Agenda, decisions and minutes

Apologies were received from Councillor Joss Bigmore, Leader of the Council.

The meeting was chaired by Councillor Julia McShane, Deputy Leader of the Council.

In accordance with the local Code of Conduct, a councillor is required to disclose at the meeting any disclosable pecuniary interest (DPI) that they may have in respect of any matter for consideration on this agenda.  Any councillor with a DPI must notparticipate in any discussion or vote regarding that matter and they must also withdraw from the meeting immediately before consideration of the matter.

If that DPI has not been registered, the councillor must notify the Monitoring Officer of the details of the DPI within 28 days of the date of the meeting.

Councillors are further invited to disclose any non-pecuniary interest which may be relevant to any matter on this agenda, in the interests of transparency, and to confirm that it will not affect their objectivity in relation to that matter.

There were no declarations of interest.

To confirm the minutes of the meeting of the Executive held on [date].

The minutes of the meeting held on 22 March 2022 were confirmed as a correct record. The Deputy Leader of the Council signed the minutes.

The minutes of the meeting held on 22 March 2022 were confirmed as a correct record. The Chairman signed the minutes.

The Deputy Leader of the Council made the following announcements.

The collaboration work with Waverley Borough Council was moving forward and the Inter-Authority Agreement Heads of Terms setting out the legal and governance arrangements had been agreed by both councils. It had also been agreed a joint governance committee would be established to oversee governance and risk. The Joint Chief Executive would be leading the next step which was the formation of a joint management team. The collaboration would provide savings and increased resilience to services delivered by both councils.

Around 40 guests from Ukraine had arrived in Guildford. The council was supporting the Homes for Ukraine Scheme by processing welcome payments for them, and undertaking security and accommodation checks and thank you payments for their sponsors. Around 300 Ukrainian guests had been matched to around 100 sponsors locally and it was expected that this number would rise. The council recognised that guests and sponsors would need ongoing support that there would be an information and support event at the Hive in the second week in May. Further information about the local sponsorship scheme was available on the council’s website.

Supporting Ukraine - Guildford Borough Council

There was a last chance to be involved in the ‘Model Town - Build Guildford’ project at Guildford Museum as it would be closing on 7 May. The project engaged the public in building a model of the town from recycled card and boxes. The display 'Soldiers of Surrey: Stories from The Queen's Royal Regiment' by the Surrey Infantry Collection remained open. There were also jubilee activities at the museum including a ‘Jubilee Trail’ and displays of past royal celebrations in Guildford.

Preparations were being made for the celebration of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee in Guildford with many street parties planned. There would be decorations in the town centre organised by Experience Guildford, the town crier would issue a proclamation of 2 June, Guildford in Bloom would be holding a picnic in the park in the castle grounds and there would be beacon lighting events around the borough.

There were no further updates and the Executive noted the paper.

There were no further updates and the Executive noted the paper.

Decision:

The Executive approved the Risk Management Strategy and Policy including amendments proposed by the Corporate Governance and Standards Committee.

Reason(s):

To adopt a corporate Risk Management Strategy and Policy which will allow risk to be articulated, managed and mitigated consistently across the Council.

Other options considered and rejected by the Executive:

None.

Details of any conflict of interest declared by the Leader or lead councillors and any dispensation granted:

None.

The Executive considered a report that presented the draft Risk Management Strategy and Policy with a recommendation for adoption and the corporate risk register was presented for comment. In the absence of the Leader of the Council, the Lead Councillor for Resources introduced the report.

The draft policy had been considered by the Corporate Governance and Standards Committee on 21 April and the comments and suggested amendments arising were set out in the Supplementary Information Sheet.

The Executive commented that the draft policy would deliver a great improvement in practice. It was noted that the draft policy was rigorous and the report was well received.

RESOLVED, to approve the Risk Management Strategy and Policy including amendments proposed by the Corporate Governance and Standards Committee.

Reason(s):

To adopt a corporate Risk Management Strategy and Policy which will allow risk to be articulated, managed and mitigated consistently across the Council.

Decision:

The Executive approved the Infrastructure Funding Statement 2020-2021 as a factual report of the amount of developer contributions that have been secured, received, and spent in the year 2020-21 for submission to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) and for its publication on the Council’s website.

Reason(s):

To ensure that the Council complies with the CIL Regulations to produce and publish an annual Infrastructure Funding Statement.

Other options considered and rejected by the Executive:

None.

Details of any conflict of interest declared by the Leader or lead councillors and any dispensation granted:

None.

Regulation 121A of the Community Infrastructure Levy Regulations 2010, as amended (“the CIL Regulations”), required any authority receiving contributions through the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) and / or through planning obligations to produce an annual Infrastructure Funding Statement.

The Executive considered the draft Infrastructure Funding Statement for 2020-2021 which was recommended for approval. The Lead Councillor for Development Control introduced the report.

The Executive heard that s.106 infrastructure contributions were planning application specific and currently might not be transferred to a general fund. In addition, s.106 infrastructure contributions might be at risk of return to a developer if not utilised within a period of time. The reasons for not utilising the contributions within time were varied and consequently a report had been submitted to the Corporate Governance and Standards Committee the previous week that set out those particular cases, the sums involved and any mitigation that might be put in place.

Whilst the Council had not yet adopted the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) process, it was noted that Central Government intended to implement a new infrastructure contribution process that would supersede the CIL in any case. The Council would be monitoring developments in this regard and any implications for the Council’s processes.

RESOLVED, to approve the Infrastructure Funding Statement 2020-2021 as a factual report of the amount of developer contributions that had been secured, received, and spent in the year 2020-21 for submission to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) and for its publication on the Council’s website.

Reason(s):

To ensure that the Council complies with the CIL Regulations to produce and publish an annual Infrastructure Funding Statement.