Councillor G Waller, Chair of the Strategic Overview and Scrutiny Committee has sent her apologies so this meeting will be chaired by the Vice Chair, Councillor N Begy.

The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting.  Apologies were received from Councillor Waller, Councillor Baines, Councillor Bool, Councillor Lambert, Peter French (co-opted member).  Councillor MacCartney attended the meeting as Councillor Waller’s representative and Councillor P Browne attended as Councillor Lambert’s representative.

To confirm the record of the meeting of the Strategic Overview and Scrutiny Committee held on the 17^th November 2022.

The minutes of the meeting of the Strategic Overview and Scrutiny Committee held on the 17th November 2022 were approved as an accurate record.

To review and update the actions arising from the previous meeting

Action 1

It was AGREED that a review of the Council’s council tax support scheme should be undertaken for the 2024/25 financial year.

It was confirmed that the action would be completed.

Action 2

It was AGREED that the Strategic Director for Resources would discuss with Human Resources the collation of data from staff exit interviews.

It was confirmed that the action would be completed.

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.

Councillor Begy declared a non-pecuniary interest with regards to agenda item 11: Corporate Asset Review and Strategy as his wife was a business tenant at The King’s Centre.

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.

Councillor S Harvey, Portfolio Holder for Health, Wellbeing and Adult Care to brief the committee regarding Rutland’s public health services.

A verbal briefing was received from Councillor S Harvey regarding Rutland’s public health services.  During the discussion, the following points were noted:

·       Councillor Harvey gave a short presentation to members (copy attached).

·       Health protection was not accounted for in the 2022/23 budget due to receipt of Covid 19 funding but it would be included in next year’s budget.

·       The overall statutory duty on public health was to ‘take appropriate steps to improve the health of people who live in their areas.’ This entailed providing sufficient services and activity to tackle the big lifestyle drivers of ill health.

·       The public health services provided covered a broad area including sexual health, child health, oral health and the work of community nurses and midwives.

·       The miscellaneous services were discretionary and support services that were well placed to improve public health outcomes.

·       A report on the ‘Recommissioning of Public Health funded Sexual Health Service in Rutland’ would be discussed by Cabinet in January 2023, following the public consultation held in the summer of 2022.

·       The water supply in Rutland was not fluoridised. The Oral Health Needs Assessment would be discussed by the Rutland Health and Wellbeing Board in March 2023 and its recommendations followed regarding fluoridisation.

·       It was agreed that Councillor Harvey would send a full breakdown of the public health housing budget (totalling £104,800) to Councillor Ainsley.

ACTION: Councillor Harvey

·       Members were informed that costs for ‘Housing Improvements’ related to the Housing MOT undertaken by the Longhurst Group.  This included information and guidance to help people maintain their safety and independence at home e.g. general wellbeing, falls prevention, assistive technology, minor adaptions, alternative housing options, welfare benefit availability etc.

·       It was noted that the ‘Sustainable Transport Scheme’ delivered transport initiatives to encourage people to be more active e.g. walking and cycling and also promoted the use of safe routes to school for children.

·       An update on the Visions Children’s Centre was requested by Councillor Begy at a future meeting of the scrutiny committee.

ACTION: Jane Narey

·       £21,000 was funded for the smoking cessation service which was provided by an external contractor.  It was agreed that performance data regarding the smoking cessation service would be sent to members.

ACTION: Councillor Harvey

·       The Active Rutland Hub at Oakham Enterprise Park was the Council’s physical activity development team which promoted physical activity amongst Rutland residents such as the Exercise Referral Scheme, the Rutland Walking and Cycling Festival and the Wellbeing@Work Scheme.  The Hub also worked very closely with all Rutland schools to promote the benefits of physical exercise.  It was agreed that a full financial breakdown of the funding, expenditure, income and net contribution and outcomes regarding Active Rutland Hub would be sent to members.

ACTION: Councillor K Payne

(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)

It was proposed by the Chair that the public and press be excluded from the meeting in accordance with Section 100(A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 as the following item of business was likely to lead to the disclosure of information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information). This was seconded and upon being put to the vote the motion was unanimously carried.

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The Chair closed the public meeting at 7.40 pm

Councillor Harvey left the meeting at 7.40 pm

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The Chair closed the private meeting and re-opened the public meeting at 8.46 pm

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To receive a progress update

·       The first meeting had been held and the group had met with the Head of Culture and Registration for a tour of the museum.

·       It had been agreed that the brief for the group was too narrow and that they should look at the Council’s cultural assets as a whole as they were all interlinked e.g. Rutland County Museum, Oakham Castle and the library.

·       Information and data e.g. visitor numbers, income, costs etc would be requested for further analysis.

·       It was noted that the group planned to meet again before Christmas.

To receive an update from Councillor Begy

·       Discussions had been held with the relevant portfolio holder, Councillor K Payne and the Director for Legal and Governance as well as the Head of IT and Customer Services and the Customer Services Team to go through the operational issues.

·       A draft scoping document was shared with members (copy attached).  This was approved by the committee subject to any amendments made following its sharing with the relevant officers and portfolio holders. 

·       Councillor Toseland confirmed that due to ongoing commitments, she would not be able to be a member of the Customer Experience Group. 

·       The finalised scoping document would be distributed to all non-executive members and volunteers would be requested.

To receive a progress update

·       Apologies had been received from Councillor Bool so no update was received.

To receive a progress update

·       The final report would not be presented to the scrutiny committee on the 13^th December as previously planned.

·       Officers had requested a meeting with the panel members to clarify a number of items within the report before it was published.

To receive an update from Councillor A Brown

·       A briefing session had been held on the 5th December 2022.

·       A presentation and briefing were received from Metro Dynamics.

·       The deadline for the new economic strategy was the 31^st March 2023.

·       Another meeting of the group would be held in January 2023.

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 was reviewed and the annual work plan updated accordingly.  During the discussion, the following points were noted:

·       It was proposed that two meetings of the scrutiny committee should be held in January 2023 to scrutinise the draft revenue and capital budget for 2023/24.

·       The Monitoring Officer proposed that only the one meeting on the 26^th January should go ahead as planned and that if the discussions regarding the draft budget were not concluded within the maximum 3 hours allowed then the meeting would have to be adjourned.

·       It was agreed that committee members would submit their questions to Governance (governance@rutland.gov.uk) regarding the draft revenue and capital budget prior to the committee meeting.  This would enable officers to provide members with answers within the meeting itself.

·       It was proposed that the scrutiny committee meeting on the 26^th January 2023 should begin at the earlier time of 6pm.  It was agreed that the Monitoring Officer and the Clerk would seek approval from the Chief Executive for this proposal.

ACTION: Jane Narey

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

There was no urgent business.

Tuesday, 13^th December 2022 at 7 pm in the Council Chamber, Catmose, Oakham, Rutland LE15 6HP

Tuesday, 13th December 2022 at 7pm in the Council Chamber, Catmose, Oakham, Rutland LE15 6HP