A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Council and councillors

Agenda and minutes

Venue: Council Chamber, Catmose, Oakham

Contact: Kit Silcock  Email: governance@rutland.gov.uk

Items
No. Item

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NOMINATION OF CHAIR

 

Nominations were invited for a Member to Chair the meeting as Mr Callaghan was unable to attend. Mr Dale proposed Mr Baines and this was seconded by Mrs Fox. As no further nominations were received, Mr Baines took the Chair.

 

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536.

APOLOGIES

Minutes:

Apologies were received from Mr B Callaghan and Mr W Cross.

537.

DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

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.

Minutes:

No declarations of interest were received.

538.

PETITIONS, DEPUTATIONS AND QUESTIONS

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.

Minutes:

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

539.

QUESTIONS WITH NOTICE FROM MEMBERS

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

Minutes:

No questions were received from Members.

540.

REVENUE AND CAPITAL BUDGET 2019/20 AND MEDIUM TERM FINANCIAL PLAN pdf icon PDF 190 KB

To receive Report No. 4/2019 from the Strategic Director for Resources.

Members are requested to bring their copy, distributed under separate cover.

 

·         The above report was presented to Cabinet on 15 January 2019 and the recommendations within the report were approved.

·         Cabinet has requested that Scrutiny review and comment on proposals before the Cabinet on 19 February 2019 so as to inform the decision-making process.

·         The report and its proposals may be amended following the outcome of the Scrutiny Panel. Scrutiny is therefore asked to consider the report and provide feedback to the Portfolio Holder and Director.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Report No. 4/2019 was received from the Strategic Director for Resources, the purpose of which was to present a draft budget for consultation prior to the budget being formally set in February 2019.

 

Mr Della Rocca provided a presentation on the draft budget for Members.

 

During discussion the following points were noted:

 

      i.        The Government believed Rutland could generate most of its income from, Council Tax and therefore the Council received less funding per head compared to other Unitary Council’s. When Government declared Rutland County Council’s spending power as c£35million, most of the funding came from Rutland’s Council Tax.

    ii.        Directors and Heads of Service at the Council had been through every line of the budget to identify savings.

   iii.        48% of the budget went into social services where the Council had a  statutory requirement to protect and support vulnerable residents

   iv.        Additional funding had been received nationally from Government for the improvement of the highways network. Mrs Stephenson confirmed that annual ongoing road assessments would be completed and funding would be focused on areas which would have the longest impact. A paper regarding the Highways Capital Maintenance Programme would be received by Cabinet in March 2019.

    v.        There had been roughly a 75% take-up of the Green Waste Bin collection service.

   vi.        Capital funding could be spent on academies to facilitate the creation of school places as the Council had a statutory duty to make sure there were enough school places within the county.

  vii.        The £455k allocated to schools maintenance was given to schools as and when needed.

viii.        The Government’s plan to give 100% of business rates to Local Authorities would require primary legislation, which was unlikely to happen until 2020 and would result in grant funding being reduced and replaced with retained business rates.

   ix.        The Government were reviewing the new homes bonus to ensure incentives were given to encourage house building.

    x.        No reductions in the budget were being made to frontline services.

   xi.        Money had been saved by putting more focus on Early Intervention, rather than waiting for people coming to the Council for help.

  xii.        It was noted that Councillor Waller had forwarded questions to the Strategic Director for Resources. These questions with answers would be appended to the minutes.

xiii.        The Collection Fund was a statutory requirement. The Council collected council tax on behalf of the Leicestershire Police and the Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service which was then distributed to them.

 

RESOLVED

 

That the Panel NOTED the report.

 

541.

TREASURY MANAGEMENT STRATEGY AND CAPITAL INVESTMENT STRATEGY 2019/20 pdf icon PDF 76 KB

To receive Report No. 5/2019 from the Strategic Director for Resources.

Members are requested to bring their copy, distributed under separate cover.

 

·         The above report was presented to Cabinet on 15 January 2019 and the recommendations within the report were approved.

·         Cabinet has requested that Scrutiny review and comment on the proposals. The report will be presented to Full Council for approval on 25 February 2019.

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Report No. 5/2019 was received from the Strategic Director for Resources.

 

Mr Gordon Brown introduced the report, the purpose of which was to set out the statutory reports expected in relation to treasury and capital investment operations for 2019/20, linked to the council’s Budget, Medium Term Financial Strategy and Capital Programme.

 

RESOLVED

 

That the Panel NOTED the report.

542.

FEES AND CHARGES 2019/20 pdf icon PDF 104 KB

To receive Report No. 6/2019 from the Strategic Director for Resources.

Members are requested to bring their copy, distributed under separate cover.

 

·         The above report was presented to Cabinet on 15 January 2019 and the recommendations within the report were approved.

·         Cabinet has requested that Scrutiny review and comment on the proposals. The report will be presented to Full Council for approval on 25 February 2019.

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Report No. 6/2019 was received from the Strategic Director for Resources.

 

Mr Gordon Brown introduced the report, the purpose of which was to set out the proposals for fees and charges for services provided by the Council for the financial year 2019/20.

 

During discussion the following points were noted:

 

      i.        The charge increase for exclusive right of burial was more in line with other local authorities. The increased charge would cover the administration work for holding the records for a 99 year lease.

    ii.        Regarding the 30 minutes free parking at Oakham and Uppingham car parks, the 30 minutes would require a ticket to be displayed in the car.

   iii.        Mr Brown confirmed he had discussions with Mr Andrew Edwards, Head of Property Services, regarding the feasibility of having more electric car charging points in car parks. Mr Bird expressed interest that the pool cars used by RCC officers should be electric.

   iv.        There was a statutory duty of care for the transport of children to school and those in adult social care. The Council were now able to provide services in house and would not need to pay for external taxi companies. Savings would be made by purchasing new mini buses rather than the hiring of a fleet.

 

RESOLVED

 

That the Panel NOTED the report.