Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Fiona White.  There was no notification of a substitute.

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 (EAB) meeting held on 4 November 2021.

The minutes of the meeting of the Service Delivery Executive Advisory Board (EAB) held on 4 November 2021 were confirmed as a correct record, and would be signed by the Chairman at the earliest opportunity.

The Executive Advisory Board (EAB) was invited to consider a report which informed it of the outcome of a public consultation in respect of proposals for the future delivery of day care services for the elderly and sought comments regarding the recommended consolidation of provision at The Hive, Guildford.  The report also recommended that a mandate be developed concerning options for the future use of the Shawfield Centre, Ash, following the proposed consolidation of provision at The Hive.  The reason for the recommendations was to maintain or improve the quality of provision for day centre clients, whilst reducing costs as part of the Council’s Savings Strategy.

Following the Head of Community Services’ introduction and presentation of the report, the ensuing points arose from related questions, comments and discussion for forwarding to the Executive:

1.           Whilst the EAB acknowledged that any closure of, or decrease in, services was regrettable and could evoke a sense of loss amongst service users, the Council’s financial situation necessitated the review of discretionary services with a view to identifying budget reductions as part of its Savings Strategy.

2.           The Shawfield Centre had been closed since the COVID-19 outbreak and displaced service users had been transported to The Hive since that time, when Government guidance allowed.  Robust risk assessments and temperature testing had been undertaken and there had not been any Coronavirus issues at The Hive.

3.           Virtually all people who had received day care services from the Shawfield Centre prior to the pandemic now attended The Hive, if they were able to do so, and there was no knowledge of anyone previously in receipt of care now being without.  Although the Shawfield Centre had offered day care facilities and was not merely a lunch facility, the majority of users attended for the lunch club only when the facility had been open prior to the pandemic.  It was felt that this group, the majority of who resided in the neighbouring Japonica Court, were reluctant for the Centre to close.  Therefore, consideration could be given to identifying an alternative lunch provision in the sheltered setting, possibly utilising the kitchen area and the Benson Room, within available resources.

4.           Discrepancy As the number of consultation responders selecting Option 1 (to continue to operate two centres for older people’s provision) outweighed the number of total service users, it was suggested that the findings should be considered with an element of caution.  Consultation responses from the NHS and Surrey County Council Adult Social Care (ASC) advised that neither organisation referred people to the Shawfield Centre and would refer them to The Hive irrespective of their address in the Borough.

5.           The reference in the report to the residents of Japonica Court benefiting from increased activities being offered within the sheltered housing scheme were being pursued by the Council’s Sheltered Housing and Community Services Teams.  This involved liaison with community leaders to assist with the provision of some activities such as quizzes, lunches, a social club and the Memory Lane initiative for  ...  view the full minutes text for item SD50

At its meeting held on 13 January 2022, the Service Delivery Executive Advisory Board (EAB) was invited to consider a report reviewing the off-street parking pricing structure proposals which formed part of the Off-Street Parking Business Plan 2022-23.

The Programme Manager (Car Parks) introduced the report for the EAB’s consideration.  The following points arose from related questions, comments and discussion for forwarding to the Executive:

1.           With regard to integration of on and off-street parking, the latter had charged for parking in the evenings and on Sundays for many years whilst there had been no similar parking controls for on-street parking resulting in visitors parking on residential streets around the town centre to avoid charges at these times.  This had caused issues for residents and was one of the key drivers for the recent introduction of on-street charges.

2.           A move to more sustainable transport was sought and one of the few mechanisms available to the Council to influence behaviours was through its off-street car park pricing policy.

3.           A reduction in demand for parking following the pandemic had not been witnessed other than in the long stay York Road and Farnham Road Car Parks which were not currently utilised to full capacity.  A parking study undertaken by the Systra Group in 2020 had indicated that there was an increased demand for visitor parking and attention needed to be given to how best accommodate that within car parks or by encouraging alternative transport modes.  It was acknowledged that future residential developments in the Borough were likely to generate increased demand for parking and close working with Corporate Programmes colleagues was taking place regarding the timing of the redevelopment of car parks such as Bright Hill as this would have an impact on parking capacity and demand.  Possibly, the car parks with spare capacity could absorb some of the displaced parking demand.

4.           The Park and Ride service had been significantly impacted by the pandemic due to factors including a shortage of drivers and a significant reduction in use by commuters, one of largest user groups, owing to an increase in working from home.  Identified weaknesses with the Onslow site were the need to travel through a congested area to access the site and high operating expenses as the site was outside Council ownership.  Land on the approach to Shalford was suggested as a possible Park and Ride site which could cater for new developments planned in the Cranleigh area.  There was a possibility that the Artington site may be utilised as a bus depot enabling the parking of buses overnight when customer parking had ceased for the day.  It was felt that improvements to the Park and Ride sites would render them more attractive and increase their use alleviating congestion and pollution in the town centre.  Therefore officers were seeking to improve and develop the service which included identifying options and opportunities to secure more economical and better placed sites.  However, this was hampered by the cessation of related  ...  view the full minutes text for item SD51

The Executive Forward Plan was noted without comment.

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

Potential future agenda items would be discussed at the EAB / Overview and Scrutiny Committee Work Programming meeting organised for 19 January 2022 with a view to allocating unscheduled items to future meeting dates.  The Art Collection was highlighted as a topic that should be programmed for future consideration, particularly as its future storage arrangements would be changing.