The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting.  Apologies were received from Councillor Kevin Corby, Dawn Godfrey, Strategic Director for Children and Families and Andreas Menzies, the Education Representative.

To confirm the records of the meetings of the Strategic Overview and Scrutiny Committee held on the 25^th January 2024 and the 8^th February 2024.

The minutes of the meetings held on the 25^th January 2024 and the 8^th February 2024 were approved as an accurate record.

There were no actions from the meetings held on the 25^th January 2024 and the 8^th February 2024.

There were no actions arising from the meetings held on the 25^th January 2024 and the 8^th February 2024.

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.

No petitions, deputations or questions were received.

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

No questions with notice with notice were received from Members.

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

No notices of motion were 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 149.

No call-ins were received.

To receive an update on recommendations made by the Strategic Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

Details of the committee’s comments and views regarding the Integrated Budget Plan and Medium-Term Financial Strategy for 2024-2025 and 2027-28 and Cabinet’s response were noted.

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 work plan and the list of proposed items were reviewed.  During the discussion, the following points were noted:

Three matters were raised as possible items to be added to the pending items list:

1. Levelling Up Fund – the new Economic Development Strategy.
2. Housing Associations: residents experience
3. Council Tax Discretionary Fund and Support Scheme

The Clerk confirmed she would send a ‘Scrutiny Proposal Form’ to members for completion.

To receive Report No. 40/2024 from Councillor Tim Smith, Portfolio Holder for Children and Families, Dawn Godfrey, Strategic Director of Children and Families, Gill Curtis Head of SEND, Inclusion and Learning and Kulwinder Bola, SEND Improvement Programme Manager.

Report No. 40/2024 was received from Councillor Tim Smith, Portfolio Holder for Children and Families, Gill Curtis Head of SEND, Inclusion and Learning and Kulwinder Bola, SEND Improvement Programme Manager.  During the discussion, the following points were noted:

·       A presentation was received from the Head of SEND, Inclusion and Learning and the SEND Improvement Programme Manager – copy attached.

·       The number of Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) had risen from 197 in 2019 to 342 in 2024 and, if left unchanged, the deficit in the High Needs Block Fund was forecast to be £16.9 million by 2029/30.

·       The Delivering Better Value Programme would not balance the budget but it would help decrease costs.

·       Rutland was inspected by Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission (CQC) in May 2023 and was one of only four areas in the country at that time to receive the highest possible inspection outcome for children's SEND services.

·       Rutland County Council was also the lead member for the Department for Education’s Change Partnership Programme for the Leicester City, Leicestershire and Rutland region, which aimed to test and deliver reforms to SEND and Alternative Provision.

·       Feedback regarding the quality of Rutland’s SEND services was received from parents and carers through the Parent Carer Forum, the SEND Parent Collaboration Group and the annual review of EHCPs.

·       The quality of SEND provision within schools was monitored by Ofsted and the Department for Education and they held regular meetings with the local authority to discuss any issues.

·       The Head of SEND, Inclusion and Learning confirmed that Rutland received less High Needs Block funding per child through the National Funding Formula than many other Local Authorities because of a number of factors which included Rutland’s schools not classed as being in an area of significant deprivation.  The Chair confirmed he would send a letter on behalf of the committee to Alicia Kearns, Member of Parliament (MP) for Rutland and Melton and The Rt Hon Gillian Keegan MP, Secretary of State for Education to lobby for extra school funding.

ACTION: Councillor Ross

·       Members were informed that the SEND service continued to work with the Council’s Transport team to reduce transportation costs whilst ensuring the provision of good services.

·       The Head of SEND, Inclusion and Learning confirmed that the local authority must respond within 20 weeks to the receipt of an assessment for an EHCP and that an EHCP would only be approved once all the necessary documents had been received including reports from specialists e.g. educational psychologists and these were sometimes delayed due to high demand.

RESOLVED

That the Committee:

a)    NOTED the increase in numbers of children requiring Education Health and Care plans and the implications of this on the High Needs Budget.

b)    NOTED the actions being taken with the aim to deliver better value and increase parental confidence in their local education provision.

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Councillor Tim Smith, Gill Curtis and Kulwinder Bola

left the meeting at 8.32 p.m.

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To review and approve the Scrutiny Improvement Plan.

The Chair informed members that following the review of the scrutiny process, Council had recommended that the newly formed Strategic Overview and Scrutiny Committee should develop and implement an improvement plan.  

The Chair recommended to members the virtual training events held by East Midlands Councils and encouraged all members to assist in the development of the committee’s work programme moving forward.

The Scrutiny Officer confirmed she had produced an Improvement Plan for 2023-2024, which detailed all the work and actions undertaken throughout the year to better the role of the Strategic Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

RESOLVED

That the Committee:

APPROVED the Strategic Overview and Scrutiny Improvement Plan for 2023-2024.

To receive a verbal update from Councillor Rosemary Powell, Chair of the Asset Review Task and Finish Group.

A verbal update was received from Councillor Rosemary Powell, Chair of the Asset Review Task and Finish Group.  During the discussion, the following points were noted:

·       The Chief Executive had informed the committee on the 23^rd November 2023 that data for the Asset Review Business Cases was expected in January 2024. 

·       Councillors Rosemary Powell and Karen Payne met with the Chief Executive and the Strategic Director for Places on the 4^th January 2024 but no actions for the involvement of the Scrutiny Committee could be identified at that time so it was agreed to review the situation at the end of February 2024.

·       A further meeting was held on the 11^th March 2024 and draft Terms of Reference for the Asset Review Task and Finish Group were drafted (copy attached).

·       Councillors Rosemary Powell and Karen Payne had requested that the Task and Finish Group should review information/documents before the Stage 1 report of the Asset Review was presented to Cabinet on the 16^th April 2024 but that the group had so far received limited information.

·       Councillor Powell informed members that, due to the very tight timescales involved, it was felt that the Asset Review Task and Finish Group could not be involved in Stage 1 of the Council’s Asset Review but that it would be involved in Stage 2 of the review.

·       Members discussed the possibility of holding a Special Meeting of the Strategic Overview and Scrutiny Committee on the 11^th April 2024.  The Clerk reminded members that committee meetings were formal, public meetings held in the Council Chamber and that any meeting and its documentation required 5 clear working days’ notice.

·       The Chair agreed that the timescale for Stage 1 of the Asset Review was too tight for the Strategic Overview and Scrutiny Committee to identify/agree any recommendations for presentation to Cabinet on the 16^th April 2024.

·       Councillor Powell proposed that the Leader of the Council and the Chief Executive should be informed that the Scrutiny Committee was unable to scrutinise Stage 1 of the Asset Review due to the short notice and tight timescales provided.

RESOLVED

That the Committee:

a)    AGREED that the Chair of the Strategic Overview and Scrutiny Committee would contact the Leader of the Council and the Chief Executive regarding the Scrutiny Committee’s inability to scrutinise Stage 1 of the Asset Review process due to the short notice and tight timescales provided. 

To receive a verbal update from Councillor Lucy Stephenson, Chair of the Flooding Evidence Panel.

A verbal update was received from Councillor Lucy Stephenson, Chair of the Flooding Evidence Panel.  During the discussion, the following points were noted:

The work of the Flooding Evidence Panel was currently on-track.

A scoping document had been completed and 3 groups had been established:

i.      Group 1 (Internal): Rutland County Council (Communications, Highways, Planning, Environmental Services)

ii.     Group 2 (Community): Residents, Businesses, Parish/Town Councils, Parish Meetings

iii.    Group 3 (External): Emergency Services, Environment Agency, Anglian Water, Severn Trent, Voluntary Sectors etc.

Two winter flooding surveys had been published on the Council’s website: one for residents/businesses and one for Parish/Town Councils. 

The deadline for both surveys was Wednesday, 27^th March 2024.

To date 340 responses had been received on the residents/businesses survey and 26 responses on the Parish/Town Councils survey.

Hard copies of the surveys were also available in all Rutland libraries for people to complete.

The Evidence Panel’s report/recommendations would be completed by the end of April and then presented to the Scrutiny Committee for its comments/approval.

Members stated that residents had expressed concern about submitting their postcode as part of the survey.

Councillor Stephenson confirmed that:

1.    The reason for asking for the postcode was to ascertain if some parts of the county had been impacted more than others.

2.    Giving a postcode would not make any individual or individual property identifiable. 

3.    Both surveys had been checked by the Information Governance team to ensure GDPR compliance.

4.    It was possible to complete the survey without submitting postcode details.

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

There was no urgent business.

Date/time to be confirmed

The date of the next meeting would be confirmed following the Annual Council meeting in May 2024.