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

Contact: Natasha Taylor  01572 720991

Items
No. Item

335.

APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

Minutes:

Apologies were receievd from Mrs Stephenson and Mr Wilby.

336.

ANNOUNCEMENTS FROM THE CHAIRMAN AND/OR HEAD OF THE PAID SERVICE

Minutes:

There were no announcements from the Chairman or Head of Paid Service.

337.

DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

 

In accordance with the Regulations, Members are required 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:

No declarations of interest were received.

338.

RECORD OF DECISIONS

 

To confirm the Record of Decisions made at the meeting of the Cabinet held on 18 September 2018.

Minutes:

The record of decisions made by Cabinet on 18 September 2018, copies of which had been previously circulated, were confirmed.

339.

ITEMS RAISED BY SCRUTINY

To receive items raised by members of scrutiny which have been submitted to the Leader (copied to Chief Executive and Governance Officer) by 4.30 pm on Friday 12 October 2018.

Minutes:

There were no items raised by Scrutiny.

340.

LEICESTERSHIRE AND RUTLAND SAFEGUARDING ADULTS BOARD (LRSAB) ANNUAL REPORT 2017/18 pdf icon PDF 61 KB

Report No. 183/2018

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Report No. 183/2018 was received from the Independent Chairman of the Leicestershire and Rutland Safeguarding Adults Board (LRSAB).

 

Mr Robert Lake, Independent Chair of the Leicestershire & Rutland Local Safeguarding Children Board, introduced the report the purpose of which was to advise Cabinet of the key findings of the Annual Report 2017/18 for the Leicestershire and Rutland Safeguarding Adults Board (LRSAB). Any comments or proposed additions and amendments would be addressed in the final report before it was presented to the LRSAB at its meeting on 25 October 2018 and subsequently published.

 

During discussions the following points were raised:

 

      i.        Mr Brown noted that while Financial Abuse was mentioned within the report there was no mention of ways to deal with the issue. Mr Lake confirmed the information would be incorporated within the report next week.

    ii.        It was noted that the report needed to be clear that Rutland was getting good results, rather than not mentioning the Council.

   iii.        The report was still in the drafting stage and would be published after consultation from all bodies involved.

 

DECISION

 

1.    Cabinet NOTED the draft Annual Report and made comments for amendment to be considered by the Independent Chair of the Safeguarding Adults Board.

 

Reason for the decision

The Safeguarding Adults Board has produced its Annual Report for 2017-18 assessing and analyzing the activity and performance of the Board and partner agencies regarding safeguarding adults with care and support needs. This Annual Report was presented to Cabinet for their information and input.

341.

LEICESTERSHIRE AND RUTLAND LOCAL SAFEGUARDING CHILDREN BOARD (LRLSCB) ANNUAL REPORT 2017/18 pdf icon PDF 62 KB

Report No. 187/2018

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Report No. 187/2018 was received from Mr Simon Westwood, the Independent Chairman of the Leicestershire and Rutland Local Safeguarding Children Board (LRLSCB).

 

Mr Westwood introduced the report, the purpose of which was to advise Cabinet of the key findings of the Annual Report 2017/18 for the Leicestershire and Rutland Local Safeguarding Children Board (LRLSCB).

 

During discussion the following points were noted:

 

      i.        It was noted that particular issues needed to be highlighted within the report. At present the report was very generic.

 

DECISION:

 

1.    Cabinet NOTED the draft Annual Report and made comments for amendment to be considered by the Independent Chair of the Local Safeguarding Children Board.

 

Reason for the decision

The Local safeguarding Children Board produced its Annual Report for 2017-18 assessing and analyzing the activity and performance of the Board and partner agencies regarding safeguarding children, The Annual Report was presented to Cabinet for their information and input.

342.

CHILDCARE SUFFICIENCY ASSESSMENT pdf icon PDF 76 KB

Report No. 185/2018

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Report No.185/2018 was received from the Strategic Director for People.

 

Dr Tim O’Neill, Strategic Director for People, introduced the report the purpose of which was for Cabinet to consider whether sufficient childcare was available to meet the needs of children, including disabled children, in the local authority area. All local Authorities had a statutory duty under the Childcare Act 2006 to secure sufficient childcare, so far as was reasonably practicable, for working parents, or parents who were studying or training for employment, and to complete an annual report which assessed the sufficiency of childcare in the local authority area and identified gaps in provision. This assessment must be published on the County Council website.

 

DECISION:

 

1.    Cabinet NOTED that there was currently sufficient childcare across Rutland to meet the requirements of parents and carers and that the Learning and Skills Service was undertaking a range of planned activities to manage the market and maintain capacity within the system.

 

 

Reason for the decision

Under the Department for Education’s (DFE) ‘Early Education and Childcare: Statutory Guidance for Local Authorities’, local authorities should report annually to elected council members on how they were meeting their duty to secure sufficient childcare and make this report available and accessible to parents.

 

The report provided elected members with this information and identified that at the time of the Childcare Sufficiency Assessment being completed, there were sufficient places available. Routine assessment and reviews would continue to be undertaken by the Learning and Skills Service to ensure sufficiency was maintained and, should a potential pressure be identified, positive action would be taken with existing and potential providers to minimize the impact on parents and carers.

343.

PUPIL PREMIUM PLUS POLICY pdf icon PDF 62 KB

Report No. 184/2018

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Report No.184/2018 was received from the Strategic Director for People.

 

Dr T O’Neill, Strategic Director for People, introduced the report the purpose of which was to outline the intention to provide schools with clarity regarding the allocation and spending expectations of the Pupil Premium Plus (PP+) Grant that Rutland County Council received on an annual basis for Children Looked After by the Local Authority. The intention of the Policy was to more precisely link the allocation of PP+ funding to quality assured pupil targets, through the Personal Education Plan process, with the intention to further improve outcomes for Children Looked After by Rutland.

 

During discussion the following points were raised:

 

      i.        An ePEP was an electronic Personal Education Plan which enabled all those that needed to, to access the Plan.

    ii.        Mr Walters highlighted that there was no mention of the voice of the child within the report. Ms Curtis stated that the new process would be to capture it on the Personal Education Plan.

 

 

DECISION:

 

1.    Cabinet NOTED the intent of the Pupil Premium Plus Policy.

 

Reasons for the decision

The Pupil Premium Plus Policy aimed to improve outcomes for Children Looked After or previously Looked After by Rutland through a more targeted allocation of the Pupil Premium Plus funding to greater meet assessed need.

344.

CORPORATE DEBT POLICY pdf icon PDF 83 KB

Report No. 145/2018

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Report No.145/2018 was received from the Strategic Director for Resources.

 

Mr Gordon Brown, Portfolio Holder for Regulatory Services, Waste Management, Planning Policy & Operations, Property Services, Finance including Revenues & Benefits and Internal Audit introduced the report the purpose of which was to seek approval for a revised Corporate Debt Policy detailed at Appendix A and to approve the adoption of the Council Tax Protocol detailed at Appendix B.

 

Authority was also being sought to enable the Strategic Director for Resources to review and make minor changes to the policy in consultation with the Portfolio Holder; this would ensure that the policy and the Council Tax Protocol could be kept up to date to reflect any changes to legislation, precedents established by case law, guidance from central government and departments such as the Ministry of Justice and best practice.

 

DECISIONS:

 

That Cabinet RECOMMENDS to Council

 

1.    To approve the Corporate Debt Policy detailed at Appendix A

 

2.    To approve the adoption of the Council Tax Protocol detailed at Appendix B

 

3.    To approve the authorization of the Strategic Director for Resources, in consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Regulatory Services, Waste Management, Planning Policy & Operations, Property Services, Finance including Revenues & Benefits and Internal Audit to review and make minor changes to the policy and the Council Tax Protocol in line with changes to legislation, guidance and best practice.

 

Reasons for the decisions:

It was timely to review the Council’s approach to debt collection and adopt a new policy at this time because of the reasons outlined in paragraph 2.1 of the report.

345.

RUTLAND COUNTY MUSEUM & CATMOSE COTTAGE ROOF WORKS pdf icon PDF 76 KB

Report No. 181/2018

Minutes:

Report No.181/2018 was received from the Strategic Director for Places.

 

Mr G Brown, Deputy Leader and Portfolio Holder for Planning, Environment, Property and Finance introduced the report the purpose of which was to release up to £15k of funding which would allow for the preparation of the tender package for the repair and replacements of components of the roof covering Catmose Cottage and the Rutland County Museum.The funding would allow tenders to be sourced from potential contractors thereby reducing risks for the Council when a second report was presented to Cabinet requesting the release of funds for the construction works.

 

DECISIONS:

 

Cabinet;

 

1.    APPROVED the release of up to £15k of funds from Section 106 Contributions to support the design and development of the tender package for the repair and replacement of the roof of Rutland County Museum and Catmose Cottage.

 

2.    DELEGATED authority to  the Head of Property Services in consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Regulatory Services, Waste Management, Planning Policy and Operations, Property Services, Finance including Revenues and Benefits and Internal Audit and the Director of Resources to determine a procurement route, award criteria and issue and receive tenders (if applicable) for the design works, and if suitable suppliers are identified move forward and award a contracts for all design works necessary to repair and replace the roof over Rutland County Museum and Catmose Cottage.

 

3.    DELEGATED authority to the Head of Property Services in consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Regulatory Services, Waste Management, Planning Policy and Operations, Property Services, Finance including Revenues & Benefits and Internal Audit and the Director of Resources to determine a procurement route, award criteria and issue and receive tenders (if applicable) for the construction works.

 

4.    NOTED that a further report would be submitted at a future date seeking authorisation of the release of funds necessary for the completion of the works.

 

Reasons for the decisions

The approach proposed within the report would ensure that there was an approach adopted to the roof that would ensure its long term future irrespective of the use of the building.

In addition true costs would be determined following tender enabling an accurate figure to be requested from Cabinet.

 

346.

PROGRESS UPDATE ON ST GEORGE'S BARRACKS pdf icon PDF 98 KB

Report No. 188/2018

Minutes:

Report No. 188/2018 was received from the Chief Executive.

 

Mr O Hemsley, Leader and Portfolio Holder for Rutland One Public Estate & Growth, Tourism & Economic Development, and Resources (other than Finance) introduced the report the purpose of which was to provide Cabinet with a progress report on the St George’s Barracks project further to the report of March 2018.

During discussion the following points were raised:

      i.        Mr Hemsley stated that the Greater Cambridgeshire/Greater Peterborough Local Enterprise Partnership would likely still support the Expression of Interest, despite Rutland being removed from the partnership due to not fitting within their geography. Mr Brown noted that Sir Alan Duncan had written a letter to the Secretary of the State on the matter.

 

DECISIONS:

1.    Cabinet NOTED the progress update in respect of the St George’s Barracks Project.

 

2.    Cabinet SUPPORTED the submission of a business case for Housing Infrastructure Funding in response to the Homes England letter of 20th March 2018.

 

3.    Cabinet SUPPORTED the submission of an Expression of Interest to the GCGP LEP for Growth Funding and if successful at EOI stage a business case for funding to support the St George’s Garden Community - Business Zone by 30th November 2018.

 

4.    Cabinet SUPPORTED an expression of interest to the One Public Estate programme by 30th November 2018.

 

Reasons for the decisions

Progress on the project was in line with the programme.

 

 

347.

ANY ITEMS OF URGENT BUSINESS

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

Minutes:

No items of urgent business were received.