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

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Items
No. Item

526.

DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

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.

Minutes:

No declarations of interest were made.

 

527.

PETITIONS, DEPUTATIONS AND QUESTIONS

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.

 

Minutes:

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

 

528.

QUESTIONS WITH NOTICE FROM MEMBERS

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

Minutes:

No questions were received from members.

 

529.

REVENUE AND CAPITAL BUDGET 2016-17 AND MEDIUM TERM FINANCIAL PLAN pdf icon PDF 67 KB

To receive Report No.19/2016 from the Director for Resources.

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

 

·         The above report was presented at Cabinet on 12 January 2016.

 

·         Cabinet has requested that Scrutiny review and comment on proposals before the Cabinet meeting on 9 February 2016 so as to inform the decision-making process.

 

·         The report and its proposals and the date which it is presented to Cabinet 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.

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Report No. 19/2016, which was previously circulated under separate cover, was received from the Director of Resources.  The Assistant Director (Finance), Mr Della Rocca, introduced the report.   

 

During discussion the following points were noted:

 

a)    The Council’s overall financial position had changed since the Quarter 2 financial management report.

b)    The proposed plan to increase Council Tax by 3.99% would be the first increase in 6 years but would still leave a £2.4 million funding gap by 2019/20.

c)    Costs were increasing because of the introduction of the Apprenticeship Levy, and changes in National Insurance Contributions and the Pension Fund Costs.

d)    The increase in the number of Deprivation of Liberty Safeguarding cases following the Supreme Court judgement in October 2015 and the rise in the ageing population had caused the budget to be increased from £30k to £150k. 

e)    £399k had so far been saved within the People Directorate.  The target for 2015/16 was £300k.

f)     The 2015/16 ‘over-spend’ in the Home Care budget would be covered by the under-spend in the other services and budgets had been rebased from 2015/16 to cover this.

g)    The recruitment of good quality social workers was important to the service so funding was required to entice people to work in Rutland.

h)   The commissioning of services continued to be a high priority within the Directorate.  It is the intention for contracts to be commissioned on a Payment by Results (PBR) method so ensuring value for money.  The Head of Commissioning, Karen Kibblewhite, specialised in renewing contracts and decreasing costs not just in the People Directorate but across the Council as a whole.

i)     Public health costs were constantly being reviewed to ensure better value for money.

j)      The budget for the Better Care Fund had not yet been confirmed by Central Government so the budget was based on 2015/16 figures.  This would be amended once the actual budget had been confirmed.

k)    The number of vulnerable people requiring support in Rutland was rising so more efficiency was required to provide a good quality service within the allocated budget.

l)     There was an increased cost regarding the specialist support needed for children.  The Long Term Children’s Care Team was now fully staffed – the first time in a long while.

m)  The budget for ‘Youth Housing’ had decreased by nearly £23k.  This was the result of using the provision for other means and the non-replacement of staffing vacancies.  However, changes would still need to be made to the budget in light of the ongoing ‘Youth Services Review’.

n)   There was a ‘high cost’ children’s placement of £100k which was not included in the budget figures as the costs involved were unknown at the time of publication.  The budget figures would be amended in due course.

o)    More schools were becoming Academies and therefore not under Local Authority control so fewer School Officers were needed, leading to a decrease in the budget.

 

AGREED:

 

1.    That the Panel NOTED the content of the Report.

2.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 529.

530.

MINUTES OF MEETING

To confirm the record of the meeting of the People (Children) Scrutiny Panel held on the 19th November 2015 (previously circulated).

Minutes:

The minutes of the meeting of the People (Children) Scrutiny Panel held on the 19th November 2015, copies of which had been previously circulated, were confirmed and signed by the Chair.

 

531.

Declarations of Interest

Minutes:

No declarations of interest were made.

 

532.

Petitions, Deputations and Questions

Minutes:

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

 

533.

Questions with Notice from Members

Minutes:

No questions were received from members.

 

534.

NOTICES OF MOTION FROM MEMBERS

To consider any Notices of Motion from Members submitted in accordance with the provisions of Procedure Rule No 220.

 

Minutes:

No Notices of Motion were received from members.

 

535.

CONSIDERATION OF ANY MATTER REFERRED TO THE PANEL FOR A DECISION IN RELATION TO CALL IN OF A DECISION

To consider any matter referred to the Panel for a decision in relation to call in of a decision in accordance with Procedure Rule 206.

 

Minutes:

No matter was referred to the Panel for a decision in relation to call-in of a decision in accordance with Procedure Rule 206.

 

536.

Youth Services Review pdf icon PDF 132 KB

To receive Report No. 21/2016 from the Director for People

 

Minutes:

Report No. 21/2016 from the Director for People was received.  The Report was introduced by the Portfolio Holder for Safeguarding Children and Young People, Mr R Foster. 

 

During discussion the following points were noted:

 

a)    290 children were consulted regarding the review and 119 responses were received.

b)    Young people were asked about the closure of Ketton Youth Club and they stated that they felt a stigma attached attending this youth club.  They would much prefer to attend Oakham Youth Club which was bigger and had more people attending.  However, the project was being reviewed and different options/locations were being assessed.

c)    Dr O’Neill reported that capacity would be built into community services before any changes to service delivery were made.

 

---oOo---

Mr D Wilby left the meeting at 8.35 p.m. and re-joined the meeting at 8.37 p.m.

---oOo---

 

d)    It was queried if Option 3 instead of Option 4 would be the better decision.  Dr O’Neill stated that the Council wanted to support more children with more services and that, while some services are statutory, we needed to retain capacity for the expansion of future services.  Option 4 would be the best way of ensuring this.

e)    Dr O’Neill reported that the ongoing review of youth service provision was assisting with the prevention of duplicated services and had highlighted the need for support for young people regarding mental health issues.

f)     Mrs Caffrey reported that the teams had been restructured to ensure that each young person would have the same worker to support them from the ages of 0 to 19 years and up to 25 years for a young person with a learning difficulty.

 

---oOo---

Ms S Gullan-Whur left the meeting at 9.03 p.m.

---oOo---

 

AGREED:

 

1.    That the Panel NOTED the content of the Report.

2.    That the Panel ENDORSED the recommended youth service redesign (Option 4) as outlined in section 4.1 of the report.

3.    That Youth Officers would brief members of the Panel regarding youth service provision.

4.    Dr O’Neill would notify Mr A Walters as to which group of children would prefer to talk to their parents rather than teachers (Page 125, Section 3.1.5).

 

537.

DATE AND PREVIEW OF NEXT MEETING

Thursday, 25th February 2016 at 7 pm

 

Agenda Items:

 

1.    BUDGET: Quarter 3 Performance and Finance Reports

 

2.    Local Safeguarding Children’s Board: BUSINESS PLANS

Consultation and input required for the proposed safeguarding business plans.

 

3.    Provision of School Places

Wide-ranging review to scrutinise the Council's plans to provide sufficient school places for all children and young people in Rutland, at the same time considering plans for expansion or contraction of provision where necessary.

 

4.    Published OfSTED Reports in Education and Learning Settings

 

5.    Review of Youth Services

Key 'People First' recommendation and the panel will review the Council's provision of services across the county and its support of other groups to provide support.

Minutes:

The next meeting would be held on Thursday 25th February 2016 at 7.00 p.m.