To receive any apologies for absence from Members.

Apologies were received from Mr Bird, Mr Cross, Mr Dale and Mr Parsons.

To receive any announcements by the Chairman.

The Chairman confirmed that his announcements had been circulated in advance of the meeting.

The Chairman welcomed Mr Adam Lowe to the Council and congratulated him on his election to the Oakham South East Ward.

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

There were no announcements from 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.

Mr Conde declared a personal interest in Item 10 of the agenda (Education Framework) as his granddaughter received SEND support.

Mrs Stephenson declared an interest in Item 10 of the agenda (Education Framework) as she was employed at Leighfield Primary School and had two children attending Uppingham Church of England Primary School.

Miss Waller declared an interest in Item 10 of the agenda (Education Framework) as she was Vice-Chair of Governors at Ryhall Primary School.

Mr Callaghan declared an interest in Item 10 of the agenda (Education Framework) as he was a Governor at Casterton College.

The Monitoring Officer confirmed that members did not have to declare an interest by virtue of having children or grandchildren at Rutland Schools.

To confirm the Minutes of the 268th meeting of the Rutland County Council District Council held on 15 January 2018, the 269th (special) meeting of the Rutland County Council District Council held on 5 February 2018 and the 270th (special) meeting of the Rutland County Council District Council held on 26 February 2018.

The minutes of the 268th meeting of the Rutland County Council District Council held on 15 January 2018; the 269^th (Special) Meeting of the Rutland County Council District Council held on 5 February 2018; and the 270^th (Special Council Tax) Meeting of the Rutland County Council District Council held on 26 February 2018, 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 Committee 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. 57/2018 from the Cabinet on recommendations referred to the Council for determination and to note the Key Decisions taken at its meetings held on 20 February 2018.

Report No. 57/2018 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 meeting of the Council on 26 February 2018.

1)    Council NOTED the Key Decisions made since the publication of the agenda for the previous meeting of the Council on 26 February 2018, as detailed in Appendix A to Report No. 57/2018.

2)    20 February 2018

Decision No. 622

Report No. 38/2018

EDUCATION FRAMEWORK 2017-2020

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

During his introduction Mr Wilby confirmed that this was an overarching strategy which covered early years through to post-16 education.  The Education Provider Prioritisation and Entitlement 2017-18 was in essence the implementation manual.  A press release had been issued that day confirming that all 364 applicants for secondary school places had been given one of their choices with 96% being given their first choice.  The paper covered the monitoring of standards in an environment where 85% of Rutland children were in academies and this was likely to increase.  The Education Performance Board, Chaired by Mr Wilby, monitored the performance of all schools and the Head Teachers Group to instigate collaboration and training to ensure best practice across the County in partnership with other organisations such as the National Leaders of Education, The Rutland Teaching Alliance and East Midlands Teaching School Alliance and where appropriate the Diocese Education Leadership, along with Rutland County Council Officers.  Currently all schools were judged good or outstanding and our results compare favourably with national standards.  Harrington School was developing well with cohort increasing to 110 pupils starting in September.  There was more work to do for post-16 students and there was more work underway to provide vocational and apprenticeship opportunities.  Children Looked After, overseen by the Virtual Head and Corporate Parenting Board, which all members were welcome to attend.  Also improvements were being explored to improve the support to children with special educational needs and disabilities.  A recent safeguarding audit had highlighted the need to re-focus on recruitment practices and this was in hand.  School Governors also play an important part.  Being a small County Rutland must continue to use resources wisely and collaborate well to sustain and improve our educational offer to Rutland children.

During debate of the recommendations, points raised included:

i.      Mr Oxley was concerned regarding the shrinking number of maintained schools and how those remaining could be supported if they wished to remain outside of the academy structure.  Mr Wilby confirmed that all schools are encouraged to work together through the Head Teachers Group and the Rutland Teaching Alliance in collaboration with the Local Authority; 

ii.     Mr Baines required clarification as to the support for academies highlighted in the report and whether the costs for such RCC Officer support would be recharged back to academies, given the financial challenges being experienced  ...  view the full minutes text for item 678.

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.

i.      Mr Baines –

Rutland Water Partnership – 12 January 2018

Nothing to report.

Rural Community Council – 17 January 2018

Building in Loughborough Road Leicester has been sold, will be temporary lease in leics, please to say first meeting will be at Ashwell Enterprise Park.  Also winding up of Rutland Community Spirit event in Victoria Hall and Mr Baines wanted to record his thanks and appreciation for all the good work that had been done.

Environment Agency Northern Region – 19 January 2018

Precept was set at 1% increase.  Newly appointed Flood Defence Officer for Leicestershire was pleased to offer any help that she could to Rutland.

Annual Meeting of the Leicester University Court

Recently appointed Chair – Professor Ian Gillespie, gave a presentation on working with Leicestershire Local Enterprise Partnership on entrepreneurialism, asked if could extend to Rutland and subsequently the Chief Executive has arranged a meeting.  This year marks the centenary of the foundation of Leicester College and there will be a meeting on 11 April 2018 with the intention of setting up a fund for modest grants available for residents of Rutland, in order to mark the centenary.

ii.     Miss Waller – East Midlands Councils

Miss Waller had attended the EMC Employment Board and the EMC Refugee Group and had provided a summary of both of those meetings to Councillors and was happy to answer any questions from members.

iii.    Mr Foster – Armed Forces Champion

Text of Mr Foster’s Update printed below:

I am delighted as your Armed Forces Champion to update you on our progress during 2017.

Last year was a busy year for our Armed Forces community in Rutland and for us as a Council in supporting them.

The Poachers, 2nd Battalion the Royal Anglian Regiment, left Kendrew Barrack for Cyprus and were replaced by The Tigers, 1st Battalion, The Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment, in preparation for which the earlier part of 2017, a significant amount of officer time was deployed in an engagement visit to Cyprus to support this transition.  This involved closely working with families to plan school placements and health requirements as well as a full spectrum of local area information.

The final squadron of 1 Military Working Dog also returned from Germany in 2017, uniting for the first time the whole regiment at St George's Barracks. The Council also supported this move.

We launched our Armed Forces Discount Scheme in 2017 and this has proved very popular with Armed Forces Personnel, and the businesses offering the discount. Over 40 business are supporting the scheme already, offering a wide range of discounts and I thank them most warmly for their support of our Service Family.

Last summer the Council co-sponsored a Symposium with Rutland Health Watch. The objective was to bring organisations together to review specifically how we support Veterans in the County. The event was well attended and, after a full debate updating all the various viewpoints across the county, led to the setting up of a working  ...  view the full minutes text for item 680.

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 submitted.

To receive Report No. 30/2018 from the Chief Executive.

Report No. 30/2018 from the Chief Executive was received, the purpose of which was to comply with S. 38 to 43 of the Localism Act 2011 which requires local authorities to produce a Pay Policy Statement.

Mr Hemsley introduced and moved the recommendations in the report.  Mr Brown seconded the recommendations.

During debate the following points were raised:

1. Mr Conde raised a question regarding the lowest paid staff comparison table at section 9.3 of the report in that the “Lowest salary from lowest paid staff group” was higher than the “Average salary of lowest paid staff group”.  The Chairman confirmed that this would be investigated and a response would be provided outside of the meeting.

RESOLVED

1)    To APPROVE the updated Pay Policy for 2018-19.

2)    To NOTE that the policy reflects salary levels as at 2017-18 pending the outcome of national pay negotiations for 2018-19 and that the Pay Policy Statement will be updated once the outcome is known.

3)    To APPROVE the proposal to put in place the provision to withhold pay increment progression until the employee satisfactorily completes their probation.

To receive Report No. 39/2018 from the Chief Executive.

Report No. 39/2018 was received from the Chief Executive, the purpose of which was to seek Council approval of the recommendations of the Returning Officer to conclude the review of polling districts and polling places for Oakham North West Ward.

Mrs D Mogg, Director for Resources, introduced the report and confirmed the duty placed on the Council to keep polling places under review and that a full review would be done before the next elections in 2019.  It was necessary to review Barleythorpe at this time due to the increase in electorate and the formation of Barleythorpe Parish Council.

Mr Hemsley moved the recommendations in the report and this was seconded by Mr Lammie.

During debate the following points were raised:

1. Mr Gale asked whether it was possible to use a polling station in a neighbouring Parish, such as Langham, to save the additional cost.  Mrs Mogg confirmed this was not possible as Langham was a separate Polling District.

RESOLVED

1)    To APPROVE the designation of the Oakham United Football Club building, Main Road, Barleythorpe, Oakham, Rutland, LE15 7EE as the designated polling place for the polling district of Barleythorpe.

To receive Report No. 59/2018 from the Director for Resources.

Report No. 59/2018 from the Director for Resources was received, the purpose of which was to review the political balance of Committees and Panels in accordance with Section 15 of the Local Government and Housing Act 1989 and Regulations made thereunder and request the Council to approve the allocation of seats in accordance with the statutory requirements concerning political balance.

Mr Mogg, Director for Resources, introduced the report and confirmed that the political balance required review following the election of Councillor Adam Lowe.  The calculation had resulted in a reduction in Conservative seats by two, creating two vacant seats for non-aligned councillors.  The Conservative Group had confirmed that they wished to reduce their allocation of seats on the Audit and Risk Committee and the Employment and Appeals Committee.  Council were asked to nominate one non-aligned member to each of these committees.

The Chairman confirmed that each recommendation would be proposed, seconded and voted upon separately.

Mr Hemsley moved recommendation 1) in the report and this was seconded by Mr Wilby.

RESOLVED

1)    To APPROVE the revised political balance calculation as per paragraph 2.5 of this report.

--o0o--

In accordance with the provisions of Procedure Rule 11, paragraph 2 –

Recording of Votes – Mr Gale requested that his votes against the above

resolution be recorded.

--o0o--

Mr Hemsley moved recommendation 2) in the report and this was seconded by Mr Begy.

During debate on recommendation 2) the following points were raised:

1. Miss Waller asked for clarification on why there was over representation of non-aligned members on some committees and no representation on others.  Mrs Mogg confirmed that the number of seats on each Committees and the proportionate allocation did not allow for each committee/panel to have identical proportionality;
2. Miss Waller accepted that the percentages would not allow for exact proportionality on each committee and accepted that there was a level of compromise, but felt that where possible there should be representation of non-aligned councillors on every committee/panel;
3. Mr Hemsley confirmed that he would give this consideration at Annual Council in May when the Political Balance would be reviewed again;
4. Mr Gale commented that in his view the Council would work better without political groups;
5. Mr Baines enquired as to whether Mr Lowe could continue to be the Town Council representative on the Conduct Committee.  Mrs Mogg, confirmed that Mr Lowe could continue to hold that position, but that this appointment was due for review in May 2019.

RESOLVED

2)    To APPROVE the allocation of seats to Political Groups shown at paragraph 2.6 and notes the membership of each committee as set out in Appendix 1 of Report 59/2018.

--o0o--

In accordance with the provisions of Procedure Rule 11, paragraph 2 –

Recording of Votes – Mr Gale requested that his votes against the above

resolution be recorded.

--o0o--

The Chairman invited Council to make nominations for the vacant seat on the Audit and Risk Committee from the non-aligned members.

Mr Oxley proposed Mr Lowe and this was seconded by Mr  ...  view the full minutes text for item 684.

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

No matters of urgent business were received.