Meeting Details

There were no apologies for absence from Cabinet Members; Councillor Cooper and Councillor Jepson, both Assistant Cabinet Members, gave their apologies for absence.

The Leader of the Council stated he was sure that members would want to join with him in expressing East Suffolk Council's (ESC's) deep sadness for the situation in Ukraine; he added that he struggled to find polite words to voice his condemnation of the Russian act of war that had already caused so much pain and suffering to so many innocent people.  The Leader stated that ESC's thoughts, hopes and prayers were with the Ukrainian people and he added that he had discussed with his fellow Cabinet Members what practical support ESC could offer at this time, ever mindful of the quickly changing circumstances. 

As always, the Leader added, ESC wanted to ensure that it did all it could and it was seeking meaningful actions, not empty gestures. The Finance Team was looking at all investments to ensure they were not supporting the Russian economy and ESC was fully supportive of the actions by Suffolk County Council to break the contract with Gazprom. The British Red Cross was working with the Ukrainian Red Cross Society to provide practical help to those that needed it the most and the Leader concluded that he would ensure that the link to its campaign was provided on ESC's website. 

The Cabinet Member with responsibility for Transport announced that he had received a request to provide some parking for a heavy goods vehicle to collect donations, which would then be transported onwards to a central collection point; he would, of course, he stated, be pleased to accommodate this request.  Should the same request be received from the Lowestoft area, Councillor Brooks stated, he would be pleased to accommodate it, if possible.

The Cabinet Member with responsibility for Transport also referred to the new bridge across the Lake Lothing and announced that the first section of the bridge had just arrived; it weighed 380 tonnes and was 55 metres long, and  had taken 32 hours to to reach its destination, by sea, from Belgium, where it was manufactured. The job was ongoing, on budget, and on time Councillor Brooks was delighted to announce.

The Cabinet Member with responsibility for Communities, Leisure and Tourism, commenting on the situation in Ukraine, stated that she, with officers, would be actively monitoring the response within East Suffolk communities and would offer any assistance that could be provided

The Cabinet Member with responsibility for Community Health announced that a new Chief Executive had recently been appointed at the James Paget University Hospital; her name was Jo Segasby, and she had been the Trust's Chief Operating Officer since 2019.

The Deputy Leader, after referring to the very sad situation in Ukraine, provided an update in respect of the Digital Business Festival; he announced that 53 events had taken place and current views on the website were at 1445; the sessions were still available on the Council's YouTube channel along  within the business support at East Suffolk Means Business.   

The Deputy Leader  also referred to the Town Celebration event that would be taking place in Beccles, between 10 am and 2 pm on 5 March 2022; he encouraged everyone to attend and he wished the event all the best of luck for every success.

The Leader, in conclusion and referring back to the situation in Ukraine, stated that ESC would be monitoring the asks from Central Government, particularly relating to the resettlement of refugees, and would be responding positively. 

RESOLVED

 
That the Minutes of the Meeting held on 1 February 2022 be agreed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman. 

The Leader stated that in exceptional circumstances the Council may, by law, exclude members  of the public from all, or part of, an Executive decision-making meeting. The Council should, unless there were urgent circumstances, give notice of its intention to do so via the Forward Plan, which was updated and published on its website 28 clear days prior to the meeting. There were various reasons, the Leader added, that the Council, on occasions, had to do this and examples were because a report contained information relating to an individual, information relating to the financial or business affairs of a particular person, or information relating to any consultations or negotiations.

Tonight, the Leader stated, Cabinet had one exempt matter to consider and it was as outlined on the published agenda at item 7 and related to the Lowestoft Town Investment Plan.  The focus of the Towns Deal project was the transformation of the place to encourage and enable economic growth in East Suffolk.  The projects looked to transform and repurpose areas of the town centre in line with the town centre masterplan to ensure ESC created new, sustainable and inclusive development. The purpose of the Towns Deal was to provide a platform to encourage and attract private sector development and the projects provided that building block across a wide range of sectors including clean growth, culture, leisure and retail.  The projects to date had attracted over £20,000,000 in private sector investment.  

On the proposition of Councillor Gallant, seconded by Councillor Rivett, it was by unanimous vote

RESOLVED

 
That under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended) the public be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business on the grounds that they involved the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraphs 3 and 4 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act.