Agenda, decisions and minutes
PDF 226 KBVenue: Hoe Valley School, Egley Road, Woking, GU22 0NH
Contact: Jess Edmundson, Partnership Committee Officer
Media
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Question and responses from the informal open forum session are attached as annex 1. Additional documents: |
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APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE
To receive any apologies for absence. Additional documents: Minutes: Apologies were received from Cllr John Bond and Cllr Ann-Marie Barker. |
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MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING
To approve the minutes of the previous meeting as a correct record and agree that the Chairman signs the minutes. Additional documents: Decision: The minutes from the previous meeting on 6 December 2017 were agreed as a true record and signed by the Chairman. Minutes: The minutes from the previous meeting on 6 December 2017 were agreed as a true record and signed by the Chairman. |
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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 bound by the Code of Conduct of the authority which appointed them to the Woking Joint Committee. · 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. · SCC Members must notify SCC’s Monitoring Officer of any interests disclosed at the meeting which are not already recorded in the Register of Members’ Interests. WBC Members must notify WBC’s Monitoring Officer of any interests disclosed at the meeting which are not already recorded in the Register of Members’ Interests. Additional documents: Minutes: There were no declarations of interest. |
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PETITIONS
To receive any petitions in accordance with Standing Order 14.1. Notice should 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 or Woking Borough Council’s e-petitions website as long as the minimum number of signatures (30) has been reached 14 days before the meeting.
Petitions received:
a) Additional documents: Minutes: There were no petitions received that met the criteria for this committee. |
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WRITTEN PUBLIC QUESTIONS
To answer any questions from residents or businesses within the Woking Borough area in accordance with Standing Order 14.2. Notice should be given in writing or email to the Community Partnership and Committee Officer by 12 noon four working days before the meeting. Additional documents: Minutes: Declarations of Interest: None
Officers attending: None
Petitions, Public Questions, Statements: One written public question was received, the response is included within the supplementary agenda. The questioner is invited to ask one supplementary question on the topic of their original question.
Supplementary from Mr Godfrey Chapples:
Thank you for the answer to my question, what we as residents need to know is how far will the Police go on deciding to prosecute once criminal activity has been logged. We have a big problem in the East of Woking with traveller incursions and need a good strong Police task force to get things implemented.
Response: There was no Police representative to respond directly to the concerns but this will be followed up with the Police for comment. The good work that the Police are already doing should be noted and praised. Changes to the law need to be made and are being looked in to, to make the Police more effective. It’s a good idea with such instances to go via David Munro, The Police and Crime Commissioner to keep him aware of what’s going on. It should also be noted that in Woking notice can be served very quickly by Woking Borough Council officers and serves as a deterrent to travellers.
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WRITTEN MEMBER QUESTIONS
To receive any written questions from members under Standing Order 13. The deadline for member questions is 12 noon four working days before the meeting. Additional documents: Minutes: None were received. |
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CABINET MEMBER FOR HIGHWAYS - UPDATE
The Cabinet Member is attending the committee to improve communications and to provide information of works in the local area.
Additional documents: Minutes: Declarations of Interest: None
Officers attending: Colin Kemp, Surrey County Council Cabinet Member for Highways
Petitions, Public Questions, Statements: None
Colin Kemp attended the meeting to update the committee on his vision for the year ahead in his Cabinet Member role. This update followed his previous visit to the committee back in September 2017.
Key points from the discussion:
The Cabinet Member noted at the beginning of his update that an amended annex 1 had been provided in the supplementary agenda papers that included updates on Horizon 2 schemes from 2017/18.
The Cabinet Member highlighted he would like to continue to inform the committee of the capital schemes in advance of them being delivered. This approach will allow the committee and residents to have their input to ensure localised knowledge is taken in to account and the most appropriate and needed schemes are implemented and local knowledge will be used to develop the 2019/20 schemes.
The committee was asked to note that there would be a £1.4million increase in Highways funding in the next financial year which would equate to an approximate increase of £170,000 for the committee to spend.
In addition to the increase committee funds, each Surrey County Council member will receive a Highways fund of £7,500 to deliver schemes locally. This additional fund will been financed by the council tax increase that will shortly take effect. Colin and his team are currently in the process of putting together a menu of schemes and prices to circulate to members to make the process simple for members, residents and the Area Highways Manager to work together to deliver much needed schemes more effectively.
Members raised concerns that works around the borough were being postponed because of Town Centre works and questioned why this was. They were advised that conversations would take place with the relevant officers involved in the Town Centre development before a definitive answer could be provided.
A query was raised over why lots of money was being spent on traffic signals and whether this was necessary. It was confirmed that many of the traffic signals, whilst still working adequately were old with parts difficult to come by, leading to more disruption when out of action.
The Woking Joint Committee thanked the Cabinet Member for his update and welcomed his approach to keeping the committee informed. They asked that all councillors continue to be informed of planned works prior to the public to allow them to pre-empt communications from residents on the matter. |
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HIGHWAYS UPDATE REPORT
To report progress made with the delivery of proposed highways schemes, developer funded schemes, and revenue funded works for the 2017/18 financial year. To provide an update on the latest budgetary position for highway schemes and revenue maintenance. To report on relevant topical highways matters. Additional documents: Minutes: Declarations of Interest: None
Officers attending: Andrew Milne, Area Highways Manager and Louisa Calam, Project Manager, Town Centre Development
Petitions, Public Questions, Statements: None
The Area Highways Manager introduced the report noting the good news that the revenue budget had significantly increased to £168,000 for 2018/19 and this will allow the highways team to respond to the maintenance needs.
The Project Manager for the Town Centre Development noted that great progress had been made in the last year on this project.
Key points from the discussion:
A query over the Vicarage road crossing was raised and when this was likely to be implemented. The Area Highways Manager confirmed that the total cost of the scheme was higher than originally thought and that there were not enough funds available to complete this in 2017/18. The design and preliminary work has been done on this now and is scheduled to be completed in Q1 of 2018/19.
A similar query was raised over when the bollards on Redding Way by The Vyne would be removed. This is happening in collaboration with Woking Borough Council and the changes they are making to the car park and also cost more than originally thought. The design for this is now complete and should be implemented in 2018/19.
Roads requiring resurfacing have fallen down the priority list despite worsening themselves. This was because roads are looked at relative to each other. In the recent bad weather the network has worsened, pushing the priority of some roads down and other ones up.
Improvements to the footways under pavement horizon was raised; noting given the venue of tonight’s meeting (the new Hoe Valley School) that these improvements were much needed in order to encourage a larger proportion of children to walk or cycle to school. This didn’t seem to be addressed in the travel plan and therefore needs to be added. The Area Highways Manager advised that improvements to the A320 had been made to allow better paths for walking and cycling, but some of the paths for improvement would need to be discussed with the Countryside team due to their nature.
The Woking Joint Committee thanked the Area Highways Manager and Town Centre Development Project Manager for their report and updates and noted another Highways update would be brought to the next meeting in June.
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ARMED FORCES COVENANT ANNUAL REPORT
Surrey County Council signed the Armed Forces Community Covenant with the military on 13 March 2012, with Woking Borough Council signing on 1 November 2012. Following the signings, a countywide Surrey Civilian Military Partnership Board was established to implement actions under the Covenant across Surrey. At the same time Woking established a Military Covenant Advisory Panel to coordinate work across the Borough.
This report provides an update of activities undertaken since the last update was given to the committee in March 2017 Additional documents: Minutes: Declarations of Interest: None
Officers attending: Sarah Goodman, Community Project Officer (SCC); Canon Peter Bruinvels, Civilian-Military Liaison Adviser (SCC); Zafar Iqbal, Senior Policy Officer (WBC)
Petitions, Public Questions, Statements: None
The officers presented an update on the work being done by the Surrey Civilian Military Partnership Board and the key achievements of the Armed Forces Covenant in Surrey over the past 12 months since last attending the Woking Joint Committee in March 2017.
Key points from the discussion:
Officers commended Woking on being an exemplar authority in terms of the Armed Forces Covenant and achieving the silver award for this.
Surrey are the second best authority in the country for receiving covenant funding. The benefits of which have been seen in Woking in the form of the Peace Garden.
Work of the covenant has focussed on front line staff and ensuring a consistent approach to advise was provided through a training package for elected councillor armed forces champions and armed forces service champions. An e-learning module offering training was also currently available via the Surrey Skills Academy.
Members asked about the silent soldier statues and how they’d be placed in the borough. The locations of which had been determined, ensuring that the statues were dispersed throughout the whole borough. 600 of these have already been purchased in Surrey.
A query regarding the use of the children’s service premium was raised. It was confirmed the premium was £300 per service child and that in bigger schools with many service children this premium was utilised well offering pastoral care and stability but sometimes in the smaller schools this wasn’t utilised effectively.
The Woking Joint Committee thanked the officers for the thorough and comprehensive report.
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EARLY HELP PRIORITIES FOR WOKING
This report provides local Members with an update on the new model that SCC and partners have been developing for Early Help for the county overall and how this is progressing locally in Woking.
Additional documents: Minutes: Declarations of Interest: None
Officers attending: Anthony Durno, Family Services Manager (SCC); Sue Barham, Strategic Director (WBC)
Petitions, Public Questions, Statements: None
The Family Service Manager introduced the report noting that it was a joint report from both Surrey County Council and Woking Borough Council focussing on the Early Help priorities for Woking borough. Early Help was about providing the right help at the right time when problems are emerging.
Key points from the discussion:
The Family Service Manager asked the Woking Joint Committee to note an amendment to points 11.3 and 11.4 with regards to the timescales of the consultations. These would now take place in Summer 2018 and not February and March as indicated.
An Early Help Advisory Board had been established for partners to look at the local priorities in Woking to ensure they have the right priorities and that work wasn’t being duplicated by different partners.
Members raised concerns over children’s centres as the most prominent public facing branch of Early Help and the impact the re-commissioning process will have on them. The picture nationally was that children’s centres were being de-designated and being expected to provide certain services which are becoming more and more unrealistic with the resource allocations that are in place. The upcoming consultation will look at a proposal for how this can work better in the future and bring teams for different age groups together to work as one and not as three separate teams delivering three separate plans.
The Woking Joint Committee thanked the Family Services Manager for the report and update provided and noted the report was for information and there were currently no decisions for the committee to make.
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TRADING STANDARDS ANNUAL REPORT
A report intended to provide an update on the work and activities of Buckinghamshire and Surrey Trading Standards, particularly in respect of the borough of Woking in 2017.
Additional documents: Minutes: Declarations of Interest: None
Officers attending: None
Petitions, Public Questions, Statements: This item was deferred to a future meeting of the Woking Joint Committee.
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To review the decision tracker. Additional documents: Minutes: Declarations of Interest: None
Officers attending: Jess Edmundson, Partnership Committee Officer
Petitions, Public Questions, Statements: None
The Woking Joint Committee noted the decision tracker. |
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This report is produced for each meeting of the Joint Committee (Woking) so that members can review the forward plan and comment on the items that are currently anticipated will be received.
Additional documents: Minutes: Declarations of Interest: None
Officers attending: Jess Edmundson, Partnership Committee Officer
Petitions, Public Questions, Statements: None
The Committee received a report on the forward plan and was asked to comment on the items that are currently anticipated would be received.
Key points from the discussion:
It was noted that the Annual Parking Review would be coming to the Woking Joint Committee in June 2018 and should therefore be added to the forward plan.
It was requested that an item around flooding and local resilience forums be brought to a meeting later in 2018, perhaps in September. |