A senior South Kesteven District Councillor has stepped down as an executive director of its environment company less than three months after being installed into position.
Conservative Councillor Robert Reid told the Companies Committee on Tuesday that he had “honestly felt” he could manage the position on Environment SK, along with his role as Cabinet Member for Housing, when he was voted in on November 2 and that he “wanted to help”.
Scrutiny councillors, including Independent Councillor Ashley Baxter, were keen to point out that they had previously questioned if the member “had the bandwidth to do this job and whether or not there was any conflict of interest”.
Councillor Reid said: “In absolute transparency, I have found there are issues within the Housing Revenue Account contract and, simply, I might have been better to have taken advice.”
He said he had previously stated he would always put his cabinet role first and added that in his short tenure he had put in place processes to “make the way forward for the transparency of the company” and refocus its direction.
Independent Councillor Philip Knowles said: “There was always a clear, clear conflict of interest between those two roles and I’m very, very pleased to say that now that’s been corrected.”
Independent Councillor Phil Dilks, who does not sit on the committee, said there had been a “pattern of confusion” around directors and accused the council’s officers of “farcical confusion” at previous meetings.
“When are we going to get this right?” He asked.
“It’s just total confusion, it’s a bloody pantomime.”
Councillors also suggested the latest update raised questions around whether there was a conflict of interest of fellow cabinet member Conservative Councillor Adam Stokes – who oversees the authority’s finance and budget, including grounds maintenance – sitting on the company.
“If Adam Stokes is a cabinet member, responsible for procuring grounds maintenance, how can he also be the chair of the company which is delivering grounds maintenance?” Said Councillor Baxter.
“The role of the director of EnvironmentSK is to maximise the income for ESK, the role of the the cabinet member of the finance is to minimise what we pay our contractors,” he commented.
Councillors also raised questions over SKDC finance chief Councillor Adam Stokes.
Councillor Reid said he had “every confidence” in Councillor Stokes.
Conservative leader Councillor Kelham Cooke suggested there was a reshuffle of his cabinet on the horizon, but told councillors advice had been received that showed there was no conflict of interest.
He said it would be shared with members.
At the meeting Councillors agreed to appoint Alan Robinson as the director of Environment SK and also to approve the appointment of an interim Non-Executive Director for up to one year at a cost of £12,000.
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Encanto, Harry Potter and West Side Story will all be shown during a three-day outdoor cinema experience at Lincolnshire Showground in September.
Tickets are on sale for West Side Story (2021) (September 16, gates open 6.30pm), Disney’s Encanto (September 17, gates open 6pm), and Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (September 18, gates open 6.30pm) priced at £14.50 for a standard adult ticket, with customers advised to bring their own blanket and camping chair.
A VIP ticket priced at £20.50 includes a ‘luxury deck chair in a prime position’ and a 90g bag of sweet and salty popcorn, while child tickets cost £9.50.
Standard tickets are available for all three film showings at the time of publication, but the VIP tickets for Harry Potter have sold out, so it is advised to book quickly. Children under 16 must be accompanied by an adult.
Hot food, snacks and a bar will be available on site, as well as toilets including accessible facilities. Picnics are welcome, but alcohol must be purchased on site only.
There will be music to enjoy before all three films with soundtracks of specially curated songs for Harry Potter and Encanto. There will be a soundtrack of songs from musicals over the years before the showing of West Side Story.
The events are run by Adventure Cinema and will go ahead even if it’s raining, but the organisers are hoping for a nice dry weekend.
An overnight road closure will be in place next month as a level crossing in Boston is upgraded to improve reliability for key freight services travelling to and from the town’s port.
A section of the A16 (Spalding Road) will be closed from 7pm on Saturday, June 11 until 2pm on Sunday, June 12 to allow engineers to safely replace over 140 metres of rail through the Boston Bypass level crossing.
Teams will work through the night to get the road ready to reopen for drivers, pedestrians, and cyclists as soon as the upgrade is complete.
A signed diversion will be in place throughout to help people get to their destinations.
Vincent Briggs, East Midlands Route Level Crossing Manager for Network Rail, said: “This essential work will allow us to reliably transport vital freight goods to and from the town’s port for many years to come.
“We will need to close a major road into Boston to complete the upgrade safely, and I’m sorry for any inconvenience this causes.
“We’ll be doing the work overnight and have worked with Lincolnshire County Council to keep the impact as low as possible.”
Andy Lawrence, Port of Boston Director for Victoria Group, added: “The Port of Boston are delighted that the upgrade is taking place. It is great for the network connection we have from the Port of Boston and the 260,000 tonnes a year of cargo that we put over it.
“This enables us to keep lorries off the road and dramatically reducing our carbon footprint by utilising rail.
“Rail Freight was important for the Port in 1884, when it was built, and it remains equally, if not more important in 2022, and the future, as we strive to divert even more cargo to the rail mode of transport, direct from a seaport.”
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