Agenda and minutes

To receive any apologies for absence and notification of any substitute Members in accordance with the Constitution.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Parnall and Walsh. There were no substitutes.

To confirm as a correct record the Minutes of the previous meeting.

The Minutes of the previous meeting on 24 February 2022 were approved.

To receive any Declarations of Interest (including the existence and nature of any Party Whip).

There were no Declarations of Interests.

To review and make comments on the Exempt draft IT Strategy 2022/23 to 2026/27 in advance of going to Executive.

The Executive Member for Corporate Policy and Resources presented to Members the IT Strategy 2022/23 to 2026/27.

RESOLVED that the Committee:

Noted the proposals set out in the IT Strategy 2022/23 to 2026/27 discussed in Minute 82 Exempt business and made observations for consideration by the Executive.

To receive a briefing from Place Portfolio Holders – Executive Members of Economic Prosperity, Planning Policy & Delivery, Neighbourhood Services and to consider any issues that arise.

The Committee received presentations and briefings from the three Portfolio Holders responsible for the following areas of the Council’s services: Economic Prosperity, Planning Policy and Place Delivery, and Neighbourhood Services.

Portfolio Holder for Economic Prosperity, Councillor Humphreys, gave the first presentation and overview of work over the past year.

Highlights included:

·         £800k in Business Growth Grants had been allocated in 2021/22.

·         The Job Hub, funded by the Department for Work and Pensions, had been extended for a further year.

·         Awards would take place the following week (w/c 28/03/2022) to celebrate business and would be financed by sponsors.

·         The High Street for Heroes Award had been sponsored by the Council and had received 1,300 votes.

Committee Members asked questions in the following areas:

Retail Spaces in Merstham and Hooley – Members asked what actions were being taken to entice businesses to the retail spaces in Merstham and Hooley. It was noted that high streets were struggling, but that the Council would endeavour to match businesses seeking retail premises with current spaces. The Director of Place would take up this matter outside the meeting.

Portfolio Holder for Planning Policy and Place Delivery, Councillor Biggs gave his presentation.

Highlights for Planning included:

·         Implementation of a local cycling and walking plan.

·         Stage 1 of the infrastructure plan is complete; applications for grants and funding could now be made to improve residents’ health and wellbeing.

·         New Supplementary Planning Documents had been implemented to define character areas of the borough and how to implement sustainability policies.

·         Southern Building Control Partnership was now delivering a positive financial return.

Challenges to come included:

·         Developing the new Local Plan.

·         Gatwick Development Consent Order submission and examination of its Northern Runway Project.

·         Bio diversity in response to the Environment Act.

·         The Strategic Infrastructure Programme review to be completed to establish the need for CIL funding over the next 5 years.

Highlights for Place Delivery included:

·         Marketfield Way, now known as The Rise, would include a cinema complex with bowling, as well as a branch of Tesco. All except one unit had offers on them. Building would be completed by summer 2022 with fitting out of the cinema completed by Easter 2023. Councillors were invited to visit the site.

·         Pitwood Park and Cromwell Road development projects had been completed; a third development project at Lee Street was near completion.

Challenges to come included:

·         The increasing cost of building.

·         Planning permission for Merstham recreation ground.

Committee Members asked questions in the following areas:

Sustainable Construction – Members asked whether the guidance which is enforceable in Redhill and Horley could be enforced in other areas. It was explained that the Supplementary Planning Documents (SPDs) were guidance, however design codes could be decided through SPDs or through examination and in this case it would become part of the plan and would therefore become enforceable.

Members stated that a press release had specified that the guidance must be adhered to and asked how this could be imposed. Officers explained that the design code could be  ...  view the full minutes text for item 78.

To receive and consider the Quarter 3 Performance Report 2021/22 including Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and Budget Monitoring.

The Executive Member for Corporate Policy and Resources presented the Quarter 3 Performance Report 2021/22 which related to the period October to December 2021. Of the ten Key Performance Indicators, seven were on target and three were outside their tolerance. Those outside their tolerance were:

·         Council Tax collection – there had been a delay in Council Tax recovery due to the impact of Covid-19 and the closure of courts. Measures were in place to improve collection performance.

·         Business Rates Collection – Business rates relief and the economic situation due to Covid-19 had led to rent recalculations. However normal collection rates were expected by the end of Quarter 4.

·         Affordable Housing Completions – completions were off target, but units were often completed in batches; a significant number of housing projects were expected to be completed later in the year which would bring numbers in line with the target.

Two new Key Performance Indicators were proposed for 2022/23:

·      Handling of Complaints – The Council was upgrading its complaints handling system and expected to be able to report on key metrics associated with complaints.

·      Sustainability – reduction in the Council’s carbon footprint compared to 2019/20 baseline.

Committee Members asked questions in the following areas:

Affordable Housing Completion – the target for affordable housing had not been met; Members asked how the completion of the RNIB housing project would assist with this when there was no affordable housing included in this project. It was reported that housing projects were in line to deliver roughly within target; 1,600 dwellings were under construction, 208 of these being affordable housing. The Project and Performance Team Leader would check the percentage of affordable housing on the RNIB site.

Members also questioned whether the affordable housing in progress would reach the target of 22%. It was reported that the Local Plan set a target for the entire period of the Local Plan. It was pointed out that affordable housing and non-affordable housing was delivered (and completions reported) differently by industry to the Council, which provides some challenges when tracking trends.

KPI 4 Staff Sickness – Reigate has the second highest rate of Covid-19 in Surrey; Members asked whether staff had been working from home whilst having Covid-19. Members were informed that during the pandemic, short term sickness absence had decreased, however, staff were encouraged not to come into work if they were sick and should not be working at all if they were unwell. The full effect of Covid-19 had not been felt with regards to mental health, but a wealth of support was in place if needed. The reception area would reopen the following week (w/c 21/03/2022) and offices would reopen over the coming weeks, however, hybrid working was working well and had benefits.

KPI benchmarking – Members enquired whether KPIs could be benchmarked against neighbouring boroughs. It was agreed that this should be possible, and the Projects and Performance Team would work with the Portfolio Holder to explore this.

The Deputy Leader and Executive Member for Finance  ...  view the full minutes text for item 79.

To receive and approve the Overview and Scrutiny Annual Report 2021/22.

Members received and approved the Overview and Scrutiny Annual Report 2021/22 to be recommended to Council.

RESOLVED

        I.        That the Annual Report of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee for this year be noted and recommended to the Council.

       II.         That any additional observation be made to the Council on 7 April 2022.

To receive and consider the proposed Overview and Scrutiny Annual Work Programme 2022/23.

Members considered the suggested additional scrutiny topics for 2022/23 and suggested that the planning of greenspaces be added to the review of how greenspaces are managed across the borough. The Chair suggested that the detailed terms of reference be developed by the Chair and Vice Chair.

A second suggestion was that in addition to examining the work of Raven Housing Trust, who worked well with the borough, the work of other housing trusts with smaller numbers of properties in the borough be examined, as these trusts proved more problematic. The Director of People would contact the housing trusts in an attempt to engage them. It was also suggested that Members might assist the Housing Team in dealing with housing associations in their own wards.

RESOLVED

That the proposed Work Plan for 2022/23 as set out in Annex 1 and detailed in the report was approved.

Recommended that members of the Press and public be excluded from the meeting for the following item of business under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 on the grounds that:

(1) It involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act as the information in the report relates to the financial or business affairs of the authority; and

(2) The public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.

RESOLVED - that the Committee considered the information in the exempt report.

To consider any items arising from the Executive which might be subject to the ‘call-in’ procedure in accordance with the provisions of the Overview and Scrutiny Procedure Rules set out in the Constitution.

It was reported that there were no items arising from the Executive that might be subject to the ‘call-in’ procedure in accordance with the provisions of the Overview and Scrutiny Procedure Rules.

To consider any item(s) which, in the opinion of the Chairman, should be considered as a matter of urgency - Local Government Act 1972, Section 100B(4)(b).

(NOTE: Under the Committee and Sub-Committee Procedure Rules set out in the Constitution, items of urgent business must be submitted in writing but may be supplemented by an oral report.)

There were no items of urgent business.