Rutland County Council leader writes about elections in surrounding councils and VE Day celebrations
Many of us enjoyed and valued the recent VE Day events we attended, from the respectful solemnity of the flag raising at Oakham Castle to the celebratory teas in village halls and town parks, writes Gale Waller (Lib Dem), leader of Rutland County Council.
A big thank you to all the organisers. VE Day celebrates the end of the Second World War in Europe, but we must remember that war continued to rage elsewhere in the world and later this year many of us will also mark VJ Day (Victory over Japan). For those of us living in the UK, we owe a debt of gratitude to the many servicemen who fought to protect our shores, those in reserved occupations who provided the necessities of war and the very many civilians supporting the war effort at home.
Their sacrifices gave us the peace we have today. Not everyone in the world has the peace we have and as I remember the beginning of the end of the Second World War, I remember also people in Ukraine and other places who are still hoping for peace.
County and unitary councils surrounding Rutland underwent elections at the beginning of May. Many good councillors lost their seats and many new councillors have been elected. That is democracy. Our neighbouring county and unitary councils have all changed political control which potentially impacts on Rutland, as we must work with other councils to achieve the Government’s aim of local government reorganisation. The new leader in Leicestershire is on record as saying he will support the one Leicestershire unitary model (without Rutland) and will not cede land to Leicester City, but has also said he is prepared to discuss the options as he is looking for the greatest savings. The new Leader in Lincolnshire has not, as I write, made any statement on local government reorganisation.
Meanwhile, on May 2, we were expecting the Government’s response to the suggested patterns of local government reorganisation submitted by councils in March. This did not happen, so we continue to wait for Government’s assessment of the submissions made. Rutland submitted a bid with Leicestershire’s district councils and was included in a bid by North and South Kesteven. Full details of the interim plans can be found here: www.rutland.gov.uk/devolution.
Much more work will be done over the summer, prior to the submission of final plans in November this year. If you would like to be involved with the various discussions that will be taking place, keep an eye on our website for details and register for updates.
Meanwhile, on May 20, our cabinet will be considering approving a new School Travel Assistance policy designed to bring special educational needs, under 16s and 16-19 policies together in one place. If approved, the policy will ensure that Rutland is legally compliant in what we do, as well as being efficient.
We also have our annual council on May 22 when we review our constitution and elect our committee chairs and chairman of the council. The chairman of the council’s role is to chair Rutland’s council meetings. He or she must be politically neutral; political leadership of the council is given by the leader. The chairman also represents Rutland at civic functions and is the main ambassador for the council. If you are interested to know more, the agendas and reports for both meetings can be read in full online by visiting: www.rutland.gov.uk/meetings.
