Agenda, decisions and minutes
PDF 222 KBVenue: Council Chamber, Woodhatch Place, 11 Cockshot Hill, Reigate, Surrey ,RH2 8EF
Contact: Huma Younis or Sarah Quinn Email: huma.younis@surreycc.gov.uk
Media
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Apologies for Absence
Additional documents: Minutes: Jordan Beech and Paul Deach joined the meeting remotely. |
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Minutes of Previous Meeting: 11 December 2023 and 19 December 2023
Additional documents: Decision: These were agreed as a correct record of the meeting.
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Declarations of Interest
Additional documents: Minutes: There were none. |
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Procedural Matters
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Additional documents: Minutes: There was one member question. A response was published in a supplement to the agenda.
The Cabinet Member for Children, Families and Lifelong Learning commented in response to part A) of her question, that it was clear that the right monitoring mechanisms had not yet been identified but hoped that we as an authority were able to work alongside national bodies to ensure that the correct Environmental Protection could be put in place. With regards to part B) the Cabinet Member hoped that we are able to have constructive dialogue on the challenges that are facing officers in driving this through.
With regards to part A) the Cabinet Member for Environment stated that as Natural England guidance sets out, chalk streams had a really high biodiversity value and it would be very difficult to recreate any loss. The council was open to engaging with relevant parties on this and doing further work to protect chalk streams and all of those connected issues to do with flooding and pollution as well. With regards to part B) the Cabinet Member for Environment stated that the council was happy to work on this with relevant bodies ensuring constructive dialogue. |
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Additional documents: Minutes: There was one public question. A response was published in a supplement to the agenda.
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Petitions
Additional documents: Minutes: There were none. |
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Representations received on reports to be considered in private
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Reports from Select Committees, Task Groups and other Committees of the Council
Additional documents: Decision: RESOLVED:
That the Budget Task Group report be noted and recommendations considered.
Minutes: The report was introduced by the Chairman of the budget task group who thanked officers for their engagement with the task group and thanked Cabinet for their response. She explained that the recommendations in the report were in addition to the Select Committee recommendations shared with Cabinet on 19 December 2023. The task group Chairman still remained concerned about the value the council placed on early intervention/ prevention support services but welcomed the additional £5m being spent in this area. There was still concern around SEND schools and the increase in costs which were noted in the recommendations. With regard to EIAs these had been made available in January 2024 although having them available last October would have been welcomed.
The Leader thanked the task group for their work on the budget and made a few comments. He stated that investing in prevention work went hand in hand with the challenges of funding daily services. £30m had been put into the budget to specifically target early prevention and support. Work needed to be done to clarify what we meant by prevention and what this work entailed. None of the efficiencies being made by the council would impact front line services. An analogy had been drawn up in the press regarding debt levels of the County Council and Woking Borough Council but the Leader explained that the capital budget would focus on building facilities to support and improve outcomes for residents which in turn would generate savings in the future. The capital programme supported the preventative agenda. The Leader also hoped that as there had been more than 20 meetings where members could make suggestions to be included for consideration in the budget process, that there would not be any last minute suggestions being made at the Council meeting when the budget would be approved.
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Additional documents: Decision: RESOLVED:
That the decisions taken since the last Cabinet meeting be noted. Minutes: There was one decision for noting.
RESOLVED:
That the decisions taken since the last Cabinet meeting be noted. |
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Cabinet Member of the Month
Additional documents: Decision: RESOLVED:
That the Cabinet Member of the Month update be noted.
Minutes: The Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care provided the Cabinet with an update on the work she and the services she supports had been undertaking. The following points were highlighted:
RESOLVED:
That the Cabinet Member of the Month update be noted.
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2024/25 FINAL BUDGET AND MEDIUM-TERM FINANCIAL STRATEGY TO 2028/29
Additional documents: Decision: RESOLVED:
That Cabinet makes the following recommendations to Council on 6 February 2024.
Cabinet recommends that Council:
13.Cabinet notes that the Audit & Governance Committee has approved the following at its meeting on the 17th January 2024: Treasury Management Strategy and Prudential Indicators (Annex F – Section 4) which set a framework for the Council’s treasury function to manage risks, source borrowing and invest surplus cash. Reasons ... view the full decision text for item 11/24 Minutes: The report was introduced by the Leader who explained that a draft budget had come to Cabinet in November and would be taken to Full Council on 6 February for approval. At the November meeting a budget gap of £13.5m had been identified, the final budget contained within the Cabinet report addressed this gap. The final budget would assume an increase in the level of core council tax of 2.99% and an increase of 2% in the precept proposed by Central Government to cover the growing cost of Adult Social Care. The increase in council tax would put the council in a robust financial position. A final settlement from Government would be announced on 5 February which indicated an increase of funding by £600m, £500m of this would be ringfenced for adult social care. The lobbying by the council to government had been effective and acted on. The Leader gave special thanks to the Prime Minister, Jeremy Hunt and Michael Gove. The Leader reiterated the need for reform to funding in Local Government and highlighted the services where there were pressures including home to school transport.
The Cabinet Member for Finance and Resources welcomed the final budget, thanking the Leader for his lobbying of government. Officers were also thanked for helping develop the final budget. Additional funding from government would help the council to support vulnerable residents and invest for the future. Cabinet Members welcomed additional funding from the government especially for children and adults services. The Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Customer and Communities welcomed the £40m being made available for Your Fund Surrey from 2023-24 to 2025-26. The projects coming to fruition were supporting the prevention agenda of the council and supporting vulnerable residents.
The Leader noted that recommendation 5 in the report would be updated ahead of the Full Council meeting to reflect that earmarked reserves would no longer be used as additional funding had been received by government.
RESOLVED:
That Cabinet makes the following recommendations to Council on 6 February 2024.
Cabinet recommends that Council:
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Additional documents: Decision: RESOLVED:
That Cabinet makes the following recommendations to Council on 6 February 2024.
Cabinet recommends that Council approves:
1. The admission arrangements for community and voluntary controlled schools, including the Published Admission Numbers (PANs), for September 2025 as set out in Annex 1 and its appendices.
Reasons for Decisions:
· The local authority has a duty to determine the admission arrangements for all community and voluntary controlled schools by 28 February 2024 · The admission arrangements are working well · The arrangements enable the majority of pupils to attend a local school and in doing so reduce travel and support Surrey’s sustainability policies · The changes highlighted in bold red text in Sections 10, 11, 14 and 19 of Annex 1 have been made to add clarity to the arrangements and reflect existing practice · The arrangements remain as they were determined for 2024, which enables parents to have some historical benchmark by which to make informed decisions about their school preferences for 2025 admission · The arrangements are compliant with the School Admissions Code
Minutes: The Cabinet Member for Children, Families and Lifelong Learning introduced the report explaining that this was an annual report regarding the admission arrangements that will apply for Surrey’s community and voluntary controlled infant, junior, primary and secondary schools for admission in September 2025. Surrey County Council was responsible for setting the admission arrangements for 78 community and voluntary controlled schools for 2025. The remaining schools were academies, foundation, free, trust and voluntary aided schools that were responsible for setting their own admission arrangements. The admission arrangements for all community and voluntary controlled schools for 2025 would remain as determined for 2024 therefore no consultation would be required.
RESOLVED:
That Cabinet makes the following recommendations to Council on 6 February 2024.
Cabinet recommends that Council approves:
1. The admission arrangements for community and voluntary controlled schools, including the Published Admission Numbers (PANs), for September 2025 as set out in Annex 1 and its appendices.
Reasons for Decisions:
· The local authority has a duty to determine the admission arrangements for all community and voluntary controlled schools by 28 February 2024 · The admission arrangements are working well · The arrangements enable the majority of pupils to attend a local school and in doing so reduce travel and support Surrey’s sustainability policies · The changes highlighted in bold red text in Sections 10, 11, 14 and 19 of Annex 1 have been made to add clarity to the arrangements and reflect existing practice · The arrangements remain as they were determined for 2024, which enables parents to have some historical benchmark by which to make informed decisions about their school preferences for 2025 admission · The arrangements are compliant with the School Admissions Code
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STRATEGIC INVESTMENT BOARD ANNUAL REPORT - FINANCIAL YEAR 2022/23
Additional documents: Decision: RESOLVED:
1. That Cabinet endorses the Annual Report of the Strategic Investment Board. Reasons for Decisions:
(The decisions on this item can be called in by the Resources and Performance Select Committee)
Minutes: The annual report was introduced by the Leader who explained the role of the Strategic Investment Board in overseeing the council’s investments and performance of the council’s trading companies. Investment return was expected to remain between 2-2.5% of the councils net revenue budget over the next 5 years with reserves to manage any fluctuations. The Leader explained that changes to the Public Works Loan Board lending rules had prevented Councils taking on additional borrowing to invest purely for commercial gain and that the council had not made any such investments since 2018. The asset holdings of the council were regularly reviewed by the Board. The Leader gave an update on the performance of each trading company stating that each was performing well with no financial challenges.
RESOLVED:
Reasons for Decisions:
(The decisions on this item can be called in by the Resources and Performance Select Committee)
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2023/24 MONTH 8 (NOVEMBER) FINANCIAL REPORT
Additional documents: Decision: RESOLVED:
1. That Cabinet notes the Council’s forecast revenue budget (after the application of the full contingency budget) and capital budget positions for the year.
2. That Cabinet approves the Empty Homes proposal of £575,933 to Waverley Borough Council relating to 2022, outlined in paragraph 7 – 8.
Reasons for Decisions:
This report is to comply with the agreed policy of providing a monthly budget monitoring report to Cabinet for approval of any necessary actions. (The decisions on this item can be called in by the Resources and Performance Select Committee)
Minutes: The report was introduced by the Cabinet Member for Finance and Resources who explained that at Month 8 the Council was forecasting an overspend of £1.7m against the 2023/24 revenue budget, after the application of the contingency budget. At Month 8, capital expenditure of £267.4m was forecast for 2023/24, a variance of £0.9m less than the re-set budget of £268.3m. The capital pipeline budget included £40m for Your Fund Surrey for 23/24 – 25/26, including an allocation available to each Councillor for the small project fund which enables them to support local small capital projects in their community. It was proposed to increase the allocation to individual councillors from £50,000, to a total of £100,000. There had also been a submission from Waverley Borough Council for a reimbursement of the Council’s share of the additional council tax raised for specific years from implementing changes to empty homes policies. This was for a total of £575,933.
RESOLVED:
1. That Cabinet notes the Council’s forecast revenue budget (after the application of the full contingency budget) and capital budget positions for the year.
2. That Cabinet approves the Empty Homes proposal of £575,933 to Waverley Borough Council relating to 2022, outlined in paragraph 7 – 8.
Reasons for Decisions:
This report is to comply with the agreed policy of providing a monthly budget monitoring report to Cabinet for approval of any necessary actions. (The decisions on this item can be called in by the Resources and Performance Select Committee)
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EXCLUSION OF THE PUBLIC
Additional documents: Minutes: RESOLVED: That under Section 100(A) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public be excluded from the meeting during consideration of the following items of business on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information under the relevant paragraphs of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act.
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STRATEGIC INVESTMENT BOARD ANNUAL REPORT - FINANCIAL YEAR 2022/23
Additional documents: Decision: See Minute 13/24. Minutes: The Leader introduced a Part 2 annex which contained information which was exempt from Access to Information requirements by virtue of Paragraph 3: information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information).
There was a short discussion amongst the Cabinet about the properties contained within the commercial portfolio.
RESOLVED:
See Minute 13/24.
Reasons for Decisions:
See Minute 13/24.
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PUBLICITY FOR PART 2 ITEMS
Additional documents: Minutes: It was agreed that non-exempt information may be made available to the press and public, where appropriate. |
