To confirm and sign, as a correct record, the Minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 20 January 2022 (Appendix ‘A’).

The Minutes of the meeting held on 20 January 2022 were confirmed and signed as

a correct record.   

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor M Willingale.

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

None declared.

The Committee considered the recommendations of the Independent Remuneration Panel on the scheme of Members’ Allowances.

The Local Authorities (Members Allowances) (England) Regulations 2003 as amended required all local authorities to appoint an Independent Remuneration Panel to advise on the terms and conditions of their scheme of Members' Allowances.  The Regulations required the Council to have regard to the advice of the Panel when approving a new scheme.

A Panel had been convened to make recommendations on the scheme to be adopted with effect from 1 April 2022, and the Panel had met on three occasions.  The Panel consisted of Clare Jones (Education sector representative), Lorna Jamison (Health sector representative and Chair of the Panel), Bob Locker (Residents sector representative) and Suzie Tobin (Voluntary sector representative).  No business sector representative could be recruited to the Panel on this occasion despite best efforts to do so.

In formulating its proposals, the Panel had reviewed a range of background information and comparative data and circulated a questionnaire to all Councillors.  The questionnaire provided information about the operation of the scheme, Councillors' workloads and Councillors' views about the present arrangements.  The Panel had also interviewed all Political Group Leaders and the Chief Executive to discuss the workload and responsibilities of Members and to ascertain if they had any suggestions for improving the current scheme. 

The Panel had recommended that the Basic Allowance be increased to £5,500 per annum from 1 April 2022 with any increases to the Basic and Special Responsibility Allowances (SRA)s in 2023/24 and 2024/25 linked to annual staff pay awards.  The recommended increase to the Basic Allowance reflected the increased responsibilities and workload, the skills sets now required of a Councillor in a more commercially driven local authority environment including a large services and property portfolio, the requirement to engage in policy development and direction, the need to challenge proposals and assess risks and the pressures associated with communication with constituents in a digital environment. It also acknowledged the overall time commitment of Councillors and addressed the historical deficit of Runnymede’s Basic Allowance when compared with other local authorities in Surrey and the South East. 

The Panel hoped that the increased Basic Allowance would make the role of Councillor more viable for persons of working age and those who had family commitments.  The Panel also considered that it better recognised the social value of the role performed by Councillors and hopefully encouraged greater diversity in membership which would be more representative of the community the Council served. The Panel agreed that the current arrangement under which 50% of the time of Councillors was not remunerated should continue in order to retain the public service element of being a Councillor at an appropriate level. 

The Panel had assessed the SRA paid to Leader and Deputy Leader of the Council and considered whether this sufficiently reflected the increasing workload and responsibility associated with those offices.  The SRAs for Leader and Deputy Leader were low in comparison with other Authorities in Surrey and the South East.  The Panel therefore recommended that the SRA for Leader of the Council be increased from £10,368 to £11,000 with the SRA for Deputy Leader being 50% of that, namely an increase from £2,592 to £5,500.  The Panel considered this an appropriate increase which better reflected the workload and responsibilities associated with these high profile roles, would assist succession planning to those offices, and be more in line with SRAs paid in other local authorities for these roles.

The Panel had reviewed the restriction placed on Members who served on Corporate

Management Committee.  Currently a Councillor could only receive a SRA of £1,296 for being a member of Corporate Management Committee if he or she was not entitled to any other SRA.  The Corporate Management Committee currently had 12 Members. At the current time, only 2 councillors were eligible for the Special Allowance for serving on that Committee and the remaining 10 Councillors did not get a SRA as they received an SRA for holding other offices. The Panel acknowledged the increased workload and responsibilities involved in serving on this Committee and considered that the restriction should be removed and that all Members of that Committee should be paid an SRA of £1,296 regardless of any other offices that they held.

The Panel had reviewed the SRAs for Chairman and Vice- Chairman of Standards and Audit Committee which were low compared to SRAs paid to other Chairmen. In addition, since the last review 3 years ago, the Committee had taken an increased role for the oversight of the governance and financial operation of the Council.  On this basis the Panel considered that the SRA for Chairman and Vice Chairman of this Committee should be increased from £1,710 to £5,184 and from £648 to £2,592 respectively which was in line with SRAs paid to the Chairmen and Vice- Chairmen of main Committees.  It was noted that Surrey County Council would determine any level of allowances received by Members in connection with the Runnymede Joint Committee.   

Regarding the SRA paid to Political Group Leaders other than Leader of the Council, the Panel knew from its research that a small number of local authorities paid Political Group Leaders a flat rate plus a payment per member in their group or just a payment based on number of members in their groups.  The Panel considered that the current SRA of £3,888 for Political Group Leaders was too high and that it was fairer for the SRA to be based on number of members in a group and recommended a figure of £425 per member which was consistent with the SRA paid to the Leader of the Council if a per head basis calculation was applied.

The Panel considered whether an SRA should be paid to those Councillors who led particular projects but were advised this was not legally permissible.

The Panel did not recommend any other changes to the amounts and types of SRAs

which included retaining the current arrangement where no Councillor was paid more than two SRAs.  The full cost of adopting all these changes was estimated to be £65,000 per annum. As a provision of £16,000 had already been made in the 2022/23 Estimates, a further annual sum of £49,000 was required. If the Council accepted the recommendations of the Panel, the costs for the following three years would be as follows:

The Council had to have regard to the recommendations of the Panel when determining its scheme of Members' Allowances and decide whether it wished to accept the recommendations from the Independent Remuneration Panel in their entirety or, if not, what changes it would wish to approve.  The Committee asked that its thanks be passed on to the Members of the Panel for the diligent work that the Panel had done in putting forward the recommendations.

The Committee supported all of the Panel’s recommendations. The increase to the Basic Allowance reflected the time and effort required to be expended by Councillors at Runnymede which was a local authority which had its own Direct Services Organisation and housing stock and had large Commercial Services and Community Services functions. 

All Members apart from the serving Mayor currently received an allowance of £1,000

for serving on a Member Working Party (MWP). This was an allowance received by

Members which was separate from the Members’ Allowances Scheme. Some Members of the Committee asked whether this MWP allowance would be continued. The Committee agreed that as it was recommending an increase in the Basic Allowance and in the amounts that some Councillors would receive for SRAs it would not be appropriate to continue to receive a MWP allowance.  The Committee accordingly agreed to recommend as set out in recommendation vi) below.  It was agreed that a Member would be advised where Runnymede would appear in the Basic Allowance list of local authorities in Surrey if Members were to receive £6,500 per annum (consisting of a Basic Allowance of £5,500 plus a £1,000 MWP allowance).  

Recommend to Full Council on 3 March 2022 that –

i)          the Council notes the recommendations of the Independent Remuneration Panel following the Panel’s review of the scheme

of Members’ Allowances;

ii)         the Council notes that the Panel recommends that 

            a)         the Basic Allowance be set at £5,500 per annum;

            b)        annual increases linked to annual staff pay awards be applied to the Basic Allowance and SRAs in the financial years 2023/24 and 2024/25;

c)        the SRA for Leader and Deputy Leader of the Council be increased to £11,000 and £5,500 respectively;

d)        the SRA of £1,296 for serving on Corporate Management Committee be paid to all Members of that Committee regardless of any SRAs they receive for holding other offices;

e)        the SRA for the Chairman and Vice-Chairman of Standards and Audit Committee be £5,184 and £2,592 respectively;  

f)         the SRA for Political Group Leaders, other than Leader of the Council, be based on £425 per Member of their respective Groups;  

g)        that no other changes be made to the scheme of Members’ Allowances;

iii)        the Committee recommends that the Panel’s recommendations be accepted;  

iv)        subject to the Council accepting the Committee’s recommendation, the Members’ Allowances Scheme set out at Annex ‘2’ to the Panel’s report, be adopted with effect from 1 April 2022;    

v)         subject to the Council accepting the Committee’s recommendation, a supplementary revenue estimate be approved in the sum of £49,000 to cover the increased costs of the scheme in 2022/23 and subsequent years’ increases be added to the Medium Term Financial Strategy; and

vi)        the annual allowance of £1,000 received by all Members apart from the serving Mayor for serving on a Member Working Party, which is an allowance received by Members which is separate from the Members’ Allowances Scheme, be discontinued for 2022/23.   

The Committee considered a report recommending that the Committee recommend to Full Council that the Council Tax Support Scheme for 2022/23 to be implemented from 1 April 2022 should continue in its current form with no changes other than statutory changes and uprating. This Scheme applied to those of working age only.  Pensioners, subject to their income, could receive up to 100 per cent support towards their Council Tax and the Council had no power to change the level of support provided to pensioners. 

The Government had announced Regulations uprating various amounts which had to be included in the pension age Scheme and be adopted by Runnymede for the working age Council Tax support scheme for 2022/23. The details of the Regulations were noted by the Committee. They included changes to non-dependant deductions, applicable amounts, premiums, income and capital disregards and the habitual residence test. In addition, the Government had announced, on 3 February 2022, that it would provide funding for billing authorities to give all households in England whose primary residence was valued in Council Tax bands A-D a one-off Council tax energy rebate payment of £150.  The Government would lay regulations to require these payments to be disregarded as income for the purposes of calculating eligibility for Council Tax support.    

At its meeting on 12 February 2019, Full Council had agreed a Council Tax Support

Scheme to be implemented from 1 April 2019.  At its meeting on 24 September 2020, the Corporate Management Committee considered a report reviewing the Scheme and decided to keep the Scheme unchanged and create a £50,000 discretionary hardship fund.  The Corporate Management Committee had agreed at that meeting that the discretionary hardship fund would commence in April 2021 and would be administered over two years and would be used to help those most in need due to the economic impact of coronavirus but were excluded from Council Tax Support or were receiving less than their full liability.  It was agreed at that meeting that the Council would review the Council Tax Support Scheme and the discretionary hardship fund in two years’ time.

Officers would be considering options for a full scale review of Runnymede’s Council Tax Support Scheme during 2022.  This was to ensure that the Scheme incorporated the roll out of Universal Credit and to take the opportunity to simplify the administration of claims and make it easier for the Council’s most vulnerable residents to understand how their financial assistance had been calculated and what help those of working age were entitled to with their Council Tax.  Any changes would come into effect from April 2023.

As the Scheme had been in its current form since April 2019, proposals for a full scale review of the Scheme would be submitted to a future meeting of the Committee, so that the Council’s decision on the Scheme for 2023/24 could be informed by the findings of that review. A Member suggested that any proposals for a full scale review of the Scheme should be considered first by the Housing Committee as that Committee’s functions included Housing and Council Tax benefits. However, the Committee was advised that this was a support scheme not a benefits scheme and support schemes did not fall within the Housing Committee’s functions.  The Committee indicated that before it considered proposals for a full scale review the proposals should be discussed in another meeting first and sought advice from officers outside the meeting on whether this should be the Housing Committee or one of the Member Working Parties.

One of the elements of the current Scheme was that Council Tax Support entitlement calculated at less than £10.00 per week was not paid except for those classed as vulnerable and the previous level of £5.00 per week was maintained.  Some Members of the Committee considered that this element of the Scheme should be looked at again as part of the review and either did not support this element of the scheme or indicated that they would wish to have details of how vulnerability was determined in this context when the Scheme was reviewed.           

As the Corporate Management Committee on 24 September 2020 had decided to maintain the Scheme in its current form until April 2023, the Committee recommended that the Scheme be kept in its current form and uprated according to Regulations set out in the Statutory Instrument SI 25/2022 issued by the Government and the Housing Benefit uprating circular A11/2022.   

            Recommend to Full Council on 3 March 2022 that –

the Council Tax Support Scheme for 2022/23 to be implemented from 1 April 2022 continues in its current form with no changes other than statutory changes and uprating. 

The Committee considered a report on the Pay Policy Statement for 2022/23 and the 2022/23 Pay Policy Statement which was appended to the agenda report.  This statement was required by the Localism Act 2011.  The Statement had to set out the Council’s policies towards a range of issues relating to the pay of its workforce and had to be published on the Council's website by 31 March 2022.  Pay Policy Statements had to be prepared each financial year and had to be approved by Full Council.  The Pay Policy Statement for 2022/23 would therefore be approved by Full Council on 3 March 2022.

Pay Policy Statements were intended to ensure that policies in relation to the pay and reward of the most senior staff were set out clearly in the context of the pay of the wider workforce and these relationships were set out as a series of ratios.  The ratio between the lowest and the highest paid salary in Runnymede was 1:5.475, a reduction from last year’s ratio of 1:7.85. Other ratios in the Statement had also reduced as a result of a number of highly paid senior members of staff leaving the Council.  The current full-time salary ranges for Chief Officer and Deputy Chief Officer posts as defined under the Localism Act 2011 were noted.  The Council’s overall policies on pay had not altered since last year’s Pay Policy Statement.   

The introduction of the National Living Wage on 1 April 2016 had had the effect of eroding away Scale 1 and Scale 2 of the pay structure.  The National Living Wage for those aged 23 years and over would rise from £8.91 per hour to £9.50 per hour from 6 April 2022.  This meant that Grade 3 on the pay structure ceased to exist and moved all those on Grade 3 up to the minimum of Grade 4.  The effect of this rise would be to increase the base annual salary of 14 permanent and 52 casual employees to the new level of the National Living Wage.  It was noted that Runnymede paid all staff according to their Grade regardless of the age of those staff and did not pay any staff less than the level of the National Living Wage. 

Recommend to Full Council on 3 March 2022 that –

            the Pay Policy Statement 2022/23, as reported, be approved.

By resolution of the Committee, the press and public were excluded from the meeting during the consideration of this matter 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 of the description specified in paragraph 3 of Schedule 12A to Part 1 of the Act.

The Committee noted a report providing them with a progress update on the delivery of the Council’s Project Portfolio up to the end of the third quarter of 2021/22. The Committee noted project updates for the eleven grade A and twelve grade B projects ranging from the initiation to execution stages and one programme update, the key project achievements over the third quarter of 2021/22 and the project execution delays highlighted and the corrective actions in place to address them.  The Committee also noted a Project Portfolio Dashboard which provided a summary of the projects up until the end of January 2022.  It was noted that projects had grade A status if they were complex and cut across a number of different departments, had grade B status if they were delivered within one department and had grade C status if they were developed within a team of officers.

Three grade A and two grade B projects had been delivered in quarter 3.  Two grade A projects and one grade B project had amber status for one or more project criteria.  Amber meant that an issue had been identified that was being actively mitigated.  Red status meant that a critical issue had occurred which required action outside of project control.   The King’s Lane Bike Track project had red status as the project had been paused so that officers could assess whether there were some issues arising from other projects both within and outside the brough which might have relevance for the design of the project. A report on this project would be submitted to the Community Services Committee in due course.

Following the development of the Council’s new Corporate Business Plan, all projects on the Council’s portfolio would be re-aligned to the revised corporate themes and priorities agreed in the final adopted Corporate Business Plan.  It was noted that the target date for the publication of the new Corporate Business Plan was July 2022.  The Service Chairs Member Working Party would advise the Chief Executive how the consultation with Members on the Corporate Business Plan would be undertaken.

            Resolved that –

i)          project updates for the eleven grade A and twelve grade B projects, ranging through the initiation to execution stages and one programme update, be noted;

ii)         key project achievements over the third quarter of 2021/22 (October, November and December 2021) be noted; and

iii)        the project execution delays highlighted and the corrective actions in place to address them be noted.

By resolution of the Committee, the press and public were excluded from the meeting during the consideration of this matter 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 of the description specified in paragraph 3 of Schedule 12A to Part 1 of the Act.

The Committee considered an agenda report on options for the future delivery of the Council’s Grounds Maintenance operations. 

The Chief Executive had initiated a project to review options for future provision of the Council’s Grounds Maintenance operations activity.  At the meeting of the Committee in February 2021 it had been agreed that officers would enter into due diligence discussion in relation to the potential option of a profit sharing partnership with a company as reported, alongside further investigation of other options.  It had also been agreed at that meeting that the arrangements with Spelthorne Borough Council for highways verge maintenance and the arrangements for weed control be extended for a further period until 31 March 2022.  

A report had been submitted to the October 2021 meeting of the Committee which recommended an extension to the project, a further one year extension of four key service contracts and approval to appoint consultants to the project to independently review all options and propose recommendations.  As the October 2021 meeting of the Corporate Management Committee had been cancelled, these actions had been approved by means of an Urgent Action under Standing Order 42.

It was noted that discussions on the possibility of entering into a profit sharing partnership with the company as reported had concluded with the outcome that this option would not continue to be pursued.  The reasons for not continuing with this option were noted by the Committee.

All options proposed had been reviewed independently by consultants and the report of the consultants at Exempt Appendix ‘2’ to the agenda report was noted. The Committee considered the recommendations in the agenda report.   

            Recommend to Full Council on 3 March 2022 that -

            i)          recommendations 1 and 2 in the agenda report be approved;

ii)         the option in recommendation 3 in the agenda report where the strategic development function remains in Community Services be approved; and

iii)        a supplementary revenue estimate be approved in the sum set out in paragraph 2.8 on page 3 of the exempt Part II Addendum for the meeting for the revenue growth for Year 1 for the option in recommendation 3 in the agenda report where the strategic development function remains in Community Services.

N.B. A more detailed Part II Minute of the Corporate Management Committee’s

consideration of this item can be found in the Part II exempt Supplementary

Summons for the Full Council meeting on 3 March 2022 which contains exempt

information under Section 100A (4) of the Local Government Act 1972 of the

description specified in paragraph 3 of Schedule 12A to Part 1 of the Act.

By resolution of the Committee, the press and public were excluded from the meeting during the consideration of this matter 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 of the description specified in paragraph 3 of Schedule 12A to Part 1 of the Act.

Approval was sought for the proposed letting of two commercial units to two different businesses in the Magna Square development.  It was noted that two previous offers from two other businesses for two of the units in the development had fallen through.  The details of the proposed business operations and the proposed Heads of Terms for both businesses which were now seeking to occupy the units were noted.  The Committee considered that both of these businesses would enhance the development and approved the proposed Heads of Terms for both units.  The Committee agreed that delegated authority be given to officers for the final sign off of the financial vetting for one of the two commercial units as reported as set out in resolution ii) below. 

            Resolved that –

i)          leases be granted to two businesses for two commercial units in the Magna Square development on the terms outlined in the body of the report; and

ii)         delegated authority be given to the Chief Executive and Assistant Chief Executive for the final sign off of the financial vetting for the letting of one of these two commercial units as reported.  

By resolution of the Committee, the press and public were excluded from the meeting during the consideration of this matter 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 of the description specified in paragraph 3 of Schedule 12A to Part 1 of the Act.

At its meeting on 21 January 2021, the Committee had approved terms for a 12 month licence for a unit in the Egham Business Park development to the Food Bank and terms for continued occupation of the unit by the Food Bank beyond February 2022.  The 12 month licence was due to expire shortly.  The Committee noted a report submitted by officers to the Committee which set out new proposals for the continued occupation of this unit by the Food Bank beyond February 2022.  However, the Committee was advised that further officer discussions had taken place with the Food Bank.  The outcome of those discussions was that the Food Bank wished to revert to the terms agreed by the Committee in January 2021 for the occupation of the unit by the Food Bank beyond February 2022.  Accordingly, recommendations 1 to 4 in the report, which related to the new proposals which were now not going to be pursued, were withdrawn. 

The Committee noted an up to date tenancy schedule for Egham Business Park. The Chairman agreed to discuss with the Chief Executive whether it would be possible to provide more information to Members on the Council’s commercial tenants.

At its meeting on 16 December 2021, the Committee had approved a letting of one of the units in the Addlestone One development.  More extensive work was now required for the fit out of this unit than had been envisaged originally.  Therefore an increase in the capital contribution for this letting was required in the sum reported.  The Committee approved this increase which could be contained within the existing budget.

            Resolved that –

an increase in the sum reported in the capital contribution be approved in respect of a letting to a business in the Addlestone One development

            previously approved by the Committee on 16 December 2021. 

By resolution of the Committee, the press and public were excluded from the meeting during the consideration of this matter 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 of the description specified in paragraph 3 of Schedule 12A to Part 1 of the Act.

The Committee noted a report on progress made on the roll out of laptops and docking stations across the Council to facilitate agile working for officers.  Hardware had been upgraded across the Council but many devices were now reaching their natural end of life and therefore needed to be replaced by means of hardware refresh procurement.  The Committee considered proposals for this procurement.

The Committee noted details of the new laptop computers, monitors, desk monitor arms, docking stations and rucksacks that were required.   It was agreed that these items be procured through the Health Trust Europe Framework which was a compliant route for the procurement of computer hardware under which a direct award was permitted to the top-ranked supplier.

The Committee approved the capital expenditure required for the hardware refresh which could be met from the provision held in the Capital Programme and authorised any contractual documentation to fulfil the order of the hardware.  The equality and privacy impact implications of the hardware refresh were noted.  The Committee noted the various environmental measures that would be taken in the disposal of the IT hardware and peripherals across the Council and noted that a percentage of the equipment would be offered to a charity providing help to low income families with seriously disabled or ill children.

                                                Resolved that –

                                                i)          the progress made by Digital Services in the roll out of laptops

                                                            and docking stations across the Council be noted;

ii)         the hardware requirements as outlined in paragraph 1.4 of the report be procured via a direct award to the supplier as reported using the Health Trust Europe, Information Communications Technology Solutions Framework agreement;

iii)        a capital estimate be approved in the sum reported to be drawn down from the pre-approved capital provision held in the Capital Programme for the hardware replacement programme; and

iv)        the Corporate Head of Law and Governance be authorised to enter into or execute any contractual documentation to fulfill the order of the hardware.

By resolution of the Committee, the press and public were excluded from the meeting during the consideration of this matter 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 of the description specified in paragraph 3 of Schedule 12A to Part 1 of the Act.

The Committee considered a report on the procurement approach for a new Human Resources (HR) and Payroll integrated system.

The Council currently had two separate systems for its HR and payroll functions. A joint system would eliminate duplication, improve processes and make use of the additional functionality and efficiencies that were now available.   A detailed specification of requirements had been jointly developed by the Council’s HR, Payroll and Digital Services teams.  A soft market testing exercise had been carried out in which the respondents had demonstrated their systems.  Some of the respondents had submitted indicative timelines and budgets as part of the exercise.  The Council’s system requirements had been refined following this market engagement. 

An outline of the procurement timetable and the equality and privacy impact implications of the project were noted.  While it was envisaged that there would be positive environmental impacts arising from the project, the Committee indicated that a section on that subject should be included in similar reports in the future.

The Committee approved the procurement approach which would be via open tender using the Find a Tender Service.  The capital implementation budget plus additional temporary capital resources required for the duration of the project implementation could be met by drawing down from the pre-approved capital provision held in the Capital Programme for the Digital Transformation Programme. The Committee approved a supplementary revenue estimate for the increase in revenue costs for the new system which would result from the enhanced functionality that it would provide.  The Committee approved delegated authority to officers to enter into a contract as set out in resolution iv) below.

The Committee thanked officers for their work on this project which had been scrutinised by the Service and Digital Transformation Member Working Party.

            Resolved that –

i)          the procurement approach for a HR and Payroll integrated system be approved via an open tender using the Find a Tender service;

ii)         a capital estimate be approved in the sum reported drawing down from the pre-approved capital provision held in the Capital Programme for the Digital Transformation Programme;

iii)        a supplementary revenue estimate be approved in the sum reported for the systems licencing, support and maintenance; and

iv)        authority be delegated to the Chief Executive and Assistant Chief Executive (Section 151 Officer) for the Council to enter into a five year contract plus optional extension of up to two years with the successful tenderer for the provision of a HR and Payroll integrated system up to the value as reported.

By resolution of the Committee, the press and public were excluded from the meeting during the consideration of this matter 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 of the description specified in paragraph 3 of Schedule 12A to Part 1 of the Act.

The Committee noted proforma 995 detailing action taken after consultation with the Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the Committee.