Councillor Fox welcomed everyone to the meeting.  Apologies were received from Councillor N Begy, Councillor L Toseland and Councillor R Wilson.

To confirm the record of the meeting of the Growth, Infrastructure and Resources Scrutiny Committee held on the 10^th February 2022.

Councillor Fox informed members that, since the last meeting, it had been deemed that ‘4Oakham’ was a limited company so the Council had no authority regarding its closure.

Councillor Fox confirmed that the sharing of data mapping with Parish Councils had been recommended to Cabinet and it was agreed that the Strategic Director of Places and the Portfolio Holder for Communities, Environment and Climate Change would update members outside of the meeting regarding this matter and that of the use of Parish Online.

ACTION: Strategic Director of Places and the Portfolio Holder

for Communities, Environment and Climate Change

The remaining minutes of the meeting held on the 10^th February 2022 were approved as an accurate record.

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.

There were no declarations of interest.

To receive any petitions, deputations and questions received from Members of the Public in accordance with the provisions of Procedure Rule 216.

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.

There were no petitions, deputations or questions.

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

There were no questions with notice received from members

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

There were no notices of motion received from members

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

There were no call-ins.

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 4 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act:

Paragraph 4: Information relating to any consultations or negotiations, or contemplated consultations or negotiations, in connection with any labour relations matter arising between the authority or a Minister of the Crown and employees of, or office holders under, the authority.

The Committee determined that the public and press should 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 was likely to involve the disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraph 4 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act:

Paragraph 4: Information relating to any consultations or negotiations, or contemplated consultations or negotiations, in connection with any labour relations matter arising between the authority or a Minister of the Crown and employees of, or office holders under, the authority.

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Councillor Fox closed the Public Session at 7:11 p.m.

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To receive Report No. 76/2022 from Councillor L Stephenson, Deputy Leader and Portfolio Holder for Communities, Environment and Climate Change

Exempt Report No. 72/2022 was received from Councillor L Stephenson, Deputy Leader and Portfolio Holder for Communities, Environment and Climate Change.

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The Public Session re-commenced at 8:10 p.m.

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To receive a verbal update from Councillor Ian Razzell, Portfolio Holder for Planning, Highways and Transport

A verbal update was received from Councillor I Razzell, Portfolio Holder for Planning, Highways and Transport.  During the discussion, the following points were noted:

·       The Parking Policy was out for public consultation from the 28^th March 2022 to the 1^st May 2022.

Parking Strategy | Rutland County Council

·       Promotion of the public consultation was ongoing to all residents, businesses, stakeholders etc.

·       Feedback could be done online, by email or telephone and by hard copy.

·       The vision of the new parking policy was to deliver a public parking provision (including infrastructure and enforcement) that supported our county’s economy and environmental goals by enabling our residents, businesses and visitors to safely access and enjoy local services and amenities.

·       The policy’s primary objectives were to:

o   Ensure the safety of those using our highways – however they chose to travel,

o   Provide access to services and enable the efficient movement of vehicles through our towns and along key routes; and

o   Ensure parking provision and other parking services were economically sustainable.

·       Feedback from Rutland residents and stakeholders would be key to the success of the parking policy.

·       The public consultation had been promoted through the ‘Rutland Roundup’ to ensure that all Parish Councils were aware.  Parish Councils and Town Councils would also be contacted directly so that they were actively engaged with the consultation process and could promote it more effectively across their specific areas.

·       The Director of Places confirmed that the public consultation was not time critical so Scrutiny could recommend that the timescales be extended.

RESOLVED

That the Committee:

a)    RECOMMENDED that the Strategic Director of Places and the Portfolio Holder for Planning, Highways and Transport extended the timescales for the public consultation so Parish and Town Councils could be fully engaged with the process.

To receive Report No. 70/2022 from Councillor L Stephenson, Deputy Leader and Portfolio Holder for Communities, Environment and Climate Change

Report No. 70/2022 was received from Councillor L Stephenson, Deputy Leader and Portfolio Holder for Communities, Environment and Climate Change.  During the discussion, the following points were noted:

·       Any future waste containers would remain consistent in colour so as not to cause confusion i.e. the grey bin would remain the recycling bin etc.

·       The Director of Places confirmed that no specific guidelines for the colour of waste containers for all Councils had been received i.e. all recycling bins must be grey.  She confirmed that guidelines would create uniformity and consistency across the country but they would also lead to increased costs for many councils who would have to change the use of their waste containers to fit the guidelines and then communicate this to their residents.

·       The Committee suggested that a frequently asked questions (FAO) document should be produced to assist the public with what can/cannot be put into each waste container.

RESOLVED

That the Committee:

a)    NOTED the decision made by Cabinet of the preferred option 2bii for waste and recycling collections, as set out below:

               i.         Dry mixed recycling with paper and cardboard to be collected separately every fortnight

              ii.         Separate weekly food waste collections

             iii.         Reduced capacity residual waste bin to be collected fortnightly

To receive Report No. 76/2022 from Councillor L Stephenson, Deputy Leader and Portfolio Holder for Communities, Environment and Climate Change

Report No. 71/2022 was received from Councillor L Stephenson, Deputy Leader and Portfolio Holder for Communities, Environment and Climate Change.  During the discussion, the following points were noted:

·       The swimming pool at Catmose College would be demolished at a greatly reduced cost to the Council of £150,000 and this would be paid for from Council reserves. 

·       The Portfolio Holder for Communities, Environment and Climate Change confirmed that there would be no publicly owned swimming pool in Oakham due to the high building costs.  Examples of the costs involved for the building of swimming pools included Hinckley swimming pool, which cost £15 million, Coalville and Whitwick swimming pool, which cost £22.5 million and Bedworth swimming pool, which cost £24 million.  These costs were purely for the capital investment and did not include any day-to-day running costs.

·       Oakham and Uppingham Schools had both increased their offer of the use of their swimming lessons to primary school aged pupils.

·       Soft market testing had been done in partnership with Welland Procurement for the dry-side only leisure management contract for the Catmose Sports Centre and some responses had been received.

·       The Stakeholder Group for the leisure contract had met and Terms of Reference had been agreed.

·       The Committee publicly thanked the Director of Places and her team for producing such an excellent deal for RCC when compared with what it could have cost the Council.

RESOLVED

That the Committee:

a)    NOTED the recommendation to Cabinet to the Director for Places, in consultation with the Cabinet Member with Portfolio for Communities, Environment and Climate Change, to progress to procurement of a dry-side only leisure management contract for the Catmose Sports Centre on a nil-cost basis for both the Council and Catmose College, following soft market testing undertaken in partnership with Welland Procurement. Award of any contract will be subject to Cabinet approval as part of the procurement process.

b)    NOTED the recommendation to Cabinet to the termination of the Council’s lease for the Catmose Pool and Auxiliary Sports Hall area of the Catmose Campus; and the contribution of a maximum of £150,000 to Catmose College to facilitate the demolition of the Pool, which will reduce the risks associated with the derelict part of the site and enable the Campus rebuild work to be expedited.

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

The Forward Plan is available on the website using the following link:

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

·       Following the Scrutiny Review and dependent on the decision made at Council on the 11th April 2022, there could be a new format for scrutiny. 

·       As a result, a draft work plan was outlined for the next constitutional year listing possible future items for discussion.  These were as follows:

o   Biodiversity Network: national and regional assessment framework

o   Carbon Management (Cllr A Brown)

o   Culture Review: Update (P Sharp) – June/July 2022

o   Local Plan: Sustainability

o   Minerals Authority Contract: Update - June/July 2022

o   Property Asset Review (P Sharp)

o   Public Consultation Feedback: Parking Policy

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

There was no urgent business

Future meeting dates will be confirmed at Annual Council on the 9^th May 2022

Future meeting dates would be confirmed at Annual Council on the 9th May 2022