Agenda, decisions and minutes
PDF 420 KBVenue: Council Chamber, Woodhatch Place, 11 Cockshot Hill, Reigate, Surrey ,RH2 8EF
Contact: Vicky Hibbert or Huma Younis Email: huma.younis@surreycc.gov.uk
Media
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Apologies for Absence
Additional documents: Decision: There were none. Minutes: There were none. |
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Minutes of Previous Meeting: 27 April 2021
Additional documents: Decision: The Minutes of the Cabinet meeting held on 27 April 2021 were approved as a correct record of the meeting.
Minutes: The Minutes of the Cabinet meeting held on 27 April 2021 were approved as a correct record of the meeting.
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Declarations of Interest
Additional documents: Decision: There were none. Minutes: There were none. |
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Procedural Matters
Additional documents: |
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Additional documents: Decision: There was one member question. The question and response were published as a supplement to the agenda.
Minutes: There was one member question. The question and response were published as a supplement to the agenda. Mr Forster attended the meeting and thanked the Cabinet Member for the response. Mr Forster asked that the Cabinet Member strengthen the response to his second question asking Cabinet to write to government opposing the changes. With regards to the response to the third question, it was asked if a response from government could be shared with full council. The Cabinet Member for Education and Learning explained that it was the Department for Education’s rationale to align core funding and pupil premium and to do this they had brought forward the date at which the Pupil Premium count takes place from January 2021 to October 2020. The impact of Covid 19 had seen many more families become eligible for free school meals and pupil premium. These children would not be counted now until October 2021 and there will be an inevitable lag in funding. This issue was first raised nationally by the BBC in their reports on 13 March 2021. There had been a wide range of lobbying through national bodies including teaching unions, the LGA and the Association for Directors of Children’s Services (ADCS). The county council had lobbied via the LGA and ADCS. The matter had directly been raised with the Department for Education in routine meetings and forums. The change sat within a wider set of pressures for schools in terms of financial planning. While in Surrey we are receiving a net cash increase in funding through the Dedicated Schools Grant via the National Funding Formula the increase does not keep pace with real terms growth in recent years.
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Additional documents: Decision: There was one public question. The question and response were published as a supplement to the agenda.
Minutes: There was one public question. The question and response were published as a supplement to the agenda. The member of the public did not attend the meeting.
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Petitions
Additional documents: Decision: There were no petitions. Minutes: There were no petitions. |
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Representations received on reports to be considered in private
Additional documents: Decision: There were none. Minutes: There were none. |
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Reports from Select Committees , Task Groups, Local Committees and other Committees of the Council
Additional documents: Decision: There were none. Minutes: There were none. |
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Leader / Deputy Leader / Cabinet Member/ Strategic Investment Board Decisions Taken Since the Last Cabinet Meeting
Additional documents: Decision: There were no decisions to report. Minutes: There were no decisions to report. |
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Covid-19 Delegated and Urgent Decisions Taken
Additional documents: Decision: RESOLVED:
1. That the decision taken by officers since the last meeting be noted.
Reason for decision:
To inform the Cabinet of decisions taken by officers under delegated authority.
[This decision is subject to call-in by the relevant Select Committee Chairman dependent on the recommendation.]
Minutes: The decisions were noted by Cabinet.
RESOLVED:
1. That the decision taken by officers since the last meeting be noted.
Reason for decision:
To inform the Cabinet of decisions taken by officers under delegated authority.
[This decision is subject to call-in by the relevant Select Committee Chairman dependent on the recommendation.]
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Additional documents: Decision: RESOLVED:
Reasons for Decision:
There is a statutory requirement for the Monitoring Officer to bring to Members’ attention any public report issued by the Ombudsman about the Council which identifies it is at fault and has caused injustice as a result.
Minutes: The report was introduced by the Cabinet member for Adults. The Cabinet Member stated that the report was difficult to read and unequivocally apologised to the family members impacted. The county council accepted the Ombudsman’s findings and would ensure service improvements were made especially in the council’s commissioning arrangements. It was explained that the Council remains responsible for its commissioned services and the actions of those services. The Cabinet recognised the seriousness of the case and agreed that care homes would vigorously be monitored to ensure high levels of quality assurance. The Leader apologised for the distress caused to the family and stressed that lessons had been learnt from this case. A robust plan would be enforced going forward.
RESOLVED:
Reasons for Decision:
There is a statutory requirement for the Monitoring Officer to bring to Members’ attention any public report issued by the Ombudsman about the Council which identifies it is at fault and has caused injustice as a result.
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Pendell Gypsy Roma Traveller (GRT) Camp, Merstham
Additional documents: Decision: RESOLVED:
Reasons for Decisions: The decisions recommended in this report will contribute to enabling the Council to: i. Provide much-needed, suitable accommodation for transit GRT communities in Surrey. ii. Reduce repeated annual expenditure on resources associated with unauthorised seasonal transit encampments. iii. Make an essential contribution towards the Council’s strategic objective to tackle health inequality, in line with the 2030 Community Vision to ensure no-one is left behind. iv. Support the partnership between the Council and District and Borough Councils to improve and provide accommodation and facilities for the transit GRT community.
[The decisions on this item can be called in by the Resources & Performance Select Committee]
Minutes: The Leader introduced the report explaining that across Surrey there had been an increase in unauthorised encampments from the Gypsy Roma Traveller (GRT) community which had caused disruption to some local communities. Although work was being done with the police their powers were limited. Work had started three years ago to identify a transit site for the GRT community. The county council had offered land at Pendell Camp although it has no obligation to provide this. The site in question would give the police more powers and would involve a capital payment. The council was invested in working with the GRT community and had recently done a great piece of work around covid-19 vaccinations.
The Cabinet Member for Economic Development and Property introduced the report explaining that there was an urgent need to increase the provision of transit GRT facilities. The report asks for approval of £1.2m of £3.8m capital funding identified within the Capital Programme Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) Pipeline allocation for GRT Transit Site/Pendell Camp for consultant design, planning fees and preparatory works to deliver the proposed transit pitches. The district and boroughs would contribute to the revenue costs of the site with the GRT community paying a rent to stay on the site. The site would still need to be approved via the relevant planning processes.
There was support for the site and recognition of the benefits to the local community. The Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Finance and Resources stated that unauthorised encampments cost councils a vast amount of money, including the costs for court injunctions and clean-up operations. In the last financial year the county council had spent £130k on unauthorised encampments countywide.
The Leader emphasised that each of the district and boroughs would contribute £100k to the site except for Tandridge which would be the host authority and that the district and boroughs would each be contributing to the annual running and maintenance costs.
RESOLVED:
Reasons for Decisions: The decisions recommended in this report will contribute to enabling the Council to: i. Provide much-needed, suitable accommodation for transit GRT communities in Surrey. ii. Reduce repeated annual expenditure on resources associated with unauthorised seasonal transit encampments. iii. Make an essential contribution towards the Council’s strategic objective to tackle health inequality, ... view the full minutes text for item 108/21 |
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2020/21 Outturn Financial Report
Additional documents: Decision: RESOLVED:
1. That the Council’s revenue and capital positions for the year be noted. 2. That the following transfers to reserves planned as part of the revenue budget be approved:
o £4.5m unspent redundancy budget in order to mitigate risks associated with delivering Transformation in future years o £2.4m to meet future feasibility costs of capital schemes 3. That the following transfers to and from reserves from the outturn position as set out in paragraphs 4-5 in the Executive Summary below be approved:
o £3.7m from the Covid-19 reserve to meet the outturn position on Covid-19 o £4.0m to add to contingency to cover expected continued turbulence in our operating environment and future risks o £3.0m to establish a Future Thinking Reserve o £0.6m to the Interest Rate Risk Reserve 4. It be noted that the remaining £3.9m surplus will be added to the General Fund balance to improve our financial resilience. Reasons for Decisions: This report is to comply with the agreed policy of providing a monthly budget monitoring report to Cabinet for approval of any necessary actions. [The decisions on this item can be called in by the Resources & Performance Select Committee]
Minutes: The Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Finance and Resources introduced the report explaining that the Council has achieved a £3.9m surplus outturn for the year after transferring £3.9m to reserves and contingencies without the need to rely on reserves, despite the extraordinary impact of Covid-19. The finance team were thanked for their hard work throughout the year which had contributed to this good news. The Council incurred costs, lost income and suffered disruption to the delivery of efficiencies, with a total impact of £137m during 2020/21 as a result of Covid-19, offset by a combination of specific funding and general emergency funding from MHCLG. A future thinking reserve would be established to provide towards the costs of transforming the Council and close the budget gap.
Although it was good to see a small surplus in the budget, the Leader stated that a tight handle needed to be kept on the budget and the council could not be complacent moving forward.
RESOLVED:
1. That the Council’s revenue and capital positions for the year be noted. 2. That the following transfers to reserves planned as part of the revenue budget be approved:
o £4.5m unspent redundancy budget in order to mitigate risks associated with delivering Transformation in future years o £2.4m to meet future feasibility costs of capital schemes 3. That the following transfers to and from reserves from the outturn position as set out in paragraphs 4-5 in the Executive Summary below be approved:
o £3.7m from the Covid-19 reserve to meet the outturn position on Covid-19 o £4.0m to add to contingency to cover expected continued turbulence in our operating environment and future risks o £3.0m to establish a Future Thinking Reserve o £0.6m to the Interest Rate Risk Reserve 4. It be noted that the remaining £3.9m surplus will be added to the General Fund balance to improve our financial resilience. Reasons for Decisions: This report is to comply with the agreed policy of providing a monthly budget monitoring report to Cabinet for approval of any necessary actions. [The decisions on this item can be called in by the Resources & Performance Select Committee]
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EXCLUSION OF THE PUBLIC
Additional documents: Minutes: RESOLVED: That under Section 100(A) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public be excluded from the meeting during consideration of the following items of business on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information under the relevant paragraphs of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act.
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Pendell Gypsy Roma Traveller (GRT) Camp, Merstham
Additional documents: Decision: RESOLVED:
1. That the financial details associated with the decision to agree the business case for the delivery of the Pendell Camp proposal are agreed and noted.
2. See Exempt Minute [E-16-2021]
Reasons for Decisions: See Minute 108/21. [The decisions on this item can be called in by the Resources & Performance Select Committee]
Minutes: The Cabinet Member for Economic Development and Property introduced a Part 2 report containing information which was exempt from Access to Information requirements by virtue of paragraph 3 – Information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including commercially sensitive information to the bidding companies).
RESOLVED:
1. That the financial details associated with the decision to agree the business case for the delivery of the Pendell Camp proposal are agreed and noted.
2. See Exempt Minute [E-16-2021]
Reasons for Decisions: See Minute 108/21. [The decisions on this item can be called in by the Resources & Performance Select Committee]
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PUBLICITY FOR PART 2 ITEMS
Additional documents: Minutes: It was agreed that non-exempt information may be made available to the press and public, where appropriate. |