Agenda and minutes

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

A Committee Member requested that the following addition be made to the public minutes of the previous meeting:

Item 5 Environmental Sustainability Strategy: Annual Report

Members requested consistency in the separate recycling bins provided in open spaces for different streams of recycling and consistency in the signage provided, across the borough, in order to avoid recycling contamination. It was confirmed that the Waste and Recycling team have secured CIL funding to introduce solar compacting bins in public locations and that consideration would be given to signage on how best to direct residents on which bin to use for different streams of waste, to reduce contamination of recycling bins.

The original minutes have been amended.

RESOLVED that with this amendment, the minutes of the previous meeting held on 7 September 2023 be approved and signed.

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

Apologies were received from Councillor Booton; Councillor Essex was substitute. Apologies were received from Councillor Elbourne; Councillor Kulka was substitute. Apologies were received from Councillor Buttironi, there was no substitute.

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

There were no declarations of interest.

Members received briefings from the Organisation Portfolio Holders overseeing four areas of the Council’s work – Communication & Customer Contact; Finance, Governance & Organisation; Commercial & Community Assets; Corporate Policy & Resources.

The presentations from each of the Executive Members / Portfolio Holders were published on the Council’s website as part of the Committee’s agenda pack which can be viewed here:

Agenda for Overview and Scrutiny Committee on Thursday, 12th October, 2023, 7.30 pm | Reigate and Banstead Borough Council (moderngov.co.uk)

Several advance questions had been submitted regarding the Portfolio Holder Updates. The advance questions and responses can be viewed here:

Document Advance Questions and Answers OS 12 October 2023 | Reigate and Banstead Borough Council (moderngov.co.uk)

The Leader of the Council, Councillor Biggs, gave an overview of the Council’s work in Communications & Customer Contact and the Corporate Plan Review.

Communications & Customer contact

The way in which residents want to contact the Council is changing; work is underway to ensure needs are met, balancing the use of technology while maintaining telephone options and options for more vulnerable residents.

Regular effective communication with residents is continuing.

A communications toolkit providing a library of resources for use by services, is being produced.

Corporate Plan Review

A new Corporate Plan needs to be in place for 2025/26. Engagement with Members is underway and will continue.

Councillor Lewanski, Deputy Leader and Portfolio Holder for Finance, Governance and Organisation, gave an overview of the Council’s work in this area.

Organisational Development & Human Resources

The focus of work has particularly been around a revised service operating model, which has now been agreed and adopted and is delivering an ongoing saving.  Permanent recruitment to fill the team vacancies is now underway. Establishment management processes have been improved, which has included further scrutiny of vacancies throughout the Council. Roll out of real time people data to Senior Management Team and Heads of Service will follow next. The Employment Committee will be asked to endorse the revised OD & HR Strategy through to 2026/27 and an all staff survey will go live before the end of the calendar year, with analysis and action planning to follow in early 2024. 

Legal & Governance

Great progress has been made in ensuring sound governance and transparency. Once again, the May elections went very smoothly despite the challenges of introducing Voter ID. Looking ahead, future plans include reviews of the Constitution and Code of Corporate Governance to ensure they remain relevant and fit for purpose. Replacement of the Council Chamber webcasting equipment is progressing to plan.

Mayoral & Civic Events

It has been another busy year, with one regret that the recent Volunteer Awards event at the Harlequin had to be cancelled while the building is closed.

Revenues & Fraud

Performance for council tax and business rates collection rates remains strong; the Council’s counter-fraud team’s achievements have been recognised in a national excellence award, while the external customer base continues to grow.

Finance

As summarised in the slides and in the many finance updates to O&S throughout the year –  ...  view the full minutes text for item 37.

To receive a report which sets out a project overview for the three recent housing delivery projects at Pitwood Park, Cromwell Road & Lee Street, including the Council’s key reflections and learnings from these recent housing delivery projects undertaken between October 2020 and August 2022.

RECOMMENDED that Overview and Scrutiny Committee:

Notes the report on Lessons Learnt: Pitwood Park, Cromwell Road, and Lee Street.

Members received a report on the Council’s key reflections and learnings from three recent housing delivery projects at Pitwood Park, Cromwell Road and Lee Street undertaken between October 2020 and August 2022.

Several advance questions had been submitted regarding Lessons Learnt: Pitwood Park, Cromwell Road & Lee Street. The advance questions and responses can be viewed here:

Document Advance Questions and Answers OS 12 October 2023 | Reigate and Banstead Borough Council (moderngov.co.uk)

Councillor Neame, Portfolio Holder for Housing and Support gave an overview of the work undertaken.

The Council undertook the construction and delivery of three new-build housing led schemes between October 2020 and August 2022. This report presents the key reflections and learnings from those housing development projects.

Pitwood Park was delivered in August 2021 and is a good example of a mixed tenure development with some homes being sold on the open market, and others being sold onto a Housing Association for re-sale as shared ownership properties.

Whilst the expenditure was higher than anticipated at the time of Executive approval, but within the budget allocation, the Council was able to generate a greater capital receipt than was originally anticipated due to higher sales prices at point of sale.

There were challenges on this site due to the type of contract used as well as due to site conditions. Officers have addressed the key lessons learnt from these in the report and learnings will be applied for future developments.

Cromwell Road was delivered in February 2022, and the 32 flats have been retained by the Council for social housing.

The Council were delighted to have been successful in securing Homes England grant funding for these schemes which provided cross-subsidy of £1.36m. The development was recognised as the region’s Best Large Social Housing Development in the LABC Building Excellence Awards 2022 which was testimony to the excellent quality of build.

Lee Street was delivered in August 2022, and now provides 4 much needed 1-bedroom temporary accommodation homes for those in real housing need. The development had an extensive history and at times the delivery of the project seemed unreachable. However, with subsidy from Homes England a successful project has been delivered.

In addition, the Senior Development Manager shared a PowerPoint presentation showing the completed housing projects.

Members made observations and asked questions on the following areas:

Pitwood Park

It was confirmed that although the exact price obtained by Raven Housing Trust on the sale of these homes was not known, they were sold by Raven Housing Trust on a part buy/part rent basis and the Council had received fair value for the units sold.

Members requested details of the onsite contamination. A written response would be provided following the meeting.

It was confirmed that a JCT Design & Build contract was typical for housing association and local government use, as it passes more risk to the contractor, rather than the local authority, and is more widely used at the current time.

Cromwell Road

Members commented on the length of time taken  ...  view the full minutes text for item 38.

To receive the report on the New Local Plan Update.

RECOMMENDED that Overview and Scrutiny Committee:

Notes the progress of the Council’s new Local Plan.

Members received an update on the New Local Plan from the Portfolio Holder for Place, Planning and Regulatory Services, Councillor Michalowski.

Several advance questions had been submitted regarding the New Local Plan Update. The advance questions and responses can be viewed here:

Document Advance Questions and Answers OS 12 October 2023 | Reigate and Banstead Borough Council (moderngov.co.uk)

The report sets out the current position and the proposed way forward, following the new style of local plan creation. Some risks have been identified and the update provides a reasonable and pragmatic approach.

Members made observations and asked questions on the following areas:

Habitats Assessment and Sustainability Appraisal Commissions

It was confirmed that the Government would be introducing Environmental Outcomes reports, which would be a significant shift from current requirements. Habitats Regulations Assessments (HRAs) and Sustainability Assessments would not form part of the new local plan; therefore it would pose a risk to undertake this work at the current time. Members were invited to contact officers directly for further discussion.

Local Plan development timeframe

It was confirmed that the current style of local plan could not be submitted after summer 2025; the Council would not have the new Local Plan finalised in time to meet this deadline, therefore it would need to work towards the new style of local plan. The Government framework would need to be adhered to, meaning that the plan could not be delivered any earlier than its newly proposed target date. The Chair noted that it was a year since work on the Local Plan had started, and disappointingly, although for understandable reasons, the target date had slipped by nine months to a year.

Resident Engagement

It was confirmed that a campaign to involve residents in the new Local Plan would be run in the Borough News in November 2023. Following this, workshops and presentations would be planned, formal consultation would take place, and the Local Plan Advisory Group (LPAG) would commence its work early in 2024. The timetable included in the report was indicative and would include time for analysis of resident engagement.

Members were concerned that the first formal consultation for the new Local Plan would be in the summer holiday period and that this would affect resident engagement. It was explained that the consultation would be for an 8-week period, which exceeded the normal consultation period of 6 weeks, and had been planned to align with the committee cycle and Member engagement.

Risks of interim period between Local Plans

It was confirmed that the current Local Plan would end in 2027, when it would then become out of date with the National Planning Policy Framework. However, it would still carry weight with regards to decision-making. A balance would need to be struck between the existing Local Plan, national policies, and the emerging Local Plan, by the decision-maker.

Differences between the old-style and new-style Local Plans

It was confirmed that the new-style local plans, although similar to the old-style local plans, would focus on unique  ...  view the full minutes text for item 39.

To consider and agree the membership and scope of work of the Budget Scrutiny Review Panel taking place on 29 November 2023.

RECOMMENDED that Overview and Scrutiny Committee:

i)             Agrees the membership of the Budget Scrutiny Panel and the timetable for scrutiny of the Budget 2024/25 as set out in the report;

ii)            Agrees the scope of the Budget Scrutiny Panel’s work during 2023/24.

The Committee received the report on the constitution of the Budget Scrutiny Panel, scheduled to take place on Wednesday 29 November 2023.

The Committee agreed membership of the Budget Scrutiny Panel as follows:

Councillors Blacker, Buttironi, Chandler, Dwight, Essex, Green and Harrison.

The Chair stated that all Members were welcome to attend the Panel meeting and asked that it be included in the Members bulletin.

RESOLVED that Overview and Scrutiny Committee:

i)            Agreed the membership of the Budget Scrutiny Panel.

ii)           Agreed the scope of the Budget Scrutiny Panel’s work during 2023/24.

To receive the report on the constitution of an Environmental Sustainability Strategy Review Panel.

RECOMMENDED that Overview and Scrutiny Committee:

i)             Considers the option to convene a scrutiny panel to review the proposed updates to the Environmental Sustainability Strategy.

ii)            Agrees the membership of the proposed Environmental Sustainability Strategy Review Panel and the timetable for scrutiny of the Environmental Sustainability Strategy as set out in the report.

iii)           Agrees the scope of the proposed Environmental Sustainability Strategy Review Panel’s work during 2023/24.

The Committee received the report on the constitution of an Environmental Sustainability Strategy Review Panel.

The Committee agreed membership of the Environmental Sustainability Strategy Review Scrutiny Panel as follows:

Councillors Booton, Chester, and Harp; the four nominations for membership of the panel from the Conservative party had not yet been received and the Committee agreed that the Chair would approve the nominations by email following the meeting.

Clerk’s note: Following the meeting, Conservative nominations for the panel were Councillors Baker, Blacker, Cooper and Fairhurst.

RESOLVED that Overview and Scrutiny Committee:

i)             Considered and agreed to the option to convene a scrutiny panel to review the proposed updates to the Environmental Sustainability Strategy.

ii)            Agreed the membership of the proposed Environmental Sustainability Strategy Review Panel (Conservative party nominations to be agreed with the Chair by email following the meeting) and the timetable for scrutiny of the Environmental Sustainability Strategy as set out in the report.

iii)           Agreed the scope of the proposed Environmental Sustainability Strategy Review Panel’s work during 2023/24.

To consider and agree any changes to the schedule for Overview and Scrutiny Committee’s Forward Work Programme 2023/24 and to consider the Action Tracker from the previous meeting.

The Committee received the Overview & Scrutiny Forward Work Programme.

The Chair noted that in future the mid-year Treasury Management Reports would be included in the Quarterly Performance Reports.

It was agreed that the Update on Marketfield Way Report would be added to the Forward Work Programme for December 2023. This report should include costings or reasonable estimates for completion, which would possibly be exempt information.

It was agreed that the Environmental Sustainability Strategy Review Panel Report would be added as a pending item.

It was agreed that the Leisure & Culture Strategy would be added as a pending item.

It was confirmed that the work of the Greenspaces Team was reviewed at a high level through annual Portfolio Holder presentations and that a consultant was being appointed to work on the Greenspaces Strategy.

It was agreed that the Review of the Greenspaces Team would take place after the Review of the Greenspaces Strategy.

It was agreed that the advance questions and responses for the Budget Scrutiny Panel would be shared with all Overview & Scrutiny Committee Members as soon as they were available.

It was noted that the review of the recycling service was on hold pending government guidance on their preference for a uniform collection regime across the country. Officers explained the Council was also reviewing the approach to expanding the recycling service to further properties in the borough.

It was noted that there was a need for an additional Overview & Scrutiny Committee meeting in February or March 2024 to address the pending items on the Forward Work Programme.

RESOLVED that the Committee agreed the amendments to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee’s Work Programme for 2023/24 and noted the updated action tracker.

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.