Council and councillors

There were no announcements from the Chairman or Head of Paid Service.

In accordance with the Regulations, Members are required to declare any personal or prejudicial interests they may have and the nature of those interests in respect of items on this Agenda and/or indicate if Section 106 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992 applies to them.

No declarations of interest were received.

To confirm the Record of Decisions made at the meeting of the Cabinet held on 15 September 2015.

The Record of Decisions made by the Cabinet on 15 September 2015, copies of which had been previously circulated, were confirmed by the Cabinet.

To receive items raised by members of scrutiny which have been submitted to the Leader (copied to Chief Executive and Democratic Services Officer) by 4.30 pm on Friday 16 October 2015.

The Leader had not been notified of any items raised by Scrutiny.

(KEY DECISION)

Report No. 193/2015

(KEY DECISION)

Report No. 193/2015 from the Director for Resources was received.

The Portfolio Holder for Places (Development and Economy) and Resources, Mr T King, introduced the report, the purpose of which was to inform Cabinet of the status of the Resource Management System (‘Agresso’), appraise Cabinet of the options available to the Council and agree a way forward.

During Consideration the following points were noted:

      i.        It was expected that Hoople would provide an update on the costings for supporting and hosting the Agresso system and it was envisaged that this would be within the Council’s Budget and delivered by the 1^st April deadline;

     ii.        It would be desirable to create another partner which also shares a lot of similar rural issues as Rutland;

    iii.        There was a preference for the system to be hosted externally;

   iv.        There should be a real partnership with the provider, with provision for early notification should they decide to change their systems;

    v.        Officers had requested the contact details for two of Hoople’s external customers so that their views and any lessons learnt on the process could be obtained;

   vi.        Audit Reports had also been requested from authorities which used Hoople in order to highlight any issues identified; and

  vii.        If the anticipated savings were not realised in the finalised costings, the report should be brought back to Cabinet.

DECISIONS

1)    Cabinet DELEGATED the authority to pursue options for the future provision of the Resource Management System in line with the objectives set out in para 3.1 to the Director of Resources in consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Resources;

2)    Cabinet APPROVED the consideration of options involving collaborative working with other Council’s recognising that formal agreement of those options will require Cabinet approval; and

3)    Cabinet APPROVED that the existing under spends (£100k) in the IT budget are made available to fund the upgrade of Agresso.

Reason(s) for the Decision(s)

The Council is required to upgrade its Resource Management System at some point.  The lowest risk option is to do this externally with a provider or local authority partner. Officers wish to prioritise working with another local authority as they believe this will provide a viable alternative.  Cabinet is being asked to agree this way forward and allow IT under spends to be used to fund the project.

Report No. 189/2015

Report No. 189/2015 from the Director for Places (Development and Economy) was received.

The Portfolio Holder for Places (Development and Economy) and Resources, Mr T King, introduced the report, the purpose of which was to consider the Rutland Local Plan Review Issues and Options document prior to going out to consultation with local community and key stakeholders.

During Consideration the following points were noted:

          i.        Scrutiny meetings had highlighted that work needed to be done around community engagement and officers had  done some work on the wording to ensure that it was in plain and understandable language;

         ii.        Consultation meetings would provide the opportunity for members of the public to have their questions answered and to seek clarification;

        iii.        A meeting with the Planning Advisory Service had highlighted that the Neighbourhood Plan for Oakham may not achieve sufficient allocation of  land for business growth and that a major site, or core document might produce better results;

       iv.        Industrial land was more difficult to secure than land for housing;

        v.        A list has been drawn up of all the consultees.  This list included Cambridgeshire County Council and Hanson Cement as it was felt that some further clarification should be sought into whether Thistleton Quarry might be considered a potential source of aggregate for the A14 development;

       vi.        The documents and community engagement sessions would be well publicised and the local community were being urged to come forward with their comments and ideas; and

      vii.        In areas where Neighbourhood Plans were being, or had been developed, consultation and community involvement would have taken place.  The community in these areas may find that knowledge of the Neighbourhood Plan Process would assist with responding to the Local Plan Review.

DECISIONS

1)    Cabinet APPROVED the Rutland Local Plan Review Issues and Options consultation document set out in Appendix A to this report; and

2)    Cabinet AUTHORISED publication of the document for consultation with the local community and key stakeholders.

Reason(s) for the Decision(s)

The Issues and Options document is the first public consultation stage in preparing a review of the existing Rutland Local Plan.  It sets out the key issues and options to be considered in order to support the development growth planned as part of the LPR for the period up to 2036. Subject to approval by Cabinet, it is intended that the document will be published for consultation with the local community and key stakeholders from mid-November 2015 to mid-January 2016. Following public consultation, responses to the document will be assessed and a report brought back to the Members for consideration in drawing up a “Preferred Options” version of the document. The Council will need to consider all ‘reasonable alternatives’ for development before preparing a Preferred Options document. This will set out the Council’s strategy for development and the proposed planning policies of the Local Plan.  It is anticipated that consultation on the Preferred Options will take place in August/September 2016.

To receive items of urgent business which have previously been notified to the person presiding.

No items of urgent business had previously been notified to the person presiding.