Members to consider the Corporate Plan that was agreed by Cabinet on the 14^th October 2019 (as attached) and make comments/recommendations to Council.

The Chair of the Committee noted that the recommendation of the report was for the Growth, Infrastructure and Resources Scrutiny Committee to note the contents of the Rutland County Council Corporate Plan 2019-2024 and make recommendations to Council on the 11^th November 2019.

It was noted that due to the entering the pre-election period, the Council meeting on the 11^th November 2019 had been cancelled.

In response to questions asked, the Leader of the Council, in the absence of the Deputy Leader, explained that a number of the targets included in the Corporate Plan had already been met but noted that they were awaiting additional information from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government following the consultation on the New national model for shared ownership.

Members of the Committee raised concerns about the following:

1.    Would there be revised targets set in light of any revision from Government and the election?

2.    The number of houses for St Georges had been stipulated in the Corporate Plan, prior to the completion of the Planning process

3.    Could the delivery of the number of new homes for development at St George’s be problematic and considered as fettering?

The Leader of the Council explained that the draft Corporate Plan had been shared with Members in August 2019 and a number of opportunities had been provided for Members to have an input. He stated that consideration could be given to revising the number of houses developed at St George’s.

In response to questions asked, the Portfolio Holder for Culture and Leisure, Highways & Transportation & Road Safety explained that they would lobby for an upgrade to the A1 from Peterborough to Blythe as there was a significant need to improve the infrastructure in the County for both residents and tourists.

The Leader confirmed that a considerable amount of funding had been put into improving Broadband and by 2024 fiber broadband would be accessible in all villages.

Members of the Committee raised the following points:

a)    Can the provision of affordable homes be extended, not just to young families but to single people and elder people?

b)    Rather than having a specific number of houses for the St George’s development, would it be more beneficial to refer to it as a ‘large’ number so that the Cabinet are not bound by specific numbers and thus more likely to meet their target?

The Chair noted that she had submitted a number of questions to Cabinet and due to the late submission they had not been answered. However, she commented that the answers to her questions would be appended to the minutes of this meeting,

 The Committee agreed that the recommendations should be revised to reflect the cancelation of the Council meeting on the 11^th November 2019 (due to the pre-election period) and read: “A future meeting of the Council”

The Committee agreed that an additional recommendation should be that the targets in the Corporate Plan be reviewed alongside the Corporate performance report be reviewed annually.

RESOLVED:

That the Growth, Infrastructure and Resources Scrutiny Committee note the contents of the Rutland County Council Corporate Plan 2019-2024 and recommends to a future Council meeting that the targets in the Corporate Plan be reviewed alongside the Corporate performance report be reviewed on an annual basis.

That when the Corporate Plan is submitted to Council, the current achievements are inside the targets.