Agenda and minutes

There were no apologies for absence.

[Councillor Tony Rooth indicated subsequently that due to technical difficulties he had been unable to join the meeting.]

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 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 Disclosable Pecuniary Interests.

To confirm the minutes of the Committee meetings held on 10 November 2020 and 1 December 2020.

The minutes of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee meetings held on 10 November 2020 and 1 December 2020 were agreed.

The Leader of the Council and Lead Councillor for Service Delivery introduced the item, referring to the level of COVID-19 infection rate and the introduction of the vaccination programme.  He indicated that G Live might have developed into a mass vaccination centre by the end of February or beginning of March.  In addition, he praised police, hospital staff, Council workers, and local communities for their efforts during the pandemic.  The Leader of the Council and Lead Councillor for Service Delivery advised the meeting of a Guildford Philanthropy-organised donation of 50 laptops for secondary school students.

The Managing Director gave a presentation on the current COVID-19 situation and the Council’s response, beginning with an update on local cases.  The Committee was advised that the COVID-19 infection rate in Surrey was 475 per 100,000 – similar to the rate for the South East (475.5) and the national rate (468.8) – and the Guildford rate had decreased to 387.3 per 100,000.  The Managing Director advised that in the previous week there had been 5,682 new cases in Surrey, of which 577 were in Guildford.  The meeting was informed that as at 18 January there were 1,443 registered COVID-related deaths in Surrey, with 115 in Guildford.

The Managing Director advised the meeting of key COVID-19 issues: the national lockdown; continuing support and services for the most vulnerable; business support; Council services; staff sickness; financial implications; and mass vaccination.  The Committee was informed that both Shawfield Day Centre and Park Barn Day Centre were being used for food parcel deliveries.  The Managing Director outlined the grants and funding available to support businesses impacted by the pandemic.  He confirmed the maintenance of essential Council services such as waste and recycling, revenues and benefits, and emergency housing repairs.  The Committee was advised that the financial implications for the Council of the new lockdown were likely to be similar to those from the previous lockdown, with a reduction in income from fees and charges and additional spending to support residents.  The Managing Director advised the meeting of vaccination sites, including G Live.

In response to questions, the meeting was advised that vaccinations at G Live had increased over the first week and the intention was to deliver approximately 1,100 appointments each day in the second week.  In addition, the meeting discussed the need to communicate vaccination-related information to the public.  

A member of the Committee indicated that the Guildford Lions were refurbishing and distributing laptops to schools to help children without suitable equipment for home-schooling.  The meeting was advised that unneeded laptops could be donated to Guildford Lions.

The Committee members agreed that an update on the response to COVID-19 be provided to the next Committee meeting in two weeks’ time.

A question session with the Lead Councillor for Resources.  Councillor Tim Anderson’s areas of responsibility are:

• Finance
• Commercial Asset Management
• Procurement

The Chairman welcomed the Lead Councillor for Resources and reminded the meeting of Councillor Anderson’s main areas of responsibility: finance; commercial asset management; and procurement.

The following information and responses were provided during the ensuing discussion:

·        In reply to a question about the impact of the pandemic on the Council’s commercial assets, the Lead Councillor for Resources indicated that in 2019-20 the Council’s commercial assets were valued at £153.4m, giving rent receipts of £8.4m and a yield of 6.3 percent.  He stated that units at the redevelopment of Midleton were selling rapidly.  With reference to the impact of the pandemic on the Council’s income, the Lead Councillor for Resources indicated that some rent deferrals and changes to payment terms had been agreed with businesses.  He suggested that the pandemic had speeded up an already existing process of retail decline.  The Lead Councillor for Resources advised the meeting of the financial success of the Council’s investment strategy, along with the need to keep the approach up to date and ensure it considered the needs of local businesses.

·        In reply to a question, the Lead Councillor for Resources indicated that adoption of the Procurement Strategy in 2020 had been a key change in the organisation and a significant step change in terms of approach to sourcing and contracting.  He stated that Council services had responded well to the change and were largely on board with the strategy ensuring engagement for any expenditure over the new threshold of £1,500 (previously £10,000).  The Lead Councillor for Resources informed the Committee that he was confident the new procurement measures and procedures in place would deliver the right outcomes for the Council.

·        In response to a query about the government’s proposed changes to procurement for local authorities, the Lead Councillor for Resources advised the meeting that the consultation on the green paper for procurement reform closed on 10 March 2021 and the timeframe for enacting any changes was unknown.  He indicated that there was new guidance in effect currently for below Find a Tender levels which allowed the Council to specify that only suppliers located in a geographical area could bid.  He indicated the guidance permitted the Council to reserve some procurements for small and medium enterprises or for voluntary, community and social enterprises.

·        The Lead Councillor for Resources indicated his priorities within his portfolio, confirming that his financial priority was the budget.  He informed the meeting that balancing the budget for 2021/22 was assisted substantially by the Local Government Finance Settlement in December with government being more generous than we had expected and providing an additional £1.4 million.  In addition, he confirmed that four capital projects had been removed from the 2021/22 budget [the museum, public realm, bike share, and the town centre gateway].  The Lead Councillor for Resources stated that budgets up until March 2026 still showed a cumulated deficit of nearly £6 million.

·        The Lead Councillor for Resources indicated that within the commercial assets area of his portfolio his priority was to  ...  view the full minutes text for item OS50

The Lead Councillor for Environment introduced the item and provided a brief overview of the ninth contract year.  The Committee was advised that due to the pandemic the G Live venue was operational for less than six months of the contract year.  The Lead Councillor for Environment indicated that 2019-20 produced a surplus that resulted in almost £60k being returned to the Council.  He thanked the members of the overview and scrutiny G Live working group for their work and praised the role of G Live as a vaccination centre.

A member of the overview and scrutiny G Live working group, present at the meeting as a member of the Committee, confirmed that the venue appeared to be on for a record year until the pandemic hit.

A member of the Committee asked about the advisability of re-tendering the contract for running G Live during the pandemic and the other options available with the current contract with HQ Theatres Guildford Limited (HQT) expiring in 2021.  In reply, the Lead Councillor for Environment indicated that the existing contract could be extended by up to five years. 

In reply to a question, the Leisure Services Manager assured the meeting of the financial viability of HQT and indicated he had no current concerns for their cash flow or stability.

The Contracts Officer outlined the climate change implications of the report to the meeting.  She informed the Committee of past and future plastic-free initiatives at G Live and advised of the introduction of LED lighting.  With reference to a new contract for the operation of the venue, the meeting heard a suggestion that the Council be able to measure and monitor the environmental impact of the operator.  A member of the Committee suggested that once the coronavirus restrictions were lifted it would be worthwhile using the foyer and other areas of the venue to promote environmental impacts.

With reference to a new contract, the Lead Councillor for Environment suggested a prioritisation activity for events at G Live could be undertaken at an executive advisory board meeting.

A member of the Committee questioned the time it had taken HQT to develop G Live as a successful business.  In response, the Contracts Officer advised that establishing a new venue in the marketplace had been expected to take a number of years.  The Leisure Services Manager indicated that HQT had improved performance year on year and suggested the operator had exceeded expectations held at the outset of the contract period.

With reference to events at G Live that had been postponed due to the pandemic, the Committee heard that a high percentage of customers had either retained tickets or exchanged them for gift vouchers.

The Leisure Services Manager confirmed that the use of the venue as a vaccination site had been funded by COVID-19 recovery grants from Surrey County Council; there had been no cost to the venue or the NHS. 

In response to questions, the meeting heard from the Leisure Services Manager that a defect had  ...  view the full minutes text for item OS51

To agree the draft Overview and Scrutiny work programme.

The Senior Democratic Services Officer (Scrutiny) advised the meeting that a request had been received from officers to reschedule the Impact of Brexit item from March to ta later meeting.  In addition, the meeting heard that nominations had been invited from Group Leaders for membership of the Committee’s two task and finish groups.

The meeting was informed that the one matter outstanding from previous meetings should be addressed by the report on traveller encampments / traveller strategy and policy scheduled for the March 2021 Committee meeting.

With reference to the Future Guildford item to be considered at the Committee’s meeting on 2 February 2021, members requested that information be provided on staff welfare and an analysis provided of the reasons  for staff leaving (excluding retirement and redundancy).

The Committee agreed the rescheduling of the Impact of Brexit item from March to a later meeting, and that the report on the Submission of a Garden Village bid for Wisley Airfield be considered at its April 2021 meeting.