Agenda, decisions and minutes

To receive any apologies for absence.

There were no apologies for absence.

To approve the minutes of the meeting held on 22 June 2023.

The minutes of the meeting held on 22 June 2023 were APPROVED.

To receive any declarations of interest.

There were none.

The Executive Member for Corporate Policy and Resources.

Councillor J King, Executive Member for Corporate Policy and Resources explained that this report was the annual report on the Council’s progress in delivering the Corporate Plan. It also included an update on delivery of the Council’s Equality Objectives. Both reports covered the year from April 2022 to March 2023.

The Corporate Plan Annual Report was at Annex 1 to the report and included updates on the work undertaken by services across the Council. Successes worth highlighting included:

·        The delivery of new affordable homes and a range of support for vulnerable residents including those facing cost of living issues;

·        Ongoing place delivery projects to deliver improvements in Redhill, Horley and Merstham, more benefits secured via the Community Infrastructure Levy and continuing provision of very high quality neighbourhood services; and

·       Positive outcomes from the first year of the financial sustainability programme and progress on securing more income from fees and charges and the Council’s commercial lettings.

The report also sets out some of the challenges faced over the past year. These have included the impact of the rising cost of living on residents (and therefore council services), and a continuing need to do more with less given the financial challenges facing the local government sector.  It also included a range of contextual indicators, which provided some background about the environment in which the Council has operated and the situation within the borough.

Annex 2 to the report highlighted the Council’s four agreed equality objectives. Information was provided about the work that has been undertaken in 2022/23, to progress each of the objectives. This ranges from the use of data though to supporting good community relations and making sure that the Council was a fair employer.

The Council’s current Equality Objectives covered the period 2020 to 2024. The report recommended that the objectives be continued for an additional year, so that they and the Corporate Plan can be reviewed at the same time, allowing future work on both to be fully aligned and coordinated.

The reports highlighted the wide range of excellent work being done by this organisation to support residents, in sometimes challenging times.

The Overview and Scrutiny Committee considered these reports at their meeting on 6 July 2023, and a made a number of observations for Executive Members to consider.

An Addendum with the draft minutes were circulated prior to the meeting and covered the following points:

·       Drawing on a range of data sources to inform the annual reporting process. Committee members expressed an interest in enhancing this supporting data in future, potentially through a residents’ survey.

·       The importance of working with partners to provide a joined up services to residents and a coordinated response to any concerns.

·       Ensuring that the report’s structure supports Members to effectively consider the work of the Council, including around reporting on outcomes and future plans and responses to changing circumstances.

·       The Council being ambitious in considering equality matters, including wider aspects that may sit outside legally set ‘protected characteristics.

It was noted that, a  ...  view the full minutes text for item 16.

The Executive Member for Finance, Governance and Organisation and Deputy Leader.

Councillor Lewanski, the Deputy Leader and Executive Member for Finance, Governance and Organisation, introduced the item stating that this latest Medium Term Financial Plan (MTPF) confirmed that local government continued to face a challenging financial situation with continued uncertainty about the local government funding regime.

The one resource that the Council had was time if it was used productively. There has been an early start with the budget preparations for next year and there has been continued work on the Financial Sustainability Programme to deliver cost reduction and income generation initiatives over the coming years.

The MTFP report sets out a detailed initial assessment of the key information that would be used for budget setting in 2024/25 onwards.

It included a five-year forecast for the budget gap that the Council was facing if action was not taken to reduce costs or increase income.

Work was now underway with officers to develop the detailed budget proposals for consideration by Executive in November and to be reviewed by the Overview and Scrutiny Panel.

An all-Member briefing has been arranged for 27 July to help explain the basis for the MTFP assumptions and forecasts. Members were encouraged to attend.

Members of Overview and Scrutiny Committee made no formal observations to the Executive on the Medium-Term Financial Plan, although there were several comments and questions, and these were published in an Addendum to the agenda.

The Chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee observed that the cumulative gap over the next five years was £5million and this would be challenging. A member of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee had requested an analysis of budget growth over recent years to help set the context for future forecasts and it had been agreed that this would be provided as a background paper for the Budget Scrutiny Panel. This would enable consideration of the significant changes in duties and costs over the period as well as income changes, including changes to grants from Government.

It was also acknowledged that proposed fees & charges increases would need to be considered as part of the budget setting process. Only including inflation where there is a specific pressure was a wise approach.

The Overview and Scrutiny Committee also considered the potential budget risks, including around staff recruitment and retention.

It was requested that future risk assessments included an estimate of the potential range for the financial impacts of risks, to support the narrative description.

The Committee was thanked for their comments.

The following responses were given to questions by visiting members:

·         In terms of the addressing the forecast budget gap, it was confirmed that work was underway to consider the available options. The Executive and Heads for Services were currently reviewing opportunities for cost savings and income generation, therefore it was not yet possible to predict what the budget gap would be by November. The Chief Finance Officer explained that the purpose of this MTFP forecast was to set the scene before setting a balanced budget by next February.

·         Regarding business  ...  view the full minutes text for item 17.

The Executive Member for Finance, Governance and Organisation and Deputy Leader.

Councillor Lewanski, the Deputy Leader and Executive Member for Finance, Governance and Organisation explained that the report presented the latest version of the Council’s Capital Investment Strategy.

None of the information in this report was new, but it did bring all aspects together to demonstrate that there was a plan to ensure that capital spending decisions took account of the authority’s stewardship, value for money, prudence, sustainability, and affordability responsibilities.

This was particularly important in the current financial climate, especially in light of those authorities that were now finding themselves in financial difficulties due in part to not having sufficient control over their capital spending and borrowing commitments.

The report also included information about the significant assets that were in Council ownership, how they were used and how they were performing, as well as information about the new capital assets that the Council was investing in and how they were being funded.

These activities were supported by the work of the Partner, Shareholder and Trustee Sub-Committee and officer boards.

The next step would be to continue the work that was now in progress to confirm future capital investment plans as part of the service and financial planning process.

Members of Overview and Scrutiny Committee made no formal observations to the Executive on the Capital Investment Strategy, although there were several comments and questions, and these were published in an Addendum to the agenda.

The Chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee made the following comments:

·         The report on Commercial Property Performance in 2022/23 that was submitted to the Partner, Shareholder and Trustee Executive Sub-Committee held prior to this meeting had helped to answer some of the detailed questions on property investment returns that the Overview and Scrutiny Committee had raised regarding Tables 1,2 and 3 in this report.

·         The Committee had considered the current position regarding plans for Beech House and again this had been discussed at the Partner, Shareholder and Trustee Executive Sub-Committee.

·         The Capital Programme did not yet include any significant investment in electric vehicles despite options being considered. There had also been discussion around the requirement for investment in refurbishing buildings to improve energy efficiency to support delivery of the approved Environment Sustainability Strategy, however allocations had not been made in the Capital Programme.

In response to the comments, it was explained that various options were being considered relating to vehicle replacement, including electric and hydrogen power. The Chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee was thanked for the Committee’s comments.

A visiting member stated that Surrey County Council’s (SCC) capital programme for refurbishing buildings to improve energy efficiency was funded through a combination of grants, loans and invest to save projects as well as using some of their own resources, and that there was a Green Finance Strategy had been adopted for this. It was questioned whether the Council could develop further the Capital Strategy for these environmental elements as it represented a gap in the Capital Investment Strategy currently.

In response the Leader explained that  ...  view the full minutes text for item 18.

To receive any statements from the Leader of the Council, Members of the Executive or the Managing Director.

There were no statements.

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:  Urgent business must be submitted in writing but may be supplemented by an oral report).

There was none.

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:

(i)            it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act; and

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

There was no exempt business.