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, Rutland, LE15 6HP

Contact: Governance  Email: governance@rutland.gov.uk

Media

Items
No. Item

1.

WELCOME AND APOLOGIES RECEIVED

Minutes:

The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting.  Apologies were received from Councillor P Ainsley, Councillor N Begy, Councillor K Bool, Councillor S Lambert, Peter French and Sarah Stickland.  Councillors Fox and Browne attended the meeting as the representatives for Councillors Begy and Bool respectively.

 

Councillors G Brown and Payne attended the meeting as non-voting members.

2.

RECORD OF MEETING pdf icon PDF 262 KB

To confirm the record of the meeting of the Strategic Overview and Scrutiny Committee held on 9th June 2022.

Minutes:

The Chair requested that item 9e in the minutes of the meeting held on the 9th June 2022 be amended to included Councillor E Baines as part of the SEND group.

 

The remaining minutes of the meeting held on the 9th June 2022 were approved as an accurate record.

3.

ACTIONS ARISING

To review and update the actions arising from the previous meeting

 

No.

Ref.

Action

Person

1.     

9

Councillors Toseland, Lambert and Waller to establish a Homelessness Evidence Panel to gather evidence regarding the issue of homelessness in the county and report their findings to the SOSC.

 

Councillors Toseland, Lambert and Waller

2.     

9

In September 2022, Councillor Begy to lead/establish an Evidence Panel to gather information about the implementation of the Council’s Minerals Authority Contract and report back to the SOSC. 

Councillor Begy

3.     

9

Chief Executive and the Leader to discuss highways and transport – particularly the issue of speeding - with the Portfolio Holder for Planning, Highways and Transport and the Portfolio Holder for Communities, Environment and Climate Change to help inform the committee on the best method of scrutinising this important issue.

Chief Executive / Leader of the Council

4.     

9

Councillors Ainsley, Begy, Webb and Browne to consider how to follow up on the SEND work that was started by the last Children and Young People's Scrutiny Committee; especially in light of the Government's support via the Delivering Better Value programme. 

 

Councillors Ainsley, Begy, Webb and Browne

5.     

9

Councillor Waller to contact the non-executive councillors about the creation of a ‘Customer Experience’ Task and Finish Group to learn more about what Rutland residents experience when accessing Council services.

 

Councillor Waller

6.     

9

Councillors Waller and Webb to discuss with portfolio holders the following items for possible inclusion on to the Committee’s Work Plan, ready for final approval at the next meeting:

 

·       Devolution

·       Economic Development Strategy

·       UK Prosperity Fund

Councillors Waller and Webb

7.     

9

The Leader to discuss with the Portfolio Holder for Communities, Environment and Climate Change the possibility of an informal briefing session for all Councillors about the current status of the Culture Review and identify what the SOSC could do to assist the Council as part of the review process.

Leader of the Council

 

Minutes:

The actions from the previous meeting were discussed and updated accordingly.

 

Action 1

Councillors Toseland, Lambert and Waller to establish a Homelessness Evidence Panel to gather evidence regarding the issue of homelessness in the county and report their findings to the SOSC.

Item on the agenda for discussion.

 

Action 2

In September 2022, Councillor Begy to lead/establish an Evidence Panel to gather information about the implementation of the Council’s Minerals Authority Contract and report back to the SOSC. 

Item deferred until January 2023 and added to the Work Plan.

 

Action 3

Chief Executive and the Leader to discuss highways and transport – particularly the issue of speeding - with the Portfolio Holder for Planning, Highways and Transport and the Portfolio Holder for Communities, Environment and Climate Change to help inform the committee on the best method of scrutinising this important issue.

The Chair had requested Councillor Bool to lead on this item as he had experience of a variety of different speeding concerns and so was well placed to view the problem Rutland wide.  It was agreed that Councillor Bool would arrange a meeting with the Chief Executive, the Leader and the Strategic Director of Places to discuss the best way for this issue to be scrutinised.

ACTION: Councillor Bool

Action 4

Councillors Ainsley, Baines, Begy, Webb and Browne to consider how to follow up on the SEND work that was started by the last Children and Young People's Scrutiny Committee; especially in light of the Government's support via the Delivering Better Value programme. 

The Chair reported that she had asked Councillor Payne to be part of the SEND group and she confirmed that Councillor Webb would lead on the SEND item.  A meeting had been arranged with Dawn Godfrey on the 15th July to discuss how best to continue scrutiny’s work on this subject matter.  It was agreed that the group (Councillors Ainsley, Baines, Begy, Browne, Payne and Webb) should meet before the 15th July and that Councillor Webb would confirm if Councillor Begy could continue to be part of the group.

ACTION: Councillor Webb

Action 5

Councillor Waller to contact the non-executive councillors about the creation of a ‘Customer Experience’ Task and Finish Group to learn more about what Rutland residents experience when accessing Council services.

Councillor Waller confirmed that she had contacted the non-executive councillors.  Councillor Toseland confirmed that she would like to be involved in this Task and Finish Group. It was agreed that Councillor Waller would speak with the Cabinet member regarding what the Task and Finish Group could do and by when and that Councillor Brown would contact Councillor Begy to confirm that he could still lead this Task and Finish Group.

ACTION: Councillors Waller and G Brown

Action 6

Councillors Waller and Webb to discuss with portfolio holders the following items for possible inclusion on to the Committee’s Work Plan, ready for final approval at the next meeting: Devolution; Economic Development Strategy and UK Prosperity Fund.

Councillors Waller and Webb confirmed  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.

4.

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 Finance Act 1992 applies to them.

Minutes:

There were no declarations of interest

5.

PETITIONS, DEPUTATIONS AND QUESTIONS

To receive any petitions, deputations and questions received from Members of the Public in accordance with the provisions of Procedure Rules 25 and 159.

 

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 out of the total time of 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:

There were no petitions, deputations or questions.

6.

QUESTIONS WITH NOTICE FROM MEMBERS

To consider any questions with notice from Members received in accordance with the provisions of Procedure Rule No 161 and 162.

Minutes:

There were no questions with notice member members.

7.

NOTICES OF MOTION FROM MEMBERS

To consider any Notices of Motion from Members submitted in accordance with the provisions of Procedure Rule No 163.

Minutes:

There were no notices of motion from members

8.

CONSIDERATION OF ANY MATTER REFERRED TO THE COMMITTEE IN RELATION TO THE CALL-IN OF A DECISION

To consider any matter referred to the Committee for a decision in relation to call in of a decision in accordance with Procedure Rule 149.

Minutes:

There were no call-ins

9.

DENTAL SERVICES UPDATE pdf icon PDF 2 MB

To receive a copy of the report presented to the Joint Health and Overview Scrutiny Committee on the 27th June 2022 about the access to NHS Dental Services.

 

The Strategic Overview and Scrutiny Committee is requested to identify specific areas for scrutinising as Rose Lynch, Senior Commissioning Manager – Primary Care Dental Services (East), and her team will be attending the next meeting of the Committee on the 8th September 2022.

 

Minutes:

A copy of the report presented to the Joint Health and Overview Scrutiny Committee on the 27th June 2022 about the access to NHS Dental Services was received.  During the discussion, the following points were noted:

 

·       Rose Lynch, Senior Commissioning Manager – Primary Care Dental Services (East), and her team would attend the next meeting of the Committee on the 8th September 2022 to answer members questions.

 

---oOo---

Vivienne Robbins joined the meeting at 7.21 pm

---oOo---

 

·       The Portfolio Holder confirmed that all dental patients, including NHS dental patients, should be either triaged or referred by a dental practitioner in emergencies.  Councillor Harvey, Portfolio Holder for Health, Wellbeing and Adult Care requested that details of cases where this had not occurred should be sent to her following consent from the member of public concerned.

·       The Committee had the authority to call-in and question any health provider regarding the level and quality of service and notify the Secretary of State if required.

·       It was noted that the Rutland MP had already written to the Secretary of State regarding the provision of dental health services in Rutland.

·       Committee members identified the following specific areas for scrutinising:

 

o   Details of the Rutland dentists that were contracted to accept NHS patients should be distributed.

o   Data should be more Rutland specific.

o   What were the short-term solutions to the issues?

o   What were the long-term solution to the issues?

o   Joint Strategic Needs Assessment: was this a barrier for the provision of services?

o   What was being done to assist with the recruitment of dentists?

o   Was geography a barrier?

o   How were ‘deprived areas’ defined?

 

---oOo---

Vivienne Robbins left the meeting at 7.51 pm

---oOo---

10.

HOMELESSNESS EVIDENCE PANEL: SCOPE pdf icon PDF 134 KB

To receive an update from Councillor G Waller regarding the scope of the Homelessness Evidence Panel.

Minutes:

Councillor Waller distributed to attendees a scoping document for the work of the Homelessness Evidence Panel.  During the discussion, the following points were noted:

 

·       Care leavers and the armed forces community needed to be included within the scope of the panel.

·       The Local Housing Allowance (LHA) should be included within the evidence gathering.

·       Councillor Waller would notify the non-executive members that the scope of the panel had been approved and seek volunteers to assist the panel.

ACTION: Councillor Waller

RESOLVED

That the Committee:

 

a)    APPROVED the scoping document for the Homelessness Evidence Panel (copy attached).

11.

LEICESTER, LEICESTERSHIRE & RUTLAND CLINICAL COMMISSIONING GROUPS' PERFORMANCE DATA pdf icon PDF 193 KB

To receive Report No. 128/2022 from Councillor S Harvey, Portfolio Holder for Health, Wellbeing and Adult Care.

THIS REPORT IS FOR INFORMATION ONLY

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Report No. 128/2022 was received from Councillor S Harvey, Portfolio Holder for Health, Wellbeing and Adult Care. During the discussion, the following points were noted:

 

·       Committee Members were requested to review the data and report to the next meeting any specific areas they would like the Committee to scrutinise.

ACTION: All

RESOLVED

That the Committee:

 

a)    NOTED the LLR CCG’s Performance Data Report.

12.

EXCLUSION OF PUBLIC AND PRESS

(i)    To consider whether the public and press should be excluded from the meeting in accordance with the Access to Information Rules of Procedure Rule 181 for the following items of business on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraph 3* of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972.

 

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

 

(ii)   To consider whether any Elected Members, who may be present and who are not Members of the Scrutiny Committee, should be allowed to remain during consideration of the following exempt item or whether they too should be excluded from the meeting in accordance with Procedure Rule 181.

Minutes:

·       The Committee agreed to exclude the public and press but allow Councillors Brown, Payne and Harvey to remain within the meeting.

 

---oOo---

The Chair closed the public meeting at 7.57 pm

---oOo---

13.

WASTE AND STREET CLEANSING pdf icon PDF 203 KB

To receive Report No. 129/2022 – Waste and Streetscene Services from Councillor Oxley, Portfolio Holder for Communities, Environment and Climate Change.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Report No. 129/2022 was received from Councillor Oxley, Portfolio Holder for Communities, Environment and Climate Change.  During the discussion, the following points were noted:

 

·       The contracts would expire on the 31st March 2024 and could not be extended.

·       The length of the new contracts was set out in the pre-procurement business case.

·       It was beneficial to have long term contracts due to high costs for the initial outlay of equipment.

·       The contracts were bound by the new Environment Act including the requirement to provide a weekly food waste collection service.

·       The education of the public would be critical to the success of the programme.  The Council had identified the need to provide budget for communications campaigns in the run up and after the start of the new contract and services.  The new suppliers would be expected to work with the Council to promote waste reduction and recycling.

·       Educational material would be available in a range of formats as all Council contracts contained an equitable clause as standard.

·       Members agreed that the sticky labels previously distributed by the Council detailing what could/could not be recycled were informative and should be produced again for the new contracts.

·       The new Council website would signpost members of the public to other waste recycling schemes e.g. Tesco for soft plastics, Currys for electrical items.

·       The assisted bin collection would continue as part of the Council’s service.

·       Flexibility had been built into the new contracts to include any future recycling proposals.

·       Members agreed that the black bins should reduce in size to 140L with the collection remaining fortnightly.  A larger bin and monthly collection were deemed undesirable due to the items of waste e.g. nappies.

 

RESOLVED

That the Committee:

 

a)    REVIEWED and commented on the re-procurement of the integrated Waste and Streetscene services (including waste and recycling collection and disposal) contract as detailed in the Pre-Procurement Business Case.   

b)    REVIEWED and commented on the Municipal Waste Management and Streetscene Strategy 2022-2035.

c)    RECOMMENDED that Cabinet ensured that the Strategic Overview and Scrutiny Committee continued to consider initial work on waste infrastructure provision in a timely manner.

d)    RECOMMENDED that Cabinet established a log of customer questions relating to what to put in each bin to inform RCC’s waste collection web page and future notices to residents.

 

---oOo---

The Chair closed the private meeting at 8.48 pm

---oOo---

14.

PORTFOLIO HOLDERS' UPDATE

To receive any update(s) from the Portfolio Holders

Minutes:

There was no Portfolio Holder update.  The Chair requested that Committee Members notify her of who, when and on what they would like an update.

 

---oOo---

Councillors Harvey and Oxley left the meeting at 8.50 pm

---oOo---

15.

REVIEW OF THE FORWARD PLAN AND ANNUAL WORK PLAN pdf icon PDF 153 KB

To consider the current Forward Plan and identify any relevant items for inclusion in the Strategic Overview and Scrutiny Committee Annual Work Plan or to request further information.

 

The Forward Plan is available on the website at:

 

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

 

Minutes:

The Forward Plan and Annual Work Plan were discussed.  During the discussion, the following points were noted:

 

·       Public Transport Service Proposals had been added to the Work Plan for discussion at the meeting on the 8th September.  This was an urgent item following the Cabinet discussion on the 12th July about the Centrebus service.

·       Councillors Waller and Webb were meeting with the Strategic Director of Places and the Governance Manager on the 28th July to discuss how the Scrutiny Committee could assist.

·       Councillor G Brown to lead the Parish Council Re-Charging matter when timeline confirmed.

16.

ANY URGENT BUSINESS

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

 

Minutes:

There was no urgent business.

17.

DATE OF NEXT MEETING

Thursday, 8th September 2022 at 7 pm in the Council Chamber, Catmose, Oakham, Rutland LE15 6HP and via Zoom at  https://us06web.zoom.us/j/81128772571

 

Proposed Agenda Items

 

1.    Improvement Plan

2.    Dental Services Update: Rutland Specific

3.    Devolution: Scope

4.    Economic Development Strategy: Scope

5.    UK Prosperity Fund: Scope

Minutes:

Thursday, 8th September 2022 at 7.00 p.m.