Councillors and committees

Agenda, decisions and minutes

Venue: The Council Chamber, Civic Centre, Station Road, Addlestone KT15 2AH

Contact: Carys Walker  Partnership Committee Officer

Items
No. Item

OPEN FORUM pdf icon PDF 58 KB

The Chairman invited questions from members of the public ahead of the start of the formal meeting. The question and subsequent response are attached to the minutes and will be noted on the Decision Tracker for the next meeting.

1/19

APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

2/19

MINUTES FROM PREVIOUS MEETING pdf icon PDF 93 KB

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    To approve the Minutes of the previous meeting on 18 March 2019 as a correct record.

    Minutes:

    The minutes from the meeting of the 18 March were agreed by the Committee

3/19

DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

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    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.

     

    Minutes:

    No interests were declared.

4/19

DECISION TRACKER pdf icon PDF 86 KB

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    To review any outstanding decisions from the Joint Committee.

    Minutes:

    The Committee perused the decision tracker and were happy to close the items indicated.

     

    The Partnership Committee Officer provided a verbal update to the item that arose at the meeting of 18 March relating to the availability of Section 106 funding and its potential for use in the renovation of Runnymede Pleasure Grounds. This was to report that the County’s Infrastructure Agreements Manager and an officer for Transport Development Planning had arranged had been in contact with the divisional Member and the Borough’s Head of Community Development to look at any opportunities for funding to improve the access to the site. At this time, no funding has been identified.

     

    There was a request to clarify the outcome arising from item 7 from the 19 November meeting where both councils would be considering parking provision in relation to the Egham Gateway development and it was agreed that this would be relayed to the appropriate Members and updated in the tracker.

5/19

PETITIONS AND PETITION RESPONSES

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    To receive any petitions in accordance with Standing Order 14.1. Notice must be given in writing or by email to the Community Partnership and Committee Officer at least 14 days before the meeting. Alternatively, the petition can be submitted on-line through Surrey County Council’s or Runnymede Borough Council’s e-petitions website as long as the minimum number of signatures has been reached 14 days before the meeting.

     

    Minutes:

    No petitions had been received from members of the public

6/19

WRITTEN MEMBER QUESTIONS

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    To receive any written questions from members under Standing Order 13. The deadline for members’ questions is 12 noon four working days before the meeting.

     

     

    Minutes:

    No Member questions had been received.

7/19

WRITTEN PUBLIC QUESTIONS

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    To answer any questions from residents or businesses within Runnymede borough area in accordance with Standing Order 14.2. Notice should be given in writing or by email to the Partnership Committee Officer by 12 noon four working days before the meeting.

     

    This item concludes the public participation part of the meeting.

    Minutes:

    No written questions had been received.

8/19

HIGHWAYS UPDATE (EXECUTIVE FUNCTION) pdf icon PDF 112 KB

    To receive an update from the Highways Area Team Manager.

     

    Decision:

    The Joint Committee (Runnymede) noted:

     

    (i)    the progress of schemes and revenue funded works for the 2019/20 financial year.

    (ii)  the budgetary position.

    (iii)that a further Highways Update will be brought to the next meeting of this Committee.

     

    Reason:

     

    Highways matters are part of the Committee’s executive function and operational and budget status is reviewed at every committee meeting throughout the year.

    Minutes:

    The Chairman elected to take this item first, in a change to the published agenda.

     

    The Area Highways Manager (North-West Surrey) addressed the Committee to present his report which outlined the work carried out during 2018/19 and the proposed schedule for 2019/20 against the allocated budget.This year’s budget does see an increase in capital funds but no revenue funding which will have an impact on the amount of maintenance that can be carried out this year.

     

    The Area Highways Manager explained the Members’ Highways Fund in which each County Member receives an allocation of £7,500 which they can use to respond to particular issues in their respective areas.

     

    He proposed that Members contribute some of this towards the establishment of a “vegetation gang” which would target overgrown vegetation that impacts the use of the highways and footpaths. This approach would mean that Members could nominate priority areas which, when aggregated as part of a borough wide programme, would be more cost effective.

     

    Members also enquired as to other uses for the funding such as whether it can be applied to parking issues. The Area Highways Manager replied that there are some restrictions to its usage; such as there being a maximum spend per item of £2,500 and that the project should not be one that would incur future maintenance costs for the Council. However, the funding can be applied to a variety of improvements.

     

    Clarification was requested as to why the sum of all the schemes in the proposed capital works programme came to £320,000 when the available funding is £190,000. The response was that a number of contingency items are included as “fall back schemes” should other projects be unable to proceed for operational reasons. This removes the need to bring the schedule back to Committee for further approval. This prevents delays in works being implemented, and ensures that budget is fully allocated.

     

    Finally, the Area Highways Manager outlined the process for how schemes are included in the schedule and agreed on by the Committee and how Members can nominate schemes for future consideration. As part of this discussion, Members wanted to know how improvements can be made to the camber of pavements where the surface has become hazardous and how access can be improved for those with mobility issues The Area Highways Manager advised that there was no specific protocol for pavement surface improvements and that this was done on an adhoc basis. However in the case of new developments or refurbishments, access was often a consideration in the planning process and that the County County could advise on these issues as a statutory consultee.

     

     

     

    The Joint Committee (Runnymede) noted:

     

    (i)    the progress of schemes and revenue funded works for the 2019/20 financial year.

    (ii)  the budgetary position.

    (iii)that a further Highways Update will be brought to the next meeting of this Committee.

     

    Reason:

     

    Highways matters are part of the Committee’s executive function and operational and budget status is reviewed at every committee meeting throughout the year.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8/19

9/19

MEMBERSHIP OF TASK GROUPS AND EXTERNAL GROUPS [FOR DECISION] pdf icon PDF 107 KB

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    The Committee is asked to decide on the membership of their task groups and to agree their representatives on external groups outside of the Committee.

    Additional documents:

    Decision:

    The Joint Committee (Runnymede) agreed:

     

    (i)            To defer this report until the September meeting following further feedback and development of what external groups and the Joint Committee might achieve.

     

    Reasons:  

     

    (i)    The Committee felt that the function of Task Groups need to be evaluated to ensure they were fully effective.

     

    (ii)   Both councils are currently focussing on improving their partnership working and it was felt that this might have an impact on whether Task Groups were needed.

     

     

     

     

     

    Minutes:

     

    The Partnership Committee Officer introduced the report which outlined the task groups that had been established by the Joint Committee in previous years and asked the Committee to agree on the membership of these task groups and other external groups for the year 2019/20.

     

    The officer continued that whilst it was customary to agree on these task groups and external group memberships at the first meeting of the municipal year, feedback from councillors along with the changing landscape of partnership working within both councils (as mention in points 2.16-2.18 of the report) meant that there had been questions raised prior to the Committee about whether the task group format was still an appropriate one for the Committee to adopt when focussing on certain important issues.

     

    The Chairman proposed that this report was deferred as he felt that members would benefit from evaluating task groups more fully and exploring other possible options.

     

    Committee members were keen to have input on issues such as parking but agreed that the method by which this should happen should be reviewed. It was suggested that the Chairman should raise this issue with other Local and Joint Committee Chairmen to explore how other committees address these issues prior to the report being brought back to Committee.

     

     

    The Joint Committee (Runnymede) agreed:

     

    (i)            To defer this report until the September meeting following further feedback and development of what external groups and the Joint Committee might achieve.

     

    Reasons: 

     

    (i)    The Committee felt that the function of Task Groups need to be evaluated to ensure they were fully effective.

     

    (ii)   Both councils are currently focussing on improving their partnership working and it was felt that this might have an impact on whether Task Groups were needed.

     

     

     

     

     

10/19

JOINT COMMITTEE COMMUNITY SAFETY FUNDING [FOR DECISION] pdf icon PDF 120 KB

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    The Joint Committee is asked to agree the process for the allocation of £3,000 of Community Safety Funding this year and to note how residents benefitted from the projects funded last year

    Decision:

    The Joint Committee (Runnymede) agreed that

     

    (i)    The Committee’s delegated community safety budget of £3,000 for 2019/20 be retained by the Community Partnership Team, on behalf of the Committee, and that the Community Safety Partnership and/or other local organisations be invited to submit proposals for funding that meet the criteria and principles set out at section 3 of this report.

    (ii)  Authority be delegated to the Community Safety Manager, in consultation with the Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the joint committee and divisional members as appropriate, to authorise the expenditure of the community safety budget in accordance with the criteria and principles stated in section 3 of this report.

    (iii)The committee will receive updates on the project(s) that are funded, the outcomes and the impact it has achieved.

    The Joint Committee (Runnymede) noted

     

    (iv)The update on the projects funding by the committee’s funding in 2018/19 set out in section 2.

     

    Reasons

     

    (i)    The report sets out a process for allocating the committee’s delegated community

    safety budget of £3,000 to local organisations.

     

    (ii)   As part of the process, updates are given to the Committee on projects that have been supported.

     

    Minutes:

     

    The Partnership Committee Officer introduced this report by explaining how the proposed process would work and its benefits in ensuring transparency and accountability in how the funding is spent. She then updated the Committee on the two projects that had been supported as a result of the funding awarded in 2018/19; a campaign to educate residents on alcohol abuse and the purchase of mobile CCTV cameras to detect incidences of fly-tipping.

     

    The County Council’s Community Safety Manager, elaborated further on the two projects. Impressed by the success of the mobile cameras since being deployed in the borough, councillors asked whether it would be possible for further cameras to be purchased from this year’s funds. The Community Safety Manager said that the Borough’s Community Safety Partnership could certainly consider this and put in another bid for additional cameras if they felt there was need for them.

     

     

    The Joint Committee (Runnymede) agreed that

     

    (i)    The Committee’s delegated community safety budget of £3,000 for 2019/20 be retained by the Community Partnership Team, on behalf of the Committee, and that the Community Safety Partnership and/or other local organisations be invited to submit proposals for funding that meet the criteria and principles set out at section 3 of this report.

    (ii)  Authority be delegated to the Community Safety Manager, in consultation with the Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the joint committee and divisional members as appropriate, to authorise the expenditure of the community safety budget in accordance with the criteria and principles stated in section 3 of this report.

    (iii)The committee will receive updates on the project(s) that are funded, the outcomes and the impact it has achieved.

    The Joint Committee (Runnymede) noted

     

    (iv)The update on the projects funding by the committee’s funding in 2018/19 set out in section 2.

     

    Reasons

     

    (i)    The report sets out a process for allocating the committee’s delegated community

    safety budget of £3,000 to local organisations.

     

    (ii)   As part of the process, updates are given to the Committee on projects that have been supported.

     

11/19

FORWARD PROGRAMME 2019/20 pdf icon PDF 68 KB

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    To review the forward programme 2019/20, indicating any further preferences for inclusion.

    Minutes:

    The Committee considered and agreed the Forward Plan as presented in the agenda.

12/19

DATE OF NEXT MEETING

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    To be held on 23 September 2019 at 7.00pm in the Council Chamber, Runnymede Civic Centre, Station Road, Addlestone, KT15 2AH

    (Meeting to start with Informal Open Forum)

    Minutes:

    The date of the next meeting was confirmed as Monday 23September, 2019.