Apologies for absence were received from Mr Baines, Mr Cross, Mrs Fox, Mr Parsons and Ms Waller.

In accordance with the Regulations, Members are invited 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.

In relation to agenda item 5 Mr Conde declared an interest as his granddaughter was in receipt of SEND funding.

In relation to agenda item 5, Mr Lowe declared a personal interest as a family member received Council funding.

To receive any petitions, deputations and questions received from Members of the Public in accordance with the provisions of Procedure Rule 217.

The total time allowed for this item shall be 30 minutes.  Petitions, declarations and questions shall be dealt with in the order in which they are received.  Questions may also be submitted at short notice by giving a written copy to the Committee Administrator 15 minutes before the start of the meeting.

The total time allowed for questions at short notice is 15 minutes out of the total time of 30 minutes.  Any petitions, deputations and questions that have been submitted with prior formal notice will take precedence over questions submitted at short notice.  Any questions that are not considered within the time limit shall receive a written response after the meeting and be the subject of a report to the next meeting.

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

To consider any questions with notice from Members received in accordance with the provisions of Procedure Rule No 219 and No 219A.

No questions with notice were received from Members.

To receive Report No. 4/2019 from the Strategic Director for Resources.

Members are requested to bring their copy, distributed under separate cover.

·         The above report was presented to Cabinet on 15 January 2019 and the recommendations within the report were approved.

·         Cabinet has requested that Scrutiny review and comment on proposals before the Cabinet on 19 February 2019 so as to inform the decision-making process.

·         The report and its proposals may be amended following the outcome of the Scrutiny Panel. Scrutiny is therefore asked to consider the report and provide feedback to the Portfolio Holder and Director.

Report No.4/2019 was received from the Strategic Director for Resources.

Mr Della Rocca, Strategic Director for Resources delivered a presentation (appended to the minutes) which provided Members with a context to the report.

During discussion the following points were noted:

·         Government funding had reduced substantially since 2015/16 and although this was a national problem, Rutland received significantly less funding per head than other Local Authorities. The reason for this was because RCC was able to generate a lot of money through Council Tax compared to others, and also because of the practice of ‘damping’, a process adopted by Government whereby some authorities were given additional funding at the expense of others.

·         Overall funding was insufficient to meet the rising costs of services including inflationary demands.

·         The Council had delivered significant savings in order to compensate for funding cuts and was continuing to work on savings and income options to allow it to set balanced budgets in the future.

·         The future however was challenging as the Government position on funding was still unknown and likely to remain so until December 2019.

·         Officers and the Portfolio Holder had written to the Rutland MP, Sir Alan Duncan, urging Government to let authorities have a decision on funding sooner rather than later.

·         The earliest the Council would see Council tax revenue from the St George’s Barracks project was 2024/25. This funding would support delivery of services to new residents.  Typically, the Council would expect an increase in demands on Council services e.g. Adult Social Care or Children’s Services.

·         Members had had feedback from residents who felt that Council Tax should not be increased as the Council was receiving extra funds due to the amount of new housing developments in Rutland. However council tax revenue growth from new homes was needed to maintain services and was insufficient, in any event, to meet inflation and other costs.

·         The Council’s main expenditure was on Adult Social Care and because of the County’s demographic, demand for services was likely to increase going forward. However continued focus on early prevention and intervention had delivered savings and had distinguished Rutland from other authorities as one of the best performing Adult Social Care teams in the Country, delivering excellent value for money.

·         It was noted that Cllr Waller had submitted questions to the Director of Resources, in particular on the challenge of meeting Special Educational Needs (SEN) requirements. Cllr Waller’s questions and the responses to them would be appended to the minutes.

·         Children services were working hard with parents and the Courts to keep children out of care and this has had had a positive impact on finances and resulted in savings.

·         The Portfolio Holder for Safeguarding – Children and Young people noted that work with the Changing Lives and Troubled Families programme, including working with RALS to increase employability and Citizens Advice to maximise benefits, had also helped to keep children out of care.

·         £700k would be invested in Special Education Needs so that children requiring this service could be  ...  view the full minutes text for item 533.

To receive Report No. 5/2019 from the Strategic Director for Resources.

Members are requested to bring their copy, distributed under separate cover.

·         The above report was presented to Cabinet on 15 January 2019 and the recommendations within the report were approved.

·         Cabinet has requested that Scrutiny review and comment on the proposals. The report will be presented to Full Council for approval on 25 February 2019.

Report No. 5/2019 was received from the Strategic Director for Resources the purpose of which was to set out the statutory reports expected in relation to treasury and capital investment operations for 2019/20, linked to the Council’s Budget, Medium Term Financial Strategy and Capital Programme.

RESOLVED:

1.    The Joint Adults and Health and Children and Young People Scrutiny Panels NOTED the Treasury Management Strategy and Capital Investment Strategy 2019/20.

To receive Report No. 6/2019 from the Strategic Director for Resources.

Members are requested to bring their copy, distributed under separate cover.

·         The above report was presented to Cabinet on 15 January 2019 and the recommendations within the report were approved.

·         Cabinet has requested that Scrutiny review and comment on the proposals. The report will be presented to Full Council for approval on 25 February 2019.

Report No.6/2019 was received from the Strategic Director for Resources, the purpose of which was set out the proposals for fees and charges for services provide by the Council for the financial year 2019/20.

RESOLVED:

1.    The Joint Adults and Health and Children and Young People Scrutiny Panels NOTED the report on Fees and Charges 2019/20.

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The Chairman declared the meeting closed at 7.59pm

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