Apologies for absence were received from Councillors D Ellison, R Ross and R Powell.

The Chairman confirmed he would make a full set of announcements at the next scheduled meeting of Council.

There were no announcements from the Leaders, 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.

There were no declarations of interest.

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.

As this is a Special Meeting of the Council any petitions, deputations and questions must relate to item on the agenda in accordance with Procedure Rule 21. Questions and notice of deputations must be received by midday on Monday, 15 January.

It was moved by Councillor L Stephenson and seconded that Procedure Rule 26 be suspended, this was to have the effect of removing the 30-minute time limit for petitions, deputations and questions to be considered. Upon being put to the vote, with 24 votes in favour the motion was unanimously carried.

RESOLVED

a)    That Procedure Rule 26 be SUSPENDED for the duration of the meeting.

The Chairman outlined that each of the deputations and questions would be taken in the order in which they were received as set out in the agenda supplement. Councillor C Wise, Portfolio Holder for Transport, Environment and Communities, was invited to respond to each question by the Chairman. For those questions where the questioner was not in attendance the question was not put.

• Gordon Brown, Chair of Barrowden Parish Council, made his deputation as circulated in the agenda supplement. In response to a question from a Member on the deputation, Mr Brown set out the impact of flooding in Barrowden and that in response Barrowden Parish Council with support from residents had dug a ditch across a field to act as a flood defence. In response to further questions Mr Brown confirmed the matter of flooding had been raised during his time on the Council as the relevant Portfolio Holder but due to changing climate conditions he felt longer term thinking would be required.
• Edwards Baines asked his question as circulated in the agenda supplement. In response Councillor Wise set out that heavy rainfall had taken place over Storms Babet and Henk and the intervening weeks leading to a number of flooding issues across the county. Once reports of flooding had begun to arrive Council services and other authorities such as the environment agency had met and mobilised responses including out of hours work on road closures and establishing of communication channels to residents with regular updates on changes. Additional support had been given to residents experiencing home flooding in Barleythorpe alongside Allison Homes due to the matters arising on unadopted roads.
• Cynthia Moss, Whissendine Parish Councillor, made her deputation as circulated in the agenda supplement. In response to a question from a Member Ms Moss certain flooding incidents in Whissendibne had been recurring on regular occasions.
• Eleanor and John Martindale asked their question as circulated in the agenda supplement. In response Councillor Wise the matter had been raised by the Ward Members and was a specific area that will be investigated, although it couldn’t be confirmed until after the investigation as to whether a blocked drain was the source of the issue. In response to a supplementary Councillor Wise could not confirm the exact timings of the investigation.
• Councillor L Stephenson asked a question submitted by Chris Fisher as circulated in the agenda supplement. In response Councillor Wise outlined the guidance available to Councils from the Local Government Association which set out the responsibilities and powers of Councils with regard to flooding.
• Wyn and Michelle Edwards asked their question as circulated in the agenda  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

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

As this is a Special Meeting of the Council any questions must relate to item on the agenda in accordance with Procedure Rule 21. Questions must be received by midday on Monday, 15 January.

One question had been received from Councillor K Heckels and this was put to Councillor C Wise as set out in the agenda supplement.

In response Councillor C Wise set out that only suitably trained emergency services personnel could enter flood water when there is a risk to life and that when flooding begins the Council could only react to a flood incident rather than address the cause as it was taking place. It was outlined there was then an opportunity once flooding had subsided to examine what measures could be in place to prevent future flooding. Councillor Wise also reiterated the unprecedented level of flooding hat Rutland had experienced as a result of Storm Henk.

In response to Councillor Heckels’ supplementary regarding the Section 19 investigation, it was set out that villages were likely to have informal arrangements for emergency planning, and the Council would need to consider whether emergency plans should be in place for individual villages.

To receive a report from Councillor L Stephenson.

Councillor L Stephenson introduced the report submitted for the meeting and proposed the suggested actions in the report which were seconded.

Members cited the experiences of residents across the county during recent flooding and spoke in support of the report and proposal for Scrutiny to investigate the matter and clarify the Council’s roles and responsibilities and identify where investment could be made. It was particularly felt that Scrutiny’s work should seek to act on the matters raised by residents at the meeting and seek where possible to engage with residents directly where possible. It was also noted that there would be a number of stakeholders to engage with including the Environment Agency, Angelian Water and Severn Trent and developers where unadopted roads were concerned. It was also noted this should compliment rather than duplicate the work that would be undertaken by the Council as part of the Section 19 investigation.

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Councillor M Farina left the meeting at 20:16 and returned at 20:19.

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The proposed resolution in the report was moved by Councillor L Stephenson and seconded. Upon being put to the vote, with 23 votes in favour and 1 abstention the motion was carried.

RESOLVED

That Council:

a)    NOTED the report.

b)    REQUESTED the Strategic Overview and Scrutiny Committee to investigate the above matters guided by Council’s debate and makes recommendations to Cabinet and Council regarding the role of Council as Local Lead Flood Authority.

Monday, 26 February 2023

This was noted to be Monday, 26 February.