Apologies for absence were received from Councillors K Payne and D Wilby.

The Chairman advised that he had attended the swearing in of the newly appointed justices and that Friday, 1^st April marked exactly 25 years since Rutland regained its independent status, having been a district of Leicestershire from 1974 until 1997. 

Councillor L Stephenson, Deputy Leader and Portfolio Holder for Communities, Environment and Climate Change, informed Members that following concerns over the quantity of recyclable waste put into general waste that a new sticker had been sent to residents setting out details on exactly what items could be recycled or otherwise.

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.

There were no pecuniary or non-pecuniary interests declared.

To confirm the Minutes of the 236^th and 237^th  meetings of the Rutland County Council District Council held on 24 January and 28 February 2022.

Consideration was given to the minutes of the meeting held on the 24 January 2022 and the 28 February 2022. 

Councillor K Bool requested clarification regarding the date for the rededication of the memorial as stated in the minutes of the 28^th February 2022.  It was confirmed that the date was incorrect and that the minutes would be amended to read the 10^th April 2022.

RESOLVED

That the minutes of the Council meetings held on the 24 January and the 28 February 2022 be APPROVED.

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.

Councillor W Cross presented his question as set out in the agenda supplement.

The Chairman invited the Leader of the Council to respond and the full details of the response are appended to the minutes.

Councillor Cross asked a supplementary question regarding the inclusion of the 650 houses at Quarry Farm in Rutland’s 5-year housing supply.  Councillor Hemsley confirmed that the numbers would be included in Rutland’s 5-year housing supply if the proposed development at Quarry Farm went ahead, subject to a solution being agreed with South Kesteven District Council given the current site allocation in their Local Plan.

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.

There were no referrals of committee decisions to the Council.

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.

There were no call-ins of decisions from Cabinet meetings.

To receive Report No. 57/2022 from the Cabinet on recommendations referred to the Council for determination.

To approve Cabinet recommendations to Council on the Following Reports:

·       Report No. 53/2022 Future Rutland: Vision

·       Report No. 36/2022 Bus Service Improvement Plan and Enhanced Partnership

Report No. 57/2022 was received from the Cabinet presenting recommendations to Council for approval. 

Councillor O Hemsley, Leader of the Council, presented the recommendations of Report No. 53/2022 relating to the Future Rutland Vision and moved that Council approved the recommendations. This was seconded and upon being put to the vote, with 23 votes in favour and 1 against, the motion was carried.

RESOLVED

That Council:

1)    ENDORSED the Future Rutland Vision as a shared vision for the County as shaped by the community.

2)    ADOPTED the Future Rutland Vision as a key document which underpinned the Corporate Plan and future Council strategies and approaches.

Councillor I Razzell then presented the recommendations from Cabinet to Council from Report No. 36/2022 regarding the Bus Service Improvement Plan and the Rutland Enhanced Partnership.  It was stated that future funding was still unknown but that the aim was still to provide the best ‘value for money’ services to Rutland residents.

Councillor Walters requested an update on the criteria needed for people to access the community transport offered by Voluntary Action Rutland’ (VAR), how the service was managing its service with an ageing volunteer base and was the hopper service being moved to Oakham Town Council or stopping the service and how was the communication regarding this paper to be given to the public.

Councillor Razzell confirmed that Voluntary Action Rutland (VAR) would be included in future deliberations regarding public transportation and that conversations with Oakham Town Council were still ongoing regarding the Hopper service.  He stated that communication with the public needed to confirm that the Council was still waiting for notification regarding future funding so was currently unable to make any decisions regarding future transportation.

A vote was taken and with twenty-three votes in favour and one against, the motion was carried.

RESOLVED

That Council:

1)    APPROVED the Rutland Enhanced Partnership (EP) Plan and Enhanced Partnership Scheme.

2)    DELEGATED authority to the Strategic Director for Places, in consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Planning, Highways and Transport to approve any subsequent amendments to the EP Plan and EP Scheme.

1)    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.

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

There were no reports from the committees.

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

A report was received from Councillor J Fox, Chair of the Growth, Infrastructure and Resources Scrutiny Committee setting out the outcomes of the meeting held on 10 February 2022..

RESOLVED

That Council NOTE the report.

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

Councillor G Waller briefed Members regarding the meeting of the LLR Joint Health Scrutiny Committee held on the 15^th February 2022, which she and Councillor R Powell attended.  Items on the agenda included the ‘Step Up to Great Mental Health’ programme, the follow-up inspection from the CQC on the Leicestershire NHS Partnership Trust and a request to review the Integrated Care Board constitution.

Councillor Waller then briefed Members on the recent meeting of the Carlton Hays Mental Health Trust which included a number of applications for funding but received very few from Rutland.  Financial support was available to mental health charities in Rutland.  Further details could be found on their website: www.carltonhayes.co.uk

Councillor Waller briefed Members on the meeting of the East Midlands Regional Employers’ Board held on the 16^th March 2021 where modern apprenticeships and staff training were discussed.

Councillor Waller briefed Members on the meeting of the East Midlands Scrutiny Network held on the 11^th March which discussed ways of engaging the public with Scrutiny Committees. All non-executive members were welcome to attend the next meeting on the 24^th June 2022, which would discuss ways of scrutinising budgets.

Councillor R Powell updated attendees on the Standing Advisory Council on Religious Education (SACRE), which was a statutory meeting to promote the education of religious education in schools.  A new religious syllabus would be introduced in 2023 and be more focused on ‘world views’ rather than specific religions.

Councillor A Brown briefed attendees on the recent meeting of the Local Government Association which discussed personal safety for which details are appended to the minutes.

To consider the Notice of Motion submitted by Councillor O Hemsley and seconded by Councillor A MacCartney in accordance with Procedure Rule 34:

Rutland County Council is immensely troubled by the impact of Russian aggression in the Ukraine, and the escalating humanitarian crisis facing the Country. In light of this, and as a way of expressing support for members of our community who are from or have ties with the Ukraine.

This Council:

1)    Condemns the unprovoked Russian invasion of Ukraine and stand in solidarity with the people of Ukraine and their families and friends, including those local to Rutland.

2)    Stands ready to provide support for those displaced and affected by this War

3)    Will work with and support the efforts of our local community to provide help and comfort to those in need.

4)    Will fly a Ukrainian Flag for a month.

The Notice of Motion set out in the agenda was moved by Councillor O Hemsley and jointly seconded by the opposition Group Leaders, Councillors M Oxley and G Waller. 

Councillor Hemsley stated that he shared members concerns regarding the level of screening and support for those residents who offered to house Ukrainian refugees and was still awaiting full, clear guidance from central government.

Several Members suggested possible amendments to the motion in order to facilitate the flying of the Ukrainian flag beyond the stated period of one month.

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The Chairman adjourned the meeting at 7.53 p.m. for 5 minutes to allow an amendment to the motion to be re-worded to discussed by the Leader and opposition Group Leaders

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Upon being put to the vote, with 23 votes in favour the amended motion was unanimously carried.

RESOLVED

That Council:

1)    Condemned the unprovoked Russian invasion of Ukraine and stand in solidarity with the people of Ukraine and their families and friends, including those local to Rutland.

2)    Stood ready to provide support for those displaced and affected by this War

3)    Would work with and support the efforts of our local community to provide help and comfort to those in need.

4)    Would fly the Ukrainian Flag for a period of at least one month with authority delegated to the Leader in consultation with the Chief Executive and Group Leaders to review and consider the flying of the Ukrainian flag beyond this point.

To receive Report No. 58/2022 from the Monitoring Officer.

Report No. 58/2022 was presented by Councillor O Hemsley, Leader of the Council, regarding the Member Allowances Scheme for 2021/2022 and 2022/23, Councillor O Hemsley moved the recommendations of the report and these were seconded.

Councillor Waller proposed an amendment to the motion and the details were distributed to attendees.  The amendment amended recommendations so that Council resolved to implement no increase in allowances for either 2021-22 or 2022-23 in recognition of the financial difficulties being faced by many Rutland residents. The amendment was seconded and several Members spoke in support.

Councillor Hemsley and the seconder Councillor A Brown both accepted the amended motion. 

Councillor N Begy suggested that if no increase was implemented then the money saved could be used as a ‘hardship fund’ for those Members who would experience financial difficulties due to the freeze in Member Allowances. 

Councillor S Harvey spoke against the amended motion on the grounds that for some Members their Allowances were their only income and the lack of increase would incur hardship on those Members.

Councillors P Ainsley and E Baines stated that any Member could decline to accept any increase in payments from the Member Allowances scheme via renunciation, so in their view the amended motion was not required.

A recorded vote was requested on the amended motion by Councillor A Walters and with four other Members in favour a recorded vote was held with voting as follows. 

There voted in favour:

Councillors Begy, Blanksby, Bool, A Brown, P Browne, Burrows, Cross, Dale, MacCartney, Stephenson, Toseland, Waller, Walters, Wilson.

There voted against:

Councillors Ainsley, Baines, G Brown, Fox, Harvey, Powell, Webb.

Abstentions:

Councillors Hemsley, Oxley, Razzell

With fourteen votes in favour, seven against and three abstentions, the motion as amended was carried.

RESOLVED

That Council:

1)    NOTES that the current Member Allowances scheme allows for annual increases in line with the NJC pay award for officers but RESOLVES to implement no increases in allowances for either 2021-22 or 2022-23 in recognition of the financial difficulties facing many of our residents.

2)    APPROVES the Members Allowance Scheme for 2021/22 as shown at Appendix A.

3)    APPROVES the Members Allowances Scheme for 2022/3 as shown at Appendix A.

4)    NOTES the intention to engage the Welland Partnership Renumeration Panel to undertake a review of Member’s Allowances in time to report to Council by March 2023.

To receive Report No. 35/2022 from the Portfolio Holder for Policy, Strategy, Partnerships, Economy and Infrastructure.

Report No. 35/2022 was received from Councillor O Hemsley, Leader of the Council and Portfolio Holder for Policy, Strategy and Partnerships, Economy and Infrastructure  regarding the Pay Policy for 2022-2023.

The recommendations of the report were proposed by Councillor Hemsley and seconded.  Upon being put to the vote, the motion was unanimously carried.

RESOLVED

That Council:

1)    APPROVED the 2022-2023 annual Pay Policy at Appendix A of the report.

2)    NOTED the updated position regarding the Local Government Pay Award.

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

There was no urgent business for consideration.