Agenda and minutes

The Mayor advised that he had no received apologies for absence

Members and Officers must declare any disclosable pecuniary interests in relation to any business on the agenda. Declarations should also be made at any stage such an interest becomes apparent during the meeting.

If in doubt contact the Legal or Democratic Services representative for this meeting.

Councillor Sally Smith declared an interest as an employee of Worthing Borough Council medical group

Councillor Beccy Cooper declared an interest as a trustee of NHS Community Foundation Trust

Councillor Louise Murphy declared an interest as a non executive director of Worthing Homes

To approve the minutes of the Council Meeting held on the 23 February 2021, copies of which have been previously circulated. An electronic copy can be viewed here.

Resolved that the minutes of the meeting held on 23 February 2021 be approved as a correct record and that they be signed by the Mayor.

To receive any questions from members of the public addressed to Members of the Executive in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 11.  There is up to 5 minutes for each question, one supplementary question may be asked arising from the original question.

Questions must relate to any matter the Council has power or which affects the Borough, except no questions may be asked in relation to

A specific planning or licensing application

A specific staffing appointment or appeal, or Standards determination

Public question time will last up to 30 minutes; questions will be taken in the order of receipt. The deadline for submission of questions is Friday 16 April 2021 at 12 noon. Questions should be submitted to democratic.services@adur-worthing.gov.uk.

The following question had been received in advance of the meeting.

1.         Question submitted by Tanya Marwaha, a Worthing Resident   

For the Executive Member for Health & Wellbeing:

Will you give your support to the Championing Youth Minds initiative?

The Executive Member for Health and Wellbeing replied the Council was aware of this organisation and it was exploring how it could best engage with them to support this work.  It was also important to note that the Council was already heavily engaged in other work in this important area, including leading the work around young people’s mental and emotional wellbeing through Adur and Worthing Find it Out Plus.

The Wellbeing Team were also engaged in supporting work around healthy behaviours, including smoking cessation support, where it knew there were higher rates amongst young people with additional needs - this would be run as a pilot and the insight gathered used across the service to better engage people from this age group. The service linked with WS MIND - the two way referral pathway between MIND and A&W Wellbeing would be explored and refreshed.

In addition the Council was also supporting young people’s wellbeing in relation to the provision of mentoring as young people transition from Middle to High School.  The Council was also developing a community resource to provide ambassadors for young people and their families and commissioning back to school mentoring for young people struggling to adjust to the return to school learning.

2.         Question submitted by John Salisbury, a Worthing Resident

For the Executive Member for Digital and Environment

A petition has been promoted by a member of this council opposing plans to close the public toilets at Church House Park in Tarring. Does the council have any plans to close these facilities?

The Executive Member for Digital and Environment replied that the Council had no plans to close the facility, but it was considering ways to help reduce ASB and vandalism. One option that was being explored concerned the bowling club. The bowling club had approached the Council to ascertain if it was viable for them to take on the running of the toilets and incorporate them into the rest of their building - therefore meaning public access would be via the club. The Council agreed that this would likely reduce ASB and vandalism, however there had to be a public consultation regarding all options for the facility before any decisions could be made. A consultation plan was currently being drafted that would cover any options for the facility to ensure that they remained open, safe, and suitable for use.

The Mayor placed on record the Council’s condolences to Her Royal Highness The

Queen and her family after the passing of the Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Philip.

The Mayor invited members to join him in wishing Insp Allan Lowe a happy retirement.  Allan had been a long serving member of the Community of Worthing for the past 21 years and a strong supporter of work with the Council in the Safer Community field and had been a guiding hand at the Joint Action Group for many years. Allan’s last day of service with Sussex Police would be Friday 30 April.  The Mayor would be presenting Allan with a certificate as a token of recognition of “Thanks and Appreciation” for the service and dedication to the Communities of Worthing.

The Mayor informed the Council that there had not been many civic engagements since the last council meeting. With the lifting of Covid restrictions he highlighted the need to still be cautious and respectful to others and thanked everyone for their cooperation and help in keeping the Covid rates relatively low throughout the pandemic.

The Mayor encouraged support to the Capt Tom Moore Foundation so that Capt Tom’s legacy would continue to bring hope to many.

Lastly, the Mayor thanked those councillors who had chosen not to stand again at the upcoming elections, for their service on the Council and wished them the best in their future endeavours.

There were no announcements from the Leader or the Chief Executive. 

To consider any items the Mayor has agreed are urgent.

There were no urgent items raised under the urgency provisions.

To consider recommendations to the Council, details of which are set out in the attached items as 7A, 7B, 7C, 7D, 7E and 7F.

            Full reports are available on the website as listed below: 

Council had, before it, recommendations from the Joint Overview and Scrutiny Committee, the Joint Governance Committee and the Joint Strategic Committee.

Extract of these minutes had been circulated as items 7A, 7B, 7C, 7D, 7E and 7F

Item 7A           Joint Overview and Scrutiny Committee - 18 March 2021

Joint Overview and Scrutiny Committee Work Programme for 2021/22

The Chairman of the Joint Overview and Scrutiny Committee presented the recommendation from the Joint Overview and Scrutiny Committee meeting held on 18 March 2021. The recommendation was proposed and seconded and on a vote it was

Resolved: The Worthing Borough Council approved the JOSC Work Programme 2021/22.

Item 7B           Joint Governance Committee - 23 March 2021

LGA Model Code of Conduct and arrangements for dealing with breaches of the Members’ Code of Conduct

The Chairman of the Joint Governance Committee presented the recommendation from the Joint Governance Committee meeting held on 23 March 2021. The recommendations were proposed, seconded and debated. On a vote it was:

Resolved that Worthing Borough Council:

a.     adopt the LGA Model Code of Conduct;

b.     accept the procedures set out in Appendices 2, 3 and 4;

c.     agree that the Members Code of Conduct and arrangements for dealing with complaints under that Code should be reviewed by the Monitoring Officer, every two years including any related policies;

d.     agree to have two separate sub-committees for Adur & Worthing Councils.

Item 7C           Joint Strategic Committee - 30 March 2021

Delivering Pathways to Affordable Homes

The Leader presented the recommendation from the Joint Strategic meeting held on 30 March 2021. The matter was proposed, seconded and on a vote it was:

Resolved that Worthing Borough Council approved the adoption of the ‘Developing Pathways to Affordable Homes’ report as part of the Housing Strategy for 2021-2022.

Item 7D           Joint Strategic Committee - 30 March 2021

Strategic Property Investment Fund 2021 Annual Commercial Property Investment Strategy 2021/22

The Leader presented the recommendation from the Joint Strategic meeting held on 30 March 2021. The recommendation was proposed, seconded and upon a vote it was

Resolved that Worthing Borough Council approved the adoption of the Commercial Property Investment Strategy for 2021-2022.

Item 7E           Joint Strategic Committee - 30 March 2021

Delivery of Worthing Integrated Care Centre and MSCP on Worthing Town Hall Car Park

The Leader presented the recommendation from the Joint Strategic meeting held on 30 March 2021. The matter was proposed, seconded and on a vote it was

Resolved that Worthing Borough Council release the full budget for the construction of the integrated care centre funded through borrowing subject to final agreement of the Heads of Terms for the occupier leases, acquisition of Central Clinic and the development agreement (£33,971,000)

Item 7F           Joint Strategic Committee - 30 March 2021

Delivering Colonnade House Expansion

The Leader presented the recommendation from the Joint Strategic meeting held on 30 March 2021. The matter was proposed, seconded and debated. On a vote it was

Resolved that Worthing Borough Council approve the creation of the capital  ...  view the full minutes text for item C/79/20-21

To receive a report from the Leader as item 8. The report contains decisions taken by the Executive, Executive Members and the Joint Strategic Committee since the last Council meeting. 

There will be up to 15 minutes for Executive Members to make any statements on the report. There will also be up to 15 minutes for Executive Members to respond to questions on the report. These questions will not be the same as any to be asked under Item 12. 

(Note: Papers relating to items under 7 and 8 have been previously circulated and  can be viewed on the Council’s website)

The Leader of the Council presented his report on decisions taken by the Executive since the last Ordinary meeting of the Council, which were detailed in Item 8.

There were no questions under this item

To receive nominations for the appointment of Deputy Mayor for 2021/22 who will be Mayor from May 2022.

The Leader proposed Councillor Richard Nowak as Deputy Mayor for 2021, to become Mayor in 2022.  The proposal was seconded and Councillor Nowak confirmed his willingness to serve as Deputy to Councillor Lionel Harman and to represent the Borough as its Mayor from May 2022.

There were no other nominations. On a vote it was

Resolved that Councillor Richard Nowak be the nominated Deputy Mayor for 2021 to serve as Mayor from the Annual Meeting of the Council in 2022.

Members' question time will last up to 30 minutes, with questions being taken in the order of receipt and in rotation from each political group on the Council. The deadline for submission of questions is Friday 16 April at 12 noon. Questions to be submitted to democratic.services@adur-worthing.gov.uk.

Questions can be asked of the following:

a.     The Mayor

b.     A Member of the Executive

c.     The Chairman of any Committee

d.     The Council’s representative on any outside body

Questions cannot be asked in relation to the following:

a.     A specific planning or licensing application

b.     A specific staffing appointment, appeal or Standards determination

The Mayor announced that the Proper Officer had received 14 questions from Members in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 12. He advised that one supplementary question could be asked which must arise out of the original question, or, the reply. 

Questions would be asked in rotation of the Groups represented in the Chamber and there were 30 minutes allowed for questions with 11 rotations of speakers possible. At the end of 30 minutes the Mayor explained that he would extend the time to conclude the current rotation of questions.

The Mayor announced that the following Councillors had submitted questions:

Councillors Walker, Thorpe, Nowak, Deen, James, Baker, Howard, Wills, Murphy and Chowdhury. Councillor Walker withdrew the submitted question as answers had been provided in an earlier part of the meeting

First rotation:

Question from Councillor Hazel Thorpe to the Leader

Cllr Humphries as you are aware, developers’ CIL and S106 monies are monitored and should be reported annually to show the public how much money has been raised and how it is spent. It should have been published on December 31st 2020.

Although most of the CIL pot can be spent on infrastructure projects anywhere in the Borough,  there is a need to ensure that 15% of the money collected is spent on projects located in ward where the development is approved.

This will usually be within the same ward as the development in question though not always.

I was told that there was a Joint Officer group meeting on or around the 22nd of January of this year, to decide how the process for the CIL local pot could be launched.

There is currently £11k in the pot for Tarring. 

My Question is:

Given that a key aim is to ensure that this is a community led process - 

What involvement will local groups and ward members have and when will this happen as there has been a long period of silence since I asked my questions?

The Leader replied that the Joint Officer Member Board agreed to delay the launch of the Neighbourhood Pot to await the outcome of the Examination which was to consider extending the CIL charge for all Wards.  However, the Inspectors decision was expected shortly and it was intended to launch the Neighbourhood Pot in parallel with the new Charging Schedule during the summer.  The public engagement and request for bids would be for those Wards that had exceeded £10,000 and currently, as well as Tarring, included Central, Durrington, Offington, Marine and Salvington wards.

Both the Joint Strategic Committee and the JOMB had agreed the process for evaluating bids and as indicated the onus would be on the community putting forward projects for potential funding.  As part of the bidding process local community groups would be encouraged to engage and seek support from the relevant Ward Councillors.  The CIL Neighbourhood Pot was intended to be focussed on the needs/wants of the local community, hence the emphasis on the money being  ...  view the full minutes text for item C/82/20-21

To consider a Motion on Notice, submitted by the Proper Officer on behalf of

Councillor Val Turner, detailed as item 11.

Members had a motion before them proposed by Councillor Val Turner and seconded by Councillor Elizabeth Sparkes. The motion was debated and on a vote it was

Resolved:

The abduction and death of Sarah Everard had again highlighted the importance of the work undertaken by this Council to help ensure that residents in its community felt and remained safe. No one should feel unsafe or fear abduction on its streets. Fortunately, such events were rare, although, for us in Sussex, we had experienced such an event when, in July 2000, Sarah Payne was abducted and murdered whilst playing in Kingston Gorse. It was an event that is etched in the memory of a number of Members of this Council here tonight, as was the disappearance of Georgina Gharsallah, here in Worthing. That is why this Council reaffirms its commitment to help keep our town safe.

As part of our community safety work, alongside the Police and other agencies, we had invested in improved CCTV in our town centre. The Council also committed to improving its car parks so that residents and visitors coming into the Town Centre could feel safe and secure when accessing their vehicles. Working with our partners in the Evening and Late Night Economy, the Council has secured Purple Flag status for its town, and would endeavour to ensure that these high standards were maintained and built upon.

The Council was determined to create an environment that is welcoming, safe and secure to everyone.

Violence in any form is not acceptable and no one should feel that they cannot go out and walk alone on our streets. The Council would work to ensure that its town provides an environment that discourages those who wish to cause harm to others.

In our language and by our deeds the Council would ensure that it holds accountable those who cause such harm to its Town.