Decisions

The following declaration was made by a Member of the Committee in relation to an item on the agenda:

Stoneleigh Railway Station Community Licence

Councillor Hannah Dalton, Other Interest: Councillor Hannah Dalton declared an interest due to involvement in the funding for step free access work to Stoneleigh Station and in the Community Licence, and that she would not be voting on this item of the agenda.

Following consideration, the Committee resolved with 7 votes for and 1 abstention to:

(1)       Agree the grant of a new Full Repairing & Insuring (FRI) lease of Unit 2 The Clock Tower based upon the terms set out in paragraph 2.9 of the confidential Appendix 2 to the report. 

(2)       Note that the Head of Property & Regeneration, in consultation with the Chief Finance Officer and Chief Legal Officer, has express authority to take all necessary actions further to the above decisions being made that commit resources, as is necessary and appropriate, to progress the lease to completion.

Following consideration, the Committee resolved with 7 votes for and 1 abstention to:

(1)       Agree to undertake a Ground Investigation (GI) survey of the Council’s car park site at a cost of up to £30,000 (which includes £7,000 contingency as detailed in this report), to be funded from the Property Maintenance Reserve.

(2)       To release (in principle) the Hook Road Car Park to facilitate the wider redevelopment of the gas holder site.

(3)       Note that the Director of Environment, Housing & Regeneration and Head of Property & Regeneration, in consultation with the Chair and Vice-Chair of the Strategy & Resources Committee, Chief Finance Officer and Chief Legal Officer, have express authority to take all necessary actions further to the above decisions being made that commit resources, as is necessary and appropriate.

Following consideration, the Committee unanimously resolved to:

(1)       Appoint Members and a Chair for the Shareholder Sub Committee as required by its Terms of Reference, and set out in paragraph 3.3 of the report and detailed below:

·                Councillor Neil Dallen (Chair) (Residents’ Association)

·                Councillor Alex Coley (Residents’ Association)

·                Councillor Hannah Dalton (Residents’ Association)

·                Councillor Alison Kelly (Liberal Democrat)

·                Councillor Robert Leach (Residents’ Association)

Following consideration, the Committee unanimously resolved to:

(1)       Note the urgent decisions taken and the reasons for those decisions, since the last meeting of the committee.

Following consideration, the Committee resolved with 7 votes for and 1 member not voting to:

(1)       Agree to enter into a Community Licence between Network Rail and EEBC once a group of volunteers has been established, to enable the volunteers in Stoneleigh to establish a community garden next to Stoneleigh Railway Station.

(2)       Nominate and Authorise the Director of Environment, Housing and Regeneration and Head of Legal to progress the community licence to completion and take all actions and decisions as are necessary and appropriate to ensure that it is not the Council who is responsible for maintaining the community garden.

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

(1)       Endorse the Action Plan as set out in Appendix 1 to the report, which responds to the recommendations from the Corporate Peer Challenge Report. 

Following consideration, the Committee unanimously resolved to:

(1)       note the findings of the report and endorse the learning points from it (as set out in para 4.1 of the report).

Following consideration, the Committee unanimously resolved to agree:

(1)       to note the recommendations of Financial Strategy Advisory Group held on 12 July 2024;

(2)       the proposed approach to 2025/26 budget setting as set-out in the report to Financial Strategy Advisory Group at Appendix 2 to the report, in particular;

·       That officers work to progress the workstreams set out in section 7 of Appendix 2 to the report to produce specific income generation and savings options, in addition to savings already targeted, to meet the projected budget deficit of £720,000 per annum by 2028/29;

·       That the proposed Five Year Plan and the budget process are aligned to ensure that any commitments are affordable;

·       The budget reporting timetable as supported by Financial Strategy Advisory Group.

Following consideration, the Committee unanimously resolved to:

(1)       Receive the report on provisional financial outturn for 2023/24;

(2)       Approve the carry forward £2.387m budget for capital schemes to be added to the 2024/25 capital programme.

(3)       Note that the provisional outturn position is subject to external audit. Should any material changes arise from the audit, these will be reported back to members.

Following consideration, the Committee resolved with 5 votes for and 3 abstentions to:

(1)       Approve the programme of service reviews, as set out in Appendix 1 to the report as amended, to be progressed by relevant Heads of Service in consultation with the relevant Service Director and Policy Committee Chairs.

The amendment was as follows:

·                To list the wording “To review the community services offering and facilities at the Community & Wellbeing Centre” and “To review the services offering and facilities at Bourne Hall (including museum)” as two separate items in Appendix 1 to the report.

(2)       Agree that the options of individual service reviews should be reported back to the relevant Policy Committee;

(3)       Agree that a report will be brought back at least annually to Strategy & Resources Committee to update members on progress against the overall programme of service reviews;

(4)       Approve funding of £35,000 from the Corporate Projects Reserve to enable the review of Community Services and Facilities to be progressed.