Agenda, decisions and minutes

To take any questions from members of the Public.

Please note: Members of the Public are requested to inform the Democratic Services Officer before the meeting begins if they wish to ask a verbal question to the Committee.

No questions were received from members of the public.

No questions were received from members of the public.

Members are asked to declare the existence and nature of any Disclosable Pecuniary Interests in respect of any item of business to be considered at the meeting.

No declarations of interest were made by Councillors in items on the agenda for this meeting.

No declarations of interest were made by Councillors in items on the agenda for this meeting.

The Committee is asked to confirm as a true record the Minutes of the Meeting of the Committee held on 12 June 2018 (attached) and to authorise the Chairman to sign them.

The Minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 12 June 2018 were agreed and signed by the Chairman.

The Minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 12 June 2018 were agreed and signed by the Chairman.

In January 2018 the Community & Wellbeing committee received a report of the scrutiny review task group on the Epsom Playhouse. As a result of this service review report, the Committee asked that an action plan be presented at its October 2018 Committee meeting outlining a list of actions for the development of the playhouse.

Following consideration, the Committee:

(1)          Noted the update on the action plan for Epsom Playhouse and agreed that an update report regarding the Playhouse should be presented annually to the Committee at its October meeting.

(2)          Agreed to the implementation of a charge of £1.50 per transaction, with income generated in excess of budget from this charge being set aside for a rolling programme of improvements to the venue.

The Committee received a report presenting an update on the action plan for Epsom Playhouse, which had been produced following the Scrutiny Service Review of the venue undertaken in 2017. The plan identified a number of actions for the Playhouse under the headings of “Income generation”, “Equipment” and “Building”. The Committee considered the following matters:

a)            Implementation of transaction charge. The Committee noted that it was proposed to implement a charge of £1.50 per transaction, and that income generated by this above the budget would be utilised for a rolling programme of improvements to the venue. Similar charges had been successfully introduced at other local theatres, and had not received a negative response from customers. It was noted that the proposed charge would relate to each order, not each individual ticket.

Officers forecast that the charge would generate around £33,000 income per annum. This would cover the £22,500 revenue cost encountered by the Council following the removal of credit card booking fees in January 2018 (in accordance with legislative changes), with any further revenue to be utilised for the rolling programme of improvements.

b)            Future annual update. The Committee considered that an annual update report on the Epsom Playhouse should be presented to its October meeting in the future.

Following consideration, the Committee:

(1)          Noted the update on the action plan for Epsom Playhouse and agreed that an update report regarding the Playhouse should be presented annually to the Committee at its October meeting.

(2)          Agreed to the implementation of a charge of £1.50 per transaction, with income generated in excess of budget from this charge being set aside for a rolling programme of improvements to the venue.

This report provides a background of Social Prescribing, and an update on the delivery of the service in the Borough.

Following consideration, the Committee:

(1)          Noted the update report and endorsed the continuation of the Social Prescribing service.

The Committee received a report providing an update on the delivery of Social Prescription services in the Borough.

The Committee was informed that Social Prescription is a framework for local GPs and healthcare professionals to refer patients to non-clinical services such as physical exercise or emotional wellbeing and social isolation assistance. The report detailed the operation of the Social Prescription services provided by the Council, and informed the Committee that funding provided by the Surrey Downs Clinical Commissioning Group had enabled the Council to participate in a 1-year pilot to provide a link worker to support lowly activated patients who might otherwise not fully engage with the services.

The Committee considered the following matters:

a)            Council’s work supporting health and wellbeing in the community. The Committee noted that many of the Council’s activities supported the health and wellbeing of residents and the work of local health service providers.  The provision of Social Prescription services would assist in continuing to raise awareness amongst health service providers of the value of the Council’s work in this area.

Following consideration, the Committee:

(1)          Noted the update report and endorsed the continuation of the Social Prescribing service.

The Committee expressed its thanks to Officers for their work to deliver the Social Prescription service.

This report informs the Committee of the Council’s revenue budget targets presented to the Strategy & Resources Committee.  The report seeks support for changes to services and any further guidance on the preparation of the Committee’s service estimates for 2019/20.

Following consideration, the Committee:

(1)          Noted the implications of the budget targets presented to the Strategy & Resources Committee.

(2)          Agreed to support the changes to services and savings identified in section 3.3 of the report and that they would included within the budget presented to the Committee in January 2019.

(3)          Considered how additional savings can be generated to address the Council wide funding gap of £113,000 in 2019/20. No additional savings above those included within the report were identified.

The Committee received a report informing it of the Council’s revenue budget targets and seeking support for changes to services.

Following consideration, the Committee:

(1)          Noted the implications of the budget targets presented to the Strategy & Resources Committee.

(2)          Agreed to support the changes to services and savings identified in section 3.3 of the report and that they would be included within the budget presented to the Committee in January 2019.

(3)          Considered how additional savings can be generated to address the Council wide funding gap of £113,000 in 2019/20. No additional savings above those included within the report were identified.