Councillors and committees

Agenda and minutes

Venue: REMOTE MEETING

Contact: Ross Pike, Scrutiny Business Manager 

Note: Please note that due to the Covid-19 pandemic this meeting will take place remotely. 

Media

Items
No. Item

1/21

APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE AND SUBSTITUTIONS

2/21

MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS MEETINGS: TUESDAY, 15 DECEMBER 2020 pdf icon PDF 226 KB

    To agree the minutes of the previous meeting of the Communities, Environment and Highways Select Committee as a true and accurate record of proceedings.

     

    Additional documents:

    Minutes:

    The minutes were agreed as a true record of the meeting.

3/21

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); and

     

    ·         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:

    None received.

4/21

QUESTIONS AND PETITIONS

    To receive any questions or petitions.

     

     

    The public retain their right to submit questions for written response, with such answers recorded in the minutes of the meeting; questioners may participate in meetings to ask a supplementary question. Petitioners may address the Committee on their petition for up to three minutes. Guidance will be made available to any member of the public wishing to speak at a meeting.



    Notes:

    1.    The deadline for Member’s questions is 12.00pm four working days before the meeting (Tuesday, 12 January 2021).

     

    2.    The deadline for public questions is seven days before the meeting(Monday, 11 January 2021)

     

    3.    The deadline for petitions was 14 days before the meeting, and no petitions have been received.

     

     

    Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, all questions and petitions received will be responded to in writing and will be recorded within the minutes of the meeting.

    Additional documents:

    Minutes:

    None received.

5/21

ENVIRONMENT, TRANSPORT AND INFRASTRUCTURE DIRECTORATE PERFORMANCE REPORT pdf icon PDF 125 KB

    Purpose of report:

     

    Performance Monitoring. The report provides a thematic overview of the performance of the ETI Directorate giving the Select Committee up-to-date information.

    Additional documents:

    Minutes:

    Witnesses:

     

    Natalie Bramhall, Cabinet Member for Environment & Climate Change

    Matt Furniss, Cabinet Member for Transport

     

    Katie Stewart, Executive Director – Environment, Transport & Infrastructure

    Carolyn McKenzie, Director - Environment

    Jo Diggens, Business Improvement & Quality Assurance Team Leader

    Michelle Rowland, Business Intelligence Team Leader

     

    Key points raised during the discussion:

     

     

    1. The Executive Director introduced the report and explained that performance monitoring was an area of continuing development across the Council.Targets were due to be challenged and scrutinisedby CLT and Cabinet Members to ensure that they were both realistic and ambitious. The Directorate had endeavoured to set stretch targets that were attainable in order to show improvement or decline in performance.

     

    Meeting paused at 10:02 owing to webcasting problems

     

    Meeting recommenced at 10:04

     

     

    1. A Member questioned the relative value of the performance data in assessing the Directorate’s performance given the circumstances faced in 2020/21 as compared with previous years. The Executive Director stated that it was still important to continue performance monitoring during the pandemic as the Directorate was expected to run its essential services. Covid-19 had impacted some indicators (waste services, for example) however a number of missed targets (such as flood risk) were reflective of the position and progress of the Directorate and the timing of capital investment. Some of the indicators were to be reviewed because of the continuing impacts of Covid-19.

     

    1. A Member asked whether there could be a consistent mix of indicators (financial, quantitative and qualitative) for each theme. The Executive Director acknowledged that the Directorate needed to achieve a greater balance of indicators in future performance reports.

     

    1. The Chairman noted that a number of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) expected in January 2021 were not yet available and asked when they would be delivered. The Business Improvement and Quality Assurance Team Leader responded that the pending indicators needed to undergo validation before they were shared widely. Some indicators were new and subject to ongoing work to ensure that the data collected was robust and accurate. The Directorate were hoping to deliver all outstanding performance results within the month.

     

    1. A Member noted that there were few climate change targets included in the report. The Executive Director informed the Select Committee that these indicators were not yet established because it was important to ensure that they were meaningful and measurable. The Select Committee would return to this at its March 2021 meeting when scrutinising the Climate Change delivery plan.

     

    1. A Member asked whether the Council would be undertaking a coordination role with districts and borough councils to tackle climate change. The Executive Director confirmed that the Council’s Climate Change Strategy and Delivery Plan assumed a coordination role for the Council. The Delivery Plan looked at a range of partnership-wide actions.

     

    1. A Member requested that future performance reports differentiate clearly between organisation climate change targets for Surrey County Council (for example, getting to net zero by 2030) and Surrey-wide climate change targets. Further to this the Director confirmed that there would be performance monitoring of the wider partnership and the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5/21

6/21

SURREY INFRASTRUCTURE PLAN pdf icon PDF 514 KB

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    Purpose of report:

     

    To seek the Select Committee’s input into the development of the Surrey Infrastructure Plan including a review of the proposed Prioritisation Framework that will be used to assess schemes.

    Additional documents:

    Minutes:

    Witnesses:

     

    Matt Furniss, Cabinet Member for Transport

     

    Katie Stewart, Executive Director – ETI

    Lee Parker, Director - Infrastructure Planning & Major Projects

    Dawn Redpath, Director – Economy & Growth

     

    Key points raised during the discussion:

     

    1. The Executive Director stated that the Council was expanding its capital investment in infrastructure and emphasised the importance of the Surrey Infrastructure Plan (SIP) in achieving the council’s ambition to deliver infrastructure to support sustainable growth. The 2017 infrastructure study had identified the level of investment needed to support intended growth and detected a significant funding gap and deliverability challenges. The Council had subsequently needed to develop a strategy that would bridge the funding gap whilst investing in sustainable infrastructure and adhering to the Council’s climate change strategy, local transport plan and other organisation ambitions. 

     

    1. The Director – Infrastructure Planning and Major Projects stated that the proposed Prioritisation Framework for infrastructure projects would be used to assess proposed schemes. The plan proposed an innovative approach to funding and financing and set out a number of objectives, each with a series of outcomes. Proposed schemes were to be scored against these outcomes using a simple scoring matrix. This new planned approach would provide a strong focus on outcomes and the deliverability of schemes.

     

    1. A Member asked why and how each of the objectives were chosen for inclusion in the plan and whether this methodology was based on existing best practice. The Executive Director explained that the objectives were based on the prevailing Council strategies (for example, the climate change strategy and local transport strategy) and the SIP was designed to bring them together for development of an integrated framework, alongside the development of the Directorate’s capital programme. The objectives were established in collaboration with the Cabinet, Surrey Future Steering Board, district and borough councils and other partners.

     

    1. A Member questioned how the Prioritisation Framework methodology ensured that the scoring of schemes was evidence based. The Executive Director responded that SIP was underpinned by the 2017 Surrey Infrastructure Study which had examined a suite of objectives and outcomes that the council was trying to achieve. This helped to define the strategies and objectives of SIP. There was also a local level, formal consultation process for the development of infrastructure delivery plans.

     

    1. A Member asked how the proposed schemes would be subject to democratic processes and inspection. The Executive Director stated that cabinet set desired outcomes from which officers developed the capital programme. The Prioritisation Framework was not intended to create a finalised, hierarchical list, rather was designed to highlight the schemes that were most likely to be delivered based on their outcomes set by the democratic process. This approach was intended to increase the transparency around the reasons behind why certain projects were on the capital programme. The Cabinet Member for Transport added that the prioritised list would form a recommendation to cabinet and elected members would be able to suggest changes and express their views thereafter.

     

    1. The Select Committee inquired how SIP linked with the government’s  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6/21

7/21

RECOMMENDATIONS TRACKER AND FORWARD WORK PROGRAMME pdf icon PDF 25 KB

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    Purpose of report:

     

    For the Select Committee to review the attached recommendations and actions tracker and forward work programme, making suggestions for additions or amendments as appropriate.

    Additional documents:

    Minutes:

    1. The Chairman noted that two items were scheduled for the March 2021 meeting of the Select Committee namely Surrey Fire and Rescue Service Improvement Update with accompanying Task Group Report and the Climate Change Delivery Plan.

     

    1. A Member requested that the Select Committee receive an update on the Highways Contract. The Executive Director stated that the contract was out for procurement and would likely go to Cabinet in the autumn of 2021, after which the Directorate could report to the Select Committee.

     

    1. A Member asked whether the Select Committee could help shape the Land Use Strategy. The Executive Director welcomed the establishment of a Member Task Group and would discuss with the Scrutiny Business Manager the timing of scrutiny.

     

    1. A Member requested that the Select Committee be provided with an update on the Local Transport Plan and Waste Commissioning. The Executive Director would work with the Scrutiny Business Manager to schedule timely updates to Select Committee.

     

     

8/21

DATE OF THE NEXT MEETING: FRIDAY, 19 MARCH 2021

    The next public meeting of the Select Committee will be held on Friday, 19 March 2021.  

    Additional documents:

    Minutes:

    The Select Committee noted its next meeting would be held on 19 March 2021.