The Chair welcomed everyong to the meeting.  Apologies were received from Councillor Rick Wilson, Councillor Lucy Stephenson, Peter French, Angela Wakefield and Jane Narey.

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.

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 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.

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 161 and 162.

There were no questions with notice member members.

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

There were no notices of motion 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 149.

There were no call-ins.

To receive Report No. 145/2022 from Rose Lynch, Pharmacy, Optometry, Dental Services – Midlands (East), NHS England – Midlands.

Report No. 145/2022 was received from Rose Lynch, Pharmacy, Optometry, Dental Services – Midlands (East), NHS England – Midlands.  The report was presented by Caroline Goulding, Interim Deputy Director of Primary Care and Public Health, NHS England – Midlands, Adam Morby, Regional Chief Dentist for NHS England in the Midlands and Steven Claydon, Local Dental Network (LDN) Chair for Northamptonshire and Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland.  During the discussion, the following points were noted:

·       The key issue for dental services currently was the lack of a qualified and skilled workforce i.e. dentists, dental nurses etc.  The General Dental Council was reviewing the process for registering dentists and NHS England was considering supporting dental providers with workforce recruitment through the ‘Golden Hello’ scheme.

·       Following the pandemic, dental services in the East Midlands were operating at 82%.  Dental services in Rutland were operating at 75%.

·       The national contract was impacting on improving access to dental services across the country.

·       NHS England was working with Local Authorities on prevention initiatives such as making toothbrush kits available in foodbanks and providing toothbrush kits for distribution by healthcare workers.

·       Work would also commence in the future with schools, families etc. with communication about good oral health and the benefits of visiting the dentist. Members requested that NHS England’s communication strategy be distributed with the minutes.

ACTION: NHS England 

·       The committee noted that there was currently no water fluoridation scheme in Rutland.  Rutland had a naturally occurring fluoride level of 0.27 mg/l; the UK/EU limit was 1.5 mg/l.  Adding 1.0 mg/l of fluoride to the water would benefit residents’ teeth and bones and help reduce the high level of dental decay in children.  NHS England confirmed that it was the responsibility of the local health authority to ask the water authority to add fluoride to the water.  NHS England agreed to send data to Governance (governance@rutland.gov.uk) on the benefits of fluoridisation.

ACTION: NHS England 

·       NHS England confirmed that the re-form of the national contract started on the 1^st October 2022 and would take 18 months to fully implement.  In the next 6 months, Rutland would see the implementation of ‘Skills Mix’.  This would be the development of roles and responsibilities within dentistry as a way of providing better access to services alongside more efficient and effective patient care.

·       As part of the transition strategy, NHS England would continue to work closely with the Integrated Care System so that the financial allocation for the commissioning of NHS dental services would be transferred to the LLR ICB (Integrated Care Board) on the 1st April 2023.

·       NHS England confirmed that work had begun on Rutland’s oral health needs assessment. This was planned for completion by early 2023 and would include a dental service consultation across Rutland.

·       Members were informed that a large amount of dental activity required commissioning in Rutland – approximately 15,000 to 20,000 Units of Dental Activity.  1 check-up = 1 unit of dental activity.  1-2 fillings = 3 units of dental activity.  3  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

To receive an update from Councillor G Brown and details from Penny Sharp, Strategic Director for Places on how the Strategic Overview and Scrutiny Committee can assist with the Council’s asset review.

An update was received from Councillor Waller:

·       Scoping document for phase 1 of the review (Museum) was approved on the 5^th October 2022.

·       Councillor G Brown had resigned from group but Councillor A Walters had agreed to join and lead the group as his replacement. 

·       Members of the group would include Councillors Baines, Begy, Fox and Waller.

To receive an update from Councillor Begy

An update was received from Councillor Waller:

·       The task and finish group remained on the committee’s work plan.

·       Group would be led by Councillor Begy.  Members would include Councillor Toseland.

·       An update would be received from Councillor Begy at the meeting on the 17^th November 2022.

·       Group to be led by Councillor K Bool

·       Work to commence in October/November 2022

·       Councillor Bool to meet with the Strategic Director of Places and the Portfolio Holders (Councillors Oxley and Powell) to discuss what work scrutiny can undertake.

·       Work to be carried out in conjunction with the Parish Councils

An update was received from Councillor Bool:

·       Councillor Bool was unable to continue to lead the group but would continue to be part of it.

·       Councillor P Browne had agreed to join/lead the group as his replacement.

·       A scoping document would be produced in the near future.

To receive an update from Councillor G Waller

An update was received from Councillor Waller:

·       The draft report would be presented to the committee at its meeting on the 17^th November or the 8^th December 2022.

To receive a briefing from Councillor G Waller

An update was received from Councillor Waller:

·       The committee had agreed not to continue with this group at the meeting on the 5^th October 2022.

·       A report from officers would hopefully be received in January, February or March of 2023 requesting scrutiny committee’s input regarding the proposed business plans prior to a final decision being made towards the end of 2023.

To receive a briefing from the Strategic Director of Places

A briefing was received Penny Sharp, Strategic Director of Places:

·       Work to develop on the evidence base to  support the new economic development strategy had been commissioned and was underway.An investment plan for £400k additional rural economic prosperity funding needed to be submitted by the 30^th November 2022.

·       Wider stakeholder sessions would be held later in the year as key policy areas needed to be identified.

·       Intention is for production of the draft economic development strategy was the 31^st March 2023.

·       The Scrutiny Committee could assist by reviewing the evidence base.

·       The group would be led by Councillor A Brown.  Members would include Councillors Ainsley, Baines, Begy and Waller.

·       The group would hold two sessions with Penny Sharp and officers to review the evidence base.

To receive an update from Councillor P Ainsley

An update was received from Councillor Waller:

·       As agreed at the meeting on the 5^th October 2022, an update from the SEND Group would be provided at the scrutiny meeting on the 17^th November and feedback from the meeting with SEND Action Rutland would be given at either the December or January meeting – date to be confirmed.

To receive an update from Councillor Lucy Stephenson, Leader of the Council and Portfolio Holder for Policy, Strategy, Partnerships and Economy

(To be confirmed)

·       Councillor Waller informed attendees that an update had been planned from Councillor Lucy Stephenson, Leader of the Council and Portfolio Holder for Policy, Strategy, Partnerships and Economy.

·       Unfortunately, Councillor Stephenson had tested positive for COVID so had sent her apologies.

·       Her Portfolio Holder Update would be re-arranged to a future meeting.

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

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

·       Councillor Lucy Stephenson, Leader of the Council and Portfolio Holder for Policy, Strategy, Partnerships and Economy would be invited to attend the next meeting of the Strategic Overview and Scrutiny Committee to update members regarding the Corporate Strategy progress.

·       Councillor Waller to invite Mike Sandys, Director of Public Health to a future meeting of the SOSC and arrange a pre-meeting of the Chair, Vice-Chair and Director to discuss the issues/questions to be discussed at the Scrutiny Committee meeting.

ACTION: Councillor Waller

·       The Catmose Sports Leisure Contract was planned for discussion by scrutiny on the 17^th November.  Penny Sharp confirmed that the procurement had commenced as per Cabinet’s approval and that the tender process was due to close presently. However, the situation had changed since Cabinet’s approval and there may be little or no market interest in the contract.  It was agreed that Penny Sharp would confirm with Governance, before the publication deadline of the next meeting, if the contract still required scrutinising.

ACTION: Penny Sharp

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

There was no urgent business

Thursday, 17^th November 2022 at 7 pm in the Council Chamber, Catmose, Oakham, Rutland LE15 6HP

Thursday, 17^th November 2022 at 7.00 p.m.