Councillor Balkan substituted for Councillor Gracey, Councillor Davies substituted for Councillor R. King and Councillor Singh substituted for Councillor Ringham.

To confirm and sign, as a correct record, the Minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 14 September 2023.

The minutes of the meeting held on 14 September 2023 were confirmed and signed as a correct record.

There were no apologies for absence.

Members are invited to declare any disclosable pecuniary interests or other registrable and non-registrable interests in items on the agenda.

Councillor Singh withdrew from the meeting for agenda items 5a, 5b, 5c, 9, 11a, 11b and 12.

At its meeting on 21 September Community Services Committee received an update on how the Council was applying the funding from central government for local organisations to assist with their recovery from the Covid pandemic.

View the papers considered by the Community Services Committee.

Extract from Draft Minutes from the meeting

Members recalled that the Council had originally received a total of £907,650 in Contain Outbreak Management Funding (COMF) in 2021-2023.  Members were advised that £213,829 was left and had to be spent by 31 March 2024, to avoid it having to be paid back to central government.

Members approved the table of proposed projects and recipients, noting an email received from the Director of Public Health at Surrey County Council, confirming that a sum could be applied to the Play Area Replacement Programme.  The other recipients were the Runnymede Foodbank, Citizens Advice Runnymede and Spelthorne, and Chertsey Hall.  These met the criteria and guidance issued on how COMF monies could be applied.

It was noted that all the projects met the Council’s Corporate priorities of Empowering Communities and Health and Wellbeing.

Members were content to support all the projects.  There was a slight shortfall of £1,174 for which approval would be sought from Corporate Management Committee to meet from the existing Communities First budget held in Community Services.

Recommend that –

i)             Corporate Management Committee approves the proposed expenditure plans for the remaining COMF funding held by the Council, in 2023- 2024; and

ii)            Corporate Management Committee approves the use of existing Communities First budgets to fund the balance of £1,174

The scope of the flooring maintenance works at Chertsey Hall was noted.  The Committee was supportive of the proposals.

It was resolved that:

1. The proposed expenditure plans for the remaining Contain Outbreak Management Fund held by the Council, in 2023- 2024 be agreed.

2. The use of the existing Communities First budgets be used to fund the balance of £1,174.

At its meeting on 21 September 2023, the Community Services Committee was updated on the Play Area Programme and how that might be delivered.

View the papers considered by the Community Services Committee.

Extract from Draft Minutes from the meeting

Members were advised that the Council currently maintained 43 play areas across the borough, within Green Spaces and Housing areas.  A full survey had been undertaken to identify where key repairs and/or replacement of individual items of equipment were needed and then to develop a longer term plan for replacement in consultation with local Ward Councillors.

The Committee was presented with a Repairs Budget Expenditure Plan to cover 20 play areas.  Officers reported that surfacing repairs had almost been completed and several other minor repairs not included in the report.  This totalled £195,000. 

Members also received a pre and post consultation list ranking all 43 sites which identified 9 sites in urgent need of attention, 4 of which were in the Egham area, a further 16 classed as amber and the remaining 18 low priority.  This totalled £799,000 to be drawn (subject to approval) from 10 identified areas including Section 106 monies, the Housing Business Unit, Runnymede Pleasure Grounds Trust and Community Services budgets.

Officers advised there was a shortfall of £2,000 which would be covered by the Contingency budget within the Youth Development Fund.  It would also be necessary to carry forward some funding into 2024/2025 as not all the works could be carried out in 2023/2024.

An Equalities Screening Assessment had been completed since drafting the report which identified positive implications for the protected characteristic of age and that accessibility would be an important part of the process.

The Committee agreed that it was an ambitious programme but one which they supported in order to improve facilities for young people in the borough.

Officers were thanked for their inclusive approach  ...  view the full agenda text for item 76b

The Committee was pleased to note that there had been cross party and ward member involvement in developing the proposals.

It was resolved that:

1.   The proposed health and safety works and play area replacement plan be agreed.

2.   A capital estimate of £229,000, for the replacement plan involving Surrey Towers, Pooley Green and Hythe Park, as set out in table 3 of the report, to be funded from the resources set out in table 2 (subject to any additional approvals required), be agreed.

3.   The release of £100,000 for play area replacement programme provisions, set aside in the capital programme for 2023/24, be agreed.

4.   An allocation of £47,000, from the 2024/2025 youth development revenue budget for the play area replacement, be agreed.

5.   The virement of the revenue budgets earmarked for the replacement of play equipment to fund the capital expenditure be agreed (noting that this would show in future revenue reports as contributions to capital expenditure on the summary page of the budget).

 The Committee recommended to the Council that:

1.     A capital estimate of £565,000, for the replacement plan involving the remaining locations set out in table 3 of the report, to be funded from the resources set out in table 2 (subject to any additional approvals required), be agreed.

[Members were advised at the Community Services Committee that the capital estimate had been revised.  This was however not captured in the recommendation put before the Community Services Committee, which is what was moved and agreed for communication to the Corporate Management Committee.

The Council is therefore asked to agree a revised capital estimate of £799,000, covering both financial years, for the replacement plan to be funded from the resources set out in table 2 of the officer’s report (subject to any additional approvals required).]

At its meeting on 21 September 2023, the Community Services Committee was tasked with considering a motion from Council on 20 July 2023 concerning period poverty.

View the papers considered by the Community Services Committee.

Extract from Draft Minutes from the meeting

The Committee was advised that since the motion had been referred to Community Services, Officers had undertaken research into how the Council could deliver a service to provide period products in all of the Council’s publicly accessible toilets and buildings to make a contribution towards ending period poverty.

Members noted available statistics on period poverty, exacerbated by the cost of living crisis and the rise in its occurrence and how it had been responded to, including government funding for a scheme to provide access to period products within education settings for girls and women up to age of 19 who cannot afford to buy them and/or some other circumstances as outlined in the report.

Surrey County Council had also launched the ‘period dignity’ campaign, working with the charity Binti International and encouraged local authorities in Surrey to participate.  To this end Officers in Community Services and Housing had identified funding of £24,000 from three budgets and sought to deliver the project in consultation with the Chairman and Vice-Chairman of Community Services Committee and the original proposer of the motion to Council.

Councillor a King was thanked for bringing the motion forward, who in turn thanked Officers for their work and approved the idea of including leisure facilities in the project.

Recommend that –

i)             a combined budget of £24,000 over three years, be approved; and

ii)            the delegation of authority for agreeing the delivery of this project to the Corporate Head of Community Services, in consultation with the Chairman and Vice-Chairman of Community Services Committee, and the original Councillor (Councillor A King), proposer of the motion to Council, be approved.

Councillor A. King was thanked for bringing the motion to the 20 July 2023 Council.

It was resolved that:

1. A combined budget of £24,000, over three years, be agreed.

2. The Corporate Head of Community Services be delegated authority to agree the delivery of this project, in consultation with the Chairman and Vice-Chairman of Community Services Committee, and Councillor A. King as the proposer of the motion to the Council.

The Committee was pleased to see that a more comprehensive Bullying and Harassment Policy had been prepared.

The process for reviewing allegations made by councillors against officers was clarified, noting that this would be managed using the Council’s suite of employment policies.  Allegations of bullying and harassment against councillors by members of the public would also be managed utilising the Council’s suite of policies relevant to the handling of such individuals.  Members were advised to contact the police in the event of particularly serious incidents.

It was resolved that:

1. The Bullying and Harassment Policy be agreed, subject to the inclusion of a clarification regarding allegations of bullying of councillors by officers.

2. That authority be delegated to the Corporate Head of Human Resources and Occupational Development, to agree the text of the clarification requested in 1. above, in consultation with the Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the Corporate Management Committee, Councillor Jenkins (as the requestor of this clarification), and the Corporate Head of Legal and Governance.

The revised layout of the calendar was welcomed.

The Corporate Management Committee recommended that the calendar of meetings for the 2024/25 municipal year by agreed by the Council.

Urgency procedures

The Committee welcomed the modernisation of the Council’s urgency procedures (Standing Order 42 (SO42)).  There was discussion about whether SO42 was being used as a tool to circumvent committee discussions.  It was reported that the frequency and value of SO42 decisions was dependent on the issues that arose, and could therefore be highly variable.  The value of recent SO42 decisions was questioned; it was stated that these decisions related to supplementary estimates, which could be reported separately to the supplementary estimates agreed by committees, should the Corporate Management Committee require it.

Contract Standing Orders

There was discussion about the advertising of contract values when seeking bids as part of the tendering process, and whether this was having value for money implications for the Council.  It was noted that the Public Contract Regulations 2015 required specific information to be provided when advertising a contract above the Find a Tender Service (FTS) threshold value.

The Committee recommended to the Council that:

1.   The proposed minor amendments to the Council’s urgency provisions (Standing Order 42) and the Contract Standing Orders be agreed, subject to the minor typographical error at 2.5a of the Contract Standing Orders being corrected.

2.   The Corporate Head of Legal and Governance be delegated authority to make further necessary amendments to the Constitution, to give effect to the amendments proposed in the report.

There was a detailed debate about the proposed honours and their recipients.

Many members lauded the contributions made by Mr Cotty to both the community and the Council. In addition, some felt that the role of a ward councillor was often underappreciated. Other members felt that whilst Mr Cotty’s work was much appreciated, it was questionable as to whether it was over and above the work undertaken by many other ward councillors.  The appropriateness of the Honorary Alderman title, in the context of previous awardees receiving the Freedom of the Borough, was also questioned.

The Committee debated the proposed honour for the North West Surrey Alliance (NWSA).  Some members considered the proposed honour to be warranted, particularly because of NWSA’s position in caring for Runnymede’s residents; a role that was amplified during the Covid-19 pandemic.  It was suggested that the NWSA’s position in the community was not sufficiently well known to warrant being awarded Freedom of the Borough, and that the publicly available information on their website focused on the senior individuals involved in running the Alliance, and not its frontline and operational staff.  It was however suggested that the proposed honour represented a good opportunity to promote the work of the Alliance, in particular the work of operational and frontline staff providing services to Runnymede’s residents.  It was reported that the NWSA would also be asked to send a number of operational and frontline staff to receive the award on behalf of the Alliance at a special awards ceremony in March 2024.

Some members questioned whether it was proper to recognise just healthcare workers, particularly because other individuals, such as delivery drivers and shopworkers, had also provided important services to the community during the Covid-19 pandemic.

There was discussion about the expenditure associated with the proposals.  Some members felt that the anticipated cost, which did not represent new expenditure due to it being met from in-year savings, was acceptable because the proposals provided a rare opportunity to celebrate the work of partners and other individuals, whilst also commemorating a significant milestone for Runnymede as a Council.

Other members felt that the proposals should have been discussed between group leaders before being presented to the Committee.  They also stated that there were more appropriate opportunities that did not involve the awarding of honours.  One such suggestion included the planting of fifty trees which would, it was asserted, have also served to enhance the Council’s environmental credentials.

By request of the committee, the recommendations were divided into their constituent parts, and named votes taken on each.

1.     The Committee recommended that North West Surrey Alliance be awarded Freedom of the Borough of Runnymede.

The voting on this resolution was as follows:

In favour (7) – Councillors Howorth, Balkan, Coen, Cressey, Nuti, Snow and Willingale.

Against (4) – Councillors Davies, Gillham, Jenkins and D. Whyte.

Abstentions – none.

2.     The Committee recommended that former Councillor Derek Cotty be appointed as an Honorary Alderman.

The voting on this resolution was as follows:

In  ...  view the full minutes text for item 80.

By resolution of the Committee, the press and public were excluded from the remainder of the meeting during the consideration of the remaining matters under Section 100A (4) of the Local Government Act 1972 on the grounds that the discussion would be likely to involve the disclosure of exempt information as set out in Schedule 12A to Part 1 of the Act.

At its meeting on 21 September 2023, the Community Services Committee was asked to approve the letting of a premises in Larchwood Drive to a local organisation based in Englefield Green.

The report associated with this item was circulated to all members as part of the pack of exempt papers for the meeting of the Community Services Committee on 21 September 2023.

Extract from Draft Minutes from the meeting

The Committee was asked to approve the letting of a premises to a local organisation in Englefield Green.

The Committee was advised of the current usage of the premises by the Forest Estate Community Hub, delivered by the Journey Church, part of the River Church, who were working towards being a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) registered with the Charity Commission.

Members noted the historical use of the premises, reviewed the current and proposed lease terms and were advised of issues relating to the condition of the premises and future management arrangements when a new CIO would be formed to take the project forward.

Officers were satisfied that the proposed lease arrangements to regularise the occupancy of the premises and which it was agreed represented the best consideration reasonably obtainable.

On the basis of the information available and taking into account the financial and legal considerations, the Committee was content to recommend approval by Corporate Management Committee on the terms set out in the report, noting that if necessary, a further report would be submitted to Members regarding any future lease arrangements which might come forward.

Officers in Communications were asked to consider how assistance might be given to the Hub with publicity, Officers in Community Services with making funding applications and Officers in Assets and Regeneration with practical matters related to future maintenance of the building infrastructure.

Recommend to Corporate Management Committee that:

i)             the premises in Larchwood Drive is leased to the organisation named in the report for a term of 10 years on the Terms set out in the agenda report; and

ii)            in the event that a Development Charitable Incorporated Organisation is successfully formed, an Agreement for Lease is entered into with the CIO with delegation to the Chief Executive in consultation with Corporate Head of Law and Governance and Corporate Head of Assets and Regeneration in consultation with the Chairman and Vice-Chairman of Community Services Committee to finalise the terms of the Agreement for Lease

It was resolved that:

1. The premises in Larchwood Drive be leased to the organisation named in the report for a period of 10 years on the terms set out in the officer’s report.

2. In the event a development Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) was successfully formed, the Council grant a lease to the CIO, with the Chief Executive delegated authority to finalise the terms of the lease, in consultation with Chairman and Vice-Chairman of Community Services Committee, the Corporate Head of Law and Governance and Corporate Head of Assets and Regeneration.

At its meeting on 21 September 2023, the Community Services Committee was asked to approve a lease of part of the King George Playing Field in Virginia Water to Virginia Water Football Club.

The report associated with this item was circulated to all members as part of the pack of exempt papers for the meeting of the Community Services Committee on 21 September 2023.

Draft Minutes from the meeting

The Committee was asked to approve a lease of part of the King George Playing Field in Virginia Water to Virginia Water Football Club.

The Committee was advised that Virginia Water Football Club had been based in Crown Road for many years and now sought to renew the lease, undertake repairs to the pavilion and expand the club.  It was intended for the car park to be included in the demise in line with other similar sports clubs.

Members were advised that a recent planning application had been submitted for a telecommunications mast on site, the terms of which were to be determined.  To facilitate this delegated authority was sought as set out in the report.

The Committee was content with the proposed terms, subject to approval by Fields in Trust and other statutory consent and represented the best consideration reasonably obtainable.  It was noted that the proposed lease contained a break clause to protect the interests of the Council as guardian of a community asset and the club.  The Committee noted the financial and legal implications and the terms allowed the club time to make the planned improvements on site.

Some Members of the Committee had visited the site and were satisfied that the Club was meeting community needs in order to qualify for grant aid in the sum reported.

Recommend to Corporate Management Committee that:

i)             the recommendations as set out in the officer’s report be approved.

It was resolved that the lease and other provisions set out in the officer’s report be agreed.

Magna Square letting

The Committee noted that the proposed tenant was planning to move from their existing site in Egham Town Centre.  Concerns were raised about the adverse impact of increasing unoccupied units in the area that the proposed tenant would be vacating.  The Regeneration and Major Projects Member Working Party was going to be considering the health of the borough’s high streets at one of its upcoming meetings.

Addlestone One letting

There was detailed discussion about the proposed activity and tenant for the unit in question.  Members explored whether the proposed use of the unit was compatible with other commercial units in the Addlestone One development.  It was noted that the vacant unit was difficult to market, due its size being unattractive in the current market.  The Council was liable for void costs whilst the unit whilst the unit remained unlet.

The Committee raised concerns about the prospective tenant’s track record of failed speculative ventures, although it was noted that the risk associated with this was being mitigated by the inclusion of certain measures in the proposed lease such as a large deposit.  The proposed tenant was also paying a substantial sum for fit out costs.  The fixtures and fittings associated with the fit out would be retained by the Council in the event that the unit was vacated.  There was discussion about the proposed lease and whether this represented the best possible deal for the Council.  The Committee was reminded that the relationship would be with a company and not an individual.  Officers were confident that the proposals were in keeping with the rates being realised in the current market, for a unit such as this one.

It was resolved that:

1. The leases be granted in accordance with the recommendations set out within the officer’s report.

2. Authority be delegated to the Assistant Chief Executive (Section 151) to make necessary amendments to the proposed terms in order to ensure the leases progress to completion (provided the deals continue to fulfil the Council’s statutory obligation of best consideration), in consultation with the Corporate Head of Assets and Regeneration, and the Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the Corporate Management Committee.

3. The Property and Assets Task Force be asked to review the viability of The Precinct in Egham and report back to the Corporate Management Committee.

This item has been withdrawn from the agenda for this meeting.

This item was withdrawn in advance of the meeting.

The Committee discussed various elements of the report.  There was particular discussion about the phased approach to the RIBA plan of work stages.  Also discussed was the delay in obtaining DBS checks for new staff at the Eileen Tozer Centre.

The report was noted.