Apologies were received from Councillor R Powell.

The Leader thanked Marie Rosenthal who had been the Monitoring Officer for the past 6 months for the Council and then welcomed Angela Wakefield to the Council who had taken over as the new Monitoring Officer.

Mark Andrews, Chief Executive, informed Members that the Council had received notification of a request to put forward an individual to sit on the Integrated Care Board (ICB). A detailed outline of the role description was then received. In discussions with Councillor Harvey, Portfolio Holder for Health, the role description offered itself to an officer representation. It had a number of features to it, including a technical contribution and a restriction on the ability of the representative to petition on behalf of their organisation.

However, discussions with the Chair of the ICB were had and an agreement had been made for Portfolio Holders to attend the Board and contribute so there is representation politically from the area and to champion the residents in the community that they served.

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.

Councillor Samantha Harvey declared a pecuniary interest in Report No. 103/2022 Council Tax Energy Rebate and Household Support Fund, Councillor Harvey confirmed she would leave the meeting at that point in the agenda.

To confirm the Record of Decisions made at the meeting of the Cabinet held on 5^th April 2022.

Consideration was given to the record of decisions made following the meeting of Cabinet on 5 April.

RESOLVED

That the record of decisions made at the meeting of the Cabinet held on 5 April 2022 be APPROVED.

To receive items raised by members of scrutiny which have been submitted to the Leader and Chief Executive.

No items had been raised by Scrutiny.

To receive Report No. 100/2022 from the Leader of the Council.

That Cabinet:

1.    NOTED the contents of the proposed Corporate Strategy and strategic focus for the Council for the next five years.

2.    APPROVED the Corporate Strategy 2022-27 for release for public consultation.

3.    DELEGATED authority to the Chief Executive to make minor amendments to the Corporate Strategy, in consultation with the leader, following the period of public engagement.

4.    APPROVED submission of the Corporate Strategy 2022-27, including any minor amendments following public engagement, to Full Council in July for approval.

Report No. 100/2022 was introduced by Councillor L Stephenson, Leader of the Council. Members were reminded there had been extensive public engagement through the Future Rutland Conversation with over 2000 residents of all ages telling the Council what mattered to them. The Corporate Strategy then outlined how Rutland County Council would fulfil its role over the next 5 years. The Leader drew Members attention to the 5 strategic priorities: a special place, sustainable lives, healthy and well, a county for everyone and a modern and effective council. She also drew attention to the delivery programme for the next 2 years, and hoped Members agreed that it was realistic, measurable and achievable.

Members thought it was a well-presented document and were happy to support it going to public consultation.

It was proposed by Councillor L Stephenson that the recommendations of report No. 100/2022 be agreed, this was seconded and upon being put to the vote the motion was unanimously agreed.

RESOLVED

That Cabinet:

1. NOTED the contents of the proposed Corporate Strategy and strategic focus for the Council for the next five years.

2. APPROVED the Corporate Strategy 2022-27 for release for public consultation.

3. DELEGATED authority to the Chief Executive to make minor amendments to the Corporate Strategy, in consultation with the Leader, following the period of public engagement.

APPROVED submission of the Corporate Strategy 2022-27, including any minor amendments following public engagement, to Full Council in July for approval.

To receive Report No. 94/2022 from the Portfolio Holder for Planning, Highways and Transport.

That Cabinet ADOPTED the Rutland Design Guide at Appendix A as a Supplementary Planning Document.

Report No. 94/2022 was introduced by Councillor L Stephenson, Leader of the Council, as the Portfolio Holder for Planning, Highways and Transport had sent apologies to the meeting.

In December 2021, Cabinet had adopted the Rutland and South Kesteven Design Guide as a Supplementary Planning Document. Cabinet also resolved to commit to producing a specific guide for Rutland, which was included in Appendix A of the report. The document did not seek to amend the guidance as set out previously in the joint Rutland and South Kesteven Design Guide. The text had been amended to refer to the Rutland Development Plan system only and images within the document had been changed to make these more specific to Rutland.

Members welcomed the document and felt it was important for Rutland to have a specific design guide. It was suggested that as Rutland had a wealth of listed buildings and a large number of conservation areas this guide would give assistance to those who are looking to make changes within those areas.

It was proposed by Councillor M Oxley that the recommendations of report No. 94/2022 be agreed, this was seconded and upon being put to the vote the motion was unanimously agreed

RESOLVED

That Cabinet ADOPTED the Rutland Design Guide at Appendix A as a Supplementary Planning Document.

To receive Report No. 95/2022 from the Portfolio Holder for Planning, Highways and Transport.

That Cabinet AGREED that:

1. The draft Langham Neighbourhood Plan Review is published for public consultation for a minimum of 6 weeks.

2. Following public consultation, the draft plan and representations received are submitted for independent examination.

3. The Strategic Director of Places be authorised to appoint an independent examiner in consultation with the Langham Neighbourhood Plan Group.

4. That following receipt of the examiner’s report that the Strategic Director of Places in consultation with the Portfolio Holder with responsibility for Planning be authorised to publish the County Council’s decision notice, update the Langham Neighbourhood Plan Review and undertake a referendum.

5. Subject to the outcome of the referendum that the Strategic Director of Places in consultation with the Portfolio Holder with responsibility for Planning be authorised to make the Langham Neighbourhood Plan Review part of the Development Plan for Rutland.

Report No. 95/2022 was introduced by Councillor L Stephenson, Leader of the Council, on behalf of the Portfolio Holder for Planning, Highways and Transport. It was explained that a huge amount of time, energy and love for the local community had gone into the plan and the Chair wanted to formally thank Pat Ovington, Jennifer and Tim Maskell, Gail Palmer & Penny Viner who had worked extremely hard as the steering group who made sure the whole community was engaged.

Councillor S Harvey offered her congratulations to Langham for the hard work in producing the document.

It was proposed by Councillor S Harvey that the recommendations of report No. 95/2022 be agreed, this was seconded and upon being put to the vote the motion was unanimously agreed

RESOLVED

That Cabinet AGREED that:

1.    The draft Langham Neighbourhood Plan Review be published for public consultation for a minimum of 6 weeks.

2.    Following public consultation, the draft plan and representations received be submitted for independent examination.

3.    The Strategic Director of Places be authorised to appoint an independent examiner in consultation with the Langham Neighbourhood Plan Group.

4.    That following receipt of the examiner’s report that the Strategic Director of Places in consultation with the Portfolio Holder with responsibility for Planning be authorised to publish the County Council’s decision notice, update the Langham Neighbourhood Plan Review and undertake a referendum.

Subject to the outcome of the referendum that the Strategic Director of Places in consultation with the Portfolio Holder with responsibility for Planning be authorised to make the Langham Neighbourhood Plan Review part of the Development Plan for Rutland.

To receive Report No. 88/2022 from the Portfolio Holder for Planning, Highways and Transport.

That Cabinet:

1.    APPROVED the First Homes Informal Planning Guidance at Appendix A.

2.    DELEGATED authority to the Director of Places in consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Housing to review and amend the criteria list set out in the report.

Report No. 88/2022 was introduced by Councillor L Stephenson, Leader of the Council, on behalf of the Portfolio Holder for Planning, Highways and Transport. Whilst the introduction of First Homes is mandatory, Government guidance allows for some flexibility in local implementation. The proposed guidance for Rutland, set out in Appendix A, recommended the inclusion of local connection and key worker criteria. Paragraph 3.7 within the report showed the list of eligible professions and Members had a couple of questions around the criteria list.

Councillor K Payne felt it was heavily weighted towards the public sector rather than the private sector. Penny Sharp, Strategic Director for Places responded saying that those in the list are given first preference in terms of marketing for the first 3 months. The guidance does not exclude anybody else who is a first-time buyer from participating in the scheme, it just gives preference to that eligible group.

Councillor S Harvey raised her concerns regarding the criteria list explaining that she felt it did not mirror where younger people would be working within Rutland. It excluded Hospitality and Tourism and was restricted on retail. It did include food, fuel, and medical distribution drivers but not the actual key workers who are working in local shops within Rutland.

Members felt the criteria list did exclude lists of people who could not participate in the scheme and wanted it to be fair for all.

The Chair made an amendment to the original recommendation to delegate authority to the Strategic Director of Places in consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Housing to review and amend the criteria list set out in the report.

It was proposed by Councillor L Stephenson that the recommendations of report No. 88/2022 be agreed, this was seconded and upon being put to the vote the motion was unanimously agreed

RESOLVED

That Cabinet:

1. APPROVED the First Homes Informal Planning Guidance at Appendix A.

DELEGATED authority to the Director of Places in consultation with the Portfolio Holder with responsibility for Housing to review and amend the criteria list set out in the report.

To receive Report No. 93/2022 from the Portfolio Holder for Health, Wellbeing and Adult Care.

That Cabinet:

1.    APPROVED the procurement model for the provision of Domiciliary Care.

2.    AUTHORISED the Director for Adults and Health, in consultation with the Cabinet Member with portfolio for Health, Wellbeing, and Adult Care, to award the contract(s) resulting from this procurement.

Report No 93/2022 was introduced by Councillor S Harvey, Portfolio Holder for Health, Wellbeing and Adult Care. The report highlighted a slight change to how the Council procure contracts for care. The Council had been struggling recently to procure under a restrictive framework and the proposals would facilitate a dynamic purchasing system which would enable the ability to spot purchase therefore increasing people who can work with the Council.

It was proposed by Councillor S Harvey that the recommendations of report No. 93/2022 be agreed, this was seconded and upon being put to the vote the motion was unanimously agreed

RESOLVED

That Cabinet:

1.     APPROVED the procurement model for the provision of Domiciliary Care.

2.     AUTHORISED the Strategic Director for Adults and Health, in consultation with the Portfolio Holder with responsibility for Health, to award the contract(s) resulting from this procurement.

---oOo---

Councillor Samantha Harvey left the meeting at 10.25am having declared an interest in an upcoming item.

---oOo---

FIELD_SUMMARY

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

The Chair announced that one item of urgent business was received.

That Cabinet DELEGATED authority to the Strategic Director for Resources in consultation with the Portfolio Holder with responsibility for finance to finalise the Council’s policy in relation to the discretionary element of the Council Tax energy rebate scheme and Household Support Fund and to make any further changes should funding still be available.

Report No. 103/2022 was introduced by Councillor K Payne, Portfolio Holder for Finance, Governance and Performance, Change and Transformation.

It was set out that at the Cabinet meeting in April, Emergency Powers used during the COVID-19 pandemic were ended requiring this decision to come before Cabinet for approval. 

During the pandemic, Rutland County Council received many grants for businesses and households from the government to help those having trouble with the impact of Covid. Councillor Payne highlighted that to continue to move quickly to distribute funding, the report in front of the Cabinet sought to extend delegated powers to the Strategic Director of Resources and Portfolio Holder for Finance. This covered the Household Support Fund and Council Tax Energy Rebate Scheme which were already in progress when previous delegated powers were removed.

In line with the Special Urgency Provision, Procedure Rule 139, Councillor Gale Waller, Chair of the Strategic Overview and Scrutiny Committee had been consulted and agreed the paper could not be reasonably deferred due to the need to process payments for residents as quickly as possible.

It was proposed by Councillor K Payne that the recommendations of report No. 103/2022 be agreed, this was seconded and upon being put to the vote the motion was unanimously agreed

RESOLVED

That Cabinet DELEGATED authority to the Strategic Director for Resources in consultation with the Portfolio Holder with responsibility for finance to finalise the Council’s policy in relation to the discretionary element of the Council Tax energy rebate scheme and Household Support Fund and to make any further changes should funding still be available.