Issue - meetings

The Joint Chief Executive of Guildford and Waverley Councils advised the meeting that the Joint Management Team had been in post for three months and had started to review services for transformation and collaboration opportunities.  The Committee was informed that the two vacancies in the Joint Management Team would soon be filled: a new Joint Executive Head of Legal and Democratic Services would be in post by April and the Joint Executive Head of Planning Development would be able to be announced shortly. 

The Joint Chief Executive stated that business cases for further collaboration would be brought forward informally to Executives of both Councils and then circulated to all Councillors thereafter.  He advised that the Joint Governance Committee had recommended a minor modification to the Inter-Authority Agreement between Guildford and Waverley Councils and that the suggestion would be brought to meetings of full Council for approval.  He confirmed that the Joint Governance Committee had scrutinised the risk register associated with the collaboration.

The Leader of the Council and Lead Councillor for Community and Housing thanked the Joint Chief Executive for his update and indicated her support for the collaboration.

There were no questions or comments from Councillors.

The Chairman thanked the Joint Chief Executive for attending and updating the Committee.

The Joint Chief Executive of Guildford and Waverley Councils advised the meeting that the Joint Executive Heads had taken office on 1 October and attended meet-and-greets with Councillors at both Councils.  The Joint Chief Executive indicated that the two vacant roles within the joint management team had been filled on an interim basis and permanent recruitment to the posts progressed.  He informed the meeting that the appointment of the Monitoring Officer role would be overseen by the Joint Appointments Committee and subject to full Council approval.

The Committee was reminded that the next steps agreed in the Guildford-Waverley collaboration were the preparation of business cases for further collaboration.  The Joint Chief Executive indicated that the criteria for such business cases would be discussed by the joint management team and the executives of both Councils and provided to the Committee for its consideration.

The Committee was advised of an upcoming meeting of the Joint Governance Committee to review the Inter Authority Agreement and the collaboration risk assessment. 

There were no questions or comments from Councillors.

The Chairman thanked the Joint Chief Executive and indicated that the briefing note provided to him would be circulated to Committee members.

The Strategic Director for Transformation and Governance introduced the item and highlighted the joint management team structure attached as appendix 1 to the report submitted to the Committee.  He advised the meeting of both the interim and the recruitment arrangements for the Executive Heads of Planning Development and Legal & Democratic Services. 

In response to a comment from a member of the Committee, the Deputy Leader of the Council and Lead Councillor for Governance contrasted the consultation with officers over the Guildford and Waverley collaboration with that undertaken for the Future Guildford transformation programme and praised the Joint Chief Executive.

RESOLVED:  (I)  That the update on the Guildford-Waverley collaboration provided in the report submitted to the Committee be noted.

(II) That regular updates on the Guildford-Waverley collaboration continue to be provided to the Committee.