Agenda and minutes

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.

The Mayor reminded the Council that a dispensation had been issued to Councillors in relation to item 7 of the agenda (Local Government Reorganisation). No further declarations of interest were made by Councillors regarding items on the agenda.

To confirm the Minutes of the Meeting of the Council held on 11 February 2025 and the Minutes of the Extraordinary Meeting of the Council held on 18 March 2025.

The Minutes of the Meeting of the Council held on 11 February 2025 and the Minutes of the Extraordinary Meeting on 18 March 2025 were agreed as a true record and the Mayor was authorised to sign them.

A member of the Council spoke regarding Minute number 43 of the meeting held on 11 February 2025 and expressed the view that the Council did not resolve to exclude members of the press and  public from part 2 of the meeting.

To receive such communications or deal with such business as the Mayor may decide to lay before the Council.

The Mayor informed the Council that as there was a lot of business on the agenda for the meeting and there was another meeting of the Full Council in the next week, he had decided to forego providing a mayoral communication at this meeting.

It was with sadness that the Mayor informed the meeting that former Councillor Graham Dudley had recently passed away and invited Councillor Robert Leach to address the meeting. Councillor Leach paid tribute to former Councillor Dudley as a colleague, Ward Councillor and friend. As a mark of respect, the Council stood in a minute’s silence.

To receive statements from the Chairs of the Council’s Policy Committees, briefing Members on current events and issues relating to the relevant Committee’s area of work.

The Council received a written statement from the Chair Environment Committee.

1 question was asked relating to the statement and responded to by the Vice-Chair of the Environment Committee.

To agree to adopt a Public Space Protection Order (PSPO), for the Borough and confirm the amount of fixed penalty for breaches.

The Council received a report requesting it to agree to adopt a Public Space Protection Order (PSPO) for the Borough and confirm the amount of fixed penalty for breaches.

Councillor Shanice Goldman MOVED the recommendations in the report.

Upon being put the recommendations were unanimously CARRIED.

Accordingly, it was resolved to:

(1)       Approve the making of the proposed Public Spaces Protection Order (in the form set out in Appendix 1 to the report) in order to address current ongoing issues of anti-social behaviour affecting the local community for a maximum period of three years as defined by the Anti-Social behaviour Crime and Policing Act 2014.

(2)       Nominate and authorise the Head of Housing and Community to take all necessary steps to adopt and implement the PSPO as it appears in Appendix 1 to the report.

(3)       Confirm the amount of fixed penalty payable for this and for any future PSPOs at £100, discounted to £80 if paid within 10 days.

The following report proposes a number of constitutional updates that flow from discussions held at the Council’s recent Standards and Constitution Committee, held on 16 April 2025. The recommendations considered by Committee originated from the Constitutional Member Working Group, recommendations from the Chair of this Committee and recommendations from the Council’s Monitoring Officer.

Council received a report proposing a number of constitutional updates. The Mayor highlighted to the Council that an updated version of the report had been published during the week prior to the meeting.

Councillor Hannah Dalton MOVED the recommendations in the report.

An amendment to the recommendations was MOVED by Councillor Kate Chinn and SECONDED by Councillor Chris Ames. The proposed amendment was as follows:

·                Remove "and 3" from the recommendation 2?.

·                Add "Instruct the CWG to work with the council's monitoring officer to identify only the essential changes required to ensure the constitution is lawful for the very limited time the council functions as EEBC"

The amendment was not accepted by the proposer of the original motion and accordingly was debated by the Council. Upon being put to the vote the amendment was LOST with 5 votes for, 16 votes against, 4 abstentions and the Mayor not voting.

An amendment to the recommendations was MOVED by Councillor James Lawrence and SECONDED by Councillor Chris Ames. The proposed amendment was as follows:

·                Change Recommendation 3 to:?

Sections 3 (para 3.1.3.i) and 4 (para 4.21, 4.22, 4.23, 4.24.8.3, and 4.27) of this report.?

·                 Delete Recommendation 4

The amendment was not accepted by the proposer of the original motion and accordingly was debated by the Council. Upon being put to the vote the amendment was LOST with 8 votes for, 14 votes against, 3 abstentions and the Mayor not voting.

An amendment to the recommendations was MOVED by Councillor Alex Coley and SECONDED by Councillor Bernie Muir. The proposed amendment was as follows:

·                Change Recommendation 2 to:?

"Appendices 1 and 3 to this report." ?

·                 Appendix 2 - the live scheme of delegations, to be discussed properly at the Constitution Working Group to understand the implications and only then brought to a future meeting of the Council for approval.

The amendment was not accepted by the proposer of the original motion and accordingly was debated by the Council. Upon being put to the vote the amendment was LOST with 8 votes for, 15 votes against, 2 abstentions and the Mayor not voting.

Upon being put, the recommendations of the substantive motion were CARRIED as follows:

The Council agreed with 16 votes for, 6 votes against, 3 abstentions and the Mayor not voting to:

(1)       Approve and adopt the updates to the Council’s Constitution, as set out within:

·                Appendices 1, 2 and 3 to this report, and

The Council agreed with 14 votes for, 6 votes against and 5 abstentions and the Mayor not voting to:

(2)       Approve and adopt the updates to the Council’s Constitution, as set out within:

·                Sections 3 (para 3.1.3) and 4 (para 4.21, 4.22, 4.23, 4.24.7, 4.24.8, 4.25 and 4.26) of this report.

The Council agreed with 15 votes for, 8 votes against and 2 abstentions and the Mayor not voting to:

(3)       Delegate to the Monitoring Officer, in consultation with the Chair of the Standards and Constitution Committee, the authority required to update the Council’s Constitution to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 52.

Further to the decision taken at an Extraordinary meeting of Full Council on 18 March 2025, this report seeks to present the options available to this Council further to the invitation by the Minister for Local Government and English Devolution to submit a full proposal by 9 May 2025.

Council received a report seeking to present the options available to it further to the invitation by the Minister for Local Government and English Devolution to submit a full proposal by 9 May 2025.

Councillor Hannah Dalton MOVED and Councillor Alan Williamson SECONDED the motion.

An amendment to recommendation 2 was MOVED by Councillor Hannah Dalton and SECONDED by Councillor Alan Williamson. The proposed amendment was as follows:

·                Replace Recommendation 1 with: ?

"Further to considering the two proposals for a single tier of local government in Surrey, this Council agrees that its preference for the final Local Government Reorganisation Plan for Epsom and Ewell is for 3 unitary councils (appendix 2) and that is the option is to be submitted to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government by 9 May 2025.”

As the amendment was moved by the proposer of the original motion, it became part of the substantive motion under FCR 17.8 of Appendix 4 of the Council’s Constitution

Following debate the recommendations of the substantive motion were put to the vote. The recommendations were CARRIED as detailed below.

The Council resolved with 22 votes for, 2 votes against, 1 abstention and the Mayor not voting to:

(1)       Consider the two proposals for a single tier of local government in Surrey, as outlined at Appendix 1 and 2, and agree its preferred final Local Government Reorganisation Plan for Epsom and Ewell, to be submitted to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government by 9 May 2025.

(2)       Delegate authority to the Chief Executive in consultation with Chair of Standards and Constitution Committee to finalise and submit the Council’s submission, making any necessary factual or typographical clarifications or corrections prior to its submission.

Following the recent changes to political groups on the Council, the Full Council is requested to note the allocation of seats on Committees and Advisory Panels and approve the appointments to Committees and Advisory Panels.

Council received a report requesting it to note the allocation of seats on Committees and Advisory Panels and approve the appointments to Committees and Advisory Panels following the recent changes to political groups on the Council.

Councillor Hannah Dalton MOVED and Councillor Rachel King SECONDED the recommendations in the report.

Upon being put, the recommendations were CARRIED as follows:

The Council unanimously agreed to:

(1)       Note the allocation of seats based on political balance and proportionality;

(2)       Allocate seats on the Committees and Advisory Panels in accordance with the wishes of the political groups set out in Appendix 1 to the report;

The Council agreed with 18 votes for, 5 votes against, 2 abstentions and the Mayor not voting to:

(3)       Appoint all members of the Council as substitutes for their current political group members on all committees, where the appointed political group member is unable to attend a meeting.

To report to the Council decision taken by one of the Directors and / or Chief Executive on the grounds of urgency, in compliance with the requirements of the Constitution

Council received a report informing it of decisions taken by one of the Directors and / or Chief Executive on the grounds of urgency, in compliance with the requirements of the Constitution.

Councillor Neil Dallen MOVED and Councillor Hannah Dalton SECONDED the recommendation in the report.

Upon being put, the recommendations were CARRIED, there being 17 votes for, 6 votes against and the Mayor not voting.

Accordingly, it was resolved to:

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

This report sets out notices of motions ruled in order.

The Council received a Motion submitted under FCR 14 of Appendix 4 of the Constitution.

Motion 1

The Council unanimously resolved to debate this Motion at the meeting.

In pursuance of the Council’s Rules of Procedure, Councillor Chris Ames MOVED and Councillor Julie Morris SECONDED the following Motion:

Motion

“This council notes that the phrase “Part Two”

·                is regularly used by officers and members as a euphemism for both the exclusion of press and public from public meetings and decisions not to publish documents relevant to discussion at public meetings

·                has no defined meaning in law

·                does not appear in the sections of the council’s constitution or operating framework covering these issues

·                causes confusion amongst officers and members and, most importantly,

·                can exclude residents from understanding council proceedings.

Therefore this council

·                instructs officers not to state on any meeting agenda that unpublished documents relate to part two of the meeting when the agenda for that meeting is not in two or more parts

·                advises officer and members not to use the phrase Part Two in any public forum as a euphemism for the exclusion of press and public or the withholding of information.”

Upon being put the motion was LOST with 7 votes for, 15 against, 1 abstention and the Mayor not voting.

Note: Councillor Alex Coley left the meeting during the debate on this item and did not participate in the vote on this item.

This report asks the Council to approve the Strategic Priorities for the council for 2025 – 2027 and associated proposals to fund these priorities.

Council received a report asking it to approve the Strategic Priorities for the council for 2025 – 2027 and associated proposals to fund those priorities.

Councillor Neil Dallen MOVED and Councillor Hannah Dalton SECONDED the recommendations in the report.

An amendment to the recommendations was MOVED by Councillor James Lawrence and SECONDED by Councillor Julie Morris. The proposed amendment was as follows:

Change "and Implement" to "with option to Implement", remove “so seeking Full Council approval for an additional £250,000”.

The amendment was not accepted by the proposer of the original motion and accordingly was debated by the Council. Upon being put to the vote the amendment was LOST with 7 votes for, 18 votes against and the Mayor not voting.

An amendment to the recommendations was MOVED by Councillor Julie Morris and SECONDED by Councillor James Lawrence. The proposed amendment was as follows:

·                Change priority 4 by removing "but excluding other commercial assets on long term leases"?

·                Change priority 6 by removing all wording relating to CIL. As follows:?

“Priority 6: Strategic Projects?

?Outcome: To investigate the feasibility of the following strategic projects - Develop the parking solution identified via car parking strategy (priority 5) - Develop a proposed sporting excellence scheme for Gibraltar Recreation Ground - Investigate feasibility of step free access at Ewell station.”

The amendment was not accepted by the proposer of the original motion and accordingly was debated by the Council. Upon being put to the vote the amendment was LOST with 7 votes for, 14 votes against, 2 abstentions and the Mayor not voting.

Upon being put, the recommendations of the substantive motion were CARRIED as follows:

The Council agreed with 18 votes for, 3 votes against, 3 abstentions and the Mayor not voting to:

(1)       Approve the proposed amendment to the Council’s Four Year Plan, to be replaced by the Strategic Priorities for 2025 to 2027, as set out within Appendix 1 to the report.

The Council unanimously agreed that:

(2)       As part of the approval of the Council’s strategic priorities, to agree that these revised priorities no longer include the proposed office move to 70 East Street, for the reasons included in paragraphs 2.8-2.15 and Appendices 2 and 3 of the report.

The Council agreed with 15 votes for, 5 votes against, 4 abstentions and the Mayor not voting to:

(3)       Approve an amended reserves policy for the Council, as set out in the 2024-2028 Financial Plan (and further ratified as part of the 2025/26 budget) that enables the Council to resource the strategic priorities in this paper, as set out at paragraphs 2.16-2.22, noting the caveats set out by the Section 151 officer in paragraph 4.16.