Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Jon Askew, Steven Lee, Will Salmon and Catherine Young.  Councillor Susan Parker was present as a substitute for Councillor Catherine Young.

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 or non-pecuniary interests.

To confirm the minutes of the Executive Advisory Board meeting held on 11 October 2021.

The minutes of the meeting of the Executive Advisory Board (EAB) held on 11 October 2021 were confirmed as a correct record, and would be signed by the Chairman at the earliest opportunity.

A mandate proposal to introduce a work programme to co-ordinate and manage the Council’s approach to climate change related activities was before the Strategy and Resources Executive Advisory Board (EAB) for consideration.  This programme, which consisted of various projects and workstreams, would address the Council’s commitment to achieve its net zero emissions target across the authority’s property estate and service operations and other aspects of actions related to addressing climate change.

The EAB received an introductory presentation from the Head of Asset Management (Climate Change Lead) regarding the mandate which addressed the following areas:

·             Programme Strategy

·             Options Evaluation

·             Considerations

·             Climate Change Programme Workstreams

·             Resources

·             Programme Cost Profile

·             Issues, Assumptions and Risks

·             Dependencies, Constraints and Opportunities

·             Appendix A: Internal Stakeholders Reviewer List

·             Appendix B: Climate Change Programme Group Proposal – Terms of Reference; Who; Why; and Primary, Secondary and Tertiary Tasks

·             Corporate Management Team Outcome

·             Executive / Management Team Liaison Group Outcome

The presentation reminded the EAB that in July 2019 the Council declared a Climate Emergency which acknowledged that urgent action was required to combat climate change and set a commitment to working towards making the Council’s own activities net zero carbon by 2030.  The Energy and Carbon Reduction High-level Action Plan was subsequently adopted in July 2020 and the Council’s commitment was reiterated in the Climate Change Motion passed in October 2020.  The significance of this commitment was reflected in the emergence of climate change as a strategic priority for the Council.

Government statistics indicated that 20% of borough-wide emissions emanated from businesses, 28% from domestic properties with the majority of 52% from transport.  The Council could undertake a stewardship role in facilitating a borough-wide transition involving both residents and businesses alike whilst engaging with key stakeholders.

In order to effectively and efficiently reduce carbon emissions, the Council would need to adopt a holistic collaborative approach across the organisation, involving all of its services, assets and operations, which aligned with other strategies such as the Council’s Air Quality Strategy.

The mandate set out five potential strategic options to deliver a climate change solution consisting of (1) Do nothing, (2a) or (2b) Do minimum, (3) Do more, the recommended option, or (4) Do most.  Options 3 and 4 offered opportunities to explore the possibility of closer working with Waverley Borough Council (WBC) in respect of shared knowledge and project work as part of new joint working arrangements.

In addition to considering the high level mandate, EAB members also discussed aspects of some of the programme projects and workstreams flowing from the mandate.  The following points arose from related questions, comments and discussion:

The Mandate

1.           Although the formalising and progressing of a climate change work programme were welcomed, there was a view that the mandate lacked ambition and could be strengthened in its aims, notwithstanding the Council’s financial situation.

2.           The limited references to the Climate Change Board (CCB) in the mandate together with the inclusion of only one councillor in the Stakeholders Reviewer List were causes of concern  ...  view the full minutes text for item SR35

The Executive Advisory Board (EAB) received an introductory presentation from the Strategy and Communications Manager regarding the mandate in respect of the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre (YAT) grant.  The mandate addressed the following areas:

·             Introduction

·             Strategy

·             Strategic Options to Deliver a Solution

·             Considerations

·             Resources

·             Risks, Assumptions and Issues

·             Dependencies, Constraints and Opportunities

·             Internal Stakeholders

·             Next steps

·             Appendix 1 – Key Financial Data and Ratios

The presentation explained that the YAT provided a mixture of professional theatre both directly produced and received in its main house, an annual programme of small-scale touring companies and a term-time education programme for young people.  In addition, the Mill Studio hosted theatre by local amateur and semi-professional companies.

The YAT had been supported financially by the Council for many years.  Following a report to the Executive in February 2015, the annual grant to the Theatre had been set at £310,220 each year for the three year period from 2015/16 to 2018/19 with no provision for inflation.  At that time, it was highlighted that the Council would face financial pressure to reduce the amount of the grant over following years and the YAT was expected to manage cost reduction and additional income generation programmes over time to compensate for the reduction.

Despite substantial reductions to the Council’s central government funding over the last decade, YAT funding had remained at the same level since 2018/19.  The Council was now facing a projected budget deficit of £6 million over the next four years and needed to make substantial savings across its discretionary services.  Although grant funding to the YAT had been protected to date, this was not a sustainable position in the future owing to the amount of the grant and the Council’s financial challenges.

The mandate set out five options for future funding of the YAT in the context of the Council’s challenging financial position and corporate priorities.  The Options consisted of (a) Do nothing, (b) Do something [1], (c) Do something [2], (d) Do more [1] or (e) Do most.  Having considered the mandate at its meeting held on 3 November 2021, the Executive / Management Team Liaison Group recommended that Options (b) and (c) should be pursued and requested that further information regarding the grant as a percentage of the Theatre’s turnover be provided.  In response, the Group was advised that in a typical year, the Council’s full grant represented 7-8% of the Theatre’s turnover.  This percentage increased substantially in 2020/21 to 22% due to reduced turnover caused by the Coronavirus pandemic.  A credit check had been undertaken and indicated that the Theatre was in a sound financial position.

Officers met representatives of the YAT on 18 November 2021 to discuss the mandate and set out the opportunities to submit representations.  The Theatre subsequently submitted a recent response and this was circulated to the EAB as a late sheet to its agenda.

The Leader of the Council advised that the mandate contained the necessary facts regarding the YAT’s financial situation and the  ...  view the full minutes text for item SR36

The Executive Forward Plan was noted.

To consider the EAB’s work programme with reference to the Executive Forward Plan.

The EAB Work Programme was noted without comment.