Agenda, decisions and minutes

There were no apologies for absence.

There were no apologies for absence.

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.

There were no declarations of interest.

To confirm the minutes of the meeting of the Executive held on 24 November 2020.

The minutes of the meeting held 24 November 2020 were confirmed as a correct record. The Chairman signed the minutes.

The minutes of the meeting held 24 November 2020 were confirmed as a correct record. The Chairman signed the minutes.

The Leader expressed deep regret for the circumstances resulting in the current lockdown measures, whilst stressing the need for positivity and his continued confidence in the strong community spirit in Guildford that would face the challenges as it had in the previous periods of restrictions. The need for everyone to respect the restrictions was underlined in order to support services and to prevent the NHS becoming overwhelmed by the pandemic.

The Leader set out the Government’s statistics following the sharp rise of Covid hospitalisations over recent weeks:

·       1 Sept 2020: 496

·       1 November:  9,623

·       Christmas Day: 17,701

·       4 January 2021: 26,626

It was noted that in Surrey case numbers were amongst the worst in the country approaching nearly 700 per 100,000 people. It was suggested that given 1 in 3 people displayed no symptoms and that probably 1% of the Borough currently had Covid.

The Leader reiterated the support offered to residents and businesses by Guildford Borough Council. The website provided details of the support available.  Council staff were praised for their continued efforts and achievements.

The new Director of Strategic Services, Dawn Hudd was welcomed. 

The Leader expressed deep regret for the circumstances resulting in the current lockdown measures, whilst stressing the need for positivity and his continued confidence in the strong community spirit in Guildford that would face the challenges as it had in the previous periods of restrictions. The need for everyone to respect the restrictions was underlined in order to support services and to prevent the NHS becoming overwhelmed by the pandemic.

The Leader set out the Government’s statistics following the sharp rise of Covid hospitalisations over recent weeks:

·       1 Sept 2020: 496

·       1 November:  9,623

·       Christmas Day: 17,701

·       4 January 2021: 26,626

It was noted that in Surrey case numbers were amongst the worst in the country approaching nearly 700 per 100,000 people. It was suggested that given 1 in 3 people displayed no symptoms and that probably 1% of the Borough currently had Covid.

The Leader reiterated the support offered to residents and businesses by Guildford Borough Council. The website provided details of the support available.  Council staff were praised for their continued efforts and achievements.

The new Director of Strategic Services, Dawn Hudd was welcomed. 

Decision:

(1)   That a new procedure for the Council to follow when considering and, where appropriate, approving the acquisition of strategic and/or operational property assets, as set out in Appendix 1 to the report submitted to the Executive, be adopted, subject to the amendment to the ‘Affordability’ criterion set out in the Supplementary Information Sheet.

(2)   That the transfer of £5 million from the provisional capital programme (scheme no. PR371 – strategic property acquisitions) to the approved capital programme be approved.

(3)   That the Director of Strategic Services be authorised, in consultation with the Head of Asset Management, the Director of Resources, and the relevant Lead Councillor with portfolio responsibility for finance and asset management, to approve strategic and/or operational property acquisitions within the set parameters of the new procedure.

Reason:

To secure the funding of various prospective property acquisition for strategic/operational purposes and apply a robust and streamlined approach for future acquisition of operational and strategic property assets.

Other options considered and rejected by the Executive:

None

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

None

The Executive considered a report requesting the transfer of £5 million from the provisional capital programme to the approved capital programme to allow for strategic operational property acquisitions.

The sum was a part of the £30 million Strategic Property Acquisition Fund approved by full Council as part of the 2016-17 capital programme. The objective of creating the Fund was to acquire property that enabled site assembly for future potential re-development projects in the area of the town covered by the unadopted Town Centre Masterplan and also in support of the Council’s emerging regeneration strategy.

The decision to acquire property assets for operational and strategic purposes currently rested in all cases with proposals approved either by delegated authority or by the Executive. The report proposed a new delegated authority process to be applicable in such circumstances that would speed up the acquisition process.

The report also proposed the Council adopt a new procedure to be followed in these circumstances in order to provide a consistent approach to decision-making. This procedure set out a series of challenges to be applied as well as a number of scoring mechanisms resulting in a decision that was represented as a numerical value. The Executive noted the correction to the ‘Affordability’ criterion within the scoring mechanism, details of which were set out on the Supplementary Information Sheet.

The Executive

RESOLVED:

(1)     That a new procedure for the Council to follow when considering and, where appropriate, approving the acquisition of strategic and/or operational property assets, as set out in Appendix 1 to the report submitted to the Executive, be adopted, subject to the amendment to the ‘Affordability’ criterion set out in the Supplementary Information Sheet.

(2)     That the transfer of £5 million from the provisional capital programme (scheme no. PR371 – strategic property acquisitions) to the approved capital programme be approved.

(3)     That the Director of Strategic Services be authorised, in consultation with the Head of Asset Management, the Director of Resources, and the relevant Lead Councillor with portfolio responsibility for finance and asset management, to approve strategic and/or operational property acquisitions within the set parameters of the new procedure.

Reason:

To secure the funding of various prospective property acquisition for strategic/operational purposes and apply a robust and streamlined approach for future acquisition of operational and strategic property assets.

Decision:

(1)         That the working groups listed below continue with their work:

·       Arts Development Strategy & Public Art Strategy Board

·       Aspire Health and Wellbeing Board

·       Climate Change Board

·       Electric Theatre Monitoring Group

·       Future Guildford Board

·       Guildford Community Covenant Panel

·       Housing Delivery Board

·       Innovation Board

·       Local Plan Panel

·       Major Projects Portfolio Board

·       Museum Working Group

·       Play Development Strategy & Fixed Play Equipment Group

·       Property Review Group

·       Sports Development Strategy Group

·       Town Twinning Working Group

·       Weyside Urban Village Development Governance Board

(2)     That no changes be made to the terms of reference of the working groups referred to in paragraph (1) above, with the exception of the Museum Working Group whose terms of reference will now be as follows:

1. To guide the future direction of the Museum service.

2. To consider the future of the Council’s art collection in order to inform decisions around its future management and display.

3. To report directly to the Executive in respect of 1. and 2. above.

(3)     That the current membership of each of the working groups referred to in paragraph (1) be confirmed for the remainder of the 2020-21 municipal year and for the 2021-22 municipal year, including the appointment of Councillor Angela Gunning as one of the local ward members on the Weyside Urban Village Development Governance Board, and subject to any changes requested by the political groups, which shall be referred to the Leader of the Council to approve.

(4)     That political group leaders be requested to submit nominations for consideration by the Leader of the Council in respect of the vacancies on the Electric Theatre Monitoring Group and the Guildford Community Covenant Panel.

(5)     That the proposed Planning Committee Review Working Group and the Electoral Review Working Group be established in accordance with their respective terms of reference and composition, as set out in the report submitted to the Executive, and that the councillors nominated from the political groups be appointed for the remainder of the 2020-21 municipal year and for the 2021-22 municipal year.

(6)     That Councillor Tony Rooth be appointed as chairman of the Electoral Review Working Group.

Reasons:

(1)     To comply with the requirement on the part of the Executive to periodically review the continuation of the various Working Groups in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 24 (j).

(2)     To consider the recommendations of the recent LGA Planning Committee Peer Review

Other options considered and rejected by the Executive:

None

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

None

The Executive considered an annual report to review the work carried out over the previous twelve months by the various working groups (including boards and panels) that had been established by either the Executive or the Leader/Lead Councillor, together with the work they were likely to undertake over the next twelve months. As part of the review the Executive was asked to determine if those working groups should continue as constituted and, if so, to make or confirm appointments to them. The requirement to submit this annual report to the Executive was in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 24 (j).

The report was usually delivered every May but had been delayed this year due to the impact of the Coronavirus pandemic. The last reporting of the Review of Executive Working Groups was to the Executive on 19 May 2019. For the first time an earlier draft of the report had been considered by the Service Delivery EAB on 10 December 2020.

It was recommended that two new working groups be established to consider in detail the recommendations of the recent LGA Planning Committee Peer Review and an Electoral Review Working Group to work up proposals for the future warding of Guildford borough, including the names, number and boundaries of wards, and the number of councillors to be elected to each of them for submission to the Local Government Boundary Commission for England as part of their periodic electoral review.

Having considered the report, the Executive

RESOLVED:

(1)    That the working groups listed below continue with their work:

·       Arts Development Strategy & Public Art Strategy Board

·       Aspire Health and Wellbeing Board

·       Climate Change Board

·       Electric Theatre Monitoring Group

·       Future Guildford Board

·       Guildford Community Covenant Panel

·       Housing Delivery Board

·       Innovation Board

·       Local Plan Panel

·       Major Projects Portfolio Board

·       Museum Working Group

·       Play Development Strategy & Fixed Play Equipment Group

·       Property Review Group

·       Sports Development Strategy Group

·       Town Twinning Working Group

·       Weyside Urban Village Development Governance Board

(2)   That no changes be made to the terms of reference of the working groups referred to in paragraph (1) above, with the exception of the Museum Working Group whose terms of reference will now be as follows:

1. To guide the future direction of the Museum service.

2. To consider the future of the Council’s art collection in order to inform decisions around its future management and display.

3. To report directly to the Executive in respect of 1. and 2. above.

(3)   That the current membership of each of the working groups referred to in paragraph (1) be confirmed for the remainder of the 2020-21 municipal year and for the 2021-22 municipal year, including the appointment of Councillor Angela Gunning as one of the local ward members on the Weyside Urban Village Development Governance Board, and subject to any changes requested by the political groups, which shall be referred to the Leader of the Council to approve.

(4)   That political group leaders be requested to submit nominations for consideration by the Leader of the  ...  view the full minutes text for item EX67

No nominations for submission to the Surrey Leaders’ Group in respect of the appointment of Governor to sit on the Surrey & Borders Partnership NHS Foundation Trust (Mental Health Foundation Trust) had been received.

Any councillor with an interest in the vacancy should contact the Leader of the Council prior to the deadline for receipt of nominations, which was Tuesday 12 January 2021.

No nominations for submission to the Surrey Leaders’ Group in respect of the appointment of Governor to sit on the Surrey & Borders Partnership NHS Foundation Trust (Mental Health Foundation Trust) had been received.

Any councillor with an interest in the vacancy should contact the Leader of the Council prior to the deadline for receipt of nominations, which was Tuesday 12 January 2021.