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: Zoom - https://us06web.zoom.us/j/83241020045

Contact: Jane Narey  01572 758311

Media

Items
No. Item

1.

WELCOME AND APOLOGIES RECEIVED

Minutes:

Councillor Oxley welcomed everyone to the meeting as Councillor Fox was absent due to technical difficulties.  There were no apologies.

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 Act 1992 applies to them.

Minutes:

There were no declarations of interest

3.

PETITIONS, DEPUTATIONS AND QUESTIONS

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.

Minutes:

There were no petitions, deputations or questions

4.

QUESTIONS WITH NOTICE FROM MEMBERS

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

Minutes:

There were no questions with notice from members

5.

NOTICES OF MOTION FROM MEMBERS

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

Minutes:

There were no notices of motion from members

6.

CONSIDERATION OF ANY MATTER REFERRED TO THE COMMITTEE FOR A DECISION IN RELATION TO CALL IN OF A DECISION

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.

Minutes:

There were no call-ins

7.

DRAFT REVENUE AND CAPITAL BUDGET 2022/23 pdf icon PDF 1 MB

To receive Report No. 01/2022 from Saverio Della Rocca, Strategic Director for Resources (s.151 Officer) regarding the draft Revenue and Capital Budget for 2022/23. 

 

The Special Joint Scrutiny Committee is asked to provide comments and views on the draft budget before the final budget report is recommended by Cabinet to Council in February 2022.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Report No. 01/2022 was received from Councillor K Payne, Portfolio Holder for Finance, Governance and Performance, Change and Transformation.       During the discussion, the following points were noted:

 

·       The Growth, Infrastructure and Resources Scrutiny Committee was asked to provide comments and views on the draft budget before the final budget report was recommended by Cabinet to Council in February 2022.

·       Members had previously submitted questions regarding the budget to the Strategic Director for Resources and it was agreed that these questions and responses would be published with the minutes.

 

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Councillor Fox joined the meeting at 7.05 p.m.

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·       Discussions held were related to Appendices 5 and 6 for the Places and Resources Directorates.  Appendix 3 related to the People Directorate and had been discussed at the Special Joint Scrutiny Committee meeting held on the 26th January 2022.

·       Councillor Payne stated that the Council had only received a 1-year settlement but had managed to draw only £100k from its reserve funding to produce a balanced budget.  Uncertainty around government funding had made future planning difficult and the current funding methodology meant that Central Government was expecting Rutland to raise 80% of its revenue through Council Tax rather than the standard 60% for other local authorities.  This was unfair and the Council was working with the Member of Parliament for Rutland to lobby Central Government for fair funding. 

·       The Council had made over £2 million pounds in cost savings since the budget for 20/21 was approved but there was still a £2.2 million deficit forecast for the financial year 2023/24.

 

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Councillor Oxley stepped down as Chair and handed the meeting over to Councillor Fox at 7.07 p.m.

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·       Councillor Begy queried the expenditure regarding the employment of external consultants and if members could make the necessary additional cost cutting decisions without the need of an external consultant.  Councillor Payne stated that the Senior Management Team (SMT) had identified areas that would require difficult decisions to be made regarding further cost cuts.  The potential options would be discussed by all Members in due course.  Cllr Payne explained that any consultancy input would focus on the future structure of the Council which goes beyond service savings.

·       Councillor Waller expressed concern that the external consultants may not be specialised enough to deal with the specific issues related to Rutland and that she was not convinced that re-structuring the Council would save money unless it ventured into ‘shared services.’  Councillor Payne indicated that saving £2m from service reductions alone would be complemented by a re-design of the Council and its structure which would highlight areas of duplication and further efficiencies giving cost savings rather than the removal of posts. 

·       The Strategic Director for Resources stated that external consultants may be needed due to the extreme difficulty in finding a further £2.2 million in savings.  Very difficult decisions would have to be made by Members and that Members should understand that the Council will have to do things differently as well as less with reduced  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

8.

FEES AND CHARGES 2022/23 pdf icon PDF 476 KB

To receive Report No. 03/2022 from Saverio Della Rocca, Strategic Director for Resources (s.151 Officer) regarding Fees and Charges for 2022/23. 

 

The Special Scrutiny Committee is asked to provide comments and views before the report is sent to Cabinet in February 2022 for approval.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Report No. 03/2022 was received from Councillor K Payne, Portfolio Holder for Finance, Governance and Performance, Change and Transformation.       During the discussion, the following points were noted:

 

·       The Growth, Infrastructure and Resources Scrutiny Committee was asked to provide comments and views before the report was put to Council for approval.

·       Councillor Payne stated that the report detailed the fees and charges for 2021/22, those proposed for 2022/23 and any differences between the two figures.

·       There were no questions received from the Scrutiny Committee.

 

RESOLVED:

 

1.     That the Committee’s comments and views on the Fees and Charges 2022/23 be taken into consideration by Cabinet when recommending the Fees and Charges 2022/23 to Council

9.

DATE AND PREVIEW OF NEXT MEETING

The next ordinary meeting of the Growth, Infrastructure and Resources Scrutiny Committee will be held on Thursday, 10th February 2022 at 7pm via Zoom.

Minutes:

The next ordinary meeting of the Growth, Infrastructure and Resources Scrutiny Committee would be on Thursday, 10th February at 7pm