Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Geoff Davis, Matt Furniss, Richard Lucas, and Sue Wyeth-Price; and from Honorary Aldermen Catherine Cobley, Jayne Marks, Tony Phillips, Lynda Strudwick, and David Wright.

To receive and note any disclosable pecuniary interests from councillors. 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 not participate 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 disclosures of interest.

To confirm the minutes of the Budget meeting of the Council held on 7 February, and the extraordinary meetings held on 21 February and 16 April 2024.

The minutes of the Budget meeting of the Council held on 7 February, and the extraordinary meetings held on 21 February and 16 April 2024 were approved as a correct record.  The Mayor signed the minutes.

To receive any communications or announcements from the Mayor.

The Mayor outlined how she would like to Chair meetings of the Council (and how the Deputy Mayor would do so in her absence). Both believed in running meetings in a respectful, fair, firm and inclusive way, and to create an environment in which people felt comfortable in speaking and contributing to the debate so that as wide a range of views as possible could be heard. The Mayor reminded councillors that, under the new Council Procedure Rules, councillors would be invited to ask whether they required any clarification in relation of any aspect of a motion being put by the proposer.

The Mayor expected councillors to:

·      Keep their contribution focused on the topic under discussion

·      Try not to repeat comments already made

·      Not disparage any other member of the Council for their views and to treat each other with respect at all times regardless of differing political views

The Mayor reminded councillors that the Council’s Code of Conduct and the Nolan Principles should underpin behaviours and actions at Council meetings.

Finally, the Mayor thanked everyone who had attended Part One of the Annual Meeting on 8 May and the Civic Service on Sunday 12 May.

To receive any announcements from the Head of Paid Service, Chief Finance Officer and/or Monitoring Officer.

There were no announcements from the Statutory Officers.

Prior to the adoption by the Council of its new Council Procedure Rules on 16 April 2024, a number of enquiries regarding public speaking were made and the members of the public concerned were informed that this meeting of the Council would be the next opportunity for them to address the Council on general matters either related to the powers, duties or functions of the Council or matters which affect the borough.

The new Procedure Rules do not provide for public participation at the Annual Meeting (of which this meeting is the second part, following the ‘Mayor Making’ meeting on 8 May 2024).

It will therefore be necessary for the Council to agree to suspend Council Procedure Rule 2.2 (Business at the Annual Meeting) in order to receive questions or statements from the public on this occasion.

Prior to the adoption by the Council of its new Council Procedure Rules on 16 April 2024, a number of enquiries regarding public speaking had been made and the members of the public concerned had been informed that this meeting of the Council would be the next opportunity for them to address the Council on general matters either related to the powers, duties or functions of the Council or matters which affected the borough.

The new Procedure Rules did not provide for public participation at the Annual Meeting (of which this meeting was the second part, following the ‘Mayor Making’ meeting on 8 May 2024). Therefore, upon the motion of the Mayor, seconded by Councillor George Potter, the Council

RESOLVED: That Council Procedure Rule 2.2 (Business at the Annual Meeting) be suspended in order to receive questions and statements from the public on this occasion.

PUBLIC SPEAKER – MONICA LILLEY: 

“Good evening, Councillors, so I am Monica Lilley and myself and Liz Willis at the back here, my friend and colleague, we are representing, and we are volunteers for the plant-based Treaty Campaign and Animal Rising which is one and the same - it is an amalgamation, so to pitch straight in. We're in a climate emergency and it's almost five years since the Council declared a climate emergency and committed to carbon neutrality. During this time, the Council has taken a number of steps, especially as relates to transport and the built environment, and this is to be commended; however, one notable absence from the Council's extensive planning around climate change is the issue of food.

Globally, agriculture accounts for about one quarter of carbon emissions. In the UK, the figure is about 12%. Overwhelmingly, these emissions occur in the production of food. Food miles are a tiny fraction of the overall impact, and the evidence is clear. Animal products have a vastly greater climate impact than plant-based foods. As the BBC phrased it in a recent report: ‘The very worst plant-based food , i.e., the most heavily processed, is better than the “very best” animal products’.

Raising animals for food generates more greenhouse gas emissions than all the world's vehicles combined. That's from a United Nations report Livestock’s Long Shadow 2006, and that still stands.  Recent research conducted at the University of Oxford states that a plant-based diet has only one quarter the environmental impact of a diet containing an average amount of animal products. It is clear, therefore, that combating climate change must involve a shift towards a plant-based food system and the government at all levels must play a part in encouraging this shift. If Guildford Council is committed to reducing the climate impact of both its own services and all activity in the district, then it must work to enable this transition. This is about the Council promoting a shift in how people eat, the beacon is always plant-based.

There are many ways this can be achieved. I don't think internal catering applies,  ...  view the full minutes text for item CO13

The Council was required annually to establish its committees, their size and terms of reference, and to appoint councillors to them in accordance with the rules on political balance. The Council also elected the chairmen and vice-chairmen of those committees.

Details of the proposed committees and their respective size and terms of reference for the municipal year 2024-25 were set out in the report submitted to the Council, including details of the numerical allocation of seats on the committees to the political groups.  The Supplementary Agenda Pack also included details of each group’s nominations to fill those seats (and substitutes where appropriate), together with the nominations for election of committee and sub-committee chairmen and vice-chairmen.

Upon the motion of the Leader of the Council, Councillor Julia McShane, and seconded by the Deputy Leader of the Council, Councillor Tom Hunt, the Council:

RESOLVED:

(1)         That, for the 2024-25 municipal year, the Council agrees to appoint the committees referred to in the table set out in paragraph 6.2 of the report submitted to the Council, and agrees their respective size referred to therein and the proposed terms of reference, as indicated in Appendix 1 to the report.

(2)         That the following numerical allocation of seats on committees to each political group on the Council, be approved for the 2024-25 municipal year:

(3)         That the nominations for membership of the committees and the joint committees for the 2024-25 municipal year be approved in accordance with the wishes of the political groupsas indicated below:

Corporate Governance and Standards Committee

Guildford and Waverley Joint Governance Committee

Guildford and Waverley Joint Senior Staff Committee

Councillor Philip Brooker

Councillor Julia McShane

Councillor Fiona White

Licensing Committee

Overview and Scrutiny Committee - Resources

Weyside Urban Village ("WUV") was a major 41-hectare brownfield regeneration scheme that the Council had anticipated could deliver approximately 1,500 homes across a range of tenures, as well as 2,000 square metres of community space and 6,500 square metres of employment space. In February 2020, the Council had committed £334.9 million to de-risk the infrastructure and site assembly process needed across the Weyside Urban Village site. Over 44% of the site was currently in Council ownership, and 100% would be achieved on completion of land transfers with Thames Water Utilities Ltd (“TWUL”). The conditional contract with TWUL had been signed on 25 April 2019 (the "TW Agreement").

The Council had signed a Grant Determination Agreement (GDA) with Homes England in July 2020 for Housing Infrastructure Funding (HIF) for £52.3m, to draw down the grant expenditure associated with the implementation of the infrastructure works. In October 2021, the Planning Committee had issued a Resolution to Grant for the hybrid planning application for Weyside, with the decision notice to approve the application issued in March 2022.

The broader economic landscape and its impact on the construction industry over the last 12–18 months had been profound. At the end of 2021, the Building Cost Information Service - which provided cost and price data for the UK construction industry - reported that the annual growth in its material cost index had reached a forty-year high. Since then, pressures on supply chains had persisted and labour shortages had become more acute. Although the lifting of Covid restrictions had led to a return of high activity levels, the war in Ukraine and high rates of inflation had put the construction industry in further turmoil. The impact of these issues was being felt at a local level, with forecast construction and financing costs also increasing significantly.

The Executive had agreed in January 2020 that the project team would report the financial position to the Executive on an annual basis. The report now before the Council had set out the current financial forecast to the end of the programme ahead of a further paper being presented to Executive and Council outlining the proposed mitigation plan to address the potential financial deficit that had arisen as a result of macro-level factors.

The Council noted that the report had been considered by the Executive at its special meeting on 9 May and details of its decision and recommendation to Council was set out on the Supplementary Agenda Pack.

Upon the motion of the Deputy Leader of the Council and Lead Councillor for Regeneration, Councillor Tom Hunt, seconded by the Leader of the Council, Councillor Julia McShane, the Council

RESOLVED:  That the Council approves the transfer of £69.548 million from the provisional capital programme to the approved capital programme for payments which the Council is obliged to make to Thames Water Utilities Limited under the Thames Water Agreement for 2024-25, for costs necessary to meet the milestones set within the Homes England HIF agreement and construction costs of  ...  view the full minutes text for item CO15

To receive and note the attached minutes of the meetings of the Executive held on 25 January, 22 February, and 18 April 2024.

The Council received and noted the minutes of the meeting of the Executive held on 25 January, 22 February, and 18 April 2024.