Agenda and minutes

All Members present are required to declare, at this point in the meeting or as soon as possible thereafter:

(i)            any Disclosable Pecuniary Interests (DPIs) and / or

(ii)           other interests arising under the Code of Conduct

in respect of any item(s) of business being considered at the meeting. Anyone with a DPI must, unless a dispensation has been granted, withdraw from the meeting during consideration of the relevant item of business.  If in doubt, advice should be sought from the Monitoring Officer or her staff prior to the meeting.

Councillor Gill Black declared a non-pecuniary interest in agenda item 7 (Grange Meadow Access Track Renewal Procurement Update) on the basis that she was a member of Bletchingley Sports Association.

To confirm as a correct record

The minutes were confirmed and signed as a correct record.

To confirm as a correct record

The minutes were confirmed and signed as a correct record.

One question had been submitted by Councillor O’Driscoll. The question and response is provided at Appendix A to these minutes.

The Committee received an update on the review of public conveniences. Design proposals had been sought for refurbishment of the toilets at Ellice Road car park along with information from other local authorities. The use of footfall monitoring equipment had been explored and discussions had continued around the improvements for conveniences at Queens Park and Whyteleafe Recreation Ground.

The report explained that the toilets on the A25 were in the process of being demolished and recommended the permanent closure of toilets on the A22 which were unsafe and uneconomical to repair. Discussions were taking place with Surrey County Council about improvements to the layby on the A22, including options for funding to provide facilities to HGV drivers.

Officers were exploring whether Levelling Up funding could be used to provide new facilities in Caterham Valley.

In response to questions from Members, it was confirmed that:

·         The Council were waiting for a response from Surrey County Council following discussions around the future provision of facilities on the A22 layby, including whether the County Council could apply for Highway Agency funding.

·         Discussions with stakeholders on the provision of facilities at Whyteleafe Recreation Ground were in the early stages with a view to considering all options to retain conveniences on the Recreation Ground.

·         Footfall monitoring would take place at all outstanding toilets, including the facilities at Station Road, Whyteleafe and Warlingham Common, and the results of the monitoring would be reported to the committee.

·         Whilst no firm decisions had been made on refurbishment yet, officers were looking at design options for facilities that would be retained. This included facilities at Ellice Road car park and officers had circulated design proposals, which included provision for disabled users, to Oxted Members and the Chair and Vice-Chair of the Committee.

·         There was no specific update on the review of facilities Warlingham Common facilities following the petition received by the Committee in March.

·         Consideration would be given to nominal charges for facilities.

R E S O L V E D – that the Committee notes the progress made to date and approves the permanent closure of the A22 toilet block with the land being returned to Surrey Highways and discussions to continue regarding the future of the building.

The Committee received a report which provided an update on the tender process for the Grange Meadow access track renewal. The report requested delegated authority be given to the Executive Head of Communities to progress the works in line with the Council’s Contract Standing Orders should the tender process be successful.

The purpose of these works was to upgrade the surface of the existing track and car park and to improve drainage and accessibility.

Members explained that it was expensive for the Council to continue to provide temporary fixes, and expressed thanks to officers for progressing this work, which would permanently resolve the issue. It was noted that Members found photographs beneficial when considering decisions of this nature.

R E S O L V E D – that the Committee note the unforeseen delays to the project and delegate authority to the Executive Head for Communities to approve a contract subject to budget, normal procurement procedures and the Council’s Contract Standing Orders.

The Committee received an update report on the Future Tandridge Programme Community Services Service Review. The report outlined the key workstreams that would feed into the final business case and an overview of the work which had commenced. It was noted that no further savings were being considered from Community Services for the year. However, the review had shown that there were potentially opportunities to be explored for frontline services to be delivered differently and more efficiently.

Officers explained that the review included:

·         Consideration as to where the housing repair team best sat in the future as they were currently in Operational Services

·         Scoping the work of grounds maintenance and street cleansing to consider the best method of delivery

·         Consideration of the re-introduction of a dedicated waste function

·         Analysis of the work currently undertaken by the localities team to determine where it best sits going forward

• A review of the current parking enforcement contract to reduce costs and / or increase penalty charge notice income

Officers explained that soft market testing was an important stage in the review as it would reveal if the market were interested in the services the Council was offering. It was noted the importance of ensuring impacts and resources were considered if a service returned some functions to their original owners.

Officers also explained that the operational and locality teams would be brought together under the new post of Head of Operations and Contracts as part of the senior management restructure. Further structural changes could be made in the future. Recruitment to a vacant Locality Team Leader post had been frozen, which would assist with prudent budget management whilst the services were being reviewed.

In response to questions from Members, it was confirmed that:

·         The business case would be brought back to the committee in September

·         The location of CCTV cameras was published on the Council’s website. Insurance companies were charged a nominal rate for reviewing CCTV, and this would be under review as part of the Fees and Charges update during budget setting.

·         A complete review of playgrounds would take place, during which repairs would continue where needed. Options for other organisations to maintain playgrounds would be considered if they were willing and could provide the same or a better level of the service than the Council.

R E S O L V E D – that the report be noted.

The Committee received a report on the Tandridge Together Community Fund Grant Allocations. The Council had provided small grants to 20 organisations in 2021/22. 38 applications had been received and considered by the Tandridge Health and Wellbeing Board.

The report was seeking to confirm the criteria, which had been reviewed by the Board, for 2022/23 allocations in order that application forms can be made available in September.

The Chair of the Board, Councillor Swann, explained many of the grant allocations in 2021/22 went to projects that were run by local organisations. The criteria worked well and Members were invited to encourage local organisations to apply.

It was noted that the Board was the most appropriate method of reviewing and deciding allocations due to its non-political nature.

R E S O L V E D – that for the allocation of small grants in 2022/2023:

A.    the application process to follow the timetable set out in paragraph 14 of the report.

B.    the overall total budget for small grants to be determined in December 2022 based on the money in the Tandridge Together Community Fund. This will be a minimum of £20,000, with any shortfall being met from the Council’s future budgets

C.   the criteria for assessing grant applications for the 2022/2023 process be as per Appendix B to the report and

D.   the award of grants to be considered by a sub-group of the Tandridge Health & Wellbeing Board before being taken to the full Board in January 2023 to agree a formal recommendation. The recommendations to be submitted to the Executive Head of Communities for formal agreement.