To receive any apologies from Members.

No apologies were received.

To confirm the record of the meeting of the Growth, Infrastructure and Resources Scrutiny Panel held on 13 September 2018.

To confirm the record of the meeting of the Special Growth, Infrastructure and Resources Scrutiny Panel held on 11 October 2018.

The minutes of the meetings of the Growth, Infrastructure and Resources Scrutiny Panel held on 13 September 2018 were confirmed, subject to the change noted below, and signed by the Chairman.

The Panel agreed that the wording at minute number 249 discussion point iii) be amended to read “Regarding the recommendation for Mr O Bird to fill the Rutland County Council Vacancy, Mrs Fox stated that she felt the seat should remain vacant as most of the work of the group had been completed and there were only three meetings left. Mr Baines and Mr Cross supported the comments from Mrs Fox.”

The minutes of the Special Growth, Infrastructure and Resources Scrutiny Panel held on 11 October 2018 were confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

In accordance with the Regulations, Members are invited to declare any personal or prejudicial interests they may have and the nature of those interests in respect of items on this Agenda and/or indicate if Section 106 of the Local Government Act 1992 applies to them.

No declarations of interest had been received.

To receive any petitions, deputations and questions received from Members of the Public in accordance with the provisions of Procedure Rule 217.

The total time allowed for this item shall be 30 minutes. Petitions, declarations and questions shall be dealt with in the order in which they are received. Questions may also be submitted at short notice by giving a written copy to the Committee Administrator 15 minutes before the start of the meeting.

The total time allowed for questions at short notice is 15 minutes of the total time for 30 minutes. Any petitions, deputations and questions that have been submitted with prior formal notice will take precedence over questions submitted at short notice. Any questions that are not considered within the time limit shall receive a written response after the meeting and be the subject of a report to the next meeting.

Two questions had been received from members of the public. Members had received the full text prior to the meeting:

1.    Mr Norman Milne

“Following the special Scrutiny Panel meeting on 11 Oct 18 can you detail:

a.The subsequent discussion the Panel has had following the meeting and the conclusions the Panel has drawn?

b.How you have formulated recommendations to the Cabinet / Council following this meeting?

c.When Cabinet / Council considered your recommendations?”

Answer

The Chair of the Panel responded to the question. The response is shown below:

“Following the meeting on 11 October 2018, I emailed the members of the Growth, Infrastructure and Resources Scrutiny Panel and requested feedback from the discussion at the meeting particularly in relation to issues around communication regarding the process, as raised by members of the public.

Formal recommendations to Cabinet and/or Council were not proposed or agreed by the Panel, however feedback received from members of the panel in response to my email has been forwarded to the relevant Portfolio Holder, Councillor Gordon Brown, for information.

Full Council will consider the issues raised as a part of the Local Plan making process. The approach to this is set by Statute and in addition to consideration by Full Council there is independent Examination of the Local Plan and compliance with the statutory processes through the Planning Inspectorate.”

Supplementary Question

“Will the information be made available to the Parish Council Liaison Group and the St George’s Barracks Advisory Board”

Answer

The Chair responded:

“All the information was in the minutes of the Special Growth, Infrastructure and Resources Scrutiny Panel.”

2.    Mr Vic Pheasant on behalf of Mr Neil Newton

“All members of the Panel will have received by email, a letter from the St George’s Barracks Parish Councils’ Liaison Group (PCLG) directed to Cllr Hemsley. How will you, as Chairman of the Growth, Infrastructure and Resources Scrutiny Panel ensure that the issues raised in this letter are addressed?”

Answer

“In holding the Special Meeting held on the 11 October 2018 I have provided the opportunity to scrutinise the process of developing the St Georges Draft Master Plan.  Members of the public were able to ask questions, through the council’s public speaking scheme, and a representative of the St George’s Advisory Group was invited to attend to provide a representation.  Scrutiny Panel Members and other members present were able to ask further questions and scrutinise the process.  As already confirmed, any comments received from members following the meeting were also provided to the relevant Portfolio Holder. 

Whilst there might be a future opportunity for Scrutiny to be involved, this matter now rests with the Project Board and the Councils decision making and governance processes.”

To consider any questions with notice from Members received in accordance with the provisions of Procedure rule No. 219 and No. 219A.

No questions were received from Members.

To consider any Notices of Motion from Members submitted in accordance with the provisions of Procedure Rule No. 220.

No notices of motion were received from Members.

To consider any matter referred to the Panel for a decision in relation to call in of a decision in accordance with Procedure Rule 206.

No matter was referred to the Panel for a decision in relation to a call-in of a decision in accordance with Procedure Rule 206.

---oOo---

The Chairman notified the Panel that the Oakham Town Task and Finish Group item would be taken before the Quarter 2 Finance Management Report.

---oOo---

To receive Report No. 214/2018 from the Strategic Director for Places.

Report No. 214/2018 was received from the Strategic Director for Resources.

A brief introduction was provided by Mrs Helen Briggs, Chief Executive, and the Chairman, Mr Callaghan.  Mr Callaghan highlighted that the group had worked very hard to prepare the final report and the Scrutiny Panel were now being requested to respond to the recommendations and decide whether to refer the report on to RCC Full Council.

During discussion the following points were noted:

      i.        The Panel appreciated the amount of work that had gone into the report and the difficulties the group overcame with an extremely positive outcome. The Chair commented that the Task and Finish Group were in an excellent position to make recommendations to Council.

    ii.        Mr Cross noted that the Task and Finish Group was a good example of the democratic process.

   iii.        Mrs Joy Clough, representative of the Oakham Town Task and Finish Group suggested that the Chairman for the Partnership Group would need to be someone who understood Oakham and the issues the town faces.

   iv.        Mrs Briggs stated that in regards to recommendation 2 of the report, a feasibility study had begun to assess the deliverability of individual recommendations/proposals.  It was noted that this work would take some time to complete given the nature of recommendations and that it would be a work in progress by the time the report was presented to Council in December.   

    v.        When asked if the report was approved by the Chair of the Task and Finish Group, Mr Callaghan responded that the report was a combination of a report by the Chair and a report by the Group. The final report was approved by the Group unanimously.

   vi.        Mrs Clough clarified that membership of the Partnership Group would aim to represent stakeholders in the regeneration of Oakham Town, and that work would be streamlined once the Partnership Group had been formed in order to avoid duplication.

  vii.        Miss Waller noted that further work was required in order to provide detail on costing for all the recommendations set out in the report and who would pay for them.

viii.        Mrs Clough confirmed that the Group would look at securing grant funding.

   ix.        It was clarified that the Council would not be able to deliver the entire project by itself, there needed to be a partnership of organisations and the community, for example, many of the events within Rutland were setup by other organisations as well as Rutland County Council.

RESOLVED

The Panel ENDORSED the Report of the Oakham Town Task and Finish Group and AGREED the response of the Panel for Council consideration.

The Panel REQUESTED that officers undertake a high level feasibility study of the recommendations in the report in order to provide further detail regarding potential deliverability to Council in December.

The Panel RECOMMENDS to Council the approval of the Oakham Town Task and Finish Group Recommendations and Future Framework Report including establishing a budget of £2000 for initial funding of the Partnership Group

---oOo---

The Chairman adjourned the meeting for five minutes to allow for members of the public attending the item regarding the Oakham Town Task and Finish Group to leave if they wished to.

---oOo---

To receive Report No. 193/2018 from the Strategic Director for Resources.

1.    The above report is due to be presented at Cabinet on 20 November 2018.

2.    Scrutiny has requested this report so that it can review and comment on proposals before the Cabinet meeting so as to inform the decision-making process.

3.    Scrutiny is asked to consider the report and provide feedback to the Portfolio Holder and Director

(Report circulated under separate cover)

Report No. 193/2018 was received from the Strategic Director for Resources.

Mr Gordon Brown, Deputy Leader and Portfolio Holder for Corporate Finance, introduced the report, the purpose of which was to inform members of the full year forecast position as at Quarter 2 for 2018/19 and to alert them to issues that may impact on the Medium Term Financial Plan.

During discussion the following points were noted:

      i.        Mr Bird questioned that with the amount spent on pool and hire cars, should the Council consider electric cars. Mr Brown stated that discussion had been had on the issue. The reasons the Council acquired pool cars in the first place was to save the Council more than £200k in payments to essential car users per year. Another consideration would also need to be made regarding electric charging points throughout the community.

    ii.        The occupancy of Oakham Enterprise Park was currently at 78% but would be close to 90% by then end of March. The King Centre should have an occupancy of 100% by the end of March.

   iii.        The Chair questioned that the Planning and Licensing Committee had recently approved the development of Oakham Enterprise Park with new building and would that make the occupancy percentage worse. Mr Brown responded that the development was on hold until the Council was sure that the market was right for additional units. Market research was being done and would be included within the Oakham Enterprise Park Phase 2A Revised Business Plan report going to Cabinet on 15 January 2019.

   iv.        The £85k from prudential borrowing on investigation works to determine future property maintenance requirements on Council owned assets would be paid to outside experts. Mrs Briggs confirmed that while the Council used to be able to get funding for supporting costs, funding was now harder to obtain.

    v.        Mrs Fox noted she had seen information regarding match funding for improving boilers to keep costs down and would pass on the information to Mr Brown.

   vi.        Mr Brown confirmed that there was hot desking available at the King Centre.

  vii.        The Panel congratulated Mr Della Rocca, Strategic Director for Resources, and his team regarding the value of the savings made in the financial year.

viii.        Miss Waller questioned whether the Council charged Parish Councils for the emptying of their green waste bins. Mr Brown would look into the matter, he was aware the Council charged village halls, but was not sure about Parishes with cemeteries. Mr Brown would confirm and email members outside of the meeting.

   ix.        Miss Waller stated that while she was not 100% in favour of the green waste collection charge at the start, she recognised that the introduction of the charge had been more than successful, with the intake being greater than expected. Miss Waller also noted that Cabinet should rethink initial thoughts on not increasing the fees by inflation. It would be easier for the public for an inflation increase rather than a larger sudden increase later down the line.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 424.

To receive a presentation from Mr Dave Pye, Senior Transport Manager.

The current Local Transport Plan can be found using the following link:

https://www.rutland.gov.uk/my-community/transport/transport-strategy/

A presentation was received from Mr Dave Pye, Senior Transport Manager at Rutland County Council.

During discussion the following points were noted:

      i.        Mrs Stephenson, Portfolio Holder for Culture and Leisure, Highways & Transport noted that the consultation for the Local Transport Plan (LTP) ends on 19 January 2019 and would be happy to meet with any members in person or answer questions via e-mail.

    ii.        When asked to what extent the Council were using volunteers and ramblers to keep public rights of way free, Mr Pye responded that his team were liaising with groups, and that a Local Access Forum may be needed for Rutland. In the past two years, the maintenance of public rights of way had been delivered by the Council. A structure had been put in place to make sure there was a lot more done in terms of maintenance for a lot less money, and getting the rights of way ready for the winter period to make sure they were still usable.

   iii.        Mrs Stephenson confirmed that a link had been sent out to Parishes and Councillors asking for feedback on the LTP. A further push of communications was needed to make sure the Local Transport Plan was fit for Rutland.

   iv.        Mrs Stephenson would look to making information within the LTP more accessible.

    v.        Mrs Fox noted that there needed to be clear communication to residents regarding if a service was not use, the service may be taken away.

   vi.        Mr Baines suggested that the main highlights of the LTP could be placed on a single sheet of paper, giving the opportunity for residents to give a more meaningful response from a simpler document.

  vii.        Miss Waller commented that the team at RCC looking after the public rights of way were more effective than neighbouring authorities. When a complaint was received, they were quick to get on the case.

viii.        Mr Baines suggested the possibility of using the Uppingham and Oakham hoppers to incorporate villages in the surrounding areas.

   ix.        The Chair suggested the use of smaller buses with multiple uses such as for delivery to bring the cost running buses down.

    x.        Mrs Stephenson clarified to members that Call Connect was a bookable bus service that was available to anyone, whilst the Voluntary Action Rutland bus service was available for frail, elderly, disable and vulnerable people in Rutland.

   xi.        Miss Waller commented that there had been a case where the bookable bus services were not able to provide a bus despite 8 days’ notice and another case where a resident needed to attend a hospital appointment but the bus offered was after the hospital appointment was due to take place. Miss Waller suggested a subsidised taxi service could be more useful. Mr Hemsley commented that there used to be a token system for taxis and buses, Mr Pye confirmed that taxi and bus tokens were still in use.

  xii.        Mr Brown noted that Barrowden and other parishes had a Good Neighbour Scheme which used  ...  view the full minutes text for item 425.

To consider the current Forward Plan and identify any relevant items for inclusion in the Growth, Infrastructure and Resources Scrutiny Panel Annual Work Plan, or to request further information.

Copies of the Forward Plan will be available at the meeting, and can be found on the website using the following link:

https://rutlandcounty.moderngov.co.uk/mgListPlans.aspx?RPId=133&RD=0

The Panel reviewed the Forward Plan and the Scrutiny Panel’s Annual Work Plan 2018/19.

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

There was no other urgent business.

Scrutiny Panel Budget Meeting

Wednesday 23 January 2018 at 7pm

Thursday 24 January 2018 at 7pm

Regular Scrutiny Panel Meeting

Thursday 14 February 2018 at 7pm

Scrutiny Panel Budget Meeting (TBC)

Wednesday 23 January 2018 at 7pm

Thursday 24 January 2018 at 7pm

Regular Scrutiny Panel Meeting

Thursday 14 February 2018 at 7pm