Rob Persani
Rutland County Councils Question Time at Rutland County Museum hosted by Rutland Radio's Rob Persani
Rob welcomed us and then introduced The Leader of Rutland County Council Roger Begy.
Mr Begy asked if we could all hear him? he said he would normally rely on Councillor Joyce Lucas to let him know, but she was not here. Ex Councillor Alan Walters giggled and ex MP hopeful Helen Pender Cheered quietly!
He went on to give us an interesting presentation, this included Rutlands UPS and DOWNS
Top of the list was the new Catmose Sports Hall, to be managed by Stevenage Leisure. This project funded by central government should be open on time towards the end of February.
Social Services had been rated excellent.
The New Business starter units have been a great success.
Rutland has received 7 awards for tourism, the highest achievement for the whole of the East Midlands.
Rutland had also done well with Recycling.
He thanked Oakham in Bloom and Uppingham in Bloom, reminding us these groups are all voluntary.
The Downs were:
The Closure of RAF Cottesmore and Ashwell Prison.
People killed or seriously injured on our roads was far to high and rising. (Slow Down)
Children at risk had risen to unbelievable levels 200+ (what are these parents doing to their children shocking)
He then moved onto the Comprehensive Spending Review stating there had been a lot of pre publicity.
2011/2012 -14.3%
2012/2013 - 9%
No increase in Council Tax this year.
The Council is making savings in the following ways:
Wage Freeze
Restructuring
Terms and conditions of Employment
all this in house action is expected to save £2.6 million.
There will also be a reduction in use of Consultancy Services.
Contract reviews are expected to save £220,000
The Council structure is now known as one Council
made up of three departments
(sorry I cant resist the Trinity headed and looked down upon by god Helen Briggs)
People Departments Directed by Carol Chambers
Places Departments Directed by Aman Mehra
Resources Departments Directed by Debbie Muddimer
(at tonights meeting we were told Chief Executive earns £112,000 last year the web site said £119,000 today it says £109,185 ??)
He then went on to say the Council is looking at different ways of working,
Shared Services, External Contracts, Partnerships.
He said Peterborough City Council had provided good trading standards and they had extended the service contract and were considering handing over legal services (does that mean goodbye Mr Pook :-( my experience of trading standards is crap, they send traders a form once a year asking, do you display no refund notices at the point of sale? the shop I worked for always gave refunds, but if you were one of the retailers who refuses a customers statutory right are you going to admit it on a form? I think not )
He also said democratic services may be contracted to Melton Borough Council.(poor Ms Stokes)
Other services are currently contracted out to a number of other Councils, he named a few:
Wigston, Lincolnshire and Northamptonshire.
(I am beginning to wonder what Rutland does for itself? this is not true independence, we seem to rely on so many others.)
He then moved onto the Medium Term Financial Plan
A lot of figures that showed Net spending total is 30.208 million rising to 32.079 million over the next four years.
The Council was not sure if it was going to receive 2.5 million of government grants, so it has assumed a 25% reduction.
The Council expects to have 1.5 million in reserves
He said building new homes could be an option, but later said Council Tax income could not be considered at planning meetings.
He said the uncertainty about income could "mean we are in doo doo next year"
The Council is proposing to make the following savings by cutting a number of services totalling £605,000
We were asked to vote at the end of the evening. I refrained from voting, I did not see the point of the exercise with so few people attending.
The Council is hoping Voluntary Organisations could help provide council service in the future.
A number of Growth Proposals were shown.
He then moved onto Future Issues
The County is likely to be effected by NHS reforms, Public health issues (smoking and drinking)
Who is going to fund Academies if this status is granted to any Rutland Schools, will the money come from Rutland or Central Government? (looking forward to see the new Catmose Academy once the building is complete)
School funding is changing, funding will be awarded per pupil.
Rutland needs Economic Development and Broadband or lack of it is seen as a stumbling block, (a job for Rutland Telelcom?)
Local Development new homes and supermarkets were all issues having to be dealt with.
(Planning is hated by Mr Begy he said it is the bane of him and there was me thinking it was me!)
It is suggested Town Councils could take over services currently provided by the County Council. (are they having a laugh, it maybe possible for the regimented gentlemen of Uppingham Town Council to do a good job but Oakham Town Council................. No disrespect to the new members The poor Mayor is already stressed with the current work load)
Mr Begy said this was a exciting opportunity for both Town Councils, an opportunity for Town Councils to put their mark on their towns. Hope its not Doo Doo Councillor Lucas would not be pleased.)
Concluding Mr Begy said "Its a different world out there and we need to look further than our noses and we have everything under control."
Now it was back to Rob, who read questions that had been sent in previously as requested, there was a slight change, questions were also allowed to be asked by anyone present.
A question was asked about the councils finances, how much money did the council have saved? what was its purpose and how much interest was earned.......
Mr Begy responded "£19.6 million was held on deposit in various places and most deposits earned dam all" !
He also mentioned the £1 million lost in Iceland, he said the Council had recovered £850,000.
I reminded him at the last public meeting, he had told the public the whole sum had been recovered. He told me he did not say this. A member of the public said afterwards I was correct because they wrote it down.
At this point Mr Begy thought its would be nice to introduce his non political cabinet members.
He started with the "Pretty Side" his words not mine!
Mr Hugh E G Rees (Conservative) - KETTON WARD
Mrs Janine Rodger (Conservative) - COTTESMORE WARD
Mrs Heather Wells (Conservative) - OAKHAM SOUTH WEST WARD
then he moved to his table
"My Slim friend" Mr Mark Wells (Conservative) - OAKHAM SOUTH EAST WARD
"At the end" Mr Peter W Jones (Conservative) - OAKHAM SOUTH WEST WARD
(not sure why Mr Jones was attending he did occasionally look up from his i pad to sneer)
"At the end" Helen Brigs Chief Executive
one was absent earning money at a furniture fair in Cologne.
Mr Terry C King (Conservative) - EXTON WARD (Deputy Leader of the Council)
The questions continued, this included questions concerning Number Plates, Broadband, Cuts towards funding the Voluntary Organisations. A Mr Prescott was very unhappy, his funding had been cut by 60% he was concerned how were groups like his meant to continue and support Mr Cameron's Big Society. One lady expressed her concern and said what a good job Mr Prescot's organisation had been for her after Rutland County Council had destroyed her lively hood it appeared his service saved her from suicide.
(interestingly no one knows what the Big Society is meant to be and Mr Begy expressed the same. It clear to me either this Country or Rutland is in the Doo Doo taking a phrase from Mr Begy)
we moved onto more questions about RAF Cottesmore, HMP Ashwell, The Chief Excutives Salary, Highways, Village Schools, Environmental Issues and Transport.
There was lively debate the public wanted more involvement, but the Council members were having none of it and frequently showed expressions of disapproval.
A very nice lady is having issues with her Village School I think she is a School governor, she said the Council was not responding to her, what she was saying echoed so much of what many other people have told me.'They don't listen, they don't return calls'
That may be due to the government sending Cllr Heather Wells and her colleagues of to China for some reason?
Another man said my Councillor does not answer my emails. Each complaint was answered by Mr Begy with contact me I will sort it. To be fair to him he does answer e-mails.
The Council needs to be transparent, as one lady requested
I say, listen to its people and be proactive.
Mr Begy thanked the staff for working through these difficult times.
The planned staffing cuts is expected to be around £2.3 million
He said £1.426 million had been saved so far.
A army member was present and he said when RAF goes there will be job creation as the personnel are moved their partners will be leaving retail jobs in the town. Mr Begy said a lot of them worked for the council.
He also said a lot of the junior staff live outside Oakham and the County, because they cant afford to live her, but the good news is most of the senior staff did live in Oakham and Rutland.
