Agenda and minutes

To confirm the Minutes of the Council meeting held on 12 February 2019 (herewith).

The Minutes of the Meeting of the Council held on 12 February 2019 were confirmed and signed.

The Mayor to report apologies for absence.

Apologies for absence were received from Cllrs Jill Hargreaves, Val Henry, Mike Hodge, Nick Holder, Carole King, Robert Knowles, Denis Leigh, Wyatt Ramsdale, Stefan Reynolds, Jeannette Stennett, Stewart Stennett and Ross Welland.

To receive from Members, declarations of interest in relation to any items included on the agenda for this meeting in accordance with the Waverley Code of Local Government Conduct.

There were no interests declared under this heading.

The Mayor had been pleased to attend a number of events in the past month, but drew special attention to the opening of the Farnham Memorial Hall by Deputy Lieutenant Tim O’Sullivan on 8 March 2019, and the Waverley Design Awards on 14 March which had been a splendid evening celebrating success in planning and design.

The Mayor also reminded all Members about the importance of abiding by the rules of debate set out within the Council’s Constitution. The public expected to see Members in the Chamber engage in vigorous and robust debate with one another on ideas, policies, and recommendations. The Council’s Code of Conduct was not intended to stifle debate, but Members were reminded to be respectful of others, and to avoid any personal attacks which only detracted from the value of their contributions.

As always, Members wishing to speak should indicate by raising their hand, and they would have their opportunity.

To answer [the following] questions from members of the public, received in accordance with Procedure Rule 10.

The deadline for receipt of questions is 5pm on Tuesday 12 March 2019.

There were no questions from members of the public.

To answer any questions from Councillors received in accordance with Procedure Rule 11.2.

The deadline for receipt of questions is 5pm on Tuesday 12 March 2019.

There were no questions from Councillors.

To receive any motions submitted in accordance with Procedure Rule 12.1.

The deadline for receipt of motions is 5pm on Thursday 7 March 2019.

No motions had been received.

To receive the Minutes of the Executive meeting held on 12 March 2019 (attached – coloured grey), and to consider the recommendations set out within.

There are three PART I recommendations to Council:

EXE 82/18     Place-shaping Waverley (Annexe 1)

The Corporate Strategy 2018-23 states that we will “explore the nature of ‘Place Shaping’ and the benefits it affords to our varied communities”. The report sets out our proposed approach to ‘place-shaping’ in the borough, drawing on the Council’s agreed strategies, and recommends that a Place-Shaping Reserve be established to fund place-shaping projects.

The Executive RECOMMENDS to Council that up to £250,000 of the one-off financial gain from Waverley’s participation in the 2018/19 business rate pilot be earmarked to establish a new Place-Shaping Fund.

EXE 83/18     Capital Strategy (Annexe 2)

The Capital Strategy brings together the Council’s detailed policies, procedures and plans relating to cash investments and property assets. The report also seeks approval of the Treasury Management Framework for 2019/20 which is an integral part of the Capital Strategy and a statutory requirement.

Having considered the comments of the Value for Money and Customer Service Overview & Scrutiny Committee, the Executive RECOMMENDS to Council that it approves:

1.         the Capital Strategy for 2019/20

2.         the Prudential Indicators, and

3.         the Treasury Management Framework for 2019/20

EXE 84/18     CIL Governance Arrangements (Annexe 3)

On 11 December 2018, Council approved outline governance arrangements for the allocation of Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) receipts to enable the delivery of specific infrastructure projects that will support and mitigate impact of development in the Borough over the Local Plan period, including establishment of a CIL Advisory Board.

The CIL Advisory Board has met, and put forward proposals for its Terms of Reference and detailed governance arrangements for the allocation of CIL. The proposals have been scrutinised by the Value for Money and Customer Service Overview & Scrutiny Committee.

The Executive has considered the comments of the Overview & Scrutiny Committee and accepted the amendment to recommendation 5, which is reflected in the recommendation from the Executive to Council.

Having considered the comments of Value for Money & Customer Service Overview & Scrutiny Committee, the Executive RECOMMENDS to Council that:

1.         The CIL Advisory Board Terms of Reference (attached), are endorsed.

2.         The draft evaluation and scoring framework for assessment of bids for funding from the Strategic CIL Fund (attached), are agreed.

3.         The Strategic CIL Fund is ‘bottom-sliced’ to create a Community CIL Fund of 10% of the Strategic CIL Fund receipts, for funding low-value but desirable community infrastructure projects on application from parish councils, with priority being given to bids from parish councils with relatively low Neighbourhood CIL Fund receipts.

4.         The delegation to the Executive to approve bids for allocation of Strategic CIL Funding, on the recommendation of the CIL Advisory Board is subject to an upper limit of £2.5m, above which approval reverts to Council.

5.         Delegated authority is given to the CIL Advisory Board to propose revisions to the governance arrangements that would be subject to the  ...  view the full agenda text for item CNL72/18

72.1     It was moved by the Leader of the Council, duly seconded and

            RESOLVED   that the Minutes of the Executive held on 12 March 2019 be received and noted.

            The Leader reported that there were three Part I items for recommended to Council. There were two requests to speak in relation to Part II of the Minutes.

The Leader reminded Council Members that the Corporate Strategy 2018-23 stated that we would “explore the nature of ‘Place-shaping’ and the benefits it affords to our varied communities”. The report set out the proposed approach to ‘place-shaping’ in the borough, with an initial focus on opportunities in Farnham, and recommended a Place-Shaping Reserve be established to fund place-shaping projects. There had already been a good level of engagement with key Farnham stakeholders at the Town and County Councils, and there was agreement to work together to support the next stage of the Farnham Master-planning project.

Councillors were largely enthusiastic in their support for the fresh approach to master-planning Farnham, and the prospect of this identifying a strategy to address key challenges in the town that had a broad level of popular support in the area. Farnham councillors in particular were supportive and highlighted the success of the Neighbourhood Plan work, that had been genuinely ‘bottom-up’ in its development, as a model for engaging with the residents. They also recognised that whilst reducing the traffic through Farnham town centre would be beneficial, care was needed in how this was achieved so as not to move the problem elsewhere.

Cllr Hyman expressed scepticism about the ambitions for Farnham, which he felt were ‘too little, too late’ to save Farnham from the impact of recent development. Cllr Follows was broadly supportive of the proposals, but noted that as the funding was being allocated from a one-off ‘windfall’ he hoped that there would be sufficient for Godalming, Cranleigh and Haslemere to see some benefit.

In summing up, the Leader was pleased that councillors were enthusiastic about this initiative. She recognised that there would be concerns about proposals, but the brief to the consultants was very broad and the aim was for them to engage with stakeholders to develop a shared vision that had wide-ranging support.

It was moved by the Leader, duly seconded, and

RESOLVED   that up to £250,000 of the one-off financial gain from Waverley’s participation in the 2018/19 business rate pilot be earmarked to establish a new Place-shaping Fund.

The Leader invited Cllr Hall, Portfolio Holder for Finance to introduce the Capital Strategy.

Cllr Hall explained that the Capital Strategy brought together the Council’s detailed policies, procedures and plans relating to cash investment and property assets. Approval of the Treasury Management Framework for 2019/20 was also sought. This was a statutory requirement and an integral part of the Capital Strategy.

Cllr Hyman had some concerns about the use of the Council’s borrowing powers, but Cllrs Band, Beaman and Mulliner highlighted the work done by Overview & Scrutiny to ensure consistency and coherence between these key documents, and the policies in place in relation to borrowing. Whilst recognising some Members had concerns about borrowing to invest, they felt that Waverley’s approach to investment was very cautious and prudent; indeed, Waverley was one of only three Surrey districts with no borrowing.

The Leader thanked the Value for Money Overview & Scrutiny Committee for their consideration of the Capital Strategy, and their previous work on developing the Property Investment Strategy.

It was moved by the Leader, duly seconded and

RESOVLED   that the Capital Strategy for 2019/20, the Prudential Indicators, and the Treasury Management Framework for 2019/20, be approved.

The Leader reminded Council that outline governance arrangements for the allocation of CIL receipts had been approved on 11 December 2018. The CIL Advisory Board had now met, and put forward proposals for its own Terms of Reference, and detailed governance arrangements for the allocation of CIL. The proposals had been scrutinised by the Value for Money and Customer Service Overview & Scrutiny Committee, and the recommendations from the Executive incorporated the suggestions of the Overview & Scrutiny Committee.

Council Members were broadly supportive of the detailed arrangements, including the proposal to create a ‘community fund’ within the main CIL fund to enable parishes to bid for funding for infrastructure projects.

In response to questions from Members, Cllr Storey confirmed that up to 5% of CIL receipts could be spent on administration of CIL, and this included the salary of the CIL officer and the costs of the IT system supporting CIL. The intention was that evaluation of bids for funding would be published so that there was full transparency of the process. Decisions on the allocation of funds had been delegated to the Executive, except where any individual allocation exceeded £2.5m in which case the decision would revert to full Council.

It was moved by the Leader, duly seconded, and

RESOLVED   to

1.         Approve the CIL Advisory Board Terms of Reference (attached).

2.         Approve the draft evaluation and scoring framework for assessment of bids for funding from the Strategic CIL Fund.

3.         Agree that the Strategic CIL Fund is ‘bottom-sliced’ to create a Community CIL Fund of 10% of the Strategic CIL Fund receipts, for funding low-value but desirable community infrastructure projects on application from parish councils, with priority being given to bids from parish councils with relatively low Neighbourhood CIL Fund receipts.

4.         Agree that the delegation to the Executive to approve bids for allocation of Strategic CIL Funding, on the recommendation of the CIL Advisory Board is subject to an upper limit of £2.5m, above which approval reverts to Council.

5.         Agree that delegated authority is given to the CIL Advisory Board to propose revisions to the governance arrangements that would be subject to the usual scrutiny process and subject to an annual report to the Executive and Council.

Report from the Environment Overview & Scrutiny Committee – Review of the structure to deliver the Community Infrastructure Levy (EXE 85/18)

Cllr Hyman thanked the Environment Overview & Scrutiny Members for their efforts on this review, and hoped that the recommendations would be a useful reference for the CIL Advisory Board.

In response, Cllr Deanus thanked O&S Members for their consideration of how the Council could get the most benefit from CIL, and assured them that the recommendations would be carefully considered by the CIL Advisory Board.

Peer Review of Planning Decision-taking and Stakeholder Engagement (EXE 88/18)

Cllr Hyman advised that the Environment Overview & Scrutiny Committee had considered the recommendations of the Planning Peer Review Team, and the actions proposed by the Planning Service in response. With regard to planning decision-taking, the Committee endorsed the view that had been expressed in the all-Member briefings on the Peer Review findings, that there had been no evidence presented to support the Peer Review Team’s recommendation that having one Planning Committee of 9-12 members would inherently be more efficient, ensure better planning decisions, and deliver on housing targets.

To receive the Minutes of the Licensing & Regulatory Committee meeting held on 25  February 2019 (attached – coloured bright green).

There are no PART I recommendations to the Council.

Members of the Council wising to speak on any Part II matters of report must give notice to the Democratic Services Team by midday on Tuesday 19 March 2019.

It was moved by the Chairman of the Committee, duly seconded and

RESOLVED   that the Minutes of the Licensing and Regulatory Committee held on   25 February 2019 be received and noted.

The Chairman reported that there were no matters for Council to consider in Part I, and he had received no requests to speak on the matter in Part II.

To receive the Minutes of the Audit Committee meeting held on 4 March 2019 (attached – coloured lilac), and to consider the recommendations set out within.

There are four PART I recommendations to the Council:

AUD 54/18    Process and Documentation for Supplementary Estimates (Page no 36)

An update to the Financial Regulations is recommended to provide a clear process and appropriate documentation to be used whenever a supplementary estimate is to be considered by the Executive or Full Council.

Annexe 1 to these minutes sets out the proposed revisions to paragraph 4.27 of the Council’s published Financial Regulations, and Annexe 2 sets out a new proposed pro forma to ensure a consistent approach is always taken and recorded.

The Committee RECOMMENDS to Council that:

1.         paragraph 4.27 within the Council’s published Financial Regulations be supplemented as set out within Annexe 1; and

2.        the pro forma attached at Annexe 2 to these minutes be added to the Council’s published Financial Regulations.

AUD 55/18    Income and Debt Collection Policy (Page no 37)

The new Income and Debt Collection Policy has been developed to achieve the prompt collection of all sums of money owed to the council, whilst ensuring that a fair, proportionate and consistent approach is taken to the recovery of sums that are not paid when due.

The Committee RECOMMENDS to Council that:

3.         the Income and Debt Collection Policy, as attached at Annexe 3 to these minutes, be adopted.

AUD 56/18    Revised Anti-Fraud and Corruption Policy (Page no 38)

The Anti-Fraud and Corruption Policy in has been revised as part of the scheduled cyclical review, to reflect changes in legislation, organisational restructure affecting job titles and positions and any new developments in the methodology in tackling fraud. A full revision of the Anti-Money Laundering Policy and Guidance has been carried out to meet legislative and professional institutions best practice guides.

The Committee RECOMMENDS to Council that:

4.         the revised Anti-Fraud and Corruption Policy be approved and that offers be instructed to cascade using suitable media to publicise these documents to the appropriate recipients.

Members of the Council wising to speak on any Part II matters of report must give notice to the Democratic Services Team by midday on Tuesday 19 March 2019.

74.1     It was moved by the Chairman of the Committee, duly seconded and

RESOLVED   that the Minutes of the Meeting of the Audit Committee held on 4 March 2019 be received and noted.

The Chairman reported that there were three matters in Part I recommended for the Council’s consideration, and he had had no requests to speak in relation to Part II of the Minutes.

The Audit Committee had reviewed the process for requesting Supplementary Estimates and recommended that the Financial Regulations be revised to provide a clear process was followed and appropriate documentation used whenever a proposal for a Supplementary Estimate was to be considered by the Executive or Council.

It was moved by the Chairman, duly seconded, and

RESOLVED   that:

1.         paragraph 4.27 within the Council’s published Financial Regulations be supplemented as set out within Annexe 1 to Audit Committee Minute AUD 54/18; and

2.         the pro forma attached at Annexe 2 to Audit Committee Minute AUD 54/18 be added to the Council’s published Financial Regulations.

The new Income and Debt Collection Policy had been developed to achieve the prompt collection of all sums of money owed to the Council, whilst ensuring that a fair, proportionate and consistent approach was taken to the recovery of sums that were not paid when due.

It was moved by the Chairman, duly seconded, and

RESOLVED   to approve the new Income and Debt Collection Policy (attached).

The Anti-Fraud and Corruption Policy had been revised as part of the scheduled cyclical review of policies, to reflect changes in legislation, organisational restructure affecting job titles and positions, and new developments in the methodology in tackling fraud. A full revision of the Anti-Money Laundering Policy and Guidance had been carried out to meet legislative and professional institutions’ best practice guides.

It was moved by the Chairman, duly seconded, and

RESOLVED   to approve the revised Anti-Fraud and Corruption Policy (attached), and instructed officers to cascade the documents to appropriate recipients.

To receive the Minutes of the Standards Committee meeting held on 12 March 2019 (attached – coloured cream), and to consider the recommendations set out within.

There are three PART I recommendations to Council:

STD 28/18       Appointment of Independent Persons (Annexe 1)

Under the Localism Act 2011, the standards arrangements adopted by the Council are required to include provision for the appointment of at least one Independent Person. Waverley currently has three Independent Persons, whose term of office ends in May 2019.

Following a joint recruitment process with Guildford, Epsom & Ewell, Mole Valley, Reigate & Banstead, Spelthorne, and Surrey Heath councils, the Standards Committee has endorsed the recommendation of the Monitoring Officers of the seven councils on the appointment of a panel of seven Independent Persons to serve a 4-year term commencing May 2019, with any of the appointed Independent Persons being able to act for any of the councils.

The Standards Committee RECOMMENDS to Council that the following persons are appointed as Independent Persons for Waverley, for a 4-year term from May 2019:

STD 29/18       Members’ Code of Conduct (Annexe 2)

Waverley adopted a local Members’ Code of Conduct and Arrangements for dealing with complaints under the Code of Conduct on 17 July 2012, in accordance with the requirements of the Localism Act 2011.  The Code of Conduct, Arrangements for dealing with Complaints, and the Planning Code of Conduct, were reviewed in 2016, and revised versions agreed by Council on 18 October 2016.

This report proposes a number of additions to the Members’ Code of Conduct which provide additional clarification on the core principles of the Code, and address some procedural matters on which the Code is currently silent.

The Standards Committee RECOMMENDS to Council that the revised  Waverley Members’ Code of Conduct be approved, and that all Waverley Towns and Parish Councils are sent the revised Code of Conduct and encouraged to adopt the changes in their own Code of Conduct in order to maintain consistency with their Principal Authority.

STD 30/18       Review of the Scheme of Delegation (Annexe 3)

The Scheme of Delegation to Officers was comprehensively reviewed and revised in 2017. Officers have proposed revisions to the Scheme of Delegation, based on their experience of using the Scheme over the past 12 months.

The Standards Committee RECOMMENDS to Council that the revised Scheme of Delegation is approved.

There are no PART II matters of report.

75.1     It was moved by the Chairman of the Committee, duly seconded and

RESOLVED   that the Minutes of the Meeting of the Standards Committee held on 12 March 2019 be received and noted.

The Chairman reported that there were three matters in Part I recommended for the Council’s consideration, and there were no matters to report in Part II of the Minutes.

Under the Localism Act 2011, the standards arrangements adopted by the Council were required to include provision for the appointment of at least one Independent Person. Waverley currently had three Independent Persons, whose term of office ended in May 2019.

Following a joint recruitment process with Guildford, Epsom & Ewell, Mole Valley, Reigate & Banstead, Spelthorne and Surrey Heath Councils, the Standards Committee recommended that following be appointed to a panel of seven Independent Persons to service a 4-year term commencing May 2019, with any of the appointed Independent Persons being able to act for any of the councils:

Recommended for re-appointment:               Recommended for appointment:

Vivienne Cameron                                          Paul Eaves

Roger Pett                                                       Bill Donnelly

Bernard Quorroll                                             Liz Lawrence

John Smith

It was moved by the Chairman, duly seconded, and

RESOLVED   that the seven above named be appointed as Independent Persons for Waverley, for a 4-year term from may 2019.

Waverley adopted a local Members’ Code of Conduct and Arrangements for dealing with complaints under the Code of Conduct on 17 July 2012, in accordance with the requirements of the Localism Act 2011.  The Code of Conduct, Arrangements for dealing with Complaints, and the Planning Code of Conduct, were reviewed in 2016, and revised versions agreed by Council on 18 October 2016.

The Standards Committee had considered a number a number of additions to the Members’ Code of Conduct which provided additional clarification on the core principles of the Code, and addressed some procedural matters on which the Code was currently silent.

It was moved by the Chairman, duly seconded, and

RESOLVED that the revised  Waverley Members’ Code of Conduct be approved, and that all Waverley Towns and Parish Councils are sent the revised Code of Conduct and encouraged to adopt the changes in their own Code of Conduct in order to maintain consistency with their Principal Authority.

The Scheme of Delegation to Officers had been comprehensively reviewed and revised in 2017. Officers had proposed a number of revisions to the Scheme based on their experience of using the Scheme over the past 12 months, which would assist in operational decision-making.

The Standards Committee had considered the proposed revisions carefully and concluded that they did not remove any significant authority from Councillors, and would facilitate efficient operation of council operations.

It was moved by the Chairman, duly seconded, and

RESOLVED   that the revised Scheme of Delegation to Officers be approved.  

To seek a resolution from Council that the Hindhead ward seat formerly occupied by Councillor Christiaan Hesse be declared vacant.

Recommendation

It is recommended that the Council declares vacant the Hindhead ward seat formerly occupied by Councillor Christiaan Hesse.

The Council noted that Cllr Christiaan Hesse had not attended any meeting relating to the discharge of Council functions since 10 September 2018. He had not asked for the Council’s agreement of an extended absence, therefore in accordance with Section 85(1) of the Local Government Act 1972, he had ceased to be a member of Waverley on 10 March 2019.

Members thanked Cllr Hesse for his contribution to the work of the Council, and regretted that he had departed in these circumstances.

Council RESOLVED to declare the Hindhead Ward seat previously held by Christiaan Hesse to be vacant, in accordance with Section 86 of the Local Government Act 1972, and noted that the casual vacancy would be publicised via a public notice, and would be filled at the borough elections on 2 May 2019.

In closing the meeting, the Mayor thanked all Members for their contributions over the last four years, and wished those who were not standing in the borough elections a happy ‘retirement’.