Agenda and minutes

Council - Tuesday, 8 October 2019 10.00 am

Venue: Council Chamber, County Hall, Kingston upon Thames, Surrey KT1 2DN

Contact: Amelia Christopher  020 8213 2838

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Items
No. Item

58/19

APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

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    The Chairman to report apologies for absence.

    Additional documents:

    Minutes:

    Apologies have been received from Mr Beckett, Amanda Boote, Mr Ellwood, Mr Furey, Mrs Moseley, Mrs Rivers, Mr Szanto, Mrs Thorn, Mrs White and Mrs Young.

     

59/19

MINUTES pdf icon PDF 225 KB

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    To confirm the minutes of the meeting of the Council held on 9 July 2019.

     

    (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 July 2019 were submitted, confirmed and signed.

     

60/19

DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

    All Members present are required to declare, at this point in the meeting or as soon as possible thereafter

    (i)            Any disclosable pecuniary interests and / or

    (ii)           Other interests arising under the Code of Conduct in respect of any item(s) of business being considered at this meeting

    NOTES:

    ·         Members are reminded that they must not participate in any item where they have a disclosable pecuniary interest

    ·         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)

    ·         Members with a significant personal interest may participate in the discussion and vote on that matter unless that interest could be reasonably regarded as prejudicial.

    Additional documents:

    Minutes:

    Dr Andrew Povey declared a non-pecuniary interest as he was a trustee for the Surrey Hills Society.

     

61/19

CHAIRMAN'S ANNOUNCEMENTS

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    • Please do take a look at the Chairman and Vice-Chairman notice boards (situated outside their offices) which provides pictorial information about recent visits and activities.

     

    Recent visits and events

     

    • Interfaith Forum: 12 Years to Save our Planet. I attended a wonderful and thought-provoking event at the University of Surrey which discussed how all faiths could and should come together to work together as a whole for the entire community, instead of working separately for their own section of society.

     

    • Pitch@Palace: I had the pleasure of meeting HRH The Duke of York at a Pitch@Palace event hosted at the University of Surrey. The event provided a platform for around 20 entrepreneurs to pitch their ideas and business propositions and helped connect them with potential supporters who could help turn their business dreams into a reality. It was fascinating and highly encouraging to see the wealth of talent and creativity that Surrey residents have to offer.

     

    • Opening: I am delighted that the Eliza Palmer Hub has been opened at Whiteley Village, which expands the care services and capacity at Britain's oldest retirement village. The new care hub provides intensive care capacity for up to 30 people with complex needs associated with old age and includes space for visiting families to stay with their loved ones, therapy space and even a café to provide a new social venue at the heart of the village.

     

    • Surrey Youth Mayor: Surrey’s youth mayor, Jacob Wrenn, has been very busy, helping to create one voice for younger people across Surrey by linking the District/Borough youth Councils (Woking, Reigate and Banstead, Surrey Heath and Mole Valley) to the Youth Cabinet. He has attended numerous events around the County, including 'Safe Drive Stay Alive', which is all about safe driving for younger people. We wish him well on his endeavours.

     

     

     

     

     

    Additional documents:

    Minutes:

    The Chairman:

     

    ·         Highlighted to Members that the Chairman’s Announcements were located in the agenda front sheet.

    ·         Welcomed Paul Evans, the new Director of Law and Governance and Monitoring Officer to his first Council meeting and on behalf of the Council thanked Geoff Wild for his work as Monitoring Officer.

     

62/19

PUBLIC PETITION pdf icon PDF 51 KB

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    To consider a petition regarding fire appliances in Surrey, which received 13,048 signatures via the Councils e-petition facility.

     

    The petition states:

     

    “We the undersigned petition Surrey County Council to demand Surrey County Council scrap their plans to leave 7 major fire appliances un-crewed at night.”

     

    Additional documents:

    Minutes:

    The petition regarding Surrey County Council’s plans to leave seven major fire appliances un-crewed at night had received 13,048 signatures via the Council’s e-petition facility and on behalf of the lead petitioner Mr Paul Couchman, Mr Lee Belsten from the Fire Brigades Union and Save Our Services in Surrey, was invited to address the meeting.

     

    He made the following points:

     

    • Asked the Cabinet Member for Community Safety, Fire and Resilience to explain why the petition was dismissed as having a ‘narrow focus’.
    • The petition was not ‘out of context’ as it was based on question six of the consultation which stated ‘to what extent do you disagree/agree with the Surrey Fire and Rescue Service maintain the number of fire stations and fire engines in Surrey but changing how Banstead, Egham, Camberley are crewed at night?’. To which only 18% of the 1687 respondents agreed with the question.
    • Not one on-call fire engine could consistently achieve the response standard that the Cabinet Member had outlined previously. The current average across all on-call fire stations was 49% compared to the targeted response standard of 80%.
    • The low response figures was due to many on-call firefighters being mobilised from their homes which took an average of 6-8 minutes to get to stations before deployment.
    • The average response standard was 75% across the County based on twenty wholetime fire engines, two variably crewed fire engines and up to ten on-call fire engines. The response standard could not be maintained nor improved with seven less fire appliances and the plans would not make Surrey safer.

     

    In addition to the Cabinet Member for Community Safety, Fire and Resilience’s response in the supplementary agenda, she made the following comments:

     

    • Thanked Mr Couchman and Mr Belsten for the petition.
    • Praised the work of the cross-party Surrey Fire and Rescue Service Transformation Working Group and the Communities, Environment and Highways Select Committee on the Making Surrey Safer Plan – the Council’s Integrated Risk Management Plan (IRMP) which was approved by Cabinet
    • The petition focussed on a small part of plan, not taking into consideration the increase in community and business safety activities through ensuring live saving prevention work.
    • As the fire authority, the Council was required by law to produce an IRMP, the last was published in 2016 and risks have since changed. Surrey’s roads were carrying double the national average of traffic, there was an increased risk of flooding, an ageing population, drug and alcohol dependency and around 85,000 premises were covered by Surrey’s fire legislation - including care homes.
    • The new risks were included in the Community Risk Profile (CRP) based on ten years of predicted and five years of current data, towards a more accurate model of risks within the Making Surrey Safer Plan. The CRP was externally and rigorously verified by the National Fire Chief’s Council through an assurance panel with a wide range of stakeholders and organisations.
    • The Council removed £6 million of savings targets in autumn 2018, following the appointment of Surrey’s Chief  ...  view the full minutes text for item 62/19

63/19

LEADER'S STATEMENT pdf icon PDF 52 KB

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    The Leader to make a statement.

     

    There will be an opportunity for Members to ask questions and/or make comments.

     

    Additional documents:

    Minutes:

    10:36 am Mrs Barton arrived

    The Leader made a detailed statement. A copy of the statement is attached as Appendix A.

     

    Members raised the following topics:

     

    ·         Praised the Council’s work in establishing the new extended bus route for secondary school pupils in the Dittons which saved children an extra walk and this had been achieved through partnership work.

    ·         Highlighted ‘inadequate’ ratings by Ofsted concerning Children’s Services and the adverse Value for Money (VfM) judgement issued by the Council’s external auditors over the Council’s inefficient use of resources across services for the year ending in March 2019.

    ·         The Council must ensure the Nolan Principles were upheld, it would be useful to see how transparency was implemented by the Council in its governance changes.

    ·         School place planning was the Council’s weakest approach to infrastructure delivery, but the new approach to the commissioning of SEND services and the roll out of the Family Centres programme was welcomed.

    ·         The Council’s property portfolio remained underutilised and the Council must address the planned expansion of Gatwick and Heathrow airports more holistically to address residents’ concerns.

    ·         The surplus land used to help communities to overcome challenges, must be reconciled with housing developers evicting social enterprises and community clubs.

    ·         Was supportive of the Council’s move out of County Hall and into Surrey, and noted that the retention of all Community Recycling Centres was positive.

    ·         With regards to the ‘Climate Emergency’, there had been productive discussions by Highways and the Deputy Leader on reducing air pollution in Farnham. Farnham Herald’s ‘Cut the Pollution’ campaign taking place on the 25 October 2019 with Jeremy Hunt, Member of Parliament, was highlighted to Members.

    ·         Sought clarification on whether the move towards an agile workforce could be delivered through the Council’s current IT system.

    ·         That mental health was an important part of the Council’s transformation programme and required greater integration across the portfolios. The recent launch of the ‘Every Mind Matters’ campaign by Public Health England was welcomed and it would be a useful tool within the Council’s transformation programme if its stakeholders, service providers, charities and those needing mental health support were consulted.

     

64/19

MEMBERS' QUESTION TIME pdf icon PDF 511 KB

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    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 Democratic Services by 12 noon on Wednesday 2 October 2019).

     

    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:

    Questions:

     

    Notice of eleven questions had been received. The questions and replies were published in a supplementary agenda on 7 October 2019.

     

    A number of supplementary questions were asked and a summary of the main points is set out below:

     

    (Q1) Mr Chris Townsendasked the Cabinet Member for Children, Young People and Families for greater accuracy of the six month time frame for the process of ensuring ‘open access’ youth services. He also wanted more information with regards to the recommissioning of the level 2 Early Help 0-19 area of need.

     

    Mr Harrison asked whether by making buildings available to voluntary sectors, it was the Council’s intention to charge rent as voluntary sectors could use that money to fund youth workers instead.

     

    Mr Harris stated that despite turbulent times for youth services, a new youth group called MYTI was formed by passionate people in his local division. He asked whether the Cabinet Member for Children, Young People and Families shared his belief of the need to create a ‘field of dreams’ through partnerships. That is was also important to encourage interim officers to take advantage of the knowledge of local Members on youth services and to get involved.

     

    Dr Povey questioned whether youth buildings would be subsidised where the County Council did not own the buildings and it had to pay rent to local parish councils for their use.

     

    The Cabinet Member for Children, Young People and Families thanked the Members for their questions and informed the Council that they were only four of fourteen Members on the briefing on youth services in Easter. Officers worked on a restructure to get the Targeted Youth Support and Specialist Safeguarding Adolescents Teams right, before the Universal Youth Work and Early Help 0-19 areas of need and statutory obligation of the Council were addressed. The report on the recommissioning of Early Help 0-19 was recently passed through Cabinet, lead providers across districts and boroughs would provide greater coherence and clarity as outlined by the previous Ofsted report. A consultation on Universal Youth Work would run in parallel with the Libraries consultation. This would be held within multiple districts and boroughs and would incorporate many sectors and organisations, to review how the Council’s buildings could be given free of charge. The consultation will be done area by area from November and a formal decision would be made in May on the local based provisions, with current short-term solutions in different youth centres.

    (Q2) Mr Eber Kington was disappointed with the response not touching upon the specific issue of urban trees and asked the Cabinet Member for Environment and Waste if he was aware that Highways officers at the September 2019 Epsom and Ewell Local Committee were not proactive or positive as to explaining why more trees could not be planted in Surrey’s urban areas.

    Mr Essex asked whether a draft of the Council’s tree planting policy could be circulated earlier than December, to ensure that the right trees could be ordered.

    Mr MacLeod  ...  view the full minutes text for item 64/19

65/19

STATEMENTS BY MEMBERS

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    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 Democratic Services by 12 noon on Monday 7 October 2019).

     

    Additional documents:

    Minutes:

    There were none.

66/19

ORIGINAL MOTIONS

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    Item 9 (i)

     

    Mr Chris Botten (Caterham Hill) to move under standing order 11 asfollows:

     

    This council notes:

     

    With concern that Surrey residents who pay for their own elderly care significantly subsidise the residents who rely on County to pay for their care. This is a result of an unjust and inequitable funding regime which is itself a result of inadequate government funding. It further notes with concern that the proposal for the coming financial year in the local government funding settlement appears to allow councils to raise a precept on residents to cover the funding gap.

     

    This approach is deeply flawed; it perpetuates the injustice of the current system, asking those who have savings to subsidise the care of those who don’t, and it is a sticking plaster to cover up the failure of successive governments to bring forward a sustainable and equitable solution to the problem of social care funding.

    Therefore resolves that:

    1. This council accordingly calls on the government to bring forward urgently a sustainable solution so that councils can restore equity and enable a sustainable market for social care provision in Surrey and across the country.
    2. The Cabinet is called upon to publish the business case it promised in February examining the possibility of the Council entering the market as a provider of adult social care, since that move could stabilise a fragile market, potentially re-balance some of the inequities of a for profit environment, and secure quality against the significant risk of the impact of Brexit on the local workforce. 

     

    1. This Council further requests that Cllr Sinead Mooney, the cabinet member for adults and public health, seek an urgent meeting with Caroline Dinenage MP, the minister of state in the department for Health and Social Care.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Item 9 (ii)

     

    Mr Robert Evans (Stanwell and Stanwell Moor) to move under standing order 11 asfollows:

     

    This council notes:

     

    This Council has previously noted that both Heathrow and Gatwick airports make vital contributions to the continuing success of Surrey’s economy and Surrey County Council now takes note of Heathrow’s Airport Expansion document, dated June 2019 and the associated community consultations events.

    Council welcomes Councillor Kemp’s letter to Heathrow dated 9 September 2019, highlighting the many serious concerns and discrepancies in Heathrow’s latest position.

     

    Surrey County Council also notes the serious reservations on airport expansion now being registered by an increasing number of councils, around Heathrow airport, in particular Spelthorne Council which recently voted to send a strong message to Heathrow Airport Limited, stating that its masterplan for expansion now presents “significant issues” for residents of Spelthorne, concluding that it could only support the expansion and third runway if the council’s 15 demands laid out last year are met, including compensation for those people whose properties are worst affected.

     

    Council is dismayed that neither the Government nor the aviation industry have shown any intention to invest in road or rail connections and that far from reducing congestion, the current proposals will  ...  view the full agenda text for item 66/19

    Additional documents:

    Minutes:

    Item 9 (i)

     

    Under Standing Order 12.3 the Council agreed to debate this motion.

    Under Standing Order 12.1 Mr Chris Botten moved:

     

    an amendment to the motion set out in the agenda for this meeting in his own name, as follows: (with additional words in bold/underlined and any deletions

    crossed through)

     

    This council notes: 

     

    With concern that, owing to Government policy, Surrey residents who pay for their own elderly care significantly subsidise the residents who rely on County to pay for their care. This is a result of an unjust and inequitable funding regime which is itself a result?of inadequate government funding. It further notes with concern that the proposal for the coming financial year in the local government funding settlement appears to allow councils to raise a precept on residents to cover the funding gap. 

     

    This approach is deeply flawed; it perpetuates the injustice of the current system, asking those who have savings to subsidise the care of those who don’t, and it is a sticking plaster to cover up the failure of successive governments to bring forward?a sustainable and equitable solution to the problem of social care funding. 

     

     

    Therefore resolves that: 

     

            I.            This council accordingly calls on the government to bring forward urgently a sustainable solution so that councils can restore equity and enable a sustainable market for social care provision in Surrey and across the country. 

     

          II.            The Cabinet is called upon to publish the business case it promised in February asked to consider examining the possibility of in-house provision and/or new approaches to commissioning adult social care which can manage the market more effectively the possibility of the Council entering the market as a provider of adult social care, since that move could stabilise a fragile market, to potentially re-balance some of the inequities of a for profit environment,?and secure quality against the significant risk of the impact of Brexit on the local workforce.? 

     

        III.            This Council further requests that Cllr Sinead Mooney, the cabinet member for adults and public health, seek an urgent meeting with Caroline Dinenage MP, the minister of state in the department for Health and Social Care. 

     

    Members agreed to debate the amended motion and therefore it became a substantive motion.

     

    Mr Botten made the following points:

     

    ·         He thanked Mrs Mooney, the Cabinet Member for Adults and Public Health for her support in the reformulation of the amendment.

    ·         He commented that there was a shortage of money in the country and county for support in adult social care; that placed providers and service-users at risk. He praised officers despite the challenging market and noted staffing was vulnerable due to Brexit uncertainty.

    ·         The iniquity of the rationing of the National Health Service (NHS) continuing care was scandalous and often hidden. It was wrong that the Council and residents had to face the consequences of that rationing.

    ·         He highlighted the ‘triple bereavement’ as a result of the ageing population - the loss of a loved one to dementia, the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 66/19

67/19

APPOINTMENT OF INDEPENDENT REMUNERATION PANEL pdf icon PDF 80 KB

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    To approve the appointment of the Independent Remuneration Panel and the existing Terms of Reference.

    Additional documents:

    Minutes:

    The Leader of the Council introduced the report.

     

    RESOLVED:

     

    1.        That the Council ratified the appointments of the Independent Remuneration Panel members for a three year term.

     

    2.        That the Council ratified the remuneration of the Independent Remuneration Panel members.

     

    3.        That the Council reviewed and approved the Terms of Reference of the Independent Remuneration Panel.

     

68/19

APPOINTMENT OF LOCAL COMMITTEE VICE-CHAIRMAN

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    Recommendation:

    1.    That Rachael I. Lake is duly elected as the Vice-Chairman of the Elmbridge Local Committee for 2019/20.

     

     

    Additional documents:

    Minutes:

    The Leader introduced the report and stated the change was due to Mr Bennison no longer being a Conservative Party member.

     

    Mr Bennison made a statement.

     

    RESOLVED:

     

    That Rachael I. Lake was duly elected as the Vice-Chairman of the Elmbridge Local Committee for 2019/20.

     

69/19

UPDATES TO THE CONSTITUTION pdf icon PDF 91 KB

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    To approve the updates to the constitution.  

    Additional documents:

    Minutes:

    The Leader of the Council introduced the report and in response to Mr Botten’s earlier call for transparency, he would ensure that changes to the Council’s constitution would be clearly articulated to Council.

     

    Mr Kington noted the rapid change of the increase in the Council’s financial ‘key decision’ threshold which was doubled to £1 million and was concerned that the rationale was due to taking decisions at an increasing pace. He asked the Leader of the Council to submit a report at the end of the financial year to the relevant scrutiny committee outlining the frequency of use of taking key decisions above the current £500,000 threshold.

     

    In response, the Leader stated that the decision to change the threshold was not done in isolation from the relevant Cabinet Member. He agreed to provide information annually listing the decisions taken between £500,000 and the £1 million threshold level.

     

    RESOLVED:

     

    1. that the County Council agrees to increase the Council’s financial ‘key decision’ threshold to £1,000,000;

     

    1. that the amendments agreed by the Leader to the Scheme of Delegation be noted.

     

    1. That the Director of Law and Governance be authorised to make the necessary changes to the Council’s Scheme of Delegation and the Constitution be updated accordingly.

     

70/19

CHANGES TO CABINET PORTFOLIOS pdf icon PDF 45 KB

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    To note the changes to the cabinet portfolios.

    Additional documents:

    Minutes:

    The Leader of the Council thanked Mr McIntosh and Mr Ramsdale for their contributions as Deputy Cabinet Members. He noted that Mr Nuti had joined as a Deputy Cabinet Member. The changes were to balance out the workload across portfolios, in particular the Environment and Waste portfolio.

     

    RESOLVED:

     

    The Council noted the Leader’s changes to the Cabinet Portfolios.

     

71/19

REPORT OF THE CABINET pdf icon PDF 129 KB

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    To receive the report of the meetings of the Cabinet held on 16 July 2019 and 24 September 2019; to agree one recommendation in respect of:

     

    1. Updated Statement of Community Involvement

     

    and to note items for information / discussion:

     

    b.    Proposal to charge maintained schools for the cost of conversion to become an academy school

     

    c.    Creation of a New Specialist Centre at Worplesdon Primary School in Partnership with Freemantles School Providing 21 Places for Pupils with High Communication and Interaction Needs 

     

    d.    Proposal to enter into a local education partnership with Schools Alliance for Excellence 

     

    e.    Children's Improvement Update 

     

    f.     Providing Council Tax Relief for Surrey's Care Leavers 

     

    g.    Making Surrey Safer – Our Plan 2020 – 2023

     

    h.    School Place Planning: Strategy for Specialist Placements

     

    i.      Surrey County Council’s Response to Statutory Consultation on Heathrow Airport Expansion

     

    j.      Quarterly report on Decisions Taken Under Special Urgency Arrangements: 29 June to 27 September 2019

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Additional documents:

    Minutes:

    The Leader presented the report of the Cabinet meeting held on 16 July 2019 and 24 September 2019.

     

    Reports for Decision:

     

    1. Updated Statement of Community Involvement.

     

    Reports for Information/Discussion

     

    1. Proposal to charge maintained schools for the cost of conversion to become an academy school
    2. Creation of a new specialist centre at Worplesdon Primary School in partnership with Freemantles School
    3. Proposal to enter into a Local Education Partnership with Schools Alliance for Excellence
    4. Children’s Improvement Update
    5. Providing Council Tax Relief for Surrey’s Care Leavers
    6. Making Surrey Safer – Our Plan 2020-2023
    7. School Place Planning: Strategy for Specialist Placements
    8. Surrey County Council’s response to statutory consultation on Heathrow Airport expansion

     

    In response to Mr R Evans’ question, the Leader of the Council agreed that the response to the Statutory Heathrow Airport Expansion Consultationwould be reported to Council.

     

    1. Quarterly report on decisions taken under special urgency arrangements: 29 June to 27 September 2019

     

    RESOLVED:

     

    1. That the report of the meetings of the Cabinet held on 16 July 2019 and 24 September 2019 be adopted.

     

    1. That Council adopted the revised Statement of Community Involvement (SCI).

     

    1. County Council noted that there had been two urgent decisions in that quarter.

     

72/19

MINUTES OF CABINET MEETINGS pdf icon PDF 152 KB

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    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 Democratic Services by 12 noon on Monday 7 October 2019.

     

    Additional documents:

    Minutes:

    No notification had been received by the deadline from Members wishing to raise a question or make a statement on any matters in the minutes.