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: Meeting link: https://zoom.us/j/94263152592

Contact: Joanna Morley  01572 758271

Items
No. Item

1.

APOLOGIES

Minutes:

No apologies were received.

 

2.

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:

No declarations of interest were received.

 

3.

PETITIONS, DEPUTATIONS AND QUESTIONS

To receive any petitions, deputations and questions received from Members of the Public in accordance with the Virtual Meetings Regulations (s1 2020 392) and the subsequent RCC Procedure Rules agreed at Council on 20 May 2020 and revised by Council on 14 September 2020. (Please see link: Revision to Virtual Meetings Protocol.)

 

The total time allowed for this is 30 minutes.  Petitions, deputations and questions will be dealt with in the order in which they are received and any which are not considered within the time limit shall receive a written response after the meeting

 

Minutes:

No petitions, deputations or questions had been received.

 

4.

QUESTIONS WITH NOTICE FROM MEMBERS

To consider any questions with notice from Members received in accordance with the provisions of Procedure Rules No 2198and No. 218A.

Minutes:

No questions with notice had been received.

 

5.

REVENUE AND CAPITAL BUDGET 2021/22 AND MEDIUM TERM FINANCIAL PLAN pdf icon PDF 1 MB

To receive Cabinet Report No.08/2021 from the Strategic Director for Resources.

 

·       The above report was presented to Cabinet on 12 January 2021 and the recommendations within the report were approved.

·       Cabinet has requested that Scrutiny review and comment on proposals before the Cabinet meeting on 16 February 2021 so as to inform the decision making process.

·       The report and its proposals may be amended following the outcome of the Scrutiny Committee meeting. Scrutiny is therefore asked to consider the report and provide feedback to the Portfolio Holder and Director.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Report No.08/2021 was received from the Strategic Director for Resources.

 

Mr Della Rocca, Strategic Director for Resources, introduced the report the purpose of which was to present a draft budget for consultation prior to the budget being formally set by Council in February 2021.

 

During the discussion the following points were noted:

 

·       Councillors Waller and Powell had submitted questions directly to the section 151 officer before the meeting and it was agreed with the Chair that these questions and their answers would be appended to the minutes.

·       Mr Della Rocca outlined the key points of the report in his presentation (appended to the minutes) and emphasised that using reserves to relieve the funding gap of circa £2.6million was not good financial practice and something he would have preferred not to do.

·       In contrast to the Executive’s proposal to increase the Adult Social Care (ASC) precept by only 1%, Mr Della Rocca had advised that the full 3% allowed by the Government should be used resulting in a total 5% increase to the Council tax instead of 3%. Not using the full, allowed ASC increase this year would have a cumulative impact over the next five years of c£4.5 million.

·       The underspend of c£1million shown in Quarter 3 20/21 was an anomaly for this year only and was because the Council had received additional Covid funding from the Government. Going forward, the monies would be used to fund Covid issues that ran into the next financial year, for example the expected increase in demand for Adult and Children social care that had been forecast in Quarter 4 but, because of lockdown, would now likely be seen next year.

·       Councillor Brown, the Portfolio Holder for Finance and Deputy Leader, together with the Leader of the Council, Cllr Hemsley, had met with Luke Hall, Minister of State for Regional Growth and Local Government to highlight the unacceptable funding disparity between Rutland and other councils. 80% of Rutland’s spending came from Council Tax revenue as opposed to Government funding, whereas for most other councils this figure was c60%.

·       The Minister was surprised how much of an impact the reduction in the New Homes Bonus had on small councils such as Rutland.

·       The further business rates tariff of £1million that the Council had to pay to the Government had a greater impact on a small authority such as Rutland, as the £1m equated to 20% of business rates whereas in many other areas the £1m equated to, for example, only 10% of rates.

·       Councillor Brown was frustrated by the lack of action on the Fairer Funding Review but RCC had been promised a seat at the table in 2022/23 to discuss this issue.

·       Although he agreed with the Section 151 officer that it would be prudent to increase Council Tax by the full 5%, Councillor Brown had recommended to Cabinet only a 3% increase in recognition of the financial hardships felt by residents and also in support of local businesses as every pound taken out  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

6.

TREASURY MANAGEMENT STRATEGY AND CAPITAL INVESTMENT STRATEGY pdf icon PDF 1008 KB

To receive Report No.161/2020 from the Strategic Director for Resources.

 

·       The above report was presented to Cabinet on 12 January 2021 and the recommendations within the report were approved.

·       Cabinet has requested that Scrutiny review and comment on the proposals. The report will be presented to Full Council for approval on 22 February 2021.

Minutes:

Report No.161/2020 was received from the Strategic Director for Resources, the purpose of which was to set out the statutory reports expected in relation to treasury and capital investment operations for 2021/22, linked to the Council’s Budget, Medium Term Financial Strategy and Capital Programme.

 

During discussion the following points were noted:

 

·       The Section 151 Officer stated that he was not planning to increase borrowing as the only borrowing he advocated was one that would return a net profit. Unfortunately a suitable investment opportunity had not yet materialised.

 

7.

FEES AND CHARGES pdf icon PDF 456 KB

To receive Report No. 05/2021 from the Strategic Director for Resources.

 

·       The above report was presented to Cabinet on 12 January 2021 and the recommendations within the report were approved.

·       Cabinet has requested that Scrutiny review and comment on the proposals. The report will be presented to Full Council for approval on 22 February 2021.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Report No.05/2021 was received from the Strategic Director for Resources, the purpose of which was to set out the proposals for fees and charges for services provided by the Council for the financial year 2021/22.

                            

During discussion the following points were noted:

 

·       Some fees and charges were mandated from Government but there were some that the Council had discretion over. Although all fees and charges would be reviewed again as part of the line by line exercise, officers felt that currently they were in line with other Councils’ charges and reflected accurately the real costs involved.