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: Via Zoom: https://zoom.us/j/94839284189

Contact: Joanna Morley  01572 758271

Media

Items
No. Item

1.

APOLOGIES

Minutes:

No apologies were received.

2.

RECORD OF MEETING

To confirm the record of the meetings of the Growth, Infrastructure and Resources Scrutiny Committee held on 22 October 2020 and 28 January 2021 (previously circulated).

Minutes:

The minutes of the meetings held on 22 October 2020 and 28 January 2021 were unanimously confirmed as a true record.

3.

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:

There were no declarations of interest.

4.

PETITIONS, DEPUTATIONS AND QUESTIONS pdf icon PDF 113 KB

To receive any petitions, deputations and questions received from Members of the Public in accordance with the Virtual Meetings Regulations (s1 2020 392) and the subsequent RCC Procedure Rules agreed at Council on 20 May 2020 and revised by Council on 14 September 2020. (Please see link: Revision to Virtual Meetings Protocol.)

 

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.

 

Minutes:

A deputation (appended to the minutes) was received from Mr Neil Newton, on behalf of Empingham Parish Council. In response Councillor Razzell strongly asserted that Mr Newton was incorrect in his assumptions about his and other councillors’ ability to question in an informed way and also judged that Mr Newton’s comments about officers and their abilities were without foundation.

 

Councillor Waller spoke on behalf of herself and Councillor Bool, as ward councillors for Empingham, to say that they had not been party to discussions that had gone on within the parish council, with the exception of public meetings on the matter, and had been absolutely punctilious in keeping confidential all the exempt information they had been provided with.

 

A question (appended to the minutes) was received from Mr Tim Smith, Chairman of North Luffenham Parish Council. The Chair responded to the question by saying that comprehensive information on the Housing Infrastructure Funding (HIF) contract had been provided to Members and the scrutiny meeting was part of a series of meetings that would provide Members with an opportunity to consider and explore associated risks.

 

As a supplementary question, Mr Smith asked whether there were contingency plans in place should there be a significant overrun in costs. Councillor Brown, Portfolio Holder for Planning, replied that the issue would be discussed in exempt session later on in the meeting.

 

5.

QUESTIONS WITH NOTICE FROM MEMBERS

To consider any questions with notice from Members received in accordance with the provisions of Procedure rule No.218 and No.218A.

Minutes:

No questions with notice from Members were received.

6.

NOTICES OF MOTION FROM MEMBERS

To consider any Notices of Motion from Members submitted in accordance with the provisions of Procedure Rule No.219.

Minutes:

No notices of motion were received.

7.

RUTLAND LOCAL PLAN UPDATE pdf icon PDF 368 KB

To receive Report No.32/2021 from the Strategic Director for Places.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Report No.32/2021 was received from the Strategic Director for Places.

 

Rachel Armstrong, Principal Planning Officer, introduced the report, the purpose of which was to provide the Committee with an update on progress with the Rutland Local Plan. A short presentation (appended to the minutes) was also given.

 

During discussion the following points were noted:

 

·         The Chair had requested that additional information be supplied on the cost of the Regulation 19 consultation exercise and this information was included in the presentation.

·         The 338 individuals and organisations who made representations often commented on 2 or more policies which then accounted for the stated total figure of 1058.

·         Officers who reviewed the representations did not consider that they raised unforeseen or significant issues and therefore, in line with the Council resolution on 10 February 2020 which delegated authority to the Strategic Director of Places in consultation with the Local Plan lead Cabinet Portfolio Holder, the Plan was submitted to the Secretary of State on 3 February 2021. 

·         All the representations had been summarised and two summary reports prepared which grouped them by policy number and by representor.

·         The Portfolio Holder was satisfied that officers had diligently analysed all the representations, both those from individuals and those from groups, and had responded accordingly.

·         The engagement with the process by less than 1% of the population, whilst low, was not out of the ordinary as a response rate to a Local Plan. The process by its very nature was designed for people who were objecting to the Plan, with little scope for response from those supporting the Plan, therefore it might be assumed that the silent majority supported or had no view on the Plan. 

·         The Portfolio Holder commented that in his opinion the Council had gone above and beyond what was statutorily required for the consultation and in particular, felt that the work of parish councils who engaged with the process and made sure that local people had a local access point from which to view the Plan, had significantly contributed to this.

·         The Leader of the Council assured Councillor Waller that information given in the responses, for example on issues of the environment and rurality, would be taken into consideration as part of the Rutland Conversation process.

 

8.

EXCLUSION OF PRESS AND PUBLIC

The Committee is recommended to determine whether the public and press be excluded from the meeting in accordance with Section 100(A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, as amended, and in accordance with the Access to Information provisions of Procedure Rule 239, as the following item of business is likely to involve the disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act.

 

Paragraph 3: Information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information).

 

Minutes:

The Committee unanimously resolved to exclude the public from the meeting in accordance with Section 100(A)(4) of the LocalGovernment Act 1972, as amended, and in accordance with the Access toInformation provisions of Procedure Rule 239, as item 9 on the agenda was likely to involve the disclosure of exempt information as defined inParagraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act.

 

---o0o---

The Chair proposed that a break be taken and asked members to rejoin the private session of the meeting at 7.50pm.

 

The public session of the meeting was closed at 7.43pm.

---o0o---

 

9.

HOUSING INFRASTRUCTURE FUNDING CONTRACT pdf icon PDF 502 KB

To receive Report No.36/2021 from the Strategic Director for Places.

 

Exempt appendices 1, 2 and 3 have been circulated to Members under separate cover.

Minutes:

Discussion on this item was held in private session.

 

10.

ANNUAL WORK PLAN 2020-21 pdf icon PDF 196 KB

To review items for inclusion on the Growth, Infrastructure and Resources Scrutiny Committee work programme.

Minutes:

Following previous discussions that the Chair had had with the Committee, the following items were put forward as possible agenda items for the last meeting of the municipal year:

 

·         An update on the Parking Strategy

·         A report on leisure and waste services and future contracts and how scrutiny could feed into the process

·         Progress update on the work of the Biodiversity Task and Finish group.

 

11.

ANY OTHER URGENT BUSINESS

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

Minutes:

The Chair had not been notified of any other urgent business.

 

12.

DATE AND PREVIEW OF NEXT MEETING

Thursday 25 March 2021 at 7pm.

Minutes:

The next meeting of the Growth, Infrastructure and Resources Scrutiny Committee would be held on 25 March 2021.