support local businesses and encourage footfall?”

Cllr. Antony Moseley raised the following question- to Cllr. Les Phillimore– Housing, Community Safety and Environmental Services Portfolio Holder:

“The forecasted income for car parks in Blaby has once again declined. Businesses in Blaby village have consistently seen tangible benefits when car parks are made free at certain times during the year. Given this, will the Executive Member for Car Parks now accept that the current strategy of making car parks break-even is not the right approach? Will they commit to reintroducing a period of free parking to support local businesses and encourage footfall?”

Cllr. Les Phillimore – Housing, Community Safety and Environmental Services Portfolio Holder responded: “Can I thank Cllr. Antony Moseley for the question as it gives me the chance to remind members that the Car Parking Strategy 2022-2027 includes the provision of free parking for disabled users for up to 3 hours, free parking on Sundays in Enderby Road and Johns Court car parks, and up to four free parking days a year agreed in conjunction with the Parish Council.  All of these initiatives support our local businesses and encourage footfall.

The recent car parking order went further and made provisions for the purchase of business permits which are a cost effective way for people to park in Enderby Road and Johns Court car parks.

The aim of the Car Parking Strategy and the cost neutral goal was to ensure that customers using the car parks pay for their upkeep rather than all residents across the district which remains an appropriate strategy.

We constantly monitor usage and what we are seeing at the end of 24/25 financial year is that peoples shopping habits have changed, and income has increased based on what was received during 2023/24. Budgets are set prior to the start of a financial year and in my view it is likely that when we come to revise budgets in September the income will be adjusted upwards to reflect the income received up to that point.  When setting budgets, officers are prudent to try to ensure that anticipated income levels are met and these are then reviewed throughout the year, with the formal review taking place in September.

In answer to the question regarding free parking I would refer to the initiatives already in place for free parking and reiterate that our support for local businesses continues”

Cllr. Antony Moseley asked the following supplementary question: "In October of last year the proposal to introduce car park charges at Bouskell Park was called into Scrutiny, we were told confidently that the income would be between £33,000 - £36,000 per year and yet now the budget for this year the forecast is a mere £9,000 nearly 75% less? What has happened to cause a significant reduction in such a short amount of time? Were we misled at Scrutiny?”

Cllr. Les Phillimore – Housing, Community Safety and Environmental Services Portfolio Holder responded that a written response would be provided.

To consider the report of the Business Systems & Information Manager (enclosed).

Considered - Report of the Business Systems & Information Manager, presented by Cllr. Terry Richardson – Leader of the Council.

To consider the report of the Chief Executive (enclosed).

Considered - Report of the Chief Executive, presented by Cllr. Terry Richardson – Leader of the Council.

To consider the report of the Corporate Services Group Manager & Monitoring Officer (enclosed).

Considered - Report of the Corporate Services Group Manager & Monitoring Officer, presented by Cllr. Terry Richardson – Leader of the Council.