Agenda and minutes

Strategy & Resources Committee - Tuesday, 5th October, 2021 7.30 pm

Venue: Council Chamber , Council Offices, Station Road East, Oxted

Media

Items
No. Item

141.

Minutes of the meeting held on the 14th September 2021 pdf icon PDF 447 KB

To confirm as a correct record.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

These were confirmed and signed as a correct record.

142.

Questions submitted under Standing Order 30 pdf icon PDF 449 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Questions had been submitted by Councillors Elias and Cooper. The questions and responses, including those to supplementary questions, are attached at Appendix A.  

143.

Chief Officer Sub-Committee - 18th June and 9th July 2021 pdf icon PDF 177 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The minutes of the Sub-Committee’s meetings held on the 18th June and 9th July 2021 were considered.  

 

            R E S O L V E D that the minutes, attached at Appendices B and C, be received.

144.

Investment Sub-Committee - 24th September 2021 pdf icon PDF 202 KB

To receive the minutes of the meeting held on the 24th September 2021

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The minutes of the Sub-Committee’s meeting held on the 24th September 2021 were considered.

 

            R E S O L V E D that the minutes, attached at Appendix D, be received.

 

145.

Strategy & Resources Quarter 1 (21/22) Performance Report pdf icon PDF 258 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Committee considered an analysis of progress against its key performance indicators, together with updated risk registers, for the first quarter of 2021/22.

 

In response to concerns regarding performance against KPI SR7 (% of calls answered by the Customer Services Team within 60 seconds) the Head of Customer Engagement and Partnerships considered that the 80% target was unrealistic and would benefit from review for various reasons, e.g.

 

·           under the current operating model (introduced as part of the Customer First programme in 2018) the team was responsible for a range of corporate administrative functions besides answering phone calls, and the target had been missed ever since;

 

·           apprentices and trainees had to be given time off to study for their National Vocational Qualifications;

 

·           the telephony system was over 20 years old and in need of replacement – this would facilitate more effective ‘channel shift’ whereby those residents able to ‘self-serve’ could do so without having to make calls to the Council, thus enabling the team to prioritise vulnerable residents who require more dedicated telephone support;

 

·           the average length of calls, and the ‘after-call’ time required for the team to process associated actions was increasing.  

 

The Chief Executive responded to various questions by confirming that:

 

·           senior managers would be addressing key risks and outstanding actions as a matter of urgency;

 

·           he would be assessing the underlying reasons for relatively high rates of sickness absence (KPI SR4) before identifying remedial actions;

 

·           regarding Corporate Risk 11 (senior management vacancies inhibiting corporate performance and improvement) an interim HR specialist had recently been appointed, although the Chief Planning Officer vacancy remained unfilled – he would be assessing the effectiveness of the current senior management structure (to be informed by a review of the Council’s strategic priorities) before considering the future of the Executive Head of Resources post which had been vacated in July 2021;

 

·           he acknowledged the need improve staff morale through better communication and engagement; and

 

·           the effectiveness of home working was monitored according to whether relevant services continued to be delivered – this relied on an element of mutual trust.  

 

Members reiterated previous suggestions that committee minutes should include lists of actions to be undertaken by specific officers, thus improving transparency and accountability. Progress against the actions concerned could then be reviewed at the next meeting of a committee, or at the following Full Council.

 

 

Regarding the Finance and Planning Transformation projects (identified as a ‘status update’ in respect of S&R Risk 1 – “inability to maintain high standards of delivery for statutory services”) the Programme Management Officer surmised that separate reports would be presented to the Committee on progress against key milestones. He also explained actions being taken to address performance against KPI SR8 (number of overdue complaints) including the report to the 30th September 2021 Audit & Scrutiny Committee and fortnightly monitoring by the Executive Leadership Team.

 

Arising from the discussion, the Chair requested that information be e-mailed to Members about whether:

 

·           assurances could be given  ...  view the full minutes text for item 145.

146.

Caterham BID Renewal Ballot pdf icon PDF 164 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The purpose of Business Improvement Districts (BIDs) was to improve local commercial areas via levies paid by local non-domestic ratepayers. The Caterham Valley BID had reached the end of its first five-year term and a fresh ballot of non-domestic ratepayers in its area was required to determine whether it could continue.

 

A report was submitted inviting the Committee to support the renewal of the BID and for the Council’s vote (as one of the non-domestic ratepayers in the area) to be cast accordingly. The renewal ballot (proposing an on-going 2% levy rate) would take place between the 19th October and 18th November 2021, to be administered by Civica Election Services at a cost of £1,860. The Council was required to pay for the ballot unless the vote was lost, and turnout was less than 20%, in which case BID itself would be liable. The BID levy would be mandatory for all liable businesses, regardless of whether or how they vote.

Although the Council had been financing levy collection costs (e.g. for postage, printing and staff time) since the BID’s inception, the report recommended that such costs be reimbursed by the BID in future.

 

During the presentation of the report, the Committee was informed about the support provided by the BID, in conjunction with officers, to Caterham business. The BID’s planned initiatives for its second term were also explained, including clarification that it did not wish to take over from Caterham Valley Parish Council regarding the provision of Christmas lights.      

 

            R E S O L V E D – that:

 

A.     the Council votes in support of a Business Improvement District in Caterham Valley; and

 

B.    the cost of levy collection be met by the Caterham Valley Business Improvement District.

 

 

147.

Procurement of elections printing pdf icon PDF 132 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Council’s current electoral print supplier had given notice of their withdrawal from the electoral market from the 31st December 2021. Approval was therefore sought for the tender and procurement of a new four-year contract from the 1st January 2022. The value of the contract was stated to be £381,532.74, with an average annual spend in the region of £78,000.

 

In response to questions, the Lead Democratic Specialist explained that the contract value was based on average expenditure during the previous four years and that approximately 12 potential suppliers remained in the market. She also advised that annual printing budgets varied according to the number of elections held during the year and that the Council recouped expenditure on polls conducted on behalf of other bodies (e.g. General, County and Parish elections). She undertook to provide Members with a breakdown of election printing expenditure during the previous four years, based on election types.         

 

            R E S O L V E D – that

 

A.     the tender and procurement of the electoral print services for four years from the current contract end date of 31st December 2021 be approved; and

 

B.     the Chief Executive be authorised to procure and award the contract(s), in consultation with the Chair and Vice-Chair of the Committee, necessary for the implementation of electoral print services in-line with the procurement routes.

 

 

            A C T I O N:

 

 

Officer responsible for ensuring completion

 

Deadline

 

E-mail to committee members providing a breakdown of election printing expenditure during the previous four years, based on election types.

Chailey Gibb (Lead Democratic Specialist)

19.10.21

 

 

 

148.

Review of the timetable of meetings for the remainder of 2021/22 and associated governance matters pdf icon PDF 436 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

A report was presented in response to the following resolution at the 27th May 2021 Annual Council meeting:

 

     “the Strategy & Resources Committee formally review the calendar of meetings at its meeting on 5th October 2021, so as to make an appropriate recommendation to the subsequent Full Council meeting”

 

The report explained the rationale for current timetable and proposed changes to meeting dates in March and April 2022. The main reasons for the suggested new dates were that:

 

·           budget monitoring reports were no longer being submitted to policy committee meetings (they would be e-mailed separately to Members instead) which removed the need for committees to meet during a compressed period at the end of each cycle; and

 

·           certain committees should meet earlier in March 2022 to avoid the pre-election period.

 

The report also proposed that Standing Order 30 be amended whereby, for meetings which continued to take place during pre-election periods, the routine item for questions would not appear on the agenda. Finally, the report recommended that the standard start time for meetings be brought forward to 7.00pm.

 

Councillor Morrow, seconded by Councillor Elias, proposed amendments to the recommendations whereby:

 

·           several meeting dates in March and April 2022 would be changed to ensure that only one policy or planning committee met in a week;

 

·           the standard start time for committee and council meetings would remain at 7.30pm with an earlier start time of 7.00pm only in exceptional circumstances;

 

·           the 2022/23 timetable would be based on the principle of having only one policy or planning committee in a week, to be held on a Thursday;

 

·           recommendation B of the report (proposing changes to Standing Order 30 to prevent questions being submitted at meetings during pre-election periods) would be deleted.

 

Various views were expressed on the merits of both the original recommendations and Councillor Morrow’s amendments. 

 

Upon being put to the vote, the amendments were approved.  

 

            R E C O M M E N D E D – that:

 

A.    the dates of meetings during March/April 2022 be amended to be as follows:

 

            Thursday 3rd March - Planning (no change)

            Tuesday 8th March - Standards (no change)

            Thursday 10th March - Planning Policy (as proposed)

Tuesday 15th March - JCC (no change)

Thursday 17th March - Community Services

Tuesday 22nd March - Audit & Scrutiny

Thursday 24th March - Housing

Thursday 31st March - Planning (as proposed)

Thursday 7th April – Strategy & Resources

Thursday 21st April - Council (no change)

Thursday 28th April - Planning (as proposed)

 

B.    the standard start time for committee and council meetings be 7.30pm, with 7.00pm start times arranged when necessary to accommodate very long agendas; and

 

C.    a provisional timetable of meetings for 2022/23 be presented to the Strategy & Resources Committee on the 1st February 2022 for ratification at the following Council meeting, with the principle of having only one policy or planning committee in a week, held on a Thursday, being applied as far as  ...  view the full minutes text for item 148.

149.

Gatwick Noise Management Board Community Forum - appointment of a substitute Member pdf icon PDF 152 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Committee was invited to consider appointing a substitute Member to serve on the Gatwick Noise Management Board’s Community Forum (Councillor Lockwood being the Council’s principal representative). This followed an expression of interest from Councillor Ridge to serve in that capacity.

 

An alternative proposal to appoint Councillor Gillman was put forward on the basis that the principal and substitute representatives should not be from the same Ward.  A vote between Councillors Gillman and Ridge was therefore conducted.

 

            R E C O M M E N D E D – that Councillor Ridge be appointed as the         Council’s substitute member to serve on the Gatwick Noise Management           Board’s Community Forum.