Minutes:
Three questions had been submitted, two from local residents (Emma Harris and Taylor O’Driscoll) and one from Councillor Connolly.
Question from Emma Harris
The following question was read out on behalf of Emma Harris (as she was unable to join the meeting):
“With many people suffering from mental health over this worldwide pandemic, why on earth is the opening to the public of the local Freedom leisure swimming pools not being discussed at this meeting? Before lockdown I was given advice from a physio therapist that swimming will help my back to strengthen, not only that, but it was also helping me to lose weight. Throughout this pandemic I have felt my mental health deteriorate without access to the swimming pools which is my main activity for exercise”.
Question from Taylor O’Driscoll
Taylor O’Driscoll read out his question:
“Many residents are unable to access regular swimming for their exercise, putting their health at great risk and are not happy that Tandridge is the only authority not funding Freedom Leisure. A petition I started on the matter, as of 13:45 on 18 September 2020, has 344 signatures from residents who just want to start swimming again. Will Tandridge commit to funding Freedom Leisure so residents can have access to general swimming?”
Paul Smith, the Interim Transformation Lead, responded to both questions (at the request of the Chairman) as follows:
“There are several questions relating to the same topic so, if I may, I would like to answer them as one.
The national COVID pandemic has left the Councils finances in a difficult state and there is insufficient money to run all our services without drawing upon reserves which are already low.
The Council has many statutory services which must, by law, come first, including refuse collection, street sweeping and planning. Although providing leisure facilities is important to our communities, it is not one of these statutory services.
Freedom Leisure has taken the decision not to fully reopen their facilities and we are trying to help them in any way that we can. However, for each pound we give as support, then we must find a pound from elsewhere, either by reducing services or increasing income such as by charges or council tax.
We will be holding a member discussion meeting on 29th September, and a special meeting of this committee will then be convened to consider the matter. “
Taylor O’Driscoll asked the following supplementary question:
“There are certain councillors who are simply refusing to support the funding of Freedom Leisure. Do they realise they are responsible for the damage they are causing? There are a lot of accounts of residents suffering physically and mentally due to the lack of access to swimming. If they cannot exercise, they face severe health problems which can lead to death in some cases. Will these councillors commit to supporting Freedom Leisure and helping these residents who are suffering?”
Paul Smith, the Interim Transformation Lead, responded to the supplementary question (at the request of the Chairman) as follows:
“A tremendous amount of due diligence has now been completed by officers. In the first instance, there will be a briefing for Members of all political groups on 29th September. Following that, a special meeting of the committee will be convened at which councillors will have the opportunity to vote on options for financial support that are affordable and within the law”.
Question from Councillor Connolly
Councillor Connolly read out her question:
“I am getting very concerned at the amount of officer time and thus taxpayers money being spent on internal procedures. It seems that meetings are being dominated by governance issues rather than addressing the needs of our residents. Could the Chairman please advise me of the total cost to the taxpayer of the officer time spent on the reports produced over the last four months which only address council management and the work spent on reworking the constitution, organising a Special Council Meeting purely to discuss governance issues, meetings to ensure our reports look pretty etc etc. We should be working for our residents who elected us, not on costly internal vanity projects. “
Paul Smith, the Interim Transformation Lead, responded to the question (at the request of the Chairman) as follows:
“The Council undertook, as part of the Council Improvement Working Group, to review its governance arrangements following the Customer First reorganisation. The Independent Governance review made a series of recommendations to improve how the Council works and to take into consideration the fact that it is currently in no overall control.
Officers have been working with all Group Leaders to make sure that processes are in place that reflect the democratic make-up of the council and to enact the wishes of Councillors who have made recommendations and suggestions through the committee process. By the very nature of this work, the Council has in place decision making that represents how the residents have voted.
The work to review the report format is to ensure that the information that Councillors are presented with is of a sufficiently high level to allow Councillors time to discuss more strategic issues which, in turn, effect residents.
Calculating officer time on this work will in itself be an exercise that will not add value and will not take the Council forward. Officers have been given a very challenging agenda to not only manage existing services in this new world but have also had to manage a new function to manage COVID to keep our residents safe.”
Councillor Connolly asked the following supplementary question:
“It is now time … that officers fill in time sheets….. to identify the areas they are working in and where, potentially, time needs to be spent and not spent. This needs to be instituted as soon as possible. Apparently, in the new regime, there is capacity for recording officer time and allocating it to specific projects. I hope you agree Chairman that we should do this without delay to understand and explore …. whether officers’ time is spent wisely and in the interests of our residents?”
Paul Smith, the Interim Transformation Lead, responded to the supplementary question (at the request of the Chairman) as follows:
“A time recording system could be considered …. although this would be an activity in itself. I am happy to speak to Councillor Connolly after the meeting to ascertain what she would be looking for.”