Decisions

Following the decision by the Planning and Regulatory Committee to refuse the planning application on land south of Dunsfold Road and east of High Loxley Road, Dunsfold (ref: WA/2019/0796) at the virtual meeting on 29 June 2020, the Monitoring Officer has received in excess of 100 complaints alleging that there were procedural irregularities that invalidated the result. As a consequence, Counsel was instructed to view the recording of the meeting and, first, to consider whether there were in fact any such irregularities and, secondly, what should be done to rectify them.

Decision made:

It was AGREED that:

1.           The resolution to refuse application reference WA/2019/0796 is invalid and any notice of refusal would therefore be unlawful.

2.           A decision notice for the refusal of application reference WA/2019/0796 shall not be issued and the application will be referred back to Committee for determination afresh.

3.           There will be full entitlement for public speakers, the applicant and the local Member to make or remake their statements orally with full provision for debate by members.

Bus route 461 is a key route to St Peter’s Hospital normally running every 30min. Fare income has reduced a result of fewer passengers due to Covid-19. In order to maintain the service at a level which would support key workers accessing an NHS primary care facility, additional funding of £450 per day was agreed for three months from 1^st April to 30^th June 2020.  Patronage has not increased as hoped, and the service continues to suffer reduced fare income.  In order to maintain this essential service further support of £300 per day is required from 1^st July to 31^st August, with an expected total cost of £12,900, which will be partially funded through Covid Bus Service Support Grant.

Decision made:

It was AGREED that:

1.           Financial support of £300 per day (estimated at £12,900) be provided to Falcon Buses to support route 461 from 1^st July to 31^st August 2020.

Reasons for Decision:

To enable continuation of bus services taking key NHS workers to St Peter’s Hospital.

A Multi Agency Group (MAG) has been formed across Surrey County Council, District & Borough Councils, Surrey Police and other partner agency to review and address issues relating to homelessness during the COVID-19 pandemic.

This group is exploring ways to reduce homelessness and in doing so reduce the risk of spreading the virus in the community.

This includes securing suitable accommodation for both suitable social isolation for positive cases and cross sector coaching and care in the community for people with complex needs to help them settle into new accommodation and prevent a return to homelessness.

The initial costs of the work of the new MAG is estimated to be £200k for the period through until the end of March 2021.

It is proposed Surrey County Council makes a £100k contribution towards these costs.  This funding would be paid to local partner agencies and providers including housing, mental health and substance misuse via Public Health who are acting as the lead coordinator for the project.

Other funding for the work is expected to come from Office Police and Crime Commissioner and the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government via the local collaborative bids that are currently being developed.

A longer term plan and funding for this work will be reviewed based on the outcomes of the findings of this work and pilot schemes.

Decision made:

It was agreed that SCC pay £100,000 to housing, mental health and substance misuse via the Council’s Public Health service who are acting as the lead coordinator for the delivery of the homelessness schemes being taken forwards by the new MAG.

Reasons for Decision:

To support COVID-19 infection control across Surrey and also to ensure some of Surrey’s most vulnerable residents receive critical support to help reduce homelessness in the longer term.

Applications for financial support for Voluntary, Community & Faith sector organisations are being received by the Council. These requests for support are a direct result of financial hardship felt as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak, due to either additional costs being incurred by these organisations to meet increased demand for their services or enable remote working, or as a result of reductions in their usual funding sources (eg donations and fund raising events). 

Applications are submitted on a standard request from and are being considered initially by a panel made up of Strategy and Finance colleagues.  The panel is assessing requests against the following criteria:

• Small and medium sized organisation with an annual income of less than £1million during the financial year 2018/19
• Are not in receipt of any outstanding, adverse judgements from relevant regulatory bodies e.g. Charities Commission, CQC
• Operate within and provide services to meet needs in the county of Surrey
• Provision of services to support vulnerable residents during the COVID-19 pandemic, and/or later in the recovery phase
• Have provided SCC commissioned and/or funded services between 2015-2020, including organisations funded via grant, contracts and/or one-off commissioning
• Provision of broader, strategic services to Surrey residents that SCC considers vital to maintain
• Have evidenced and substantiated the additional financial pressures caused to the organisation as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic
• Will remain viable and able to assist Surrey during the post COVID-19 recovery phase, taking account of financial pressures already incurred and those that are forecast
• Where funding will support the long term, future sustainability of the organisation.

In addition, applications must also demonstrate that:

• Funding is actively being sought from alternative, relevant sources e.g. central government and Community Foundation for Surrey. SCC hardship funding will particularly favour residual pressures that cannot be met from other available means.
• Organisations can remain viable between the receipt of staged payments from the SCC COVID-19 Hardship Fund which may be paid in several tranches

The following applications were recommended by the Panel and approved by the Executive Director for Transformation, Partnership & Prosperity & the Cabinet Member for Community Safety, Fire & Resilience.

Decision made:

It was AGREED that:

The following applications met the agreed criteria for financial support during the COVID-19 pandemic:

A one-off payment of £16,773.00 will be made to support the above organisations.

Reasons for Decision:

To ensure the sustainability of the organisations and the continued provision of their services to the residents of Surrey during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond.

RESOLVED:

That the preparations in hand to respond to the Government’s anticipated Recovery and Devolution White Paper, due to be published in autumn 2020 be noted.

Reasons for Decisions:

To ensure Cabinet are aware of the preparations being made in readiness for the publication of the anticipated Recovery and Devolution White Paper in the autumn.

[The decisions on this item can be called in by the Resources & Performance Select Committee]

RESOLVED:

1.    That the transfer of £5.5m capital from the pipeline budget for the 3 proposed schemes be approved.

2.    To develop/replace the Shaw Family Contact Centre and two new Community Children’s Homes at the capital costs set out in the report be approved.

3.    That the tender for the above projects, carried out by the service be approved.

4.    That delegated authority to approve final capital spend on each project is given to the Cabinet Member for Resources in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Children, Young People and Families, the Executive Director of Children, Families and Learning and the Executive Director for Resources.

Reasons for Decisions:

To ensure the two new children’s homes and the new Shaw Family Contact Centre can be delivered on time and within budget.

[The decisions on this item can be called in by the Resources and Performance Select Committee and/ or the Children’s, Families, Lifelong Learning and Culture Select Committee]

RESOLVED:

That the Council’s forecast revenue and capital budget positions for the year is noted; and the reset of the 2020/21 revenue budget envelopes to reflect the additional costs and lost income related to COVID-19 be approved.

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 and Performance Select Committee]

RESOLVED:

That subject to the agreement of the detailed financial information for the project as set out in Part 2 of this agenda, the full business case for the implementation of the new corporate system and the award of the contract to the preferred bidder be approved. 

Reasons for Decisions:

The recommendation to award the contract to the preferred supplier and deliver the project will enable the council to implement a modern Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solution, which will address urgent technical drivers for change, while also enabling the council to achieve its ambitions to transform services, drive efficiencies, improve management decision making and to fully enable a flexible and mobile workforce.

[The decisions on this item can be called in by the Resources and Performance Select Committee]

RESOLVED:

1.    That the recommended approach (Option 1) for the delivery of Extra Care Housing at the former Brockhurst Care Home and former Pinehurst Resource Centre sites be approved. The approach recommended is to tender for a development and housing management strategic partner(s) for Extra Care Housing schemes on Council owned land on a design, build, finance and operate (DBFO) basis with up to a 125 year lease.

2.    That grants approval to procure in order to enable a full tender process to identify an Extra Care Housing development and housing management strategic partner(s) for the former Brockhurst Care Home and former Pinehurst Resource Centre sites set out in this paper be approved.

3.    Work to review the feasibility of further sites owned by the Council for the development of Extra Care Housing be approved.

Reasons for Decisions:

The development of Extra Care Housing on the two sites set out in this paper will represent a substantial contribution towards the Council’s strategic objective to expand affordable Extra Care Housing provision by 2030.

The development of Extra Care Housing through this delivery model is in line with previous decisions made by Cabinet. In October 2019 Cabinet agreed to identify a strategic partner for the development and housing management of Extra Care Housing at the former Pond Meadow School site through a tender process.

This is consistent with our ASC vision for development of Extra Care Housing, which has been clearly communicated through market and stakeholder engagement.

Through developing Extra Care Housing via this delivery model, the Council will have evidence and experience with which to benchmark future developments against and make informed decisions regarding future sites and approaches.

The Council received positive feedback following its market engagement on the tender for Extra Care Housing at the former Pond Meadow School site. In their feedback, a number of providers sought clarification on whether further sites will be offered to the market through a tender.

A tender will be published in the Summer 2020 for an Extra Care Housing development and housing management strategic partner at the former Pond Meadow School site. This process will provide the Council with learning and a template to inform any future tenders for further Extra Care Housing schemes.

The financial case that underpins the recommended delivery model for these sites is set out in the Part 2 paper.

[The decisions on this item can be called in by the Adults and Health Select Committee]

RESOLVED:

1. That the proposed process, criteria and governance for managing the Community Projects Fund (CPF) be approved;
   
   
2. That the role of the Member Task Group in helping to shape the CPF be noted;
   
   
3. That £300k of revenue funding in 2020/21 from the Corporate Feasibility budget is approved, to help establish a core CPF team to manage the delivery of the fund as well as other set up costs, on the understanding that the ongoing cost of managing the Fund will be built into the Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) from 2021/22;

4. Delegated authority to approve funding awards, including the ability to transfer appropriate amounts from the capital pipeline to the capital programme, as well as to make funding awards to successful applicants in the following three bands is approved, on the understanding that the named decision maker will make such decisions after receiving and giving due consideration to the recommendations from the CPF Panel:

·         Projects up to £100K – delegated to the Executive Director for Environment, Transport and Infrastructure

·         Projects between £100K and 500K – delegated to the appropriate Cabinet Member as determined by the Leader

·         Projects over £500K – decision taken by Cabinet

5. An initial phase of community co-development to test key aspects of the CPF as set out in this report prior to the formal launch of the Fund in the Autumn is approved;

6. A further report in September confirming the outcome of the co-development phase and the final details of the Fund is supported. 

Reasons for Decisions:

The development of the Community Project Fund (CPF) represents a significant opportunity for Surrey County Council (SCC) to invest in a meaningful and lasting way in communities. The recommendations in the report will enable the Fund to be developed in a way that ensures that the right level of due diligence and ensuring value for money is achieved from the Fund’s investments, while at the same time ensuring that the Fund is as accessible as possible.

[The decisions on this item can be called in by the Communities, Environment and Highways Select Committee]

RESOLVED:

That the three decisions taken by officers since the last meeting be noted.

Reason for decision:

To inform the Cabinet of decisions taken officers under delegated authority.

[This decision is subject to call-in by the relevant Select Committee Chairman dependent on the recommendation.]

RESOLVED:

That the Cabinet Member update be noted.

It was agreed that non-exempt information may be made available to the press and public, where appropriate.

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.

RESOLVED:

That the delegated decisions taken since the last meeting of the Cabinet be noted.

Reason for decision:

To inform the Cabinet of decisions taken by Cabinet Members, Strategic Investment Board and the Committee in Common subcommittee under delegated authority.

RESOLVED:

That the Community Projects Fund Task and Finish Group report and Adults and Health Select Committee: Scrutiny of the Decision on the Change of Route to Market for Two Extra Care Housing Sites report be noted and recommendations considered.

There were none.

There were no petitions.

There were no public questions.

There was one Member question from Mr Jonathan Essex. The question and response were published as a supplement to the agenda.

There were none.

The Minutes of the meeting held on 23 June were approved as a correct record.

There were no apologies.