No apologies were received.

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 21 August 2018.

The record of decisions made by Cabinet on 21 August 2018, copies of which had been previously circulated, were confirmed.

To receive items raised by members of scrutiny which have been submitted to the Leader (copied to Chief Executive and Governance Officer) by 4.30 pm on Friday 14 September 2018.

There were no items raised by Scrutiny.

Report No. 161/2018

Report No. 161/2018 was received from the Chief Executive.

Mr O Hemsley, Leader of the Council, introduced the report, the purpose of which was to provide Cabinet with a progress report on the St George’s Barracks project further to the report of March 2018.

During discussion the following points were raised:

i.      Mr Hemsley confirmed that should the bid for support from the Housing Infrastructure Fund (HIF) be successful there would be a further report for Cabinet approval of the terms and conditions of the funding; and

ii.     Mr Wilby asked if the bid for HIF funding could be affected by the issues being experienced due to the reorganisation of the Greater Peterborough/Greater Cambridgeshire Local Enterprise Partnership.  Mr Hemsley confirmed that this had been communicated to the HIF and they would be kept updated on any developments.

DECISIONS

1)    Cabinet NOTED the progress update in respect of the St George’s Barracks Project.

2)    That Cabinet SUPPORTED the submission of an expression of interest in the Garden Communities programme in response to the MHCLG prospectus for the St George’s Site in order that the development is appropriate for Rutland.

Reason for Decisions

Progress on the project is in line with the programme.

(KEY DECISION)

Report No. 121/2018

(Appendix 2 to follow)

(KEY DECISION)

Report No. 121/2018 was received from the Strategic Director for Places.

Mrs L Stephenson Portfolio Holder for Culture & Leisure, Highways & Transportation introduced the report, the purpose of which was to approve the Winter Service Policy in Appendix 1 of Report No. 121/2018. 

During discussion the following points were raised:

i.      Mrs Stephenson noted that there would be a training day for Parish Clerks in order to outline the responsibilities of snow wardens.  The training would take place on 22 October 2018 at 7.30pm in the Council Chamber.  The training would be based on a personalised approach to ensure that clerks felt confident and knew who to contact should they have further queries;

ii.    Mr Brown commended the treatment of bus routes in rural areas as a priority and felt this was a significant improvement;

iii.   Mr Tomlinson, Senior Highways Manager, explained the requirement for two documents.  The Winter Service Policy set the parameters in line with legislation, in relation to prioritised treatment of key areas of the highway network.  The Operational Plan was the working document which detailed how the Policy would be implemented and would be subject to regular review;

iv.   Mr Brown requested clarification on the criteria set out for grit bins.  Mr Tomlinson confirmed that he did not envisage any grit bins being removed and that the criteria for new grit bins had been drafted from best practice compiled from discussions at the regional Midland Service Improvement Group (MSIG) Winter Service Group.  Mr Tomlinson highlighted that grit should only be used in extreme weather conditions and not as a precaution on footways and that this would be covered in the training;

v.    Mr Brown felt that the criteria for grit bins should be more focused on Rutland specific needs given its unique characteristics and rurality; and

vi.   Mrs Stephenson proposed that an amendment be made to Recommendation 2) in the report in order to include the route from Braunston Road to Ayston Road in Uppingham.  This addition would ensure that the routes for the Rutland Hopper bus which operated in this area would be maintained, this was an important form of transport for the many elderly and vulnerable residents in the area who relied on the Rutland Hopper bus.  This was seconded by Mr Hemsley.

DECISIONS

Cabinet:

1)           APPROVED the Winter Service Policy in Appendix 1 of Report 121/2018.

2)           APPROVED the treatment routes as detailed in Appendix 2 of Report 121/2018 with the addition of the route from Braunston Road to Ayston Road in Uppingham, for inclusion in the Winter Service Operational Plan.

3)           APPROVED that Parishes will be charged for all grit bin re-fills from the 2019/20 winter season.

4)           APPROVED that grit bins not having received any use prior to the start of the 2021/22 will be removed.

Reasons for Decisions

·      The winter service operational plan will ensure the continued safe passage of vehicular and pedestrian highway users during periods of snow and ice.

·      The Winter Service Policy will ensure that Council  ...  view the full minutes text for item 262.

(KEY DECISION)

Report No. 141/2018

(Report to follow)

(KEY DECISION)

Report No. 141/2018 was received from the Strategic Director for Places.

Mrs L Stephenson, Portfolio Holder for Culture & Leisure, Highways & Transportation introduced the report the purpose of which was to seek Cabinet approval for the Council to adopt a new methodology for considering requests for service, and responding to complaints and concerns raised in relation to highways and transport and provide Cabinet an update on progress in relation to the Integrated Transport Capital fund, to update on the financial position of the fund and to propose a budget allocation for financial year 2018/19.

During discussion the following points were raised:

i.      There was an error in the report on page 17 of the agenda pack where the text above the table should read “On balance, buying vehicles represented better value than leasing the vehicles”;

ii.    The evidence based approach referred to in the report would involve working with partners and carrying out a thorough evaluation to ensure that the solution was based on the actual problem and not perception;

iii.   There had not been specific consultation with Parish Councils, but views and feedback put forward through previous years had been taken into account;

iv.   Parish Councils would be briefed once the recommendations had been approved.  This may be through a Parish Briefing, or at Parish Council Forum;

v.    Mr Brown asked that environmental impacts were considered when looking at the type of vehicles to purchase;

vi.   Mr Brown noted that some of the schemes had been on the list for some time.  Mrs Stephenson confirmed that the benefit of the new processes being proposed was to avoid such lengthy delay in the future.  Mr Tomlinson confirmed that it was the intention to deal with the outstanding schemes as a matter of priority; and

vii.  The new process allowed for progress of specific schemes to be published so that Parishes would be fully informed at all times as to the status of any request.

DECISIONS:

Cabinet:

1)    APPROVED the recommendation to introduce a new process from considering requests for service, as described in Part 3 of Report No. 141/2018.

2)    APPROVED the creation of the Highways and Transport Working Group.

3)    APPROVED the adoption of the Terms of Reference for the Highways and Transport Working Group, described in Appendix B of Report No. 141/2018.

4)    APPROVED the delegation of authority to the Strategic Director for Places, in consultation with the Cabinet Member with portfolio for Culture and Leisure, Highways & Transportation and Communications and the Portfolio Holder for Safeguarding – Adults, Public Health, Health Commissioning, Community Safety & Road Safety, to authorise use of the funding, up to £760,000.00.

5)    APPROVED the delegation of authority to the Strategic Director for places in consultation with the Director of Resources and the Cabinet Member with portfolio for Culture and Leisure, Highways & Transportation and Communications and the Portfolio Holder for Safeguarding – Adults, Public Health, Health Commissioning, Community Safety & Road Safety to set aside Contract Standing Orders for the purchase of the vehicles detailed  ...  view the full minutes text for item 263.

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

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No items of urgent business were received.