Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Andrew Gomm, Gillian Harwood, Ramsey Nagaty and Tony Rooth.  There were no notifications of substitutions.

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 19 May 2022.

The minutes of the meeting of the Service Delivery Executive Advisory Board (EAB) held on 19 May 2022 were confirmed as a correct record, and would be signed by the Chairman at the earliest opportunity.

The Service Delivery Executive Advisory Board (EAB) was invited to consider the Council’s Community Asset Transfer Policy together with a covering report, which were introduced and presented by the Asset and Property Manager.

The report explained that the Council currently did not have a policy outlining the approach and decision-making process governing applications for the transfer of freehold assets owned by, or under stewardship of, the Council that were deemed suitable for community asset transfer.  Accordingly, a new policy had been drafted to guide the process and ensure that a consistent approach was pursued by officers and councillors when considering applications for a community asset transfer by a voluntary or community organisation.  The Policy was attached at Appendix 1 to the report for deliberation by the EAB prior to its submission to the Executive for adoption.

Community asset transfer involved the transfer of assets to voluntary or community based organisations which were seeking Council land or buildings from which to deliver community based objectives.  In such circumstances, the Council would look to grant a lease or sell the freehold ownership of its land or buildings to such organisations to facilitate their purposes.

In terms of national and local policy, the majority of local authorities, including Waverley Borough Council, had a Community Asset Transfer Policy in place and the Policy being proposed for Guildford fell in line with that.

The EAB was advised that the Council could lease its assets to community organisations by means other than through the Community Asset Transfer Policy such as granting leases at less than best consideration or at commercial levels.  The Policy related to where the Council wished to divest itself in the long term of an asset to a community group to enable it to achieve its objectives.  The Policy set out the criteria under which it would consider an asset transfer to a community group.

The following points arose from ensuing questions, comments and discussion for forwarding to the Executive:

1.           The EAB welcomed and expressed its support for the Policy, which was considered to be clear, accessible and aligned with associated legislation, offering opportunities for local community groups to assume the operation of assets, possibly saving a building for community purposes which would otherwise be leased or sold commercially.  However, it was wished that the Government would simplify the legislation to render it more legible to local organisations.

2.           The principles behind the community asset transfer legislation and the related 2007 Quirk Review confirmed the Government’s wish for local authorities to facilitate the transfer of assets to community groups meeting the required criteria and to mitigate the risks associated with the process.

3.           Councillors acknowledged that some local communities or existing voluntary groups may experience difficulties with establishing the type of organisation that was required to operate a community asset following transfer unless they possessed the necessary level of expertise and funding.

4.           Although the Council could not offer direct financial assistance to local community groups wishing to pursue an asset transfer,  ...  view the full minutes text for item SD70

The Executive Forward Plan was noted without comment.

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

The EAB was invited to submit any suggestions for future Work Programme items to the Chairman and Vice-Chairman to pursue as appropriate.

As this was the last meeting of the EAB prior to the forthcoming local Election, the Chairman took the opportunity to thank the members, Lead Councillors and Andrea Carr, Democratic Service Officer, for their hard work and contributions over the past four years.