To receive any apologies for absence.

Apologies were received from Mr Begy, Mr Clifton, Mr Hemsley and Mrs Stephenson.

The Chairman noted that Mr Hemsley was unable to attend the meeting as he was on Council business.

To receive any announcements by the Chairman.

The Chairman announced that the list of engagements had been circulated.

The Chairman thanked Mr Oxley for the email that had been circulated regarding civic engagements and confirmed that the Municipal Year had been quiet so far in terms of invites.  The Chairman confirmed that this reduction in invites was due to neighbouring authorities of Leicestershire, Lincolnshire and Leicester City having County elections in May this year and also the period of purdah due to the General Election.  There had previously also been a busy few years with many invites due to the centennial period of the Great War.  There was a new High Sheriff and each High Sheriff would take on this role in different ways.  There had also been cuts to budgets, which would impact on allowances for civic events.  The Chairman also confirmed that at Rutland there was not a charity, but he did receive many invites for charity events from other authorities, some of which could cost in the region of £250 including tickets and travel expenses. The Chairmen at Rutland had always concentrated on events where there were shared services.  There were figures available showing the invites and attendance at Civic events over the past few years and these would be circulated to Councillors.

Mr Oxley thanked the Chairman for his response.

To receive any announcements by the Leader, Members of the Cabinet or the Head of Paid Service.

There were no announcements by the Leader, Members of the Cabinet or the Head of Paid Service.

In accordance with the Regulations, Members are invited to declare any disclosable interests under the Code of Conduct 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.

Members were invited to declare any disclosable interests under the Code of Conduct and the nature of those interests and/or indicate if Section 106 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992 applied to them.

No declarations of interest were received.

To confirm the Minutes of the 264^th (Special) meeting and 265^th meeting of the Rutland County Council District Council held on 11 September 2017.

The minutes of the 264th (Special) meeting and the 265th meeting of the Rutland County Council District Council held on 11September 2017 were confirmed by the Council and signed by the Chairman. 

To receive any petitions, deputations or questions received from members of the public in accordance with the provisions of Procedure Rule 28. The total time allowed for this is 30 minutes.  Petitions, deputations and questions will be dealt with in the order in which they are received and any which are not considered within the time limit shall receive a written response after the meeting.

There were no petitions, deputations or questions from members of the public.

To receive any questions submitted from Members of the Council in accordance with the provisions of Procedure Rules 30 and 30A.

There were no questions from members of the Council.

To determine matters where a decision taken by a Committee has been referred to the Council in accordance with the provisions of Procedure Rule 110.

No decisions had been referred.

To determine matters where a decision taken by the Cabinet has been referred to Council by the call-in procedure of Scrutiny Panels, as a result of the decision being deemed to be outside the Council’s policy framework by the Monitoring Officer or not wholly in accordance with the budget by the Section 151 Officer, in accordance with the provisions of Procedure Rules 206 and 207.

No call-ins were received.

To receive Report No. 179/2017 from the Cabinet on recommendations referred to the Council for determination and to note the Key Decisions taken at its meeting held on 19 September 2017.

Report No. 179/2017 from the Cabinet was received, the purpose of which was to consider the recommendations of Cabinet referred to Council for determination and report the Key Decisions made by Cabinet since the publication of the agenda for the previous ordinary meeting of the Council on 11 September 2017.

1)    Council NOTED the Key Decisions made since the publication of the agenda for the previous ordinary meeting of the Council on 11 September 2017, as detailed in Appendix A to Report No. 179/2017.

2)  19 September 2017

     Decision No. 274

     Report No. 170/2017

     CORPORATE PLAN REVIEW

Mr Mathias introduced and moved the recommendations in the report.  Mr Foster seconded the recommendations.

During his introduction Mr Mathias confirmed that the Corporate Plan had been given a light refresh, with only minor modifications and updates being made.  There had been some feedback, for example regarding improving the definition of sustainability, which would be given consideration at the next review.

During debate of the recommendations, points raised included:

  i.        Miss Waller requested confirmation that when the document was reviewed in full, there would be opportunity for Members to comment.  Mr Mathias confirmed that comment would be invited when the Corporate Plan was due for a full review.

RESOLVED

a)    To APPROVE the revised Rutland County Council Corporate Plan 2016 to 2020.

a.            To receive reports from Committees on matters which require Council approval because the Committee does not have the delegated authority to act on the Council’s behalf.

b.            To receive reports from Council Committees on any other matters and to receive questions and answers on any of those reports.

No reports were received.

To receive the reports from the Scrutiny Commission / Scrutiny Panels on any matters and to receive questions and answers on any of those reports.

No reports were received.

To receive reports about and receive questions and answers on the business of any joint arrangements or external organisations.

1. Mr Bool – Combined Fire Authority

The Chief Fire and Rescue Officer, Mr Steve Lunn would be retiring on 31 December 2017 and Mr A Brodie and Mr R Taylor would be jointly taking on this role in the interim.  The process had been in place to find a permanent replacement and Mr Bool would sit on the recruitment panel. 

The Budget had been approved and External Audit had approved it. 

The Police and Crime Commissioner would not be taking on responsibility for the Fire Authority in Leicestershire and Rutland for now, as he wanted to concentrate on Police matters. 

There was some concern regarding an arsonist at Zenith House in Leicester and this was requiring a considerable amount of police and fire authority attention.

In response to a query from Mr Cross concerning the lessons learnt from a recent serious fire in Braunston, Mr Bool confirmed that a detailed report on serious fires was expected at the next Fire Authority meeting and that he would bring the full details to the next Full Council meeting.

2. Miss Waller – East Midlands Councils Employers Forum

Miss Waller had circulated an email to members regarding the apprenticeship levy and would come back to this is due course.

3. Miss Waller – SACRE

Meeting on 3 October had been well attended.  Work had commenced on rewriting the syllabus for Religious Education in conjunction with Northamptonshire, Peterborough and Cambridge.  Local Authority maintained schools are required to use this syllabus, but in Rutland most Academies also used it.  The syllabus was a statutory responsibility and would need to come to Council for approval once finalised.  Miss Waller read from a recent Ofsted Report from another authority where Religious Education had been highlighted as an important component of the curriculum.

4. Mr Walters – Police and Crime Panel

Meeting held on 3 October 2017 confirmation of launch of Project Darwin was given in order to respond to criticism of crime investigation in recent inspection.  Neighbourhood investigation unit for Rutland area would be based in Market Harborough.  Mr Walters did not feel this was at the heart Rutland’s interests and would continue to argue this case.  Mr Walters was concerned regarding the response of the Police and Crime Commissioners response to the criticisms of the inspectors regarding under reporting of crime and gave an example of how some offences such as modern slavery may only be reported as one crime, but sexual offences in connection with the charge of modern slavery may actually mean that several offences should be recorded.

5. Mr Foster – Armed Services Champion

Mr Foster had attended a meeting of the East midlands Cadets Association and also a meeting with the 5 Regiment Commanders currently serving at St Georges and Kendrew Barracks.  Mr Foster wished to highlight the praise given for Rutland’s support to armed services and that this should be attributed to the work which the Chief Executive, Mrs Briggs, had dedicated to establishing relationships with and supporting the armed services community.

To consider any Notices of Motion submitted by Members of the Council in accordance with Procedure Rule 34 in the order in which they are recorded as having been received.

No notices of motion had been received.

To receive Report No. 183/2017 from the Director for Places.

Report No. 183/2017 was received from the Director for Places the purpose of which was to obtain Council approval for Greetham’s Neighbourhood Plan to be 'made' by resolution of Council following an examination by an Independent Examiner and a referendum on the plan with the local community.

Mr Mathias introduced and moved the recommendations in the report.  Mr Stewart seconded the recommendations.

During his introduction Mr Mathias confirmed that there had been a very good turn out to the referendum in September and that the creation of the Neighbourhood Plan had brought the village together.

During debate of the recommendations, points raised included:

1. Mr Oxley commended the work of the Neighbourhood Plan Group and also highlighted that there was some interesting references to listed building in the report;
2. Mr Bird commended the turnout and community spirit of Greetham residents and also the work done by the Neighbourhood Plan Group in not only distributing, but collecting questionnaires, in order to collate the views of the residents;
3. Mr Baines raised a general point regarding the relationship between Neighbourhood Plans and the Local Plan and highlighted to members that the second phase of the Local Plan consultation would commence shortly;
4. Miss Waller requested clarification of whether a new Local Plan would require all existing Neighbourhood Plans to be refreshed.  Mr Mathias confirmed his understanding that existing Neighbourhood Plans would need to be brought into line with the Local Plan but this could be done over time.  Mr Ranson, Planning Policy Manager, was due to circulate a document which would clarify the position.  Mr Baines also confirmed that the most recent plan would carry the most weight and that care would need to be taken to distinguish between core strategies and statutory compliance.

RESOLVED

1.      To  APPROVE the making of the Greetham Neighbourhood Plan in Appendix A to Report 183/2017; and

2.      To APPROVE the publication of the Decision statement in Appendix B to Report 183/2017 as part of the making of the Greetham Neighbourhood Plan.

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

No matters of urgent business were received.