Decisions

Following consideration, the Committee unanimously resolved to:

(1)      Consider the responses to the public consultation,

(2)      Agree the changes to the Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Licensing Policy as follows; -

a)           From 1 July 2024 licences will normally only be granted to vehicles being licensed for the first time that meet the TFL Ultra Low Emission Zone requirements (Petrol: Euro 4, Diesel: Euro 6). An exception will be allowed until 1 January 2025 for proprietors of licensed Euro 4 diesel vehicles that are replacing them with Euro 5 diesel vehicles.

b)           From 1 January 2025 licences will not normally be renewed in respect of any licensed diesel vehicle that does not meet or exceed Euro 5 emission standards.

c)           From 1 July 2026, licences will normally only be granted to vehicles (including renewal of existing licences) that meet the TFL Ultra Low Emission Zone requirements (Petrol: Euro 4 Diesel: Euro 6).

d)            Vehicles that have been specially adapted [i.e., post manufacture] to carry wheelchair users will be exempted from the emission requirement.

e)             Vehicles used for the completion of home to school transport under contract from a County Council will be given a one-year extension to each of the phased emission requirements.

f)              All hackney carriages must be wheelchair accessible. Hackney Carriages are no longer required to be purpose built/London style ‘black’ cabs. All non-purpose-built hackney carriages will be required to display a ‘Taxi' sign of a minimum width of 76.2cm with lettering of a minimum height of 12.7cm and bearing the words 'Licensed by Epsom & Ewell Borough Council', capable of being illuminated, to be mounted across the roof of the vehicle.

(3)      Agree that the Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Licensing Policy as set in Appendix 6 is recommended for approval at Full Council

Following consideration, the Committee unanimously resolved to:

(1)      Note the content of AMR and agree to it being published.

The Committee received one written statement from a member of the public which was delivered verbally at the meeting.

Following consideration, the Committee unanimously resolved to:

(1)      Note the implications of the budget targets presented to Strategy & Resources Committee on 13 July 2023.

(2)      Consider how additional income or savings can be generated to address the projected Council wide funding gap of £1.1m in 2024/25, rising to £2.5m by 2027/28.

(3)      Note that owing to the Council’s projected budget deficit, any additional new revenue growth items (i.e. service enhancements resulting in increased net expenditure) supported by Policy Committees will need to be fully funded from existing budgets.

Following consideration, the Committee unanimously resolved to:

(1)      Approve the principle of the draft response to the Levelling-Up and Regeneration Bill: Consultation on Implementation of Plan-Making Reforms.

(2)      To note, if changes are recommended by this committee due to insufficient time to bring it back to committee it will be dealt with under the urgency provision in the constitution set out at Paragraph 3.1 of appendix 2 and the decision to approve the final draft response will be taken by the relevant director in consultation with the Chair of this Committee.

Following consideration, the Committee;

Resolved (6 for, 2 against) to:

(1)      To recommend to Full Council that work on the Local Plan is un-paused.

Unanimously resolved to:

(2)      Note the work that has been undertaken since and in line with the decision by full Council to pause the Local Plan.

(3)      Note that a decision to progress (un-pause) work on the Local Heritage List update will be considered at a future meeting of this Committee.

Following consideration, the Committee unanimously resolved to:

(1)      Agree the IT Strategy, and the associated plan to invest in a programme of works as set out in the IT Roadmap.

(2)      To note that the works to include; a refresh of end user devices for officers, a programme of works to update infrastructure and move to a hosted data centre and transformational projects to improve and increase online services to residents.

(3)      Approve the indicative funding implications for delivering the defined IT Roadmap in 2023-2027, as set out in section 5 of the report, which will feed into the Medium-Term Financial Strategy to be approved at Full Council in February 2024.

(4)      Agree that a further report on the IT Roadmap will be submitted to committee in September 2024.  This will provide an update on the implementation of the roadmap and details of funding actuals to date and forecast.

The Committee unanimously resolved to exclude the Press and Public from the meeting in accordance with Section 100A (4) of the Local Government Act 1972 on the grounds that the business involved the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Act (as amended) and that pursuant to paragraph 10 of Part 2 of the said Schedule 12A the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighed the public interest in disclosing the information.

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

Following consideration, the Committee unanimously resolved to:

(1)      Agree the draft lease terms set out in paragraph 4.1 of the report for a new commercial lease of Plot 8 Kiln Lane, Epsom.

(2)      Note that the Head of Property & Regeneration, in consultation with the Head of Finance, will instruct external solicitors to prepare the draft lease documentation (based on the draft lease terms in 1) above) and progress the new lease to completion as outlined in this report.

Following consideration, the Committee unanimously resolved to:

(1)      Agree to use Flat 1 Ewell Court House for temporary homeless accommodation.

(2)      Agree to fund the refurbishment budget of up to £125,000 from S106 developer funds.

(3)      Note that the Head of Property & Regeneration, Head of Housing & Community in consultation with the Head of Finance will progress the refurbishment to completion.

The decision on this item is recorded in a separate (not for publication) restricted Decision Notice.

Following consideration, the Committee resolved with 6 votes for, 1 abstention and the Chair not voting to:

(1)      Agree that a further £50,000 of the HSF4 allocation be passed to the Good Company, for distribution to residents in the period October 2023 to March 2024.

Following consideration, the Committee unanimously resolved to:

(1)      Approve additional funding of £105,000 from the Capital Receipts Reserve, to enable the Poole Road Pavilion Re-Roofing project to proceed at an estimated cost of £255,000.

(2)      Request that internal audit look at this particular procurement to allay any Members’ concerns around it.

Following consideration, the Committee unanimously resolved to:

(1)      Agree the draft Community Safety Action Plan for public consultation

(2)      Agree to receive the results of the consultation and any resulting revisions to the action plan at the next meeting of the committee

Following consideration, the Committee unanimously resolved to:

(1)      Agree to recommend to the Epsom & Ewell Community Safety Partnership the proposed responses to the review, as set out in Appendix 3

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

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

Following consideration, the Committee unanimously resolved to:

(1)      Agree the Community Safety Intervention Policy as set out in Appendix 1

(2)      Agree that the Community Safety Intervention Policy is recommended for adoption at Full Council

Following consideration, the Committee unanimously resolved to:

(1)      Agree that the Video Surveillance System Policy be recommended for adoption at Full Council