Apologies were received from Councillor C Wise and Councillor D Ellison.

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.

There were no declarations of interest.

To confirm the Minutes and Decisions made at the meeting of the Cabinet held on 17^th October 2023.

Consideration was given to the minutes of the meeting held on 17 October 2023.

RESOLVED

That the minutes of the meeting held on 17 October 2023 be APPROVED.

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

No items were raised.

To receive Report No.168/2023 from the Deputy Leader and Portfolio Holder for Resources.

Report No.168/2023 was introduced by Councillor A Johnson, Deputy Leader and Portfolio Holder for Resources.

Councillor Johnson explained that under the Council’s constitution Cabinet was responsible for overseeing matters relating to the Council's financial (capital and revenue) resources, within the budget set by Council each year at Budget Council.

The report provided Cabinet with the forecast outturn position for both the revenue budget and capital programme for 2023/24. 

It was confirmed to Members that the Council would look at the current recruitment practices differently and look to inject new ideas around that aspect and to attract new talent in different ways. Extra investment would be needed to assist with that approach.

The net revenue budget for 2023/24, agreed at Full Council in February 2023, was approved at £49.3m.  The details within the report reconciled the movements to the budget through the year to the revised budget for the ‘Net Cost of Services’ the year of £45.2m. 

The Capital programme budget reported in the Q1 report (116/2023) was £38.1m and had increased by £2.7m to a revised capital programme of £40.9m.

The 2023/24 budget was underpinned with £1.1m of savings from the cost-of-service delivery.

The Leader congratulated Council staff for hitting the challenging targets which were set in terms of savings.

It was moved by Councillor A Johnson and seconded that the recommendations of Report No. 168/2023 be approved. Upon being put to the vote, with four votes in favour the motion was unanimously carried.

RESOLVED

That Cabinet:

a)    NOTED the forecast year end position as at the end of September (second quarter) for

a.    Revenue Position (Section 3)

b.    Capital Position (Section 4)

c.     Dedicated Schools Grant (Section 5)

b)    NOTED the update on the achievement of the 2023/24 savings proposals (Section 6), and progress made on the Financial Sustainability Strategy (Section 7)

c)    APPROVED the approach to the 2023/24 forecast underspend detailed 3.11 - 3.14 that half of the forecast underspend is used to mitigate in year risk pressures and for the remainder to be used to fund activity which supports financial sustainability.  Delegation for use to be with the Chief Executive in consultation with the Strategic Director for Resources, the Portfolio Holder for Finance and the Leader of the Council based on the three themes noted in the report.

NOTED performance against the Treasury Management Prudential Indicators is in line or better with the strategy set (Appendix B).

To receive Report No.167/2023 from the Deputy Leader and Portfolio Holder for Resources.

Report No.167/2023 was introduced by Councillor A Johnson, Deputy Leader and Portfolio Holder for Resources.

The report provided Cabinet with a performance update outlining progress year to date against the Corporate Strategy 2022-2027.

The performance and delivery dashboard (Appendix A) formed part of the Councils overarching performance management process designed to improve the quality of Council services by understanding our progress and areas requiring action.

The dashboard included progress against the two-year delivery programme and the key performance indicators underpinning the Corporate Strategy.

Performance was reported to Cabinet four times per year. This was the second report of 2023 and provided the latest position at the end of quarter two, covering the period April to September 2023.

It was moved by Councillor A Johnson and seconded that the recommendations of Report No. 167/2023 be approved. Upon being put to the vote, with four votes in favour the motion was unanimously carried.

RESOLVED

That Cabinet:

NOTED the contents of the performance report and the progress in delivering the strategic aims within the Corporate Strategy 2022-2027. 

To receive Report No.166/2023 from the Portfolio Holder for Highways, Transport and the Environment.

Report No.166/2023 was introduced by Councillor A Johnson, Deputy Leader and Portfolio Holder for Resources.

The report requested approval of revised charges for Green Waste collections in 2024/25.

Option 3 within the report was recommended which detailed should the subscription cost increase to £57, it was possible that approximately 5% of subscriptions would be lost. To mitigate this loss, the subscription charge could be set at £60 in order to fully cover costs.

Members agreed that the increased price represented good value for money for the amount of green waste households produced in Rutland.

It was moved by Councillor A Johnson and seconded that the recommendations of Report No. 166/2023 be approved. Upon being put to the vote, with four votes in favour the motion was unanimously carried.

RESOLVED

That Cabinet:

a)    APPROVED the proposed annual charge of £60 per bin for the 2024/25 financial year.

b)    AUTHORISED the Strategic Director for Resources, in consultation with the Cabinet Member with Portfolio for Environment, to revise as necessary the terms and conditions associated with the implemented chargeable service for the kerbside collection of green waste.

APPROVED the recommendation that future green waste charges are included in the annual Fees and Charges report a year in advance.

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

There were no items of urgent business.

Tuesday, 12^th December 2023.

Tuesday, 12^th December 2023.