Agenda and minutes

In the absence of Councillor Angela Gunning, Councillor Angela Goodwin assumed the role of Chairman for the meeting without the need for election and Councillor Gordon Jackson acted as Vice-Chairman.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Angela Gunning and Steven Lee.  There were no 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.

The Joint Executive Advisory Board (JEAB) was invited to consider a report which informed councillors of discussions being held with other Surrey councils in respect of possible future local government structures in the County and opportunities for closer partnership working.  To inform these discussions, KPMG had been commissioned collectively by the Surrey districts and boroughs to explore models for local government structures and prospects for greater collaboration between those councils, and its analysis of options and opportunities was appended to the report.  Views were sought from councillors in this regard to assist with shaping the future direction of this work having, at this stage, a particular focus on closer partnership working with Waverley Borough Council (Waverley). 

In terms of submitting related recommendations to the Executive, councillors were invited to express views and comments concerning preferred council structures in Surrey in the light of any future local government reorganisation, including the three unitary council model set out the KPMG report; priority areas for closer collaboration; the range of options for discussion with Waverley on greater partnership working; and the proposed engagement of the Local Government Association (LGA) to explore the potential savings for the various options for collaboration with Waverley.

The Board received an introduction and overview from the Leader and Deputy Leader of the Council which outlined the background to the current position, the preferred future three unitary council option and closer partnership working with Waverley.  This was followed by a presentation given by the Managing Director and the Strategy and Communications Manager.  The presentation outlined the background, unitary council options, collaboration opportunities, working with Waverley, Guildford - Waverley options, service by service option, single officer team option, and specific matters for the Board to consider.

The following points and views arose from ensuing questions, comments and discussion:

a)           Whilst the restructuring of Surrey from a two tier to a unitary system of local government was welcomed, it was felt that a structure of three unitary authorities for the County was the best model as a single or two unitary authorities would be too large in scale resulting in democratic deficit and loss of local decision-making.  Although none of the various unitary options should be discarded at present, 3c was the preferred proposal whilst 3g was recognised as having some merit.

b)           A councillor was of the view that a group of local authorities was able to submit a restructuring proposal to the Government and therefore a unanimous decision across Surrey would not be required to support a unitary bid from borough / district councils.

c)           The financial status of neighbouring authorities in Surrey should be taken into account as part of any unitary authority proposal.

d)           Although public consultation would form a valuable part of unitary authority proposals and options, it was suggested that councillors should also play their role as elected community representatives in this regard and that public engagement should feature clear explanatory material.

e)           Collaboration with Waverley was welcomed as a means to deliver savings  ...  view the full minutes text for item 22.