Agenda and minutes

The Committee was advised of apologies for absence from Councillors Chris Blow, Guida Esteves, and Fiona White and a substitution as detailed above.

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 Interests.

Councillor Angela Goodwin advised the meeting that, in accordance with Overview and Scrutiny Procedure Rule 2 [specifically, that ‘no councillor may be involved in scrutinising a decision in which he or she has been directly involved (unless that involvement was only as a member of an EAB)’], she would withdraw from the meeting at the commencement of item 6, Review of the Council’s Ownership of Liongate House.  Councillor Goodwin indicated that her withdrawal was to avoid any appearance of conflict between her previous role on the Executive and her current role as a scrutineer.

To confirm the minutes of the Committee meeting held on 7 June 2022.

The minutes of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee meeting held on 7 June 2022 were agreed.

A question session with the Deputy Leader of the Council and Lead Councillor for Community and Housing.  Councillor Julia McShane’s areas of responsibility include: Health; Wellbeing; Access and Disability; Safety; Grants and Voluntary Services; Careline; Handyperson; Care and Repair; Housing; Homelessness; Housing Standards (HMOs, private rented sector); and Human Resources.

The Chairman welcomed the Deputy Leader of the Council and Lead Councillor for Community and Housing and reminded the Committee that Councillor Julia McShane’s main areas of responsibility included health, wellbeing, access and disability, safety, grants and voluntary services, Careline, handyperson, care and repair, housing, homelessness, housing standards (HMOs and the private rented sector), and human resources.  The Chairman indicated that the Deputy Leader of the Council and Lead Councillor for Community and Housing had been advised of several question areas in advance of the meeting and that other questions would naturally arise.

During the ensuing discussion a number of points were made, including:

• In reply to questions about void properties across the Council’s housing stock, the Deputy Leader of the Council and Lead Councillor for Community and Housing indicated that there were 102 houses currently progressing through the void process.  She advised the meeting that the timetable for each void property varied according to the work required and that delays were due to shortages of materials and staff.  The Deputy Leader of the Council and Lead Councillor for Community and Housing indicated that the financial impact of each property being unoccupied could be up to a week’s rent and that provision was made for this within the annual budget.  The meeting was informed that relevant performance monitoring had been reviewed and would lead to a standard, benchmarked approach. 

• In reply to a question on accessible home improvements, the Deputy Leader of the Council and Lead Councillor for Community and Housing advised the meeting that the respective numbers of adaptations completed via the Home Improvement Agency Care & Repair service and the handyperson service, the number of self-funded private projects, and adaptations within the Council’s housing stock could be provided to Committee members.  She indicated that details of the types of adaptations completed in the Council’s housing stock could be provided if requested by members.  The Deputy Leader of the Council and Lead Councillor for Community and Housing informed the Committee of the delivery of the service during the pandemic and increasing demand for the service, including from the introduction of further grants for home adaptations. 

• A member of the Committee questioned the take-up of the Council’s community transport service and queried whether resources were sufficient to meet demand.  The Deputy Leader of the Council and Lead Councillor for Community and Housing indicated that the community transport service was operated in accordance with licence controls and staff contracts.  The Committee was advised that the scheduling of the service was centred on customer need and aimed to ensure that the journey times of the most vulnerable users were as short as possible.  The Deputy Leader of the Council and Lead Councillor for Community and Housing advised that the amendment of licensing conditions to promote community use of the minibuses during weekends and evenings was being progressed. 

• In response to a question, the Head of Community Services agreed that not all aspects of the community transport service were operating at full capacity and  ...  view the full minutes text for item OS12

The Joint Chief Executive of Guildford and Waverley Councils advised the meeting that the Joint Appointments Committee had met in June and agreed to recommend appointments to the joint strategic director roles in the joint management team.  The meeting was advised the appointments were to be considered by full Council on 26 July and that if agreed the directors would commence in their roles on 1 August.  The meeting was informed that a formal consultation had commenced with the joint heads of service and it was envisaged that new heads of service would start in their roles on 1 October. 

The Joint Chief Executive of Guildford and Waverley Councils advised the meeting that the previous week he had provided Councillors with a detailed briefing on the progress of the Guildford and Waverley collaboration.  He advised the Committee of the benefits of collaborative working to date, including sharing of learning and information on Ukrainian resettlement, on leisure service contracts, and for climate change action plans. 

The Committee was informed that it would be proposed that the post of Section 151 Officer for Guildford Council be agreed as an interim joint appointment with the current Section 151 Officer within Waverley Council. 

There were no questions or comments from Councillors.  The Chairman thanked the Joint Chief Executive for his attendance.

[At this juncture, Councillor Angela Goodwin withdrew from the meeting in accordance with Overview and Scrutiny Procedure Rule 2.]

The Chairman invited the Lead Councillor for Resources to comment on the report submitted to the Committee.  The Lead Councillor for Resources introduced the item. 

The Lead Councillor for Resources suggested that the report submitted to the Committee was produced in response to two complaints that were politically driven.  He referred to the Council’s decision to purchase Liongate House for £13 million in 2013 and the process leading to the decision to dispose of the property for £10.1 million in 2020.  The Lead Councillor for Resources suggested delaying the sale in 2020 would have been inadvisable and reminded the Committee that the disposal of Liongate House had been audited as part of the audit of the 2019-20 statement of accounts for the Council and no issues or concerns had been raised with the valuation or the disposal. 

With reference to a Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) investigation as to the merit of the complaints about the advice given to the Council for both the acquisition and disposal of Liongate House [the outcome of which was circulated as supplementary information shortly before the meeting], the Lead Councillor for Resources informed the meeting that RICS had concluded there was insufficient evidence to show a failure to comply with RICS rules or professional standards and that there was no case to answer.  He stated that there was no evidence to suggest Liongate House was not marketed effectively or was worth more than £10 million at its time of disposal in 2020.

The Director of Resources summarised the acquisition, sale, and rental income of Liongate House as detailed within the report submitted to the Committee.  She indicated that since the disposal of the property the Council had received complaints relating to its sale and one complaint relating to its acquisition.  The Director of Resources advised the meeting that the terms of reference for the overview and scrutiny review were drafted by her and approved by the Chairman of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee.  She confirmed that the report submitted to the Committee contained the evidence the Council held relating to the acquisition and disposal of Liongate House and the decision-making processes followed by the Council.  The Director of Resources invited the Committee to consider each of the questions posed in the terms of reference for the review and the evidence presented in the report.

In accordance with the Council’s Public Speaking Procedure Rules, Mr Geoff Davis addressed the meeting. 

Mr Davis advised the Committee that he was a former Guildford Borough Councillor and had no current or prospective personal or financial interest in the subject.  He stated he was a Fellow of the RICS, with extensive experience in the property profession, including 47 years in Guildford, and had a degree in planning and development.  He suggested that, if handled differently, the disposal of Liongate House could had resulted in an additional £5 million or  ...  view the full minutes text for item OS14

The Senior Democratic Services Officer (Scrutiny) introduced the report submitted to the Committee.  He advised the meeting that the report stated the work of Overview and Scrutiny over the past year and its future work plan, reported on the use of call-in, and detailed the use of urgency provisions during the past municipal year. 

The Senior Democratic Services Officer (Scrutiny) advised the Committee of changes to the draft Overview and Scrutiny work plan since the publication of the papers for the meeting; namely, confirmation of the date of the October Overview and Scrutiny Committee meeting; the re-scheduling of the Borough’s Response to Refugees from January 2023 to October 2022; the re-scheduling of the Safer Guildford Partnership Annual Report from September 2022 to October 2022; the addition of Corporate Performance Monitoring to the September 2022 and January 2023 meetings of the Committee, and scheduling the update on the Children and Young People’s Emotional Wellbeing and Mental Health Service for January 2023. 

RESOLVED:  (I) That, subject to the addition of the updates in the work plan as detailed above, the report submitted to the Committee be commended to Full Council as the Overview and Scrutiny Annual Report, 2021-22.

(II) That the current rules relating to call in or urgency provisions remain unchanged.