To receive any questions submitted from Members of the Council in accordance with the provisions of Procedure Rules 30 and 30A.

      i.        Mr M Oxley

Can the present Chair of the Rutland Water Partnership please confirm whether there is active involvement in the Partnership from the principal partner – Anglian Water. If not can he tell me what has been done to try and involve them. Would he agree that without their input, as owner and main stakeholder in Rutland Water, it is not worth holding meetings.

The Chairman of the Rutland Water Partnership responded as follows:

I can confirm that Anglian Water is actively involved in the partnership.  In the last 2 years I can only recall one occasion when they have been unable to provide a representative at the meeting.

The minutes for the Rutland Water Partnership are available and show that Anglian Water were represented at every meeting until the last one.  The minutes of that meeting show concern by those attending at the lack of representation from various bodies including Anglian Water and I have asked the officer supporting the meeting to contact all participatory organisations, including Anglian Water, to ensure if possible a fuller attendance.  In the case of Anglian Water the normal representative was unable to attend the last meeting for medical reasons and his colleague, who would usually attend in his place, was involved in long standing interviews.

    ii.        Mr M Oxley

I would ask whether this Council can revisit the decision made in May 2011 to only allow members whose wards abut Rutland Water to be considered for membership of the Partnership. The Constitution which apparently barred other ward members from becoming involved was never found despite extensive searches. I would like the opportunity to once again be considered for membership as I believe I did make a positive contribution to the Partnership before the rules were changed. If a member is willing and able to make a positive contribution then I believe they should not be discouraged from doing so. Rutland water impacts on the whole county not just the wards which border it.

The Chairman of the Rutland Water Partnership responded as follows:

To give some background information the Rutland Water Partnership was set up as a result of the Local Plan designating a specific Rutland Water Area.  It is not a partnership in the current sense, the term partnership could be misleading as it was actually set up as a discussion forum.  When it was set up the only commitment from RCC was to provide secretariat support and that no other additional resource or personnel would be required.  The venue would alternate between the Sailing Club and the Bird Watching Centre; the Chairman was to be selected by the Partnership, there were no statutory powers of consultation. 

The Membership was to provide a forum for national bodies and local communities to interact, therefore membership would be based on 3 local (those surrounding Rutland Water) ward members (RCC Representation); a Parish Council Representative; English Nature; The Environment Agency; NFU;  Anglian Water; Ramblers Association; CPRE; Tourism; Fly Fishers; and the Sailing Club.  I am not aware that there have been any changes to this.

As you know, Members are appointed to working groups at the annual Council meeting and you will have the opportunity to nominate yourself at the next meeting.

As a supplementary question Mr Oxley asked whether the Chair of the Constitution Review Working Group would review the appointments to the Rutland Water Partnership.

The Chair of the Constitution Review Working Group responded that the logic was that the most appropriate members for appointment to this organisation would be those whose Wards surrounded Rutland Water, but that this did not arise from any constitutional standing order.  There was no reason that Mr Oxley could not put his name forward for appointment to the Rutland Water Partnership at the next Full Council meeting.