Agenda and minutes
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Contact: Anne Gowing 020 8541 9938
Media
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APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE
The Chairman to report apologies for absence. Additional documents: Minutes: Apologies for absence were received from Mrs Bramhall, Mr Cosser, Mr Ellwood, Mr Gardner, Mrs Lay, Mrs Lewis, Mrs Mountain and Mrs Saliagopoulos. |
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To confirm the minutes of the meeting of the Council held on 9 February 2016.
(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 9 February 2016 were submitted, confirmed and signed. |
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CHAIRMAN'S ANNOUNCEMENTS
The Chairman to report. Additional documents: Minutes: The Chairman informed Members of the following events which she had attended recently:
· The Flag Raising Ceremony for Commonwealth Day at County Hall on 14 March 2016 · Armed Forces Champions Meeting, with 9 of the Boroughs and Districts represented and the Guildford Duke of Edinburgh Awards Presentation, which were both on 3 March 2016 · Lord-Lieutenant of Surrey's Reception for the Nominees for the Queen's Award for Voluntary Service 2016 · Surrey Countryside and Rural Enterprise Conference on 10 March 2016 · Sandhurst Leadership Challenge at the Military Academy on 5 March 2016 · Lord-Lieutenant of Surrey's Poppy Appeal Cadet Competition Presentation Evening on 9 March 2016
· On 16 February 2016, there had been royal visits to Denny's Brands, Denbies Wine Estate (Limbcare) and Brocks Chocs by HRH Princess Royal · HRH The Prince of Wales had visited Ashley CofE Primary School in Walton on Thames on 10 February 2016 and opened the Harmony Centre at the school
· She also reported that at least 25 events that took place in Surrey over the weekend of 4-6 March 2016 to mark the Clean for the Queen initiative
· Improvement and Efficiency Awards Ceremony – 1 March 2016. She informed Members that Surrey Emergency Service Partners won the ‘Working Together’ gold award and she was delighted to present the awards to Ben Burke, representing South East Coast Ambulance Service, to Mark Hamshar, on behalf of Surrey Police and Ian Thomson from Surrey Fire and Rescue. · Also at the same event, Buckinghamshire and Surrey Trading Standards received two silver awards for their successful partnership and she presented their awards to Amanda Poole of Buckinghamshire Trading Standards and Steve Ruddy of Surrey Trading Standards.
· Lastly, she informed Members that Mr Daniel Jenkins, County Councillor for Staines South and Ashford West had resigned with immediate effect. |
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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: Mr Forster declared a non-pecuniary interest in item 9 (the motion standing in the name of Mrs Watson) because he worked for a Member of the European Parliament. |
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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 made the following comments:
· The expansion of Project Horizon, to include restoration of Surrey’s pavements and the extra funding, was welcomed. However, the Leader was asked what impact this initiative would have on this year’s revenue budget and whether the £20m was additional money or funding already within the Project Horizon programme. · Members looked forward to receiving more information at local committees regarding the plans for improving the pavements. · Surrey taxpayers should not be funding any damage to pavements caused by builders working on property developments and builders should be responsible for reinstating the pavements. · That Members should be consulted when the pavement repair programme was drawn up. · The local committees were the right place for the Surrey pavements programme to be agreed because local people had in-depth knowledge of the issues. · An update on the current position on the combined authorities devolution bid was requested.
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Surrey County Council Progress Report
To consider the report and the matters to which the Chief Executive draws attention.
Additional documents: Minutes: The Leader presented the Surrey County Council Progress Report, the thirteenth of the Chief Executive’s reports to Members.
Members made the following comments:
· The Chief Executive was complimented on his progress report · Attention was drawn to the improving completion rates for appraisals, in particular in the Environment and Infrastructure and Adult Social Care Directorates · Staff survey results and a hope that the concerns highlighted would be addressed because Scrutiny Boards would be monitoring progress · The Leader was asked about Governance arrangements for the Devolution Bid and whether he would be lobbying Government for a Mayor for the area · A request for more information relating to the proposed new ways of working · Increasing demand for services was highlighted, in particular school places, where there was a funding shortfall of £30m every single year – this information should be made clearer in any subsequent re-print of this report · Attention was drawn to the case studies set out in the part 2 section of the report – Celebrating Success. Staff were thanked for their work in making a difference to residents’ experience · A request that future Chief Executive reports included a list of all staff nominated for STAR awards · Finally, Surrey’s transformation and improvement networks were highlighted.
RESOLVED:
(1) That the report of the Chief Executive be noted.
(2) That the staff of the Council be thanked for the progress made during the last nine months.
(3) That the support for the direction of travel be confirmed.
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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 9 March 2016).
(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 eight 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:
(Q1) Mr Robert Evans asked the Deputy Leader for assurance that he would monitor the ‘state of play’ closely and have a legal team on standby should it become necessary. The Deputy Leader agreed to monitor the situation but said that he would be reluctant to rush into litigation.
(Q2) Mrs Windsor asked the Cabinet Member for Wellbeing and Health when the County Council would be signing up to the Motor Neurone Disease Charter. She also said that she hoped that the Leader / Deputy Leader would support it. The Cabinet Member could not give a timeframe but said that she didn’t envisage any problems in signing it. She also said that she would like Mrs Windsor’s resident to be invited to the Health and Wellbeing Board to present her case.
(Q3) Mr Townsend requested that arrangement for the three newly created senior leadership roles in the Children, Schools and Families Directorate be reviewed in one year’s time to ensure that it was working satisfactorily. The Cabinet Member for Schools, Skills and Educational Achievement agreed to the request and said that she would be keeping the new structure under close review to ensure all workstreams were in place.
(Q4) Mrs Watson asked for clarity on who would make any decision to reduce grant or contract funding to particular organisations and would Members or carers be involved. Also Q4, Mr Mallett asked the Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care, Wellbeing and Independence to confirm that the £17.4m savings was ‘real money’ and also what percentage of the grants / contracts it represented? He also asked for confirmation that front line services would not be affected by the cuts. Mr Essex requested information about the Equality Impact Assessments (EIA). The Cabinet Member’s response to the supplementary questions was that 116 organisations in Surrey received approximately £22m in grants from the Council and that it was currently working in partnership with the voluntary organisations to examine these grants and contracts carefully. He also confirmed that going forward EIAs would be produced.
(Q5) Mr Beardsmore queried the last sentence of the response from Cabinet Member for Schools, Skills and Educational Achievement and said how could the Council work with schools to manage the transition if there had not been a decision on the proposed national funding formula for schools. The Cabinet Member said that the Council knew the broad terms of the proposals but detail was being released in a piecemeal fashion and that she would update Mr Beardsmore when she had more information.
(Q6) The Cabinet Member for Highways, Transport and Flooding provided a verbal response to Members, which he agreed to circulate after the meeting. He said that:
· The £6m pavement programme would follow the lines of Project Horizon. · Last year, Highways officers had carried out a full ... view the full minutes text for item 17/16 |
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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 14 March 2016).
Additional documents: Minutes: There were no local Member statements. |
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ORIGINAL MOTIONS
ITEM 9(i)
Mrs Hazel Watson (Dorking Hills) to move under Standing Order 11 as follows:
‘This Council requests the Leader of the Council to write to the Prime Minister to give the support of Surrey County Council to achieving his objective of remaining within the European Union as:
(i) jobs in Surrey are more secure with Britain remaining part of Europe – the biggest trading market in the world,
(ii) prices are lower than they would be if we were outside Europe – meaning households in Surrey save on average £450 a year; and
(iii) our police can make our streets safer by being part of a wider European force that tackles cross border crime.’
ITEM 9(ii)
Mrs Fiona White (Guildford West) to move under Standing Order 11 as follows:
‘This Council requests the Cabinet to change its property investment strategy to discontinue investing in properties outside Surrey for solely investment purposes and to divert the money saved to invest in much needed capital schemes such as pedestrian crossings to enable Surrey residents including school children to cross the road safely.’
Additional documents: Minutes: ITEM 9(i)
Under Standing order 12.3, the Council agreed to debate this motion.
Under Standing Order 12.1, Mrs Watson moved the motion which was:
‘This Council requests the Leader of the Council to write to the Prime Minister to give the support of Surrey County Council to achieving his objective of remaining within the European Union as:
(i) jobs in Surrey are more secure with Britain remaining part of Europe – the biggest trading market in the world,
(ii) prices are lower than they would be if we were outside Europe – meaning households in Surrey save on average £450 a year; and
(iii) our police can make our streets safer by being part of a wider European force that tackles cross border crime.’
Mrs Watson made the following points:
· She requested that the Leader wrote to the Prime Minister to support the UK remaining in the European Union (EU) because she considered that an exit would profoundly impact on Surrey and the UK. · That remaining in the EU would protect jobs, including those jobs in tourism. · That prices would be lower if the UK remained in EU. · That Surrey University received EU funding and also the EU helped to protect the environment i.e. setting emission limits. · That remaining in the EU made Surrey safer because information was shared in the fight against terrorism.
The motion was formally seconded by Mr Orrick who reserved his right to speak.
Mr Hodge moved an amendment, which was tabled at the meeting. This amendment was formally seconded by Mr Hall.
The amendment was as follows (with additional words underlined and deletions crossed through):
‘This Council requests the Leader of the
Council to write to the Prime Minister
thanking him for keeping his election promise to establish a process that affords the residents of this County the opportunity to vote in a referendum on the key question of this Country’s membership of the EU.
The amendment was not accepted by Mrs Watson and therefore Mr Hodge spoke to his amendment, making the following points:
· That it was improper to tell Surrey residents how to vote in the referendum. · It was also inappropriate for Surrey County Council Members to politicise this issue because it was for individuals to decide.
Mr Hall seconded the amendment and reserved his right to speak.
Eleven Members also spoke to the amendment and made the following comments:
· That whatever the outcome of the referendum, there would be an impact on Surrey residents. · That the ... view the full minutes text for item 19/16 |
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Minutes of the Meetings of the Cabinet
Any matters within the minutes of the Cabinet’s meetings, 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 14 March 2016.
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.
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