Agenda and minutes
PDF 194 KBVenue: Council Chamber, County Hall, Kingston upon Thames, Surrey KT1 2DN
Contact: Anne Gowing 020 8541 9938
Media
| No. | Item |
|---|---|
|
APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE
The Chairman to report apologies for absence. Additional documents: Minutes: Apologies for absence were received from Mrs Angell, Mrs Bowes, Mrs Bramhall, Mrs Coleman, Mrs Frost, Mr Fuller, Dr Grant-Duff, Mr Hickman, Mr Orrick and Mr Wilson. |
|
To confirm the minutes of the meeting of the Council held on 13 October 2015.
(Note: the Minutes, including the appendices, will be laid on the table half an hour before the start of the meeting).
Additional documents: Minutes: The minutes of the meeting of the County Council held on 13 October 2015 were submitted, confirmed and signed.
|
|
|
Election of a County Councillor
The Chief Executive formally to report the election of a new County Councillor for the Epsom West division at the By-election held on 19 November 2015.
Additional documents: Minutes: The Chief Executive formally reported that Mr Karan Persand was duly elected as the new County Councillor for the Epsom West division following the by-election held on 19 November 2015.
|
|
|
CHAIRMAN'S ANNOUNCEMENTS
The Chairman to report. Additional documents: Minutes: The Chairman made the following announcements:
· The sad news of the passing of Richard Rothwell, former County Councillor for Epsom & Ewell North East from 1993-2001. Members stood in silent tribute.
· That Surrey Public Health Lead, Maya Twardzicki recently received a national award from the Royal Society of Public Health for outstanding and innovative contributions to Arts and Health practice and research. The award was presented by General the Lord Dannatt on 18 November at the Royal Society of Public Health in London, to all the Home Front project partners.
· That Denise Le Gal had been recognised as Elected Member of the Year at the Local Government Chronicle Investment (LGC) Awards. In addition, the Surrey County Council Pension Fund won ‘fund of the year’ for funds above £2billion. · That Lynne Owens, who had been Chief Constable of Surrey Police since February 2012, had just been appointed Director General of the National Crime Agency. She informed Members that she would be writing to her to offer her congratulations. · HRH Prince Edward, the Earl of Wessex’s had recently unveiled the new peace garden at the Woking Muslim Burial Ground and said this was part funded by the Community Improvements Fund. · That she had attended the Surrey Sports Awards ceremony at the H G Wells Centre last week to present a Disability Sport Award, on behalf of the County Council, to Paul Phillips of Frensham Pond Sailability in Farnham.
· SEND 2020 programme – she advised Members that officers working to improve the experiences of families, children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities were keen to hear from Members and there would be a team of officers outside the Ashcombe Suite at lunchtime.
· That she would be replacing David Munro as the Chairman of the Surrey Civilian Military Partnership Board, and thanked him for his work in this area.
· That Surrey had recently successfully hosted the County Council Network (CCN) Conference in Guildford.
|
|
|
DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST
To receive any declarations of disclosable pecuniary interests from Members in respect of any item to be considered at the meeting.
NOTES:
· Each Member must declare any interest that is disclosable under the Relevant Authorities (Disclosable Pecuniary Interests) Regulations 2012, unless it is already listed for that Member in the Council’s Register of Disclosable Pecuniary Interests. · As well as an interest of the Member, this includes any interest, of which the Member is aware, that relates to the Member’s spouse or civil partner (or any person with whom the Member is living as a spouse or civil partner). · If the interest has not yet been disclosed in that Register, the Member must, as well as disclosing it at the meeting, notify the Monitoring Officer of it within 28 days. · If a Member has a disclosable interest, the Member must not vote or speak on the agenda item in which it arises, or do anything to influence other Members in regard to that item.
Additional documents: Minutes: There were none. |
|
|
LEADER'S STATEMENT
The Leader to make a statement.
There will be an opportunity for Members to ask questions.
Additional documents: Minutes: The Leader made a detailed statement. A copy of the statement is attached as Appendix A.
Members raised the following topics:
· The 2% rise on council tax to help fund Adult Social Care in 2016 and that the system will operate differently in two tier authorities and therefore, it was requested this matter be brought to the Government Minister’s attention. · That acquisition of investment properties by the Council should be confined to purchasing properties within Surrey. · Following the motion at the last County Council meeting in relation to the migration crisis, an update on the position relating to the number of Syrian refugees accepted by the County was requested.
|
|
|
MEMBERS' QUESTION TIME
(1) The Leader of the Council or the appropriate Member of the Cabinet or the Chairman of a Committee to answer any questions on any matter relating to the powers and duties of the County Council, or which affects the county.
(Note: Notice of questions in respect of the above item on the agenda must be given in writing, preferably by e-mail, to Anne Gowing in Democratic Services by 12 noon on Wednesday 2 December 2015).
(2) Cabinet Member Briefings on their portfolios
These will be circulated by email to all Members prior to the County Council meeting, together with the Members’ questions and responses.
There will be an opportunity for Members to ask questions.
Additional documents: Minutes: Notice of 14 questions had been received. The questions and replies are attached as Appendix B.
A number of supplementary questions were asked and a summary of the main points is set out below:
(Q3) Mrs Watson asked the Leader of the Council if the route for the Prudential Ride London event could be varied each year and was informed that the route would be agreed with the London Marathon company but that the County Council would take into account the best route for the event. He also reminded Members that the event had generated £1.2m for local sporting and recreational charities.
(Q7) Mr Harrison suggested that the threat of possible closures of some Community Recycling Centres (CRCs), as part of the proposals to make savings, was a sham and asked the Cabinet Member for Environment and Planning if he agreed. The Cabinet Member said that possible closures had formed part of the consultation process. Details of all proposals for savings had been analysed and there would be a further report to the Economic Prosperity, Environment and Highways Scrutiny Board in January.
(Q8) Mr Barker asked the Cabinet Member for Environment and Planning why no data relating to Guildford Borough was included in the table. He was advised that this information had been requested but not yet received. It was also noted that there was a problem with the tabulation of the table and the Cabinet Member agreed to re-issue it to all Members. Mr Beardsmore drew the Cabinet Member’s attention to the high pollution in the Sunbury Cross / Staines area of Spelthorne, where he said there was the highest concentration of schools in Surrey and said this was of concern to him.
(Q9) Mr Essex asked the Cabinet Member for Wellbeing and Health if she intended to lobby Government for fairer funding for public health in Surrey. She confirmed that this would happen, as she had stated at the last Cabinet meeting.
(Q10) Mr Robert Evans said that whilst a facsimile copy of the 1297 Magna Carta would be welcome, he was interested in pursuing and obtaining the original copy from the Australian Government and asked the Cabinet Member for Wellbeing and Health for her views. She considered that the original would cost a great deal of time, effort and money and that the County’s priorities were to concentrate on providing services for Surrey residents. However, she hoped that a facsimile copy would be possible and this could be displayed at County Hall in the future.
(Q12) Mr Sydney asked if this response could be shared with his local residents. This was confirmed in the verbal response from the Cabinet Member for Localities and Community Wellbeing. Mr Sydney also considered that the Internal Audit team’s report on the Community Partner Libraries (CPL) had contained a number of inaccuracies which he would be taking up outside the meeting. He also questioned the success of CPLs, saying that they were running at a lower footfall than before. The Cabinet Member ... view the full minutes text for item 79/15 |
|
|
STATEMENTS BY MEMBERS
Any Member may make a statement at the meeting on a local issue of current or future concern.
(Note: Notice of statements must be given in writing, preferably by e-mail, to Anne Gowing in Democratic Services by 12 noon on Monday 7 December 2015).
Additional documents: Minutes: There were no statements from Members. |
|
|
ORIGINAL MOTIONS
ITEM 9(i)
Mr Stephen Cooksey (Dorking South and the Holmwoods) to move under Standing Order 11 as follows:
‘This Council
notes:
ITEM 9(ii)
Mr Tim Hall (Leatherhead and Fetcham East) to move under Standing Order 11 as follows:
‘This Council warmly welcomes a new Conservative Government which is listening to the voice of Local Government and is now setting out an agenda of reforming business rates, devolving power and responding to the funding needs of adult social care.’
ITEM 9(iii)
Mr Jonathan Essex (Redhill East) to move under Standing Order 11 as follows:
Supporting LGA Climate Local Initiative
‘Surrey County Council takes note of the International Climate Talks currently taking place in Paris and takes this opportunity to reaffirm the importance of its leadership role in this area by committing to sign up to the Local Government Association's Climate Local initiative, and call on other Councils to do the same.’
ITEM 9(iv)
Mrs Hazel Watson (Dorking Hills) to move under Standing Order 11 as follows:
‘Council notes that when roads are surface dressed in order to prolong the life of roads by sealing them and to save money before a full resurfacing, the road surface becomes noisier for residents living nearby.
This Council requests the Cabinet to amend its policy to take into account not just cost but also the quality of life of residents, including noise levels of different road surfaces when deciding on different types of materials and processes for surface dressing or full road resurfacing.’
Additional documents: Minutes: ITEM 9(i)
Under Standing order 12.3, the Council agreed to debate this motion.
Under Standing Order 12.1, Mr Cooksey moved the motion which was:
‘This Council
notes:
Mr Cooksey made the following points in support of his motion:
· That most footways were in a deplorable state and little maintenance was undertaken to improve them. · The County’s footways were a hazard for residents to contend with on a daily basis. · The Footways Network Survey provided data which demonstrated that one-third of the County’s footways were in an unacceptable condition. · There was insufficient funding in the highways budget for footway improvements and there would be a continued deterioration of their condition. · Project Horizon focussed on highway and not footway improvements.
The motion was formally seconded by Mr Goodwin, who said that footways were an integral part of the highways and should be a higher priority for maintenance and repairs. He said that although some Members, including himself, had used their local allocations for repairing footways in their divisions, there was insufficient funding for local committees to undertake this work in many instances.
Mr Furey moved an amendment, which was tabled at the meeting. The amendment was formally seconded by Mr Harmer.
The amendment was as follows (with additional words in bold and underlined and deletions crossed through):
‘This Council
notes:
Mr Furey spoke to his amendment, making the following points:
· The highways network was used by most Surrey residents and businesses every day. · There was a statutory requirement to maintain the highways network and the County Council had made a significant investment to both maintain and ... view the full minutes text for item 81/15 |
|
|
REPORT OF THE CABINET
To receive the report of the meeting of the Cabinet held on 27 October and 24 November 2015 and to agree two recommendations in respect of:
(i) School Organisation Plan 2015/16 – 2024/25 (ii) Revision of Procurement Standing Orders
Additional documents: Minutes: The Leader presented the Report of the Cabinet meetings held on 27 October and 24 November 2015. Members had an opportunity to comment on the report.
Recommendations on Policy Framework Documents
A School Organisation Plan
RESOLVED:
That the School Organisation Plan 2015/16 – 2024/25 be approved.
B Revision of Procurement Standing Orders
RESOLVED:
That the proposed changes to Procurement Standing Orders, as set out in Appendix 3 of the Cabinet report, be approved.
Reports for Information / Discussion
The following report was received and noted:
· Orbis Three Year Business Plan
RESOLVED:
That the report of the meetings of the Cabinet held on 27 October and 24 November 2015 be adopted.
|
|
|
Appointment of Chairman for Council Overview Board
To appoint a Chairman for the Council Overview Board for the remainder of the council year. Additional documents: Minutes:
|
|
|
Amendment to Surrey Pay Policy Statement 2015 - 16
To approve the updated 2015/16 Pay Policy Statement. Additional documents: Minutes: To comply with Section 40 of the Localism Act 2011 all local authorities are required to agree and publish an annual Pay Policy Statement. The Council’s current pay policy statement was approved by Council on 17 March 2015 and is published on the Council’s website. Pay policy statements may be amended during the course of the financial year to reflect changes or developments in an authority’s pay policy.
Mr Hodge, as Chairman of the People, Performance and Development Committee informed Members that, following the meeting of the committee on 27 November 2015, the committee had requested that the following two additions be included in the final Pay Policy Statement 2015-16 for Surrey. These were:
· a statement that makes clear that the Surrey Pay arrangements apply to support staff working in schools · a recognition that there is an entitlement for payment for the County’s Returning Officer during elections.
RESOLVED:
That, following the update from the Chairman of PPDC, the revisions to the Surrey Pay Policy Statement 2015–16, as set out in Annex 1 to the submitted report and including the two recommendations as set out above, be approved. |
|
|
Constitution Update Report - financial governance amendments
It is the Council’s responsibility to approve changes to the Scheme of Delegation regarding non-executive functions. Amendments to executive functions are delegated to the Leader and are brought to County Council to note.
This report notes changes to the Scheme of Delegation (Cabinet and Officers) relating to academy balance transfers on conversion, the management of Trust Funds and fees & charges.
As a result of these changes to the scheme of delegation, Council are invited to note the amendments to the Financial Regulations.
Additional documents: Minutes: This report noted changes to the Scheme of Delegation (Cabinet and Officers) relating to fees and charges, academy balance transfers on conversion and the management of Trust Funds.
As a result of these changes to the scheme of delegation and after a short discussion in which the changes proposed to Fees and Charges were clarified and the management of Trust Funds, where the Council was a corporate trustee, were discussed, Members approved the amendments to the Financial Regulations.
RESOLVED:
1. That the changes to its Constitution regarding fees and charges, academy balances and trust funds be noted.
2. That the changes to the Financial Regulations, regarding fees and charges, be approved.
|
|
|
Minutes of the Meetings of the Cabinet
Any matters within the minutes of the Cabinet’s meetings, and not otherwise brought to the Council’s attention in the Cabinet’s report, may be the subject of questions and statements by Members upon notice being given to Anne Gowing in Democratic Services by 12 noon on Monday 7 December 2015.
Additional documents: Minutes: No notification had been received from Members wishing to raise a question or make a statement on any of the matters in the minutes by the deadline.
|