Minutes:
The Leader and Portfolio Holders gave brief updates on current issues not reported elsewhere on the agenda:
· The Leader thanked the Officers who were managing the engagement events in Godalming High Street on the Central Godalming Regeneration Project. They had met a lot of residents and answered many questions, and it had been very valuable engagement which would continue through this month.
· The Leader also thanked the team of Officers who were dealing with Ukrainian refugees and guests. He had attended the session in Milford the previous evening for Godalming and villages, which followed on from sessions in Cranleigh, Farnham and Haslemere. There had been around 50-60 refugees and hosts present, and officers had dealt with a variety of questions. The Leader particularly thanked the gentleman who since the Cranleigh meeting had volunteered to do all of the translating and who had attended all the following sessions.
· Cllr Clark provided an update on the new Citizen Hub which marked a major step forward in customer service improvements. The Hub would create a ‘golden customer record’ and enable the council to link customer records to cases they raise and improve the quality of response that officers are able to provide. Cllr Clark had also received a demonstration of the new in-house digital customer complaints management database. This would integrate with the Citizen Hub and enable improved record-keeping in managing and resolving complaints.
· Cllr MacLeod reported that improvements to the South Street car park in Farnham were ongoing. Crest Nicholson were still looking for new anchor tenants for Brightwells to replace M&S. The opening date was now likely to be the middle of 2023. Crest Nicholson had also recently invited the Community Liaison Group on a site visit, which Cllr MacLeod had attended. He was pleased to report that they had been impressed with the quality of the build that they saw.
· Cllr MacLeod had also met this week with the newly appointed Joint Executive Head of Regulatory Services for Guildford and Waverley, Richard Homewood, who would be managing most of the councils’ environmental enforcement activities. Mr Homewood had previously been exploring ways to improve the efficiency of environmental enforcement across different service teams within Waverley, and he was now exploring at how to extend this to Guildford in order to maximise the efficiencies across both councils.
· Cllr Marriott reported on work to implement the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Policy, and noted the input from the Corporate Equalities Group on behalf of Waverley staff. One event had been held for councillors which had produced lively discussion and it was planned to hold more meetings in order to expand the councillor input to the Policy. There was a strong commitment to making Waverley an organisation where the principles of equality, diversity and inclusion were upheld in every part of the system.
· Cllr Merryweather had previously commented on the impacts of government policy on the Council’s finances, and on the ability to take steps to respond, but the priority was the impact on Waverley residents. For the vast majority of Waverley residents, any benefits arising from government proposals be vastly offset by the economic consequences of those announcements. The Executive had established a Cost of Living Working Group to assess and act on the deepening cost of living crisis on the community, and there would be further updates in due course.
· Cllr Mirylees reported that the MEND application had been lodged and a decision was expected around March 2023.
· Leisure Centre Operator tenders were expected back next month. This was a difficult period, with energy prices rising and no identified support from the government. However the support that the Leisure Centres had given to Ukrainian guests who had settled in Waverly had been exceptional: free 3-month memberships had been allocated since May – Haslemere 77, Farnham 146, Cranleigh 38 and Godalming 66 – and when they are up for renewal they are being extended for a further 3 months. Farnham Leisure Centre had also donated swimming lessons, squash and badminton courts, personal training vouchers, and a free pool party for Ukrainian children. Haslemere Leisure Centre were providing training and meeting rooms free of charge for volunteers to provide English lessons for Ukrainians in the local area which had been incredibly popular with 30-40 attendees across two days. The Memorial Hall in Farnham had also provided a meeting room as a venue for English lessons.
· Cllr Mirylees reported that Surrey County Council (SCC) had ended Waverley’s contract to maintain highways verges from April 23 2023 and the councils were working together to ensure a smooth handover. SCC were planning on doing a lower standard of maintenance (‘countryside standard’) comprising 4 urban cuts and 2 rural cuts a year as opposed to Waverley’s 8 and 12 cuts. Waverley would be talking to them about continuing ‘No mow May’. It was expected that there would be an increase in resident complaints about the reduced standard of verge maintenance and the appropriate explanation would be provided in due course.
· Cllr Rivers reported that the lasts edition of Homes and People was now available. The council had stopped issuing Flexible Tenancies with effect from 5 September 2022, which would provide more security for tenants, and this was explained further in Homes and People. The Tenants Panel AGM would be held on 27 October, and was open to all tenants and councillors to attend.