Agenda and minutes

To confirm as a correct record the minutes of the Council meeting held on 19 October 2017.

The minutes of the Council meeting held on 19 October 2017 were agreed as a correct record.

To receive any disclosures of interest from Councillors in accordance with the Council’s Code of Conduct for Members.

There were no disclosures of interest.

To receive any announcements from the Mayor.

The Mayor, Councillor V.J. Leighton extended congratulations on behalf of the Council to Councillors Penny and Quentin Edgington on their marriage.

She thanked St James Senior Boys School in Ashford for hosting the Mayor’s Civic Reception for business and especially Sir Peter Bonfield CBE for being the first speaker at this annual event.

She reported donations made to the Mayor’s Charity Fund from Albert Duke of York Lodge, Hampton Masonic Lodge, the Salvation Army Citadel and that the proceeds of the Sunbury and Shepperton Rotary Santa Sleigh collection would be donated to the Mayor’s Charity Fund. 

She advised councillors of some upcoming events for their diaries:

Friday 19th January - wine tasting evening at the Holiday Inn

Friday 9th February - Mayor’s Music Night event at Sunbury Cricket Club

Tuesday 13th February - cinema evening at Shepperton Studios showing Paddington 2. 

Wednesday 21st March - race night at Kempton Park.

To receive any announcements from the Leader.

The Leader made the following announcements:

He thanked all staff and councillors who helped arrange the many excellent community based events which had taken place in the Borough.

He joined Cllr Maureen Attewell, Cabinet Member for Wellbeing in thanking the Ward Councillors who had donated money from their Better Neighbourhood Grants for Christmas gifts to our Meals on Wheels clients.

The Benwell Centre in Sunbury-on-Thames had received £1,300 from Tesco’s Bags of Help community grant scheme to help it create a gardening club for its members and residents of Mitchison Court.

He updated councillors on the asset acquisition strategy: The Council had purchased Hanover House, which sits on the River Thames next to Bridge Street car park site in Staines-upon-Thames and was looking at options for the property once the current lease expired towards the end of next year; We had also purchased the White House next to Kingston Road council depot, with the intention of redeveloping the site to help address specific housing needs; Contractors had been appointed to develop the former Churchill Hall in Sunbury-on-Thames into three 2-bedroomed properties for affordable housing and the former Bugle Returns Public House in Upper Halliford into eight flats, both due to commence shortly; A prior approval application had been submitted for the first phase development of the Benwell House site in Sunbury-on-Thames, to convert the main building into flats, with works due to commence in the Spring of next year.

Spelthorne had published its Green Belt Assessment which sets out how areas of the Borough are performing against Green Belt criteria.  The assessment would form part of the Council's evidence for the Local Plan which identifies the needs of the Borough in relation to housing, the economy, community facilities and infrastructure.

He announced a new project, “Every ward at its best” to support councillors locally to make an impact in their communities by improving sites that seemed to be ‘forgotten’; such as derelict properties, fly-tipping hot spots and other unreported nuisances. It also included looking at any underutilised Council assets. He encouraged councillors of all parties to support this initiative.

Spelthorne Council was working with partners to explore the possibility of a light rail link between Staines and a newly expanded Heathrow. This would bring benefits to the borough, including very substantial economic benefits to Staines, much less environmental impact compared to a conventional heavy rail route and directly aid residents who work at Heathrow get to their place of employment.

He reported that the Procurement and Contract Management team had presented a report to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee with recommendations on how the council can increase the amount of goods and services sourced from local businesses.

The Leader was delighted to announce that as of today he had terminated Daniel Mouawad’s probationary period and his position is now permanent and substantive.

Finally, the Leader thanked staff and Councillors for their support and hard work over the last year.  Despite the financial difficulties facing the Council, Spelthorne had continued to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 609/17

To receive any announcements from the Chief Executive.

The Chief Executive, Daniel Mouawad, announced the setting up of a small dedicated unit in the Council focused on delivery of commercial acquisitions. The acquisitions would generate net income streams for the Council to support the provision of services to residents and the delivery of housing development projects within the Borough, such as Benwell, increasing the supply of a mix of housing tenures. The additional resources were being funded from amounts prudently set aside from the rental streams of the Council’s commercial asset acquisitions.

He thanked all the staff throughout the Council: including the depot, Community and day centres and at Knowle Green, for their sterling support over the last year and looked forward to making 2018 a most productive year.

The Leader, or his nominee, to answer any questions raised by members of the public in accordance with Standing Order 14.

Note: the deadline for questions to be considered at this meeting is 12 noon on Thursday 7 December 2017.

There were no questions submitted from members of the public.

To receive any petitions from members of the public.

There were none.

The Council considered the recommendation from Cabinet on a calendar of meetings for the Municipal Year 2018-2019.

Resolved that Council approves the calendar of meetings for 2018-2019 as attached to these minutes.

The Council considered the recommendation from Cabinet seeking approval of a supplementary capital            estimate for property acquisitions within the Borough of £200m for 2017/18. This would enable the Council to be able to bid for high quality investment opportunities which may arise over the coming months.

Resolved that Council:

1.    approves the supplementary capital estimate for property acquisitions within the Borough of £200m for 2017/18 to support the economic development and well-being of the Borough and investment purposes;

2.    agrees the revised set of prudential indicators which include increasing the operational boundary and authorised limit for external debt by £200m; and

3.    re-confirms the Council’s Minimum Revenue Provision policy to ensure prudent provision is made to cover repayment of loans.

To note the annual report of the Local Government Ombudsman on complaints made in the 2016/17 financial year.

The Council received an annual report on complaints made to the Local Government Ombudsman which showed that for the financial year 2016-2017, the Ombudsman decided 9 complaints in relation to Spelthorne Borough Council of which it upheld 1.

The Ombudsman’s full decision in respect of the upheld complaint was attached to the report.

Resolved to note the report on complaints made to the Local Government Ombudsman for 2016/17.

To receive the report from the Leader of the Council on the work of the Cabinet at its meetings held on 22 November 2017 (attached) and 12 December 2017 (to follow).

The Leader of the Council, Councillor I.T.E. Harvey, presented the reports of the Cabinet meetings held on 22 November and 12 December which outlined the matters the Cabinet had decided since the last Council meeting.

Councillor P. Edgington asked the following question on the Leader’s report:

“Can the Leader explain how Cabinet is making sure we are GDPR compliant and why this is not in the Corporate Risk Register?”

The Leader gave the following written response after the meeting:

“The Council has been proactive in its response to the forthcoming implementation of the General Data Protection Regulations in May 2018.   Unlike many authorities the Council took action to appoint an Information Governance Officer (IGO) in January 2017 to assist with implementation.     The IGO has developed a detailed action plan to allow the Council to track progress towards compliance and has undertaken training of staff. The IGO continues to work across the Council to help services ensure they will be compliant.  As GDPR is considered a significant corporate risk it is recorded on the corporate risk register at Paragraph 7a.i.-v., which allows regular reviews of progress and “flagging of any issues”.”    

To receive the report from the Chairman of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee on the work of his Committee.

The Chairman of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee, Councillor C.A. Davis, presented his report which outlined the matters the Committee had decided since the last Council meeting.

To receive the reports from the Chairman of the Planning Committee on the work of his Committee at its meetings held on 15 November 2017 (attached) and 13 December 2017 (to follow).

The Chairman of the Planning Committee, Councillor R.A. Smith-Ainsley, presented his report which outlined the matters the Committee had decided since the last Council meeting.

To receive any motions from Councillors in accordance with Standing Order 19.

Note: The deadline for motions to be considered at this meeting was Monday 4 December 2017 and none were received.

There were no motions.

The Leader, or his nominee, to answer questions from Councillors on issues in their Wards, in accordance with Standing Order 15.

Note: the deadline for questions to be considered at this meeting is 12 noon on Thursday 7 December 2017.

There were no questions on Ward issues.

The Leader, or his nominee, to answer questions from Councillors on matters affecting the Borough, in accordance with Standing Order 15.

Note: the deadline for questions to be considered at this meeting is 12 noon on Thursday 7 December 2017.

The following question has been received from Councillor Q.R. Edgington:

“Has the Leader had any recent discussions or meetings with any of the Surrey District Council Leaders regarding re-organisation of Local Government in Surrey?”

The Mayor reported that one general question had been received, in accordance with Standing Order 15, from Councillor Q.R. Edgington:

“Has the Leader had any recent discussions or meetings with any of the Surrey District Council Leaders regarding re-organisation of Local Government in Surrey?”

The Leader, Councillor I.T.E. Harvey, responded with “no.”

In accordance with Council Standing Order 15.2, Councillor Q.R. Edgington asked the following supplementary question:

“The MP for Spelthorne, Kwasi Kwarteng, said recently at a public meeting in Ashford that he thinks Local Government in Surrey needs to be re-organised. Does the Leader of the Council agree with the MP for Spelthorne?”

The Leader, Councillor I.T.E. Harvey, gave the following response to the supplementary question during the meeting:

“I don’t think the policy of Westminster is particularly relevant, however, what we will do in Spelthorne is reflect the views of residents and one of our main financial strategies is driving towards that.”

As this was the last meeting of the Council in 2017, the Mayor, Councillor V.J. Leighton extended season’s greetings and best wishes for the New Year to all Members and Officers.