Agenda, decisions and minutes

There were no apologies for absence.

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 notparticipate in any discussion or vote regarding that matter and they must also 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.

Councillor John Redpath declared a non-pecuniary interest as he was a ‘Friend of Guildford Museum’.

The Leader made no announcements.

The Leader made no announcements.

Decision:

1.     To note, as set out in paragraph 6.2 of the report, that the indicative forecast of the cost to achieving net zero across Guildford Borough Council for Scope 1 and 2 emissions (as calculated by consultants APSE Energy in July 2022) is £58.6 million and the total annual savings achieved by 2030 would be the equivalent of £962,900 per year.

2.     To ask officers to explore how these costs can be met in the short (0-2.5 Years), medium (2.5–5 Years) and long term (5–7 years) and to bring forward further proposals in this respect as part of GBC Annual Budget processes (for example through direct funding, match funding, invest-to-save proposals or borrowing).

3.     To adopt the Climate Change Action Plan attached as Appendix 1 as the Council’s high level strategic plan for responding to the climate emergency.

4.     To note that the delivery of the actions within the plan will be contingent on identifying and securing the requisite funding and resources and on the development of further detailed plans and feasibility studies; and

5.     To request annual updates on the plan in terms of progress and any recommended changes to the structure or content of the plan brought forward by officers or the Climate Change Board. 

Reason(s):

The action plan enabled the Council to progress the climate change programme in accordance with Council strategic priorities and the declared climate emergency of 2019.

Other options considered and rejected by the Executive:

Option 1. Take no action – GBC does not adopt a climate change action plan.

Details of any conflict of interest declared by the Leader or lead councillors and any dispensation granted:

None.

An updated preface to the Action Plan and comments arising from the Joint Executive Advisory Board meeting held on 13 February 2023 were set out in the Supplementary Information Sheet. The lead councillor confirmed the report had been updated in response to those comments. The draft Action Plan had been considered by the Council’s Climate Change Board on many occasions. The Climate Change Board was an Executive working group that included external specialist advisers as well as other councillors.

On 23 July 2019, at a meeting of Full Council, Guildford Borough Council formally declared a Climate Emergency that required urgent action. Amongst a number of commitments made by the Council to tackle climate change was to develop a clear action plan and timescale for being net-zero carbon across all Council operations.

The Lead Councillor for Climate Change and Organisational Development  introduced the report that proposed a programme of actions to enable the Council to achieve net zero by 2030 in accordance with the Climate Emergency Declaration. The draft Action Plan included the development of programmes to encourage and facilitate a reduction of borough-wide carbon emissions, aiming to achieve net-zero by 2050, in accordance with the Climate Change Act 2019. The draft Action Plan included actions to develop programmes in response to current environmental changes caused by climate change and improve environmental resilience across the borough.

The draft Action Plan was the result of four years of work resulting in a blueprint setting out the scale of the challenge, clear definitions of terminology, and it extended the remit to embrace biodiversity and air quality which were not included in the original declaration. Whilst awaiting the Action Plan, the Council had continued to act simultaneously to reduce its carbon emissions across all portfolios.

The draft Action Plan covered all operational areas of the Council and was described as a ‘living document’ that would be broken down into SMART[1] targets to be implemented in consideration of the financial capacity of the Council and external funding opportunities. The Action Plan would be reviewed frequently to ensure it remained up to date and relevant.

The Executive was asked to pause and consider the scale of the climate change crisis alongside the disruption, harm and cost that was being incurred that would only worsen if action were not taken. Although the crisis was global, the impacts were being felt locally with increased incidents of flooding and severe heatwaves. The draft Action Plan was ambitious which was necessary and would include hard choices to reach the Council’s declared goals.  Going forward, as technology improved and funding opportunities came on stream, more of the most challenging objectives could be achieved. The Executive heard that those with the authority to make change should do so in the interest of future generations.

It was estimated that the Council itself through its operations was responsible for just 1% of emissions across the borough. The necessity for extensive partnership working was set out in the draft Action Plan. Leadership and engagement  ...  view the full minutes text for item EX92

Decision:

1.     To cease the Victorian schoolroom/ playroom education offer in its current form.

2.     To release the asset (39½ Castle Street) for inclusion in an auction of nearby properties.

3.     To ringfence the capital receipt from the sale of 39½ Castle Street for future use in finding an alternative location for key Heritage Service activities.

Reason(s):

To release resources which can be dedicated to other key areas of the Heritage Service and to generate a capital receipt which will contribute to developing a sustainable offer for the service in the future, including a new location for museum/ gallery activities.

Other options considered and rejected by the Executive:

1.    Continue with the current provision, requiring ongoing financial support and without generating funds to help sustain the future Heritage offer.

2.    Find a new location for the VSR provision which will likely require increased ongoing financial support as well as additional (unplanned) expenditure to set up the new offer.

Details of any conflict of interest declared by the Leader or lead councillors and any dispensation granted:

Councillor John Redpath declared a non-pecuniary interest as he was a Friend of Guildford Museum.

The Victorian Schoolroom and Playroom (VSP) provided a key element of the Heritage Service’s education provision including outside of the classroom learning experiences for Key Stage 1 and 2 children. Whilst the VSP generated an income it did not cover its operating costs.

Following the pandemic, provision was reduced. Currently, sessions were available twice a week during term time, but with limited resilience within the casual team to cover staff absence. Dedicated resource had been removed following the Future Guildford restructure. Current provision was not cost effective and limited the wider engagement work that could be delivered by this team. Three members of casual staff would be subject to redundancy if the provision ceased.

An operational asset review had been undertaken which included the property used for the VSP provision (39½ Castle Street). The property had been identified, along with others in the vicinity, as not achieving the Council’s investment criteria. The proposal was to include 39½ Castle Street in an auction lot, comprising nearby properties.

The Lead Councillor for Customer and Commercial Services introduced the report and welcomed the public speaker for the item who was Nick Bale, Chairman of the ‘Friends of Guildford Museum’ group. The decision to close the VSP would not be taken without full consideration and evaluation of the options open to the Council. However, over the past years the Council had seen £4million reduction in Government support, endured a pandemic and was now in the midst of the ‘cost of living crisis’. In 2019, the budgetary cost of Heritage Services was £1million, next year the Council faced a budget deficit of £5million. Consequently, it was more important than ever for all service areas to consider how they could operate more efficiently. Savings made from the closure of the VSP would provide an opportunity for the team to refocus and provide an improved heritage offer to residents through the Council’s remaining assets. Funding received from the sale of the building would be ringfenced to support the Heritage Team for the future.

The Chairman also welcomed Nick Bale who addressed the meeting. The ‘Friends of Guildford Museum’ supported the museum in a variety of ways. In 2022, the group had donated £17,000 to support the installation of a new IT system and had also paid for the VSP contents 20 years previously. The VSP was the main connection point for the museum with schools which was vital for the museum’s accreditation. The accreditation status did bring with it some viability for the museum, but the meeting heard that most important was the high quality of the experience received by the children through the offer which could not always be thought of in monetary terms. Mr Bale offered to support the Council in seeking to find an alternative venue at which the VSP experience might continue. On behalf of the Executive, the Chairman thanked Mr Bale for addressing the meeting.

There was reflection that this was the latest of a number of difficult decisions that had to  ...  view the full minutes text for item EX93