Corporate Policy and Resources Committee

 

 

 

Decisions taken at the meeting held on Tuesday, 17 February 2026 and Monday 23 February 2026.

 

 

Meeting Time:

7.00 pm

 

Meeting Venue:

Council Chamber, Council Offices, Knowle Green, Staines-upon-Thames TW18 1XB

 

 

 

 

PRESENT:    

 

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1.            Apologies and Substitutes

 

Apologies were received from Councillor Boughtflower. Councillor Howkins was present as Councillor Boughtflower’s substitute.

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2.            Minutes

 

The minutes of the meeting held on 19 January 2026 were agreed as a correct record.

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3.            Disclosures of Interest

 

Councillors Attewell, Mooney and Sexton advised that they were also Surrey County Councillors.

 

Councillor Nichols advised that he was on the Board of Directors for Knowle Green Estates.

 

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4.            Questions from members of the Public

 

There were none.

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5.            Updated Improvement and Recovery Plan*

 

The Committee resolved to approve the revised Draft Improvement and Recovery Plan subject to it being amended to reflect the areas that the Committee asked to be addressed.

 

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6.            Q2 Corporate KPI Results

 

The Committee resolved to agree that they had been informed and assured with regard to the Corporate Key Performance Indicators data for Quarter 2 2025/26.

 

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7.            Pay Award 2026/27 and Pay Award 2025/26 (back dated award)

 

The Committee resolved to make a recommendation to Council to approve a pay award for 2026/27 and a backdated pay award for 2025/26 as follows:

 

1.    2026/27 – a consolidated pay award of 4% on all spinal points and personal salaries (across the board increase); and

 

2.    2025/26 – a consolidated backdated pay award of 0.2% in recognition of the difference between the National Pay Award and Spelthorne Council’s pay award of the previous two year period. Payment to be backdated to 01 April 2025.

 

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8.            Pay Policy 2026/27

 

The Committee resolved to make a recommendation to Council to approve the Pay Policy Statement.

 

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9.            Q3 Revenue Monitoring Report

 

The Committee resolved  to acknowledge the forecast Revenue Outturn that reflected the latest forecast of budget holders.

 

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10.          Q3 Capital Monitoring Report*

 

The Committee resolved to approve the quarter 3 2025/226 Capital Programme Budget Monitoring Report for 2026/27 for the Council, showing a £0.238m overspend to be covered by earmarked reserves.

 

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11.          Draft Detailed Revenue Budget and Medium Term Financial Strategy

 

The Committee resolved to:

 

Agree that it had considered the Statutory Section 25 and Section 26 Report of the Chief Finance Officer (Section 151 Officer) in Appendix J in determining:

 

A)   The proposed budget for 2026/27,

B)   The medium-term financial plans for 2026/27 to 2028/29 and

C)   The robustness of estimates and reserves projections; and

 

noted the level of earmarked reserves as at 31 March 2026 was £32.2m and available earmarked reserves forecast to be available were £27.1m as set out in Appendix F,

 

2. make a recommendation to Council to approve the following:

 

1. the General Fund Revenue Budget for 2026/27 including:

 

i)     The General Fund Budget Requirement of £19.318m for 2026/27,

ii)    Growth and pressures of £1.252m for 2026/27

iii)   Proposed savings of £5.752m for 2026/27

 

2. An increase in the Council’s element of the Council Tax for a band D property by £6.64 per annum for 2026/27 (2.90%), giving a band D Council Tax of £235.50 per year, excluding the precepts from Surrey County Council and the Surrey Police and Crime Commissioner.

 

3. Note the following Council Tax increases and precepts as detailed in Appendix I:

 

a)    Surrey County Council had increased Council Tax for a Band D property to £1,938.42 per annum, a 4.99% increase on 2025/26, resulting in a precept of £80,014,295.

 

b)    The Police and Crime Commissioner for Surrey had increased Council Tax for a Band D property to £352.57 per annum, a £15 or 4.4% increase on 2025/26, resulting in a precept of £14,553.420.

 

c)    This resulted in an overall Band D Council Tax of £2,526.49 for Spelthorne residents, an increase of £113.71 (4.5%) per annum.

 

d)    The Spelthorne Borough Council element of the Council Tax was 9.3% of the total bill for Spelthorne residents

 

4.    The calculations for determining the Council Tax requirement for the year 2026/27 in accordance with the Local Government Finance Act 1992 as set out in the Council Tax Resolution in Appendix I,

 

5.    The Fees and Charges for 2026/27 as set out in Appendix H; and

 

6.    The continuation of the complete disregard of war pension/armed forces pension income from benefit calculations as set out in paragraph 2.22 of this report

 

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12.          Capital Strategy and Capital Programme 2026-2027

 

The Committee resolved to make a recommendation to Council to consider and approve the proposed Capital Strategy and Capital Programme for 2026/27 to 2029 as set out in the report.

 

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13.          Treasury Management Strategy 2026/27

 

This item was considered at the carry-over meeting held Monday 23 February

 

The Committee resolved to make a recommendation to Council to approve the Treasury Management Strategy for 2026/27 including:

 

1.    The Annual Investment Strategy for 2026/27,

2.    The Minimum Revenue Provision Policy Statement for 2026/27; and

3.    The Prudential Indicators for 2026/27.

 

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14.          Forward Plan

 

This item was considered at the carry-over meeting held Monday 23 February

 

The Committee resolved to note the contents of the Forward Plan.

 

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15.          Exclusion of Public & Press (Exempt Business)

 

Proposed by Councillor Bateson

Seconded by Councillor Gibson

 

The Committee resolved to exclude the public and press for the discussion of the remaining items, in view of the likely disclosure of exempt information within the meaning of Part 3 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972 as amended by the Local Government (Access to Information) Act 1985 and by the Local Government (Access to Information) (Variation) Order 2006.

 

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16.          Urgent Actions

 

This item was considered at the carry-over meeting held Monday 23 February

 

The Committee resolved to note the urgent action.

 

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17.          Affordable Housing Delivery with Commuted Sum*

 

This item was considered at the carry-over meeting held Monday 23 February

 

The Committee resolved to:

 

1.    Approve Option 1, as outlined in the report; and

 

2.    Authorise the Strategic Housing Lead, in consultation with the Section 151 Officer and the Group Head of Community Wellbeing and Housing, to negotiate acquisitions based on Option 1, with reference to best value principles.

 

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18.          Disposal of A Commercial Office Asset

 

The Committee resolved to:

 

1.    Agree in principle the offer and the proposed disposal,

 

2.    Make a recommendation to Council to:

 

a)    Approve the proposed disposal on the terms set out in this report,

 

b)    Delegate authority to the Chief Finance Officer and Group Head of Assets, in consultation with the Chair and Vice-Chair of the Corporate Policy and Resources Committee and the chair and Vice-Chair of the Commercial Assets Sub-Committee, to agree minor variations to the Heads of Terms and the sale price within a tolerance of 10% of the agreed price; and

 

c)    Delegate authority to the Group Head of Corporate Governance to enter into a transfer to complete the disposal and any ancillary legal documentation required in relation to the proposed disposal.

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NOTES:-

 

(1)          Members are reminded that the “call-in” procedure as set out in Part 4b of the Constitution, shall not apply to the following matters:

 

(a)         Urgent decisions as defined in Paragraph 9. of the Call-in Scrutiny Procedure Rules;

(b)         Decisions to award a contract following a lawful procurement process;

(c)          Those decisions:

                                i.          reserved to full Council

                               ii.          on regulatory matters

                              iii.          on member conduct issues.

 

(2)          Those matters to which Note (1) applies, if any, are identified with an asterisk [*] in the above Minutes.

 

(3)          Within three working days of the date on which this decision is published, not less than three members from two or more political groups by submission of the standard call-in pro-forma, may ask for that decision to be referred to a meeting of the Corporate Policy and Resources Committee for review (call-in). The completed pro-forma must be received by the Proper Officer by 5pm three working days after publication of the decision.

 

(4)          The members exercising the right of call-in must not be members of the Committee which considered the matter.

 

(5)          When calling in a decision for review the members doing so must demonstrate the following exceptional circumstances:

 

a.    Evidence which suggests that the decision maker, did not take the decision in accordance with the principles set out in Article 11 (Decision Making); or

 

b.    Evidence that the decision fails to support one or more of the Council’s Corporate Plan priorities to the detriment of the majority of the Borough’s residents; or

 

c.    Evidence that explicit Council Policy or legal requirements were disregarded.

 

(6)          Once the request for ‘call-in’ has been deemed valid by the Monitoring Officer the matter will be suspended until the call-in procedure has been exhausted.

 

(7)          The Chief Executive, in consultation with the relevant officer, will determine if the interests of the Council or Borough would be prejudiced by a delay in implementing a decision such that the call-in cannot wait until the next ordinary meeting of the Corporate Policy and Resources Committee.

 

(8)          Where the call-in cannot wait until the next ordinary meeting, the Monitoring Officer will arrange an extraordinary meeting of the Corporate Policy and Resources Committee to review the decision subject to call-in at the earliest possible opportunity.

 

(9)          In exceptional cases, where there is clear evidence that a delay to the implementation of a decision would lead to a specific and significant financial or reputational harm to the Council, a call-in request may be refused by the Chief Executive following consultation with the Chair and Vice-Chair of Corporate Policy and Resources Committee.

 

(10)       In reviewing a matter referred to it under the call-in scrutiny procedure rules, the Corporate Policy and Resources Committee shall follow the procedure for dealing with call-in scrutiny at its meetings as set out in Part 4b of the Constitution.

 

(11)       The deadline of three working days for "call in" in relation to the above decisions by the Committee is the close of business on 27 February 2026.