Report No. 13/2018 was received from the Director for Resources, the purpose of which was to approve the RCC response to the Draft Recommendations on new electoral arrangements for Rutland County Council published by the Local Government Boundary Commission for England (LGBCE) on 5 December 2017.

Mrs Mogg, Director for Resources, provided a brief introduction highlighting that the proposal put forward to the Boundary Commission in September had met the LGBCE criteria with minimal changes required, but that the draft recommendations of the LGBCE were significantly different to those proposed by RCC.  The Constitution Review Working Group (CRWG) had met in December and agreed that the Councils original proposal was still the most effective in meeting the criteria, in particular in protecting the identities and interests of the community.

Miss Waller (Member of CRWG) confirmed that the group felt strongly that the original RCC proposal satisfied the needs of the community, particularly in relation to Oakham and Barleythorpe; and that the LGBCE proposal to combine Martinsthorpe and Braunston did not meet their own criteria in terms of community interest, or equality of representation.  The original RCC proposal was considered the best approach, but would only work with 28 Councillors.

Miss Waller proposed the recommendations in the report.  Mr Gale seconded the recommendations.

During debate of the recommendations, points raised included:

i.      Mr Gale re-iterated the importance of Barleythorpe having its own 2 member ward, the Parish Council were keen to keep governance arrangements separate from Oakham North West;

ii.     Mr Baines highlighted the importance of all members encouraging Parish Councils to respond to the consultation;

iii.    Mr Bool emphasised that as elected members, who understood the County, the RCC proposal should be the one taken forward;

iv.   Mr Oxley encouraged individual Councillors to respond to the consultation;

v.     Mr Cross highlighted that there had been considerable member and officer time dedicated to coming up with the original proposal;

vi.   Mr Walters confirmed that he had submitted his own response and suggested that the response letter to the LGBCE might be accompanied by more specific evidence on the proposed changes which were considered to be inappropriate and reasons for this view; and

vii.  Members were asked to forward any detailed examples to accompany the letter as soon as possible.

RESOLVED

Council APPROVED the RCC response to the LGBCE consultation on draft recommendations (Report No. 13/2018 Appendix A).