Council and councillors

Councillor Fox welcomed everyone to the meeting.  No apologies were received but the Clerk confirmed that Councillor Jones was not in attendance.

To confirm the record of the meeting of the Growth, Infrastructure and Resources Scrutiny Committee held on 16^th September 2021 and the record of the Special meeting held on the 7^th October 2021

Councillor J Fox confirmed that there were two sets of minutes for the committee to approve.  The first was for the Scrutiny Committee meeting held on the 16^th September and the second was for the Special Scrutiny Committee meeting held on the 7^th October.  The latter comprised of public and private minutes due to the exempt information discussed in the meeting.

Councillor Waller requested a change to the minutes from the meeting held on the 16^th September.  She requested that the penultimate bullet point under agenda item 8 be changed as it was incorrect.  The Clerk confirmed that the minutes would be amended and brought back to the next meeting for Committee approval.

The minutes of the meeting held on the 7^th October 2021 were approved as an accurate record.

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 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 Rule 216.

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 of the total time for 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. 218 and No. 218A.

There were no questions with notice from members

To consider any Notices of Motion from Members submitted in accordance with the provisions of Procedure Rule No. 219.

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 206.

There were no items of call-in

To receive Report No. 146/2021 from Councillor K Payne, Portfolio Holder for Finance, Governance and Performance, Change and Transformation

Report No. 146/2021 was received from Councillor K Payne, Portfolio Holder for Finance, Governance and Performance, Change and Transformation.  During the discussion, the following points were noted:

·        Councillors thanked Saverio Della Rocca, Strategic Director for Resources, Andrew Merry, Finance Manager and the finance team for all their hard work in producing all the clear, financial reports received for discussion.

·        The budget gap was previously identified as £2.7m.  Following a lot of hard work, this had been reduced to an estimated £250k.  A lot less than had been previously forecast.

·        Councillor Waller asked if this year’s success in cost cutting could be replicated in the years to come as budgets continued to be cut.  Councillor Payne stated that future budget savings could not be promised but that Council would continue to work hard to identify cost savings.  However, there would be hard decisions to be made in the future.

·        Councillor Ainsley enquired if discussions had been held externally with other Local Authorities regarding cost savings.  Councillor Payne confirmed that the Council discussed options with other Councils all the time.  Councillor Payne also confirmed that she was in discussions with the Chief Executive and the Leader regarding working with other Unitary authorities to discuss ideas and joint working.

·        Councillor Ainsley enquired about Jules House.  Councillor Payne confirmed that a property asset review was being undertaken.  The report would be due in late January 2022 and this would identify any proposals for the use of Jules House.

·        Councillor Payne informed the committee that all Portfolio Holders were committed to reducing current costs and costs in the future.

·        Councillor Oxley enquired about projects, community allocations and the sharing of costs.    Councillor Hemsley confirmed that he was in discussion with Uppingham Town Council regarding the funding of the toilets in Uppingham but was awaiting the results of the property asset review before making any decisions.

·        Councillor Brown queried the 9% increase in residual waste tonnage in 2021/22, the 72% increase in wood non-domestic waste and the extra £160k in costs (page 26).  Penny Sharp, Strategic Director – Places reported that the waste increases were related to the Covid lockdown as people had stayed at home with increased DIY and online shopping.

·        Councillor Brown also queried what discussions had been held with central government regarding funding. Councillor Payne confirmed that a meeting would be arranged with Neil O’Brien MP for Harborough and the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities to discuss funding.

·        Councillor Hemsley informed attendees that discussions had been held with the Unitary Councils Network regarding raising the profile of small and unitary councils and that he had also attended the Rural Services Network AGM.  Councillor Payne confirmed that she would produce a plan of all work/discussion to be undertaken regarding funding.

RESOLVED

That the Committee:

a)     NOTED the revenue forecast at the end of September per para 3.3

b)     NOTED the changes to the approved budget as per para 3.1 and Appendix A

c)     NOTED that  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

To receive Report No. 147/2021 from Councillor K Payne, Portfolio Holder for Finance, Governance and Performance, Change and Transformation

Report No. 147/2021 was received from Councillor K Payne, Portfolio Holder for Finance, Governance and Performance, Change and Transformation.  During the discussion, the following points were noted:

·        Councillor Payne confirmed that the capital budget stood at £28.291 billion with a £10.3m underspend.

·        The underspend related to investment projects that would be funded from borrowing so this allocation could not be redistributed.

·        Projects were extensively managed and only two projects out of the current sixty-three were running over budget. These were the Brightways Move and the Changing Places at Active Rutland Hub, with a total overspend of £10.7k.  Funding for the overspend had been found and had been approved by Council.

·        Councillor Oxley referred to Item 3.6 (page 90) regarding Oakham Town Centre and that the project and money (£85k) were on hold until further notice. Councillor Payne confirmed that no requests for funding had been received and Saverio Della Rocca reported that ‘For Oakham’ [an independent group] had been established by the Council to look at possible projects but no business cases had been received from them.  Councillor Fox reported that she would inform ‘For Oakham’ of the available funding and it was agreed that Councillor Fox would arrange for an update report from For Oakham to be presented at the next GIR Scrutiny meeting regarding possible projects.

·        Councillor Waller stated that the overspend on the two projects should have been foreseen.

·        Saverio confirmed that the £85k was not s106 money but highways maintenance money and would be re-allocated back to the highways maintenance budget if not spent.

·        Councillor Ainsley enquired if the £85k could be spent repairing the footpaths in Oakham High Street.

RESOLVED

That the Committee:

a)    NOTED the capital 2021/22 forecast as at the end of September (paragraph 3.3).

b)    NOTED the changes to the 2021/22 capital programme as at the end of September (paragraph 3.2)

c)     NOTED the 2021/22 unallocated capital funding as at the end of September (Section 4)

d)    NOTED that Cabinet/Council had approved the total of £10.7k revenue contribution to capital for the works relating to the Brightways move and the Changing Place project at Active Rutland Hub (Paragraphs 3.5.22 to 3.5.27)

e)    AGREED that Councillor Fox would arrange for an update report from For Oakham to be presented at the next GIR Scrutiny meeting regarding funding for possible projects.

To receive Report No. 148/2021 from Penny Sharp, Strategic Director - Places

Report No. 148/2021 was presented by Penny Sharp, Strategic Director – Places. During the discussion, the following points were noted:

·        Penny Sharp gave apologies from Councillor Razzell, who could not attend the meeting.

·        The report addressed infrastructure costings across the Council.

·        The rejection of the Local Plan had resulted in the need to review the Council’s infrastructure priorities and develop a new infrastructure delivery plan.

·        Councillor Oxley stated that point 4.9 in Appendix 1 showed the need for Oakham to have a neighbourhood plan.  Councillor Hemsley confirmed that a neighbourhood plan for Oakham had been discussed by Cabinet and Penny Sharp informed attendees that the withdrawal of the Local Plan had resulted in the neighbourhood plan for Oakham and Barleythorpe to be paused by the Planning Inspector. 

·        Penny Sharp also confirmed that the Oakham Hopper had been previously funded by financial savings but future funding of the service would be discussed with Oakham Town Council.

·        Councillor Waller queried the phrase ‘placemaking benefits’ as stated in box 6 on the flow chart in Appendix 1 (page 123) and Penny Sharp confirmed that it meant all of the infrastructure services required e.g.GP surgeries, schools, waste collection etc.

·        Councillor Brown noted that a report was being prepared on the ‘interim trajectory of development and CIL income’ as stated in item 2.23 (page 99) and queried the timescale for this report and if it would be circulated to the Growth, Infrastructure and Resources Scrutiny Committee.  He also queried what would happen if the report identified any actions to be taken.  Penny Sharp stated that the report was expected at the end of January 2022 and yes, it would be circulated to Scrutiny as per the normal governance process and that any actions would be referred to Cabinet.

·        Penny Sharp also stated that no s106 money had been allocated in 2021 unless it had been necessary.

·        Councillor Powell queried if good examples and case studies of the use of s106 could be advertised on the Council’s website. 

·        Penny Sharp confirmed that such things as electric charging points and cycle routes could be funded by CIL money.

RESOLVED

That the Committee:

a)    NOTED the report

b)    COMMENTED on the draft Infrastructure Funding Statement as set out in Appendix 1 of the report.

To receive Report No. 145/2021 from Councillor June Fox, Chair of the Biodiversity Task and Finish Group

Report No. 145/2021 was received from Councillor June Fox, Chair of the Biodiversity Task and Finish Group.  During the discussion, the following points were noted:

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Councillor Stephenson re-joined the meeting at 8.33 p.m.

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·       Councillor Stephenson confirmed that the recommendations from the report had been included into the Community Action Plan and that they would be included in overarching environmental strategy for the county.

·       Councillor Waller requested that the advisory group for the local plan included the planning related recommendations into the local plan and Penny Sharp confirmed this.

·       Councillor Stephenson confirmed that the report had been annotated and highlighted where each action would sit.

·       Councillor Stephenson confirmed she would include the recommendations and actions from the Task and Finish Group into the Community Action Plan and that implementation plans at a local level would be sent presently. 

RESOLVED

That the Committee:

a)    CONSIDERED and commented on the work of the Biodiversity Task and Finish Group and the proposals for a Biodiversity Strategy as appended to the report (Appendix A)

b)    RECOMMENDED the findings of the Biodiversity Task and Finish Group report to Cabinet. 

c)     AGREED that the Biodiversity Task and Finish Group was formerly closed and that Councillor Stephenson would produce a one-page report for final approval of the recommendations by Cabinet.

To consider the current Forward Plan and identify any relevant items for inclusion in the Growth, Infrastructure and Resources Scrutiny Committee Annual Work Plan, or to request further information.

The Forward Plan is available on the website using the following link:

https://rutlandcounty.moderngov.co.uk/mgListPlans.aspx?RPId=133&RD=0

It was agreed that the following items should be added to the work plan:

a)     For Oakham: Update Report

b)     The interim trajectory of development and CIL income

c)     Property Asset Review

d)     Grounds Maintenance: Update

Waste & Leisure Contracts

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

None

Thursday, 27^th January 2022 at 7pm

Statutory Meeting: Scrutiny of the Budget

The next meeting will be held on Thursday, 27th January 2022 at 7 p.m.

This would be a statutory meeting to scrutinize the budget.