Agenda and minutes

To receive apologies for absence and notification of substitutions.

Councillor Sexton, Councillor Barnard and Councillor Dunn (substituted by Councillor Bateson).

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

There were none.

The Chair, or his nominee, to answer any questions raised by members of the public in accordance with Standing Order 40.

At the time of publication of this agenda no questions had been received.

There were none.

To consider any issues raised by ward councillors in accordance with Standing Order 34.2

At the time of publication of this agenda no ward issues had been received.

There were none.

The report sets out the process to encourage developers to consult with the community at an early stage in the pre-application process.  The report also details the roles of members and the process around formal briefings.

The proposals aimed to encourage better quality consultation with residents and businesses on larger or more sensitive planning applications.  Whilst developers were not obliged to undertake any of the processes set out within the document, the Committee welcomed the introduction of a framework through which consultation could take place.  It was noted that the proposed processes were the responsibility of developers and not Council officers.

The proposals, as set out in the report, were agreed.

This report seeks the formal adoption of the Council’s Health and Safety Policy (2022-2024).

The committee heard that health and safety policies tended to conform to a relatively standard template, with inclusions relevant to the organisation made where appropriate.  More detailed procedures supplemented this policy.  The hierarchy of responsibilities within the document was highlighted and typical activities carried out under the ”active monitoring” heading were described.

The proposed policy, which was to be shared with Knowle Green Estates and Spelthorne Direct Services, was due to be discussed by their boards in the coming days.

The Committee:

·         Agreed the that the corporate Health and Safety Policy be adopted.

·         Authorised the Chief Executive to agree minor variations to the adopted health and safety policy, and requested that reference be made to links with partner organisations when events were held in public open spaces.

To consider funding support for Knowle Green Estates for the period from 1 April 2022 through to 31 March 2024.

This report contains exempt information within the meaning of Part 1 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:

Paragraph 3 – Information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information) and in all the circumstances of the case, the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information because, disclosure to the public would prejudice the financial position of the authority in the bidding process for the site/services by allowing other bidders to know the position of the Council.  This in turn prejudices the Council by (i) distorting the bids process and (ii) prejudicing the opportunity for the Council to acquire a site/service to enable regeneration in the Borough.

It was proposed by Councillor Boughtflower, Seconded by Councillor Bateson, and resolved that the public and press be excluded during consideration of this item, in accordance with paragraph 3 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended) for the reasons set out in the report.

See separate exempt minutes.

The Committee agreed the proposals, as set out in the report, subject to the funding support arrangement being reviewed by 31 March 2023 to consider support for a further year in 2023/24.

This report provides a summary of the forecast outturn position for the financial year 2021/22 as at 31 December 2021.

The Chief Accountant amended the report to note that, due to a coding error, the sinking fund for the Charter Building was incorrectly noted.  This did not affect the overall outturn.

The current underspend and full-time equivalent staffing numbers were reviewed by the Committee.  The Committee requested a breakdown of the figure set aside for resourcing management of investment assets.

The Committee noted the forecast outturn for 2021/22 as at 31 December 2021.

The capital monitoring report covers the cumulative actual expenditure to date, against the cumulative council approved capital programme budget and compares this against the latest forecast outturn from officers.

The main changes to this quarter’s report were due to a small number of significant projects (Oast House, the Leisure Centre and Victory Place- although given that the report was based on the position as at 31 March 2021 it did not reflect in the estimated outturn the recent inflationary uplifts for the Leisure Centre and Victory Place).  There were significant pressures arising from inflation, particularly in the construction sector.  The funding market was frequently reviewed in an attempt to mitigate increasing project costs as much as possible.

The Committee requested that current project budgets be compared to their original budget as well as the last quarter.

The Committee noted the current level of overspend on capital expenditure against its Capital Programme provision as at 30 September 2021.

To note the draft calendar of meetings for the 2022/23 municipal year, following consideration by the Committee System Working Group.

The draft calendar of meetings for the 2022/23 municipal year had been considered by the Committee System Working Group, and was largely based on the previous year’s calendar, with various adjustments brought about by learning points from the first few service committees.  The calendar had also been extended to the end of July 2023 to assist with forward planning towards the end of the upcoming municipal year.

The Committee:

·         Recommended that Council approve the calendar of meetings for 2022-2023 as set out in Appendix 1.

·         Noted that alterations may be made to the calendar of meetings prior to it being agreed by Council, where such amendments became necessary.

To consider the forward plan for committee business.

There was discussion over whether the Community Lettings Policy item fulfilled the definition of a key decision.

The forward plan was agreed.

To consider any business deemed as urgent by the chair.

Ukrainian refugees

Support for Ukrainian refugees would be raised at an upcoming Home Office meeting where support provided to Afghan refugees was to be discussed.

Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations

A portion of the underspend on the Revenue Budget would be used to provide a one-off uplift to the Better Neighbourhood Grant for each ward, to support communities in celebrating the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. Further information would follow in due course.