Agenda, decisions and minutes

None.

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.

No disclosable pecuniary interests were declared.

Councillor Richard Lucas declared a non-pecuniary interest in relation to Agenda Item 5 – Financial Recovery Plan – October Update Report, specifically the proposal to discontinue the Parish Councils Concurrent Functions Grants scheme.  Councillor Lucas was a member of Ash Parish Council.

Councillor Carla Morson declared a non-pecuniary interest in relation to Agenda Item 5 – Financial Recovery Plan – October Update Report, specifically the proposal to discontinue the Parish Councils Concurrent Functions Grants scheme.  Councillor Morson was a member of Ash Parish Council.

Councillor Merel Rehorst-Smith declared a non-pecuniary interest in relation to Agenda Item 5 – Financial Recovery Plan – October Update Report, specifically the proposal to discontinue the Parish Councils Concurrent Functions Grants scheme.  Councillor Rehorst-Smith was a member of Effingham Parish Council.

To confirm the minutes of the meeting of the Executive held on 24 August 2023.

The minutes of the meeting held on 24 August 2023 were confirmed as a correct record. The Chairman signed the minutes.

The minutes of the meeting held on 24 August 2023 were confirmed as a correct record. The Chairman signed the minutes.

New round of funding through Crowdfund Guildford
The Leader announced that a new round of funding through Crowdfund Guildford opened this week. To support our communities, the Council was offering up to £5,000 for community led projects that helped Guildford thrive.  This funding was supported by the UK Share Prosperity Fund.

First Gold win in the RSPCA PawPrints Awards
The Leader congratulated the Licencing team for winning a Gold Animal Activity Licensing Award in the RSPCA PawPrints Awards. This award was a great reflection of the hard work of our officers, who ensured our standards remained high when it came to the welfare of animals in the borough.

Ash Road Bridge drop-in sessions
The Leader announced that over 400 people had visited the Ash Road Bridge drop-in sessions at the Ash Centre on 21 and 22 September. There had been a lot of interest in the new bridge and how the roads would look in future, as well as how the work was being carried out. Residents could find out more by searching for “Ash Road Bridge” on the Council’s website.

Electoral Registration - Annual Canvass
Last weekend our canvassers started following up on households that had not responded to our annual canvass emails and letters. The Leader noted that the quickest and easiest way for electors to update their details was online, but the paper forms could also be used.

Encouraging young people to register to vote
The Leader announced that the Electoral Services team had visited Guildford College and the University of Surrey to make sure students knew how to register to vote. The team were on hand to answer questions and explain that young people could register to vote from the age of 16.

Burpham Neighbourhood Area and Forum Consultation
There was still time for residents to have their say about the proposed boundary changes and forum until midday on 12 October 2023. More information could be found in the newsroom on the Council’s website.

Turnaround in planning performance
Following intensive efforts to improve our planning performance, the Leader was pleased to announce that The Minister of State for Housing and Planning would not designate the Council for its planning performance on non-major applications. The Leader thanked the Joint Executive Head of Planning Development and her team for all their hard work that had gone into achieving this. The Lead Councillor for Planning, Environment and Climate Change, Councillor George Potter also thanked the team for this impressive turnaround in performance, which was entirely down to their hard work and dedication, and commented that there was still significant work to do to maintain and improve performance.

Resolved:

That the Executive:

(1)       approves the second issue of the Financial Recovery Plan and recommends that it is endorsed by Council at its meeting on 10 October 2023;

(2)       approves the discontinuation of the Parish Councils Concurrent Functions Grants scheme from 1 April 2024; and

(3)       notes that the Interim s151 Officer has advised that sufficient progress has been made in the current financial year to avoid a s114 report being issued at this stage.

Reason for decision:

To enable the Council to protect the current level of reserves and to set a balanced budget and a robust Medium-Term Financial Plan.

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 noted that the 2023-24 budget agreed by the Council in February 2023 had included a £3.3m shortfall which required further work to remove the gap. The fallback position had been to deploy usable reserves. The Executive also noted that the delayed audit of the 2020-21 accounts had identified errors relating to accounting for COVID grants and the Collection Fund, which took place in 2021. These were both sums which were due to be repaid to the Government in 2021-22 rather than sums which were available for use by the Council. Consequently, the level of usable reserves was around £20m less than had been thought when the 2023-24 budget was set in February 2023. In addition, an overspend of £6.4m on the General Fund had further reduced the sums available to the Council.

An updated Medium Term Financial Position (MTPF) was presented to the Council in July 2023 which set out the key issues and the full financial position. In summary, there was a remaining in-year deficit of £1.7m and a budget gap of £18.3m over the MTFP period to 2026-27 and a potential s114 report if actions were not agreed to bring the situation back in to balance.

The Executive considered a report setting out progress to date which was introduced by the Lead Councillor for Finance and Property. The meeting heard that sufficient progress had been made since July 2023 to avoid the need for a s114 report to be issued at this point but that significant work was still required to produce a balanced budget for 2024-25 and beyond. The report included a proposal to withdraw the Parish Councils Concurrent Functions Grants scheme from 1 April 2024 which would contribute an annual saving of £90,000.

Effingham Parish Council had written to the Executive with regard to the proposed withdrawal of the grants scheme and ways and means in which parish councils generally could increase their income either via the precept or other funding opportunities were noted. It was further noted that most other councils had withdrawn this particular grant scheme some years ago and it was unusual for the Council to have maintained it for such a long period of time. The Council convened a regular liaison meeting with parish council clerks where such matters could be discussed. Under a s.114 notice situation Government commissioners would be installed to take such decisions.

There was praise for the Council’s Finance team, the interim s.151 officer and the lead councillor for having realised sufficient savings to bring the Council to a balanced budget in-year position. There was also recognition that there would be further difficult decisions ahead to maintain that position whilst continuing to deliver services to residents.

The interim s151 officer addressed the meeting to explain that not only had a balanced in-year budget been achieved but that the Council could have assurance around that work. A period 4 monitoring report had been delivered to the Corporate Governance and Standards Committee the previous week. The Executive  ...  view the full minutes text for item EX27