Apologies were received from Councillors W Cross, A Walters, S Webb and R Wilson.

The Chairman informed Members of the sad passing of former Councillor Captain Vijay Dighe. The Chairman paid tribute to Captain Dighe’s public service having served as a fellow Ward Member for Oakham North East from 2003 to 2011, having also served as Chairman from 2005 to 2007 in this as well as serving as Mayor of Oakham whilst serving on the Town Council.

The Chairman confirmed that he or the Vice Chairman had attended the following civic events since that last meeting of Council on 4 July:

• High Sheriff’s Evening Osprey Cruise at Rutland Water
• Chairman of Leicestershire County Council’s Summer Reception at Beaumanor Hall
• Rocks by Rail Conflict Remembrance Day in Cottesmore

The Chairman also informed Council that he had agreed to a request to cancel the October meeting of Council due to a lack of business for consideration and confirmed that details of a proposed Local Plan briefing would follow in due course.

Councillor L Stephenson, Leader of the Council, announced to Members that the Multum awards had recently launched which would issue 8 awards in 4 categories based on the Council’s strategic aims set out in the Corporate Strategy, Members were encouraged to help in spreading awareness of the awards in order to achieve as many nominations as possible.

Councillor D Wilby, Portfolio Holder for Education and Children’s Services, informed Members of the successful GCSE and A-Level attainment rates in Rutland’s schools with the also county listed in national media as the highest performing county in the country for GCSE results at grades 5-9. Councillor Wilby also informed Members that Ukrainian and other refugees placed in Rutland schools or further education course were settling in well.

Councillor R Powell, Deputy Leader and Portfolio Holder for Planning, Highways and Transport, announced that the Council had been successful in a join bid for funding for installation of electric vehicle charging points which would lead to installation of 30 charging points in the county with units expected to be operational in 2023. Thanks were placed in record for the work of the relevant teams in putting together the bid.

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 declarations of interest.

To confirm the Minutes of the 241^st and 242^nd meetings of the Rutland County Council District Council held on 27 June and 4 July 2022.

Consideration was given to the minutes of Council from the meetings held on 27 June and 4 July 2022.

It was moved by Councillor L Stephenson and seconded that the minutes of the meeting held on 27 June be approved. Upon being put to the vote, with 22 votes in favour and one abstention, the motion was carried.

It was then moved by Councillor L Stephenson that the minutes of the meeting held on 4 July be approved and this was seconded. Upon being put to the vote, with 18 votes in favour and 5 abstentions, the motion was carried. 

RESOLVED

That the minutes of the meetings of Council on 27 June and 4 July 2022 be APPROVED.

To receive any petitions, deputations or questions received from members of the public in accordance with the provisions of Procedures Rule 25 and 26. 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.

No petitions, deputations or questions from members of the public had been received.

To receive any questions submitted from Members of the Council in accordance with the provisions of Procedure Rules 27 and 28.

Councillor P Browne put his question to Councillor R Powell as set out in the agenda supplement.

In response Councillor Powell set out that although Councillor Browne was correct in his reference to the Supplementary Planning Document and its approach to design solutions, the view of officers was that adoption did not provide sufficient weight for the guidance to be enforceable through conditions and this could only be undertaken once the guidelines were adopted as a policy through the Local Plan or through a change in Building Regulations. It was confirmed that developers were nevertheless being encouraged through pre-application discussions to implement the guidance and further briefing information on the design guide was being prepared for Members of the Planning and Licensing Committee.  

In his supplementary question Councillor Browne queried the response and referenced paragraph 129 of the National Planning Policy Framework which stated a supplementary planning document was a method of carrying weight in planning decisions and asked the Council considered this in regard to the design guidance. In response, Councillor Powell committed to examine the detail of paragraph 129 and respond to Councillor Browne after the meeting.

To determine matters where a decision taken by a Committee has been referred to the Council in accordance with the provisions of Procedure Rule 89.

No referrals were received.

To determine matters where a decision taken by the Cabinet has been referred to Council by the call-in procedure of the Scrutiny Committee in accordance with the provisions of Procedure Rules 149 and 150. 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, or otherwise not in accordance with Article 12.

No call-ins were received.

To receive Report No. 139/2022 from the Cabinet on recommendations referred to the Council for determination regarding the Council’s Insurance Contract.

Report No. 139/2022 was received from the Cabinet setting out recommendations in regard to the Council’s Insurance Contract. Councillor K Payne introduced the report and set out that the contract would be for all of the Council’s insurance requirements and the suggested delegation would enable a contract to be awarded swiftly and prior to the expiry of the current contract.

The recommendations of Report No. 139/2022 were moved by Councillor K Payne and seconded. Upon being put to the vote, with 23 votes in favour the motion was unanimously carried.

RESOLVED

That Council:

1)    DELEGATED the award of the Insurance Services contract to the Strategic Director for Resources in consultation with the Portfolio Holder with responsibility for Finance.

2)    DELEGATED the finalisation of the evaluation criteria to the Strategic Director of Resources in consultation with the Portfolio Holder with responsibility for Finance, based on the advice of the Insurance Broker to achieve best value, on the proviso that price be maintained at a minimum of 50%.

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.

No reports from committees had been received.

To receive reports from Scrutiny on any matters and to receive questions and answers on any of those reports.

Two reports were received from Scrutiny.

Report No. 143/2022 – Scrutiny Annual Report 2021-2022

Report No. 143/2022 was received setting out the Scrutiny Annual Report for 2021-2022.

Councillor P Ainsley moved the recommendations of the report and this was seconded. Upon being put to the vote, with 23 votes in favour the motion was unanimously carried.

RESOLVED

1)    That Council NOTED the Scrutiny Annual Report 2021-2022 and APPROVED its publication.

Report No. 144/2022 – A Guide to Strategic Overview and Scrutiny.

Report No. 144/2022 was received and Councillor G Waller introduced the report as Chair of the Strategic Overview and Scrutiny Committee, it was set out the guide was intended to provide members of the public with information about the Scrutiny function and help stakeholders use the Scrutiny process as effectively as possible.

It was requested that the guide be amended to include the Rutland Integrated Delivery Group on the list of bodies Scrutiny may examine. It was also requested the guide be discussed by the Constitution Commission prior to publication to resolve several areas raised by a Member and this was agreed.

The recommendations of the report were moved by Councillor G Waller and seconded. Upon being put to the vote, with 22 votes in favour and 1 against the motion was carried.

RESOLVED

1)    That Council NOTES the Guide to Strategic Overview and Scrutiny and APPROVES its publication.

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

Councillor P Ainsley updated Members on several activities undertaken by himself as Armed Forces Champion and by the wider team including:

• A visit was planned to 1 Military Working Dogs Regiment based at North Luffenham to understand what practical assistance could be provided to serving personnel and their families
• A visit had taken place at HMP Stocken to meet a veterans group looking to produce a poppy display for use at Remembrance

made by some of veterans housed at the prison.

• A meeting at the Loughborough Veterans Wellbeing Hub where discussions had taken place about satellite hubs in Lutterworth and Oakham. Initial meetings would be held at the Whipper Inn and members were encouraged to come forward with alternative venues once this was no longer available.
• A flag-raising ceremony had taken place on 3 September to commemorate Merchant Navy Day which had been well-attended by local residents.
• The inaugural meeting of the Armed Forces Covenant Board had meant in anticipation of guidance following on from Armed Forces Covenant legislation expected to come into effect in the Autumn.

Councillor K Bool provided an update on the Combined Fire Authority with a number of meetings due in the coming weeks, Councillor Bool also thanked Members for their attendance at the recent open evening arranged at Oakham Fire Station for Members and confirmed he had written to the CFA expressing thanks on behalf of the Council. The Chairman also expressed thanks for the event on behalf of the Council. 

It was also set out the Fire Station had also hosted an event for Ukrainian refugees settled in Rutland and would be hosting a flag-raising ceremony to commemorate 999 Day to pay tribute to emergency services personnel.

Councillor E Baines updated Members on a recent meeting of the Board of Trustees of the Rural Community Council and confirmed that following discussions membership of the wider Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland had been agreed to maintain the elected membership of representatives from Rutland County Council and Leicestershire County Council.

Councillor S Harvey updated Members on her attendance at the inaugural meeting of the Integrated Care Partnership, named locally as the Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland Health and Wellbeing Partnership. It was confirmed membership had been expanded to include Healthwatch and the Council’s directors for Public Health, Children’s Services and Adult Services.

Councillor M Oxley updated Members on his work on the Police and Crime Panel for Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland including attendance at a demonstration from the various services and membership of a working group examining the levels of Section 106 monies currently held by the Police Authority.

To consider any Notices of Motion submitted by Members of the Council in accordance with Procedure Rule 31 in the order in which they are recorded as having been received.

No notices of motion were received.

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

There was no urgent business for consideration.

10 October 2022

This was noted to be 7 November 2022 with the cancellation of the next meeting.