Minutes of the Community Wellbeing and Housing Committee
29 September 2026
Present:
Councillor S.M. Doran (Chair)
Councillor M.M. Attewell (Vice-Chair)
Councillors:
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C. Bateson M. Buck |
K.M. Grant S. Gyawali
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Substitutions: |
Councillors M. Beecher S.C. Mooney K.E. Rutherford |
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Apologies: |
Councillors M. Arnold, J.R. Boughtflower, R. Chandler, R.V. Geach and J.R. Sexton |
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36/26 |
Minutes
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The minutes of the meeting held 02 June 2026 were agreed as a correct record of proceedings.
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37/26 |
Disclosures of Interest
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There were none
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38/26 |
Questions from members of the Public
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There were no questions from members of the public.
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39/26 |
Review of Community Safety Partnership Plan & Priorities 2026
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The Committee received an update from the Council’s Community Safety Manger and the Borough Commander, Inspector Matthew Walton.
The update informed the members of the borough wide crime trends, hotspot policing, retail crime, antisocial behaviour and planned enforcement activity.
The Committee were advised of the percentage changes in detection and prosecution rates. Some of those highlighted were as follows:
Total crime in the Borough – fell by 5%
Residential burglary – fell by 21%
Vehicle Crime – fell by 24%
Fraud – fell by 57%
Drug related crimes – fell by 17%
The Committee asked the Borough Commander how he planned to increase public confidence in the Police. He advised that he would be focussing on publishing successful figures in respect of arrests and successful prosecutions. He also advised that being more visible to the public and engaging with people at public events would be beneficial.
The Borough Commander advised the Committee that there were currently four hotspot areas in the Borough that the Police were focussing on. They were Staines Town Centre, Ashford Church Street, Sunbury Cross and Stanwell.
The Police would continue monthly shoplifting operations, live facial recognition operations, criminal behaviour orders, premises closures, burglary and antisocial behaviour operations, e-bike enforcement, organised crime and drugs operations and recruit more PCSOs to help reduce crime in the Borough.
The Committee resolved to receive the progress update contained in the report.
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40/26 |
Leisure Operating Contract Review April 2025-March 2026
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The Committee received an update from representatives of Places for People Leisure (PfP) on the Eclipse Leisure Centre and the Sunbury Leisure Centre.
As part of the presentation, PfP reported strong attendance and membership growth. Swimming memberships had been affected by learner-pool closures and this type of membership would be targeted for future marketing activity.
PfP reported a 21% increase in fitness, swimming and swimming lesion memberships from October 2024 to March 2026, rising from 7,987 to 10,136 paying members.
Repairs and maintenance costs, staffing costs and cleaning costs were all considerably higher than expected. PfP advised that they were seeking efficiencies without reducing standards.
PfP advised that they currently provided classes and outreach programmes in community venues to ensure that more members of the public were able to participate in care-home programmes and community based sessions.
Members asked for targeted marketing to be undertaken in areas that they had highlighted as having low participation rates such a Shepperton and Stanwell. They also agreed to engage with learning-disability, autism and other small community groups though discounted rates or tailored sessions.
Concerns were expressed by the Committee about the Eclipse leaking ceiling, pool floor and construction related defects. The Committee were advised that any issues with the Eclipse Leisure Centre would be addressed with Wilmot Dixon who built the centre and was not the responsibility of PfP. Investigations into the issues with the ventilation, corrosions and other defects were on-going.
The Committee resolved to receive Places for People Leisure (PfP) Annual Report for the period April 2025 to March 2026 and acknowledge the performance against the Leisure Operating Contract.
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41/26 |
Procurement Framework for Nightly-Paid Accommodation
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The Committee considered a report that sought a recommendation to Council to:
1. Agree in principle to access the Cost and Procurement Advisory Service Temporary Accommodation Open Framework, if established,
2. Agree a maximum budgeted value of the contracts of £2.4 million; and
3. Delegate authority to the Group Head of Community Wellbeing to enter into Call Off contracts with providers on the framework.
Members were advised that the Council, along with many other Local Authorities across the country, was potentially not legally compliant with procurement laws. The Council were in the process of identifying barristers to obtain counsel’s advice to clarify the situation as there was some ambiguity around whether the purchase of nightly paid accommodation fell under the Procurement Act 2023.
The Committee asked how much the provision of nightly paid accommodation had cost the Council over the past 10 years. They were advised that this would be circulated to all members of the committee.
The Committee expressed concerns about the report as they felt it lacked all the relevant information needed to make an informed decision.
It was proposed by Councillor Mooney and seconded by Councillor Attewell, not to make a recommendation to Council and that an all member briefing be convened to discuss this matter further before it was considered at the Council meeting scheduled for 22 October 2026.
The Committee resolved not to make a recommendation to Council on this item and agreed that further details would be communicated to all members through an all member briefing before going onto Council.
Proposed by Councillor Bateson
Seconded by Councillor Attewell to suspend Standing Order 38.3 to allow the meeting to go beyond 3 hours to allow the Committee to consider Items 8 and 9.
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42/26 |
Community Grants Mapping Across Surrey Authorities: Section 24 Position and Decisions Required from Sovereign Authorities
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The Committee considered a report that sought approval to continue the existing Community Grant Programme into 2027/28 to ensure that provision was still in place by continuing the existing provision without creating new long-term commitments.
It was proposed by Councillor Attewell and seconded by Councillor Bateson to enter into a closed session to discuss exempt information.
The Committee resolved to:
1. Approve the continuation of the Council’s existing Community Grant Programme (as approved for 2026/27) into 2027/28 for the currently funded strategic community organisations identified with Appendix 1; and
2. Agree that grant awards are made on the basis of existing funding principles and approved budget provision, subject to normal grant agreements and monitoring arrangements.
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43/26 |
Disabled Facility Grant Policy Update
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The Committee considered a report that was an update to the original report presented to the Committee on 02 June 2026. At the meeting on 02 June 2026 members asked officers to investigate further whether there was the potential to redistribute any Disabled Facilities Grants underspends from other Local Authorities or whether there were any other funding opportunities that could be utilised.
The Committee were advised that no additional funding could be sourced.
The Committee resolved to:
1. Note the outcome of investigations undertaken following the June 2026 Committee Meeting,
2. Note that advice received from MHCLG and Foundations confirms that no mechanism exists to transfer underspent Disabled Funding Grant (DFG) funding between authorities and must be returned through the relevant Government funding arrangements,
3. Approve the amendment of the Council’s Disabled Facilities Grant Policy to move discretionary means test exemptions for level access showers,
4. Approve the introduction of means testing for this adaptation type in line with statutory DFG requirements under the Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1966,
5. Approve the reduction of the aids and adaptations disregard from £2000 to £1000,
6. Delegate authority to the Group Head of Community Wellbeing, in consultation with the Chair and Vice Chair to implement minor operational changes required to enact the revised policy; and
7. Note the intention to align Spelthorne’s DFG Policy with other Surrey Authorities in advance of Local Government Reorganisation.
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44/26 |
Housing Needs - Governance Assurance
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This item was deferred to the next meeting of the Committee on 17 November 2026.
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45/26 |
Forward Plan
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This item was deferred to the next meeting of the Committee on 17 November 2026.
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46/26 |
Community Wellbeing and Housing Committee KPI Update
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This item was deferred to the next meeting of the Committee on 17 November 2026.