Agenda and minutes

Councillors David Bilbé, Nils Christiansen, Liz Hogger, Nigel Kearse, Matt Sarti and Paul Spooner submitted apologies for absence.

In accordance with procedure rule 23(j), Councillor Dennis Paul attended as a substitute on behalf of Councillor Nils Christiansen.

In accordance with the revised 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.

There were no declarations of disclosable pecuniary interest.

To confirm the minutes of the Executive Advisory Board meeting held on 20 February 2017.

The minutes of the meeting held on 20 February 2017 were confirmed as a true record and were signed by the Chairman.

To receive a briefing on the origins of the Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP), its structure, governance and decision making model and how it influences and supports both Government policy and sustainable economic growth at local level.

Due to unforeseen circumstances, neither the LEP representative nor her deputy had been able to attend the meeting to give their presentation. Consequently, the Board was advised that this item had been withdrawn from the agenda and would be rescheduled to the next meeting.

To receive a briefing on ‘Experience Guildford’ which has been operating in Guildford as a retail and leisure Business Improvement District (BID) since 2013.  The Board is asked to consider Experience Guildford’s draft business plan for 2018-2023 that is currently being consulted on until late June 2017. 

The Board heard about the origins of the BID scheme, which came to the UK in 2005. The premise of the scheme was for businesses to pay a local levy on their rates, which would provide funds for projects to enhance the experience of people using retail and leisure facilities. The Board was advised that the Guildford BID was currently in its first term, was owned by local businesses, and was administered on a not-for-profit basis. Around 520 local businesses were represented in the BID, and they would be balloted in October 2017 on the draft business plan for 2018-2023. Some of the benefits of the BID were explained, including a privilege card, customer services awards, website, social media marketing, and the little book of offers. The BID also organised free events such as Guildford on Sea, and Thank Guildford its Friday, and provided support for Guildford in Bloom, the Christmas lights, Best Bar None, the Purple Flag and the Emergency Services Community Safety Day. The BID provided town rangers, who were trained in first aid and provided with link radios, as well as taxi marshals. In addition, the BID administered an on-line platform for the Crime Reduction Partnership, to help retailers prevent, detect and report incidents, with a separate platform available for the night-time economy and PubWatch. The Board heard that four prosecutions had been made due to information logged on the platform. The BID had funded some new signage in the town centre, and was actively promoting the ‘Secret Guildford’ brand. Furthermore, the BID had negotiated free parking from 4pm on Thursdays in the pre-Christmas trading period, and had developed an official Guildford app, which included live car parking information and a digital version of the privilege card, using similar technology to the council’s car parking app. The BID team also organised free training to participating businesses, including First Aid, as well as social media surgeries and networking events.

The General Manager of Experience Guildford advised that the Board would be provided with hard copies of the draft business plan. The Board was informed that consultation on the draft document would end in June 2017, and was asked for any feedback.

The Board enquired about how the BID planned to work with the pop-up village, and was reassured that the BID would welcome suggestions that would bring more people into Guildford, although it was cognisant that businesses in the pop-up village would not be paying the levy.  The Board also discussed the issue of accessibility, and whilst it was acknowledged that solutions were not straightforward, the General Manager of Experience Guildford did keep in touch with the Access Group in order to support issues raised through that forum. The Board suggested that DDA Awareness could potentially be included in the BID’s training portfolio, and further suggested that consideration could be given to providing awards to retailers for improving disabled access, not just for customers with physical disabilities. The Board’s suggestion that a vehicle akin to  ...  view the full minutes text for item BEI66

The Board asked to be provided with information on progress in respect of North Downs Housing Ltd since the Executive meeting on 23 February 2016, specifically who the directors were, when they took up post, when the first business plan would be published, when work would start, and what the target dates were. The Director of Environment confirmed that the Directors were himself, Councillor Gordon Jackson, Sarah Creedy, and Sue Reekie, and that work to acquire a number of properties had already begun. The Director of Environment also confirmed that a business case would be taken to the Executive in the near future, and undertook to provide a full update of progress to date.

To consider and approve the EAB’s draft work programme.  Details of future Executive decisions are included.  

The Board was advised that the Executive Advisory Board meeting scheduled for 22 May 2017 would be cancelled. The item scheduled for discussion on 22 May would be taken forward to the June meeting, together with the item on LEP’s. The Chairman asked the Board to contact her with suggestions for other matters that might be appropriate for consideration, and advised that the management team had also been asked for its assistance in respect of providing the Board with topics. The Director of Environment was asked for his support in this matter.