Agenda and minutes

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

The minutes of the previous meeting held on 9 November 2022 were approved.

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

There were no apologies for absence.

Councillors Avery and Turner attended the meeting remotely.

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

There were no declarations of interest.

To receive a report from the Budget Scrutiny Panel from its meeting on 29 November 2022.

     I.        To consider the provisional budget proposals for 2023/24

    II.        To make recommendations to the Executive in line with the Council’s budget and policy procedure rules.

This report will follow as an addendum.

Members received the report from the O&S Budget Scrutiny Panel which met on 29 November 2022 to consider the provisional Budget proposals for 2023/24 and to make recommendations to the Executive in line with the Council’s budget and policy procedure rules.

Councillor Harrison, Chair of the Budget Scrutiny Panel, summarised the findings from the Panel to the Committee which were set out in the report to the Committee as an addendum to the agenda pack, and in the recommendations set out in the minutes and the report. He drew attention to the fact that the financial settlement from Government was yet to be published and that the Overview and Scrutiny Committee would have an opportunity to view and comment on any consequential changes to the budget at the Overview and Scrutiny Committee meeting on 19 January 2023, prior to the Executive meeting on 26 January 2023. He thanked the Portfolio Holder, the Chief Finance Officer and the Finance team for their report and responses to the advance questions.

Members made comments and asked questions on the following areas:

Environmental Sustainability Strategy – Members noted that two years into the Environmental Sustainability Strategy, there was funding set aside in a Reserve but no capital scheme in place yet to action upgrades to Council buildings.

Reserves – Members were concerned that Reserves, necessarily a one-off source of funding, would be drawn on in the 2023/24 budget proposals. The Chair informed the Committee that although Reserves would be used, funds had also been added to Reserves in previous years; the Panel had requested a schedule of Reserves for the last three years showing the use of Reserves, additions made to Reserves, and the resulting balance levels, which would be available for the January meeting.

Council Tax – Members noted that the Government had announced it was permitting a 2.99% increase in Council Tax, rather than a 1.99%, without a referendum being held. Members were concerned that Government funding might be reduced in the Provisional Local Government Settlement in December, which then might necessitate an increase in Council Tax charges to offset the reduction. This would be discussed further once the final Settlement had been published.

It was noted that the Portfolio Holder for Finance and Governance and the Chief Finance Officer had provided clarification on the £1.5 million budget for staff pay increases that was not specifically referenced in the budget recommendations.

Resolved – that in response to the Service and Financial Planning 2023/24 report and supporting documents to Executive on 17 November 2022, the following Recommendations from the Budget Scrutiny Panel, and approved by the Overview and Scrutiny Committee on 8 December 2022, be submitted for consideration by the Executive, that:

(i)          The national and local policy context and significant financial uncertainties at this stage in the budget-setting process were noted, along with the associated uncertainties and risks.

(ii)        The service proposals set out in the report which seek to respond to this context and deliver corporate policies be endorsed.

(iii)  ...  view the full minutes text for item 44.

To receive an update on Quarter 2 2022/23 performance.

     I.        To note Key Performance Indicator (KPI) performance for Q2 2022/23 as detailed in the report and in Annex 1 and make any observations to the Executive.

    II.        To note the Budget Monitoring forecasts for Q2 2022/23 as detailed in the report and at Annex 2 and make any observations to the Executive.

The Committee received the Performance Reports for Quarter 2 2022/23 including the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and Budget Monitoring forecasts Quarter 2 2022/23, both for revenue and capital.

Quarter 2 2022/23 KPI performance

Councillor Lewanski, Portfolio Holder for Corporate Policy & Resources, gave an overview of the KPI performance as set out in the report and at Annex 1. Of the ten KPIs reported on, nine were on target or within agreed tolerances. One KPI was red rated for Quarter 2, KPI 3 staff turnover, which had a rate of 16% compared to the target set of 12%. In recent years the Council had seen lower than expected levels of turnover, probably due to the pandemic, and levels had now increased.

Advance questions had been received on this item. The advance questions and responses can be viewed here:

Document Advance Questions and Answers OS 8 December 2022 | Reigate and Banstead Borough Council (moderngov.co.uk)

The Committee requested that the Member asking the advance question be identified on the advance question and written response document to enable the Chair to address the Member to establish whether there were any supplementary questions.

Members discussed and asked questions on the following areas:

Planning Permission – The written response to question 2 regarding planning permission was referenced. Members commented that the KPI did not show the number of projects which had received planning permission but where work had not yet commenced and asked for this data. It was commented that the commencement of building work was out of the Council’s control and did not constitute a KPI, but that this data was reported to Planning Committee. It was confirmed that information on pipeline permissions is collected and published annually in the Housing Monitor produced by the Planning team. A written answer would be provided.

Staff Turnover – Members asked whether exit interviews were performed and whether there were any services where turnover was high. It was confirmed that exit interviews are undertaken by Human Resources. Staff turnover was interrogated regularly. The level of staff turnover was usually 10-12%; this level had decreased during COVID but was now increasing, due to several factors including migration; the ability of working remotely for London boroughs which offered higher salaries; an increase in early retirement and employees making different life choices. The level of staff turnover was not expected to decrease before the end of the municipal year. The Council extends a rounded offer for staff and is a stable local authority. Pay negotiations for 2023/24 were well underway. It was confirmed that there were no services with concentrated turnover.

Food Waste – It had been reported that more food waste was thrown away than was collected in the Borough and that approximately 6,000 properties did not have a food waste bin. Members asked whether the level of food waste recycling was due to lack of participation by those homes where a bin is provided and asked for data on this. A written answer would be provided.

Quarter 2  ...  view the full minutes text for item 45.

To receive a progress update on work aligned with the Council’s Commercial Strategy and objectives.

     I.        To note the Commercial Strategy Report at Annex 1 and make any observations to the Executive.

Councillor Archer, Portfolio Holder for Investment and Companies, introduced the first annual update on the Council’s Commercial Strategy, part one of which was agreed in November 2020 and part two in December 2021. Since the Commercial Strategy was approved, the Council has also implemented the Financial Sustainability Programme, covering a number of complementary activities. Updates on that Programme are provided quarterly to this Committee and to the Executive.

Commercial activities are guided by the three key principles set out in the Strategy. These are that the Council will be ethical and meet statutory responsibilities; that commercial decisions will be robust, consistent and supported by due diligence; and that income will be used to support financial sustainability and services for residents. The Council's commercial activity can be broken down into two main areas, commercial assets and commercial services. Information on company activity is available in the parallel Companies Performance Report, which was also on the agenda for this meeting.

Progress this year has been positive, with some work on commercial assets making a particular contribution. Noteworthy achievements include securing almost £1.2million from new property lettings, preventing nearly £400k of costs from void properties, and good progress on developments at The Rise and Wheatley Court enabling cautious income projections of £250k in 2024/25, increasing to £800k by 2027/28. The Council has also agreed to buy temporary emergency housing units to improve the housing offer and reduce costs, approved a programme of re-letting cafe premises in parks to improve income and is developing a pipeline of future opportunities around remaining key properties and potential land assembly. When it comes to making Council services more commercial, this year the focus has been on the review of fees and charges which has identified approximately £1million in savings and additional income. More information on those charges is available in the annual budget papers.

There have been areas where progress has not been as originally envisaged or where plans have had to change, following changes to regulations on Government funding. The Council is no longer progressing plans for a holding company and plans to strengthen the Council's procurement and contract management skills base have also been slower than first hoped due to recruitment challenges. The plan is to continue to work towards delivering identified actions in the coming year, ensuring that commercial activity continues to be a component in wider financial sustainability work.

Members discussed and asked questions on the following areas:

Commercial Assets – Page 56 of the report states that three projects (Camelia Close/Pitwood Park, Lee Street Horley and Wheatley Court/Cromwell Road) have been successfully concluded, Members asked for the details of the capital budget outturn for the projects. A written exempt response would be provided.

Members further asked for a “lessons learnt” report following completion of the projects at Cromwell Road and Pitwood Park. A written response would be provided.

Commercial Services – Members noted that the option of establishing a housing company had been found not to be financially viable and asked  ...  view the full minutes text for item 46.

To receive an update on the performance of Council owned companies.

     I.        To note the Companies Performance Update – Winter 2022 report and make any observations for consideration by the Commercial Ventures Executive Sub-Committee.

The Committee received a six-monthly update on the performance of companies owned or part-owned by the Council from the Portfolio Holder for Investment and Companies, Councillor Archer. Further information was set out in the Companies Performance update Report - Winter 2022.

The three operational companies owned or part-owned by the Council currently consisted of:

·         Greensands Holdings Ltd (a property development and investment company wholly owned by the Council which owns an office building and a plot of development land). Members noted that the current directors of the company were Derek Beck and Councillor Michalowski.

·         Horley Business Park Development LLP (which is a joint venture to bring forward planning and development of employment land in the Horley area with Millhill Properties (Horley) Ltd and Berwick Hill Properties Ltd). The Council is a partner in this proposed development. This was not currently performing in line with objectives, due to limitations placed on the operation of the joint venture. A resolution has been reached and the agreed approach will be progressed in order to move forward in a way which aligns with the Council’s objectives.

·         Pathway for Care Ltd, a supported living provider, where the Council is a minority shareholder. The majority shareholding was held by Transforming Healthcare Group Ltd. Additional information was being sought from the majority shareholders on current performance.

This item was scrutinised more fully during the exempt part of the meeting due to the confidential nature of the parts of the discussion held.

RESOLVED that the Committee:

Noted the Companies Performance Update, Winter 2022, as set out in the report to the Committee and made observations for the consideration by the Commercial Ventures Executive Sub-Committee.

RECOMMENDED that members of the Press and public be

excluded from the meeting for the following items of business

under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Ac 1972 on the

ground that:

i.  It involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as

defined in paragraph 2 of Part 1 of Schedule 12 A of the Act;

and

ii. The public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs

the public interest in disclosing the information.

To receive an update on the performance of Council companies.

     I.        To note the Companies Performance Update – Winter 2022 report and make any observations for consideration by the Commercial Ventures Executive Sub-Committee.

This item was scrutinised more fully during the exempt part of the meeting due to the confidential nature of the parts of the discussion held.

To consider and agree any changes to the schedule for Overview and Scrutiny Committee’s Forward Work Programme 2022/23 and to consider the Action Tracker from the previous meeting.

Members considered the Forward Work Programme 2022/23 for the Committee. The Chair informed the Committee that the Review of the Work of the Greenspaces Team, which was scheduled to take place in January 2023 would need to be postponed as there was currently no Countryside Manager in post. The Chair proposed that this item be rescheduled to June 2023, which was agreed by the Committee.

The Leisure and Culture Strategy was yet to be finalised and was likely to be presented to the Committee in March 2023.

The Asset Management Plan appeared in the Forward Work Plan as a pending item. This had been discussed previously and the Chair asked Members to inform him following the meeting whether this was an item that should be included for further discussion in the work plan.

Members asked whether the Playing Field Strategy would be presented to the Committee. It was confirmed that the Playing Field Strategy was an item for the Planning Committee and would not be presented to this committee or the Executive. The Managing Director would ask officers for an update on this strategy.

Members noted that there was an asset management spreadsheet on the website and requested that assets be illustrated on a map to accompany the Asset Management Plan. The Managing Director agreed to ask officers if it would be possible to provide a map of Council assets.

RESOLVED that the Committee:

Noted the Forward Work Plan and the action tracker and agreed the proposed changes to the Forward Work Plan.

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 was no urgent business.