a) From Councillor Robert King to the Leader of the Council

 

“Can the Leader confirm the total and Individual departmental costs from the use of agency staff for this financial year so far and for the previous 22/23?”

 

b) From Councillor Abby King to the Leader of the Council

 

“With the UK now in a recession, the ongoing migration to Universal Credit and the end of Household Support Fund funding from April, what is his administration’s plan for helping residents from April who face real financial hardship?”

 

c) From Councillor Rhys Davies to the Leader of the Council

 

“Network Rail’s funding settlement for 2024-2029, was recently approved by the Leader‘s own Conservative government, and within that settlement £1.2 billion was slashed from its budget, which is 6% of its total. With the corresponding Office for Rail Regulations report and vocal warnings from engineers and track side safety teams, sounding alarm bells that this will increase safety risks, reduce reliability on the network and almost totally remove community match funding for projects like level crossing replacements, is he as disappointed and angry as me that Runnymede residents are now doomed to face more delays, a less reliable service and more potential barrier down time at crossings because of cuts made by his own government and MPs?”

 

d) From Councillor Eliza Kettle to the Leader of the Council

 

“Will the leader join me in thanking officers for their proactive support and efforts to listen to local residents, and mitigate the disruption caused in Englefield Green by large scale funerals, whilst ensuring that loved ones are treated with dignity and respect at the most difficult of times?”

(a) Councillor R King asked the Leader of the Council:

 

“Can the Leader confirm the total and Individual departmental costs from the use of agency staff for this financial year so far and for the previous 22/23?”

 

The Leader replied in the following terms:

 

“The annual total costs of agency/interim staff for 2022/23 and 2023/24 to date is detailed in a table before members:

 

Casual/ Agency Expenditure – Account Codes 0030 & 0200
	2022/23	2023/24
Description	Actual payments
	£	£
HRA
Special Services Management	390.71	-390.71
Repairs – Supervisions	62,021.97	0.00
Housing General Fund
Home Improvement	77,220.26	28,397.00
Housing Standards	5,568.00	-27,630.08
Benefits Service	1,500.00	1,000.00
Housing Advice	49,200.83	31,389.66
Community Services
Day Centres	0.00	1,478.00
Leisure & Sports Development	2,420.00	2,029.00
Environment & Sustainability
Parks and Open Space	75,137.67	3,656.49
Refuse Collection	177,821.99	76,915.23
Trade waste collection	27,784.65	12,018.02
Depot serv. Control	0.00	11,906.70
Grounds Maintenance	2,468.40	55,370.53
Recycling	294,517.67	127,390.84
Green Waste	55,569.39	24,036.01
Street Cleansing	148,768.80	99,403.73
Car Parking	9,126.00	0.19
On-Street Car Parking	16,947.99	0.00
Planning
Development Management	-1,356.75	0.00
Corporate Management Committee
Corporate Property	219,412.42	365,751.68
Financial Services	74,482.40	2,003.55
Computer Services	2,632.04	23,929.00
Procurement Services	19,433.09	0.00
Human Resource Service	16,620.40	37,613.60
Law and Governance – Legal	164,062.21	146,907.75
Total	1,501,750.14	1,023,176.19

 

All councils like Runnymede benefit from a workforce plan that includes both substantive and temporary staffing to ensure there is agility to flex and meet the needs of service delivery, for example where work is fluctuating rather than linear (e.g. support to specific projects which have a fixed term).

 

Agency/interim staff costs can in the main be attributed to:

 

·       Cover for vacant posts which are predominantly in ‘hard to recruit to’ specialities.

·       Interim cover pending recruitment to substantive posts.

·       Cover for front line services which provide day to day services to the community.

·       Specialist and technical expertise that is only required for specific pieces of work or a finite period.

 

Not all vacant positions are covered by interim or agency staff within the Council.  If other cover arrangements can be achieved within teams, this is applied in the first instance.

 

To date this year Runnymede spends approximately 5% of its overall staffing budget on interim/agency staffing which is less than the average for local government reported as 6% in September 2023.

 

The anticipated reduction in agency spend for a full year is circa £250k, thus demonstrating our dedicated drive to reduce agency spend in the last year, but accepting that there is more work to do in this area.”

 

Councillor R King asked what was being done to reduce spend on agency staff in Environmental Services, where he felt costs appeared to be particularly high?  Councillor Gracey stated that areas of high agency staffing costs would be reviewed as part of the workforce plan which was being developed for member consideration in the next municipal year.

 

(b) Councillor A King asked the Leader of the Council:

 

“With the UK now in a recession, the ongoing migration to Universal Credit and the end of Household Support Fund funding from April, what is his administration’s plan for helping residents from April who face real financial hardship?”

 

The Leader replied in the following terms:

 

“This Council is committed to supporting our most vulnerable residents, through administering of national and local direct support funds, delivering critical services such as our day centres and meals at home, through our social housing, council tax relief and support for community organisations.  I am proud that the budget we approved at our last meeting included nearly £2million for the provision of care services for the elderly and vulnerable in our community and nearly £400,000 of grant aid funding to support voluntary organisations in the Borough, provide Council Tax hardship support and grant aid rent abatement.

 

In addition, this coming year, officers will undertake a full review of the Council Tax Support Scheme for 2025/26 to ensure it continues to support our most vulnerable residents whilst remaining affordable to the Council.  Officers will continue to look at opportunities to further simplify the scheme for working age residents whilst ensuring that it offers the most vulnerable a safety net that is affordable to the Council.  

 

Runnymede Borough Council continues to offer hardship relief under section 13A of the Local Government Finance Act 1992 to anyone struggling to pay their council tax, and we will continue to signpost and support residents to claim other welfare benefits that they may be entitled to.

 

In addition, the Council is embarking on a pilot to introduce a Financial Inclusion Officer who will be able to work collaboratively across all areas of non-payment ensuring that payments are allocated fairly and objectively with a transparent process, and with clear policies and procedures to ensure income is maximised.  Whilst working with residents in a more inclusive way, we will aim help break the cycle of debt and enable more positive outcomes for families struggling with the cost of living crisis.

 

The Housing Service will continue to support tenants though making an additional contribution of £30,000 next year to the Discretionary Housing Payment fund to be utilised for HRA tenants in receipt of Housing Benefit or the Housing Element of Universal Credit and facing financial difficulty.  A further £20,000 has been allocated to a Discretionary Hardship Fund to enable us to support residents unable to meet their liabilities or who are facing a change of circumstances leading to hardship.  This fund enables us to assist tenants who are not in receipt of housing related benefits.  The Housing service employs a Tenant Support Officer who works with tenants to maximise their income, assisting with backdated applications and ensuring they are in receipt of their full entitlement.

 

On the picture nationally, we do not yet know if there will be a Household Support Fund from April 2024.  The Department for Work and Pensions has said that it remains under review and any announcement may be part of the Chancellor’s budget announcement on Wednesday 6 March 2024.”

 

Councillor A King asked whether there was to be any support for those on legacy benefits, before their migration to Universal Credit?  The Leader committed to providing a written response to this question.

 

Councillor R King asked the Leader whether he regretted not voting for a Council Tax cut for those on low incomes?  The Leader stated that he supported how he voted and reiterated that any support the Council provided to residents needed to remain affordable.

 

(c) Councillor Davies asked the Leader of the Council:

 

“Network Rail’s funding settlement for 2024-2029, was recently approved by the Leader‘s own Conservative government, and within that settlement £1.2 billion was slashed from its budget, which is 6% of its total.  With the corresponding Office for Rail Regulations report and vocal warnings from engineers and track side safety teams, sounding alarm bells that this will increase safety risks, reduce reliability on the network and almost totally remove community match funding for projects like level crossing replacements, is he as disappointed and angry as me that Runnymede residents are now doomed to face more delays, a less reliable service and more potential barrier down time at crossings because of cuts made by his own government and MPs?”

 

The Leader replied in the following terms:

 

“Thank you for suggesting it is my Government.  Before coming to the substantive point, I would note that it is the King’s Government and that of all people in the country.

 

As you will be aware, funding for Network Rail is beyond the remit of Runnymede Borough Council, however I share concerns around the performance of Network Rail, especially in relation to the excessive delays around level crossings most notably in and around Egham.

 

I would like to put on record my thanks to Councillor Alex Balkan and our MP Dr Ben Spencer for their work campaigning for urgent improvements to the service and a reduction in delays experienced by residents.

 

Having been engaging with Network Rail since alleged “improvement works” last summer, residents unfortunately are continuing to experience delays.  Just last week our MP raised this matter to the Prime Minster during Prime Minister’s Questions and has referred Network Rail to the regulator requesting an urgent inquiry and intervention into the situation.

 

I hope all members will join me in offering our support for this campaign so that we can work together to improve the service that so many of our residents rely on.”

 

Councillor Gillham asked whether the Council could ask for more details on the specific upgrades that Network Rail asserted that they had made, given that there appeared to have been no tangible benefit?  The Leader agreed that there appeared to have been no benefit to residents from Network Rail’s claimed upgrades and welcomed the support of all members in holding Network Rail to account.

 

Councillor Mullens asked whether the Leader was aware that the level crossing downtime in Egham would be longer as a result of Network Rail’s works?  The Leader confirmed that he had not previously been made aware of this.

 

(d) Councillor Kettle asked the Leader of the Council:

 

“Will the leader join me in thanking officers for their proactive support and efforts to listen to local residents, and mitigate the disruption caused in Englefield Green by large scale funerals, whilst ensuring that loved ones are treated with dignity and respect at the most difficult of times?”

 

The Leader replied in the following terms:

 

“Thank you for highlighting this work.  I’m aware that officers from Environmental Services have engaged with residents and stakeholders from around the Green to discuss their concerns.  That dialogue remains ongoing, and our officers are actively talking to local representatives including the church about where Runnymede Borough Council can, realistically, help.  Officers have also engaged our local Police in the conversation and reached out to Surrey County Council to highlight that highways parking enforcement issues have arisen in the area.

 

I am conscious that there are limits to what our officers can do to mitigate some of the issues that have been raised, but I am pleased that they have been proactively engaging with some of our community leaders to explore ways in which we might improve the local experience for our residents whilst being sensitive to the needs of grieving families.  The way we communicate and respond to these issues has been improved because of this dialogue, and Environmental Services continue to look at how we can help to get things right, as far as practicably possible.

 

The discussions have shone light on how much the work of our cemeteries officer and her colleagues working out of our Chertsey Depot has been appreciated by the local community, and I absolutely share the sentiments of your question and would offer my sincere thanks to all the officers involved.”