To receive Report No.181/2019 from the Strategic Director for Resources.

Report No.181/2019 was received from the Strategic Director for Resources.

Mr Della Rocca, Strategic Director for Resources, introduced the report the purpose of which was to inform Members of the full year forecast position at Quarter 2 for 2019/20 and to alert them to issues that may impact on the Medium Term Financial Plan.

During discussion the following points were noted:

·         The estimated £55k expense of officer time incurred on Brexit related work would be charged against the Brexit fund at the end of the year. The remainder of the £105k allocated Brexit funding would be put in earmarked reserves.

·         The funding originally earmarked for the Officers’ Mess project had been released back into unallocated funding reserves. A feasibility study had shown that there was no business case for investment so the Council chose not to pursue this further with the MOD.

·         The Oakham Enterprise Park project had been part cancelled as original costs of £2.2 million had escalated to £2.8 million and there was no business case for continuing. If the project was still viable at £2.8 million, and tenants who were prepared to pay market rates could be found, then the project would be resurrected and presented again to Cabinet for a decision.

·         At a recent meeting, tenants of Oakham Enterprise Park had been asked whether they wanted to keep the prison wire that surrounded the development and they had confirmed that they did.

·         The Places directorate had several vacancies at the moment and the cost of interims had placed some pressure on their budget.

·         Members commented that the increase in charges for road closures had made it more difficult and expensive for charitable organisations to put on events. It was confirmed however that the charges only covered staff and overheads and that there would not be any subsidies for particular groups.

·         Road closures fees for VE day celebrations next year would be charged at the normal rate.

·         Councillor Brown advised Members that any parishes who were putting on an event to celebrate VE day should complete an events form, detailing the organisers and their contact numbers, which could then be used by all of the blue light services in the event of an emergency.

·         Although many business owners had complained about the level of business rates that they paid, the Council website page https://www.rutland.gov.uk/my-business/business-rates actually showed that the business rates that many high street shops paid were in fact relatively low and often discounted.

·         Members queried how the new 30 minutes free parking had changed behaviours around parking. Officers confirmed that income from parking fees was still increasing.

·         The Council was not allowed to profit from green waste collection. It had been proposed that the Green waste charge remained the same for 2020/21 at £35.00 as the need for inflationary pressures had been offset by an increase in subscriptions at this stage.

RESOLVED:

That the Committee NOTED the report.