A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Council and councillors

Agenda and minutes

Venue: Council Chamber, Catmose, Oakham, Rutland, LE15 6HP

Contact: Natasha Taylor, 01572 720991  Email: ntaylor@rutland.gov.uk

Link: Audio recording

Items
No. Item

459.

APOLOGIES

To receive any apologies from Members.

Minutes:

Apologies were received from Mr Alderman, Mr Lowe, Mr Parsons and Mr Walters.

460.

CHAIRMAN'S ANNOUNCEMENTS

To receive any announcements by the Chairman.

Minutes:

The Chairman announced that the list of engagements had been circulated.

 

The Chairman confirmed that he had sent a letter of condolence on behalf of the Council to the family of Mr Idris Evans former officer of RCC and Oakham Town Council who had recently passed away.

 

The Chairman also asked Council to join him in expressing thanks Dr O’Neill (Director for People) for his services to the Council and wishing him every success in his new role at Birmingham City Council starting in the New Year.

461.

ANNOUNCEMENTS FROM THE LEADER, MEMBERS OF THE CABINET OR THE HEAD OF PAID SERVICE

To receive any announcements by the Leader, members of the Cabinet or the

Head of Paid Service.

Minutes:

Mrs Stephenson, Portfolio Holder for Culture and Leisure, Highways and Transport, reminded members that the Local Transport Plan Consultation was due to end on the 11 January 2019 and that all comments and submissions were welcomed.  The documents were available on line and there were also hard copies in Customer Services.

 

Mrs Stephenson also confirmed that service requests from Parish Councils to Highways could be requested online from next week, the link would be sent out to Parishes.  The Highways Transport Service Group which considered service requests from Parish Councils had met twice since September and the meeting notes were available online.  Mrs Stephenson would send a link to members.

 

 

462.

DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

In accordance with the Regulations, Members are invited to declare any disclosable interests under the Code of Conduct 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.

Minutes:

Mr Oxley declared a personal interest in Item 12) a) of the agenda as he was Chairman of Uppingham Town Partnership and the owner of a holiday let in Uppingham.

 

Mr Oxley declared an interest in Item 15 of the agenda as he had been quoted in the newspaper with regard to a complaint made against Mr Alderman.  He would not take part in the debate or decision on this item.

463.

MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING

To confirm the Minutes of the 277th meeting of the Rutland County Council District Council held on 12 November 2018.

Minutes:

The minutes of the 277th meeting of the Rutland County Council District Council held on 12 November 2018 were confirmed by the Council and signed by the Chairman. 

 

464.

PETITIONS, DEPUTATIONS AND QUESTIONS FROM MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC

To receive any petitions, deputations or questions received from members of the public in accordance with the provisions of Procedure Rule 28. The total time allowed for this is 30 minutes.  Petitions, deputations and questions will be dealt with in the order in which they are received and any which are not considered within the time limit shall receive a written response after the meeting.

Minutes:

There were no petitions, deputations or questions received from members of the public.

465.

QUESTIONS FROM MEMBERS OF THE COUNCIL

To receive any questions submitted from Members of the Council in accordance with the provisions of Procedure Rules 30 and 30A.

Minutes:

There were no questions received from members of the council.

466.

REFERRAL OF COMMITTEE DECISIONS TO THE COUNCIL

To determine matters where a decision taken by a Committee has been referred to the Council in accordance with the provisions of Procedure Rule 110.

Minutes:

No committee decisions had been referred.

467.

CALL-IN OF DECISIONS FROM CABINET MEETINGS DURING THE PERIOD FROM 12 November to 14 December 2018 (INCLUSIVE)

To determine matters where a decision taken by the Cabinet has been referred to Council by the call-in procedure of Scrutiny Panels, as a result of the decision being deemed to be outside the Council’s policy framework by the Monitoring Officer or not wholly in accordance with the budget by the Section 151 Officer, in accordance with the provisions of Procedure Rules 206 and 207.

Minutes:

No call-ins were received.

468.

REPORT FROM THE CABINET pdf icon PDF 55 KB

To receive Report No. 236/2018 from the Cabinet on recommendations referred to the Council for determination and to note the Key Decisions taken at its meetings held on 20 November 2018.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Report No. 236/2018 from the Cabinet was receive, the purpose of which was to consider the recommendations and note the key decisions of the Cabinet since the publication of the agenda for the previous ordinary meeting of the Council on 20 November 2018.

 

Mr Brown introduced and moved the recommendations in the report.  Mr Foster seconded the recommendations.

 

During debate the following points were noted:

 

i.      At this stage there were no plans for disposal of any Council owned assets.  Investigations were focused on property maintenance and in particular heating and ventilation systems.  The council did not have an officer that was qualified to carry out the technical investigatory work on these systems;

ii.     The delegation proposed would only provide the Director for Places with the authority to reduce the Green Waste charge, any proposed increase would have to be brought back before Council for approval; and

iii.    A report on the findings of the investigation would come back to Cabinet and as with all Cabinet Reports there would be the opportunity for Scrutiny to see this report first.

 

RESOLVED

 

1)    Council NOTED the Key Decisions made by Cabinet since the publication of the agenda for the previous ordinary meeting of the Council on 12 November 2018, as detailed in Appendix A of Report No. 236/2018.

2)    Council APPROVED the recommendation from Cabinet:

a)    To keep the Green Waste charge at £35 for 2019/20, reduce the discounted fee to £26 and delegate authority to the Director for Places to set this fee annually subject to the fee not increasing beyond this amount (see appendix 3, para 3.9.3-3.9.4 of Report No. 193/2018);

b)    To fund £85k from prudential borrowing on investigation works to determine future property maintenance requirements on Council owned assets.

469.

REPORTS FROM COMMITTEES OF THE COUNCIL

a.            To receive reports from Committees on matters which require Council approval because the Committee does not have the delegated authority to act on the Council’s behalf.

b.            To receive reports from Council Committees on any other matters and to receive questions and answers on any of those reports.

Minutes:

There were no reports from Committees of the Council.

470.

REPORTS FROM SCRUTINY COMMISSION / SCRUTINY PANELS

To receive the reports from the Scrutiny Commission / Scrutiny Panels on any matters and to receive questions and answers on any of those reports.

 

471.

Oakham Town Task and Finish Group Final Report pdf icon PDF 84 KB

To receive Report No. 241/2018

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Report No. 241/2018 was received, the purpose of which was to receive the final Report of the Oakham Town Task and Finish Group along with accompanying evidence which had been referred to Council following consideration at the Growth, Infrastructure and Resources Scrutiny Panel on 15 November 2018 and seek agreement in principle to establish a Partnership Board (independent of the Council) to take forward the Town Centre work.

 

Mr Callaghan introduced and moved the recommendations in the report.  Mr Hemsley seconded the recommendations in the report.

 

During debate the following points were noted:

 

i.      Mr Dale, who had been a member of the Task and Finish Group, highlighted how the group had worked towards a common aim and the hard work that had been put into the final report over a period of months.  He asked Council to accept the report in a constructive way and recognise the achievement of putting together such a comprehensive paper;

ii.     Mr Conde was concerned that any investment in the County Town would not be at the expense of rural areas and villages;

iii.    Mr Conde also highlighted the importance of ensuring that any solutions to car parking payment systems should take account of the aging population in Rutland;

iv.   Miss Waller requested clarification on the level of initial funding.  This was confirmed by Mrs Briggs (Chief Executive) as the figure of £2000 initial funding as detailed in recommendation 4;

v.     Miss Waller did not think that it was appropriate for RCC to be members of the Partnership Group as that would risk the independence of the group, but that relevant Ward Members should attend as observers;

vi.   Mr Bird also felt that RCC should not be members and that the Group should be completely independent of the Council;

vii.  Mr Callaghan responded to the comments regarding membership and stressed that it was very important that RCC were members of the group, albeit with the same status as the other members.  RCC would have an important role to play, but would not lead or influence the group;

viii. Mr Baines credited the Task and Finish group for the enormous amount of work that had been done and felt there was a real sense of community involvement.  The Task and Finish Group Report (Appendix A) contained some achievable recommendations, others might need to be looked at in more detail;

ix.   Mr Gale was concerned that the timescales were very tight;

x.     Mr Hemsley confirmed in relation to the composition of the Partnership Group, that care had been taken not to be too prescriptive.  The Council was willing and had the expertise to set up the Partnership Group, but once it had been established the Council would cede any further responsibility.  He also confirmed that the aim was that the infrastructure for the group would be in place by May 2019 and that time should be taken to ensure this was right without losing the momentum to drive the work forward;

xi.   Mr Cross commended the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 471.

472.

Poverty Review pdf icon PDF 59 KB

To receive Report No. 237/2018

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Report No. 237/2018 from the Scrutiny Commission was received, the purpose of which was to provide the final report arising from the Scrutiny Poverty Review and seek Council approval of recommendations as detailed in the report.

 

Mr Conde introduced and moved the recommendations in the report.  Mr Cross seconded the recommendations.

 

During debate the following points were noted:

 

i.      Mr Dale welcomed the report as positive outcome of the review and congratulated all members that had taken part in it.  He hoped that the recommendations would be approved so that information for members of the public on where they can go for help and support would be improved;

ii.     Mr Baines felt the report was positive and that the Council should rightly focus on providing support to those that need it, but that as the Citizens Advice Bureau had already published a very good report on poverty he did not feel that it was necessary for the Council to have produced its own report.  Mr Baines requested information on how much time and resource had been spent on this report;

iii.    Mr Lammie highlighted the fact that this had been a new approach for Scrutiny and that engagement had been challenging, however, the report would be valuable in ensuring that focus remained on vulnerable residents when considering budget pressures and delivery of services in the future;

iv.   Mr Oxley felt the report was an important platform in increasing the profile of problems faced by those living in poverty and building on the information and support offered to those people;

v.     Mr Conde agreed that the recommendations in the report would ensure that the impact on residents in relation to poverty was a consideration in all proposed changes to policies and service delivery;

vi.   Miss Waller suggested that a future Scrutiny Panel item might look at the impact of proposals in the report on alleviating poverty;

vii.  Mrs Briggs, Chief Executive, confirmed that the website information to be improved would be the Rutland Information Service and the Council’s Financial Assistance pages;

viii. Mr Cross asked members to consider the effect of high fuel levies imposed by central government on poverty; and

ix.    Mr Conde confirmed that lessons had been learnt from trying a new approach to Scrutiny and that Scrutiny Commission were working on proposing improvements to the Scrutiny process.  They were awaiting the Government guidance on Scrutiny which was due to be published shortly to enable them to develop these proposals further.

 

RESOLVED

 

Council ENDORSED the Poverty Review Final Report (Appendix A) and APPROVED the recommendations detailed on page 8 of Report No. 238/2018.

473.

JOINT ARRANGEMENTS AND EXTERNAL ORGANISATIONS

To receive reports about and receive questions and answers on the business of any joint arrangements or external organisations.

Minutes:

i.      Mr Bool - Combined Fire Authority

Mr Bool confirmed that there had recently been two fatalities of elderly people in house fires and urged members to highlight to Parish Councils and residents that free fire safety surveys can be requested by contacting Oakham Fire Station.

ii.     Miss Waller - information circulated in writing to members

iii.    Mrs Stephenson - Active Rutland

Mrs Stephenson had attended the Active Rutland Awards in November where she had been inspired by both young and old people who were overcoming disabilities.  There were also funding opportunities available for young people between the ages of 12 and 18 who were showing promise in their chosen sport and the link would be shared with members.

 

474.

NOTICES OF MOTION

To consider any Notices of Motion submitted by Members of the Council in accordance with Procedure Rule 34 in the order in which they are recorded as having been received.

Minutes:

There were no notices of motion.

 

--o0o--

Mr Oxley left the meeting.

--o0o--

475.

LEAVE OF ABSENCE pdf icon PDF 56 KB

To receive Report No. 238/2018 from the Chief Executive

 

N.B. The appendix to the report is confidential pursuant to Paragraph 1 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972, as it contains Information relating to an individual.

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Report No. 238/2018 was received from the Chief Executive the purpose of which was for Council to determine whether to grant a dispensation in order to allow Councillor Richard Alderman to remain a member of the Authority following non-attendance at a meeting of the Authority for a period of six consecutive months.

 

The Chairman confirmed that the meeting would remain in public session unless members wished to enter into detailed discussion on the exempt appendices to the report.

 

Mrs Briggs, Chief Executive introduced the report.

 

Mr Lammie moved the motion that “Council does not grant a dispensation to allow Councillor Richard Alderman to remain a member of the Authority following non-attendance at a meeting for a period of six consecutive months”.  This was seconded by Mr Conde.

 

Mr Baines proposed the motion that the question now be put and that Council moved to the vote in accordance with Procedure Rule 48 (r) (i).  This was seconded by Mr Cross.

 

Council voted on the motion and it was CARRIED.

 

--o0o--

In accordance with the provisions of Procedure Rule 11, paragraph 2 –

Recording of Votes - Mr Gale requested that his abstention from the vote on the above resolution be recorded.

--o0o--

 

 

Council then moved directly to the vote on the motion as proposed by Mr Lammie.

 

RESOLVED

 

Council AGREED not to grant a dispensation to allow Councillor Richard Alderman to remain a member of the Authority following non-attendance at a meeting for a period of six consecutive months.

 

--o0o--

In accordance with the provisions of Procedure Rule 11, paragraph 2 –

Recording of Votes - Mr Gale requested that his abstention from the vote on the above resolution be recorded.

--o0o--

Mr M Oxley rejoined the meeting.

--o0o--

 

476.

EXCLUSION OF THE PUBLIC AND PRESS

Council is recommended to determine whether the public and press be

excluded from the meeting in accordance with Section 100(A)(4) of the Local

Government Act 1972, as amended, and in accordance with the Access to

Information provisions of Procedure Rule 239, as the following item of

business is likely to involve the disclosure of exempt information as defined in

Paragraph 3 and 4 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act.

 

Paragraph 3:  Information relating to the financial or business affairs of any

particular person (including the authority holding that information).

 

Paragraph 4:  Information relating to any consultations or negotiations, or

contemplated consultations or negotiations, in connection with any labour

relations matter arising between the authority or a Minister of the Crown and

employees of, or office holders under, the authority.

Minutes:

RESOLVED

 

That the public and press be excluded from the meeting in accordance with Section 100(A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972.

 

Paragraph 3: Information relating to the financial or business affairs of any

particular person (including the authority holding that information).

 

Paragraph 4: Information relating to any consultations or negotiations, or

contemplated consultations or negotiations, in connection with any labour

relations matter arising between the authority or a Minister of the Crown and

employees of, or office holders under, the authority.

477.

SENIOR MANAGEMENT STRUCTURE

To receive Report No. 230/2018 from the Chief Executive

Minutes:

---oOo---

After debate and voting on this item the Council APPROVED that the meeting returned to public session.

---oOo---

 

478.

ANY URGENT BUSINESS

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

Minutes:

There was no other urgent business.