Agenda, decisions and draft minutes

To take any questions or statements from members of the Public.

No questions or statements were received from members of the public.

To receive declarations of any Disclosable Pecuniary Interests or other registrable or non-registrable interests from Members in respect of any item to be considered at the meeting.

No declarations of interest were made in relation to items of business to be discussed at the meeting.

The Committee is asked to confirm as a true record the Minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 28 January 2025 (attached) and to authorise the Chair to sign them.

The Committee confirmed as a true record the Minutes of the Meeting of the Committee held on 28 January 2025 and authorised the Chair to sign them.

This report introduces the draft Epsom & Ewell Borough Council Pay Policy Statement for 2025/26 and seeks approval of the Statement prior to its presentation to Full Council and subsequent publication on the Council’s website.

This Committee received a report introducing the draft Epsom & Ewell Borough Council Pay Policy Statement for 2025/26 and seeking approval of the Statement prior to its agreement by Full Council and subsequent publication on the Council’s website.

Following consideration, the Committee resolved with 6 votes for and 2 abstentions to:

(1)       Agree that the draft Pay Policy Statement for 2025/26 is referred to Full Council with this Committee’s recommendation for approval.

The Committee received a report introducing the draft Epsom & Ewell Borough Council Pay Policy Statement for 2025/26 and seeking approval of the Statement prior to its agreement by Full Council and subsequent publication on the Council’s website.

The following matters were considered:

a)             Members allowances. In response to a question from a Member, the Head of Legal and Monitoring Officer informed the Committee that in accordance with the Scheme of Allowances, Councillors’ allowances would be increased by 2% from April 2025.

b)             Council agreement. In response to a question from a Member, the Head of Legal and Monitoring Officer informed the Committee that as there would not be a meeting of the Full Council before 1 April 2025, the 2025/26 Pay Policy Statement would require agreement via the Council’s urgent decisions process. The Committee was informed that the 2026/27 Pay Policy Statement would be presented to the committee in January 2026 prior to Full Council consideration in February 2026.

c)             Gender Pay Gap. In response to a question from a Member, the Head of People and OD informed the Committee that if the Chief Executive and Directors were excluded from the calculation, the Council would have a gender pay gap of -3.6% rather than -5.8%, which was still favourable for women.

d)             Real Living wage. In response to a question from a Member, the Head of People and OD informed the Committee that the top of the Council’s lowest pay scale met the level of the Real Living Wage.

Following consideration, the Committee resolved with 6 votes for and 2 abstentions to:

(1)       Agree that the draft Pay Policy Statement for 2025/26 is referred to Full Council with this Committee’s recommendation for approval.

The report is to note that the Licencing and Planning Policy Committee approved an updated CIL spending protocol on the 11 March 2025 to supersede the version adopted in January 2024. The Spending Protocol provides the framework for how the council allocates Community Infrastructure Levy funding that has been received from eligible developments in the borough to contribute towards the delivery of infrastructure.

One of the core changes to the spending protocol is that the CIL MWG working group will now report to the Strategy and Resources Committee as opposed to Licencing and Planning Policy Committee and that spending decisions will be approved by Strategy and Resources Committee.

The Committee received a report informing it that the Licencing and Planning Policy Committee (LPPC) approved an updated Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) spending protocol on 11 March 2025 to supersede the version adopted in January 2024. The report identified that one of the core changes to the spending protocol was that the CIL Member Working Group (MWG) will now report to the Strategy and Resources Committee as opposed to Licencing and Planning Policy Committee and that spending decisions will be approved by Strategy and Resources Committee.

The following matters were considered:

a)             Membership of CIL Member Working Group. The Chair informed the Committee that changes to the membership of the CIL Member Working Group as a result the recent changes to political group membership of the Council were not considered in the report on the agenda, due to the publication deadlines for the agenda. The Chair informed the Committee that it was proposed that officers would amend the membership of the CIL Member Working Group following the meeting via the urgent decision procedure to reflect the updated council proportionality calculation. The Head of Legal and Monitoring Officer informed the Committee that this amendment would relate to the number of seats set out in section 7, subsection 2 of Appendix 1 to the report.

Following consideration, the Committee resolved with 6 votes for and 2 votes against to:

(1)       Note that

               i.         the Licencing and Planning Policy Committee (LPPC) approved a revised CIL spending Protocol on the 11 March 2025, and

             ii.         an Urgent Decision by Full Council approved changes to this Committee’s Terms of Reference relevant to decision-making on CIL; CIL MWG and spending decisions to be taken in future by this committee

(2)       Approve the revised terms of reference for the CIL Member Working Group (detailed in Appendix 1 to the report) as recommended by the LPPC on the 11 March 2025 

To report to the Committee a decision taken by the Chief Executive the grounds of urgency, in compliance with the requirements of the Constitution.

The Committee received a report informing it of a decision taken by the Chief Executive the grounds of urgency, in compliance with the requirements of the Constitution.

The following matter was considered:

·                Urgent decision 150 – electricity contract. In response to a question from a Member, the Head of Property and Regeneration informed the Committee that the contract related to all of the Council’s buildings but that the Council had the ability to remove buildings from the contract if it wished to do so.

Following consideration, the Committee unanimously resolved to:

(1)       Note the urgent decision taken and the reasons for that decision.

This report sets out six potential options to consider the future use of Bourne Hall Lodge.

The Chair informed the Committee that this item had been withdrawn from the agenda and would not be considered at this meeting.

This report considers seven potential options for the future use of Bourne Hall Bungalow.

The Committee received a report considering seven potential options for the future use of Bourne Hall Bungalow.

The following matter was considered:

a)              Current use. The head of Property and Regeneration informed the Committee that the Bungalow was currently used by the Primary Care Network.

Following consideration, the Committee unanimously resolved to:

(1)        Agree for Bourne Hall Bungalow to continue to be used for commercial accommodation as detailed in Option 1 (Restricted Appendix 1 of the report, paragraphs 1.1-1.6).

(2)        Nominate and authorise the Head of Property & Regeneration, in consultation with the Director of Corporate Services and Head of Legal, to take all necessary actions further to the above decision being made that commit resources, as is necessary and appropriate, to progress the selected option to completion.