Agenda and minutes

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 Kevin Boram declared an interest as an Elected Member of West Sussex County Council.

Councillor Ed Crouch declared an interest as his partner worked for Worthing Homes.

To approve the minutes of the Joint Strategic Committee meeting held on 12 January 2021, copies of which have been previously circulated.

Resolved that the minutes from the Joint Strategic Committee meeting held on 12 January 2021, be approved as an accurate record and signed by the Chairman.

To receive any questions from members of the public.

Questions should be submitted by noon on Friday 5 February 2021 to Democratic Services,

democratic.services@adur-worthing.gov.uk   

(Note: Public Question Time will operate for a maximum of 30 minutes.)

There were no public questions received in advance of the meeting. 

To consider any items the Chairman of the meeting considers to be urgent.

There were no items raised under urgency provisions.

To consider a report from the Director for Digital & Resources, a copy is attached as item 5.

Before the Committee was a report by the Director for Digital, Sustainability & Resources, copies of which had been circulated to all Members and a copy of which is attached to the signed copy of these minutes as Item 5.

The report was the final budget report of the year, the culmination of the annual budgeting exercise, and asked members to consider:

·       The final revenue estimates for 2021/22 including any adjustments arising from Settlement; and

·       An updated outline 5-year forecast

The budgets reflected the decisions taken by members to date in relation to agreed savings proposals and any committed growth. The budgets were still to be adjusted for the proposals to invest in services detailed in Appendix 2 which were considered by Adur and Worthing Executives last week.

The budget was analysed by the Executive Member portfolios. In addition, the draft estimates for 2021/22 had been prepared, in accordance with the requirements of the Service Reporting Code of Practice for Local Authorities (except in relation to pension cost adjustments that did not impact either on the Budget Requirement or the Council Tax Requirement).

The respective Adur and Worthing 2021/22 Estimates and Council Tax setting reports had already been considered by the Worthing Executive on 1st February 2021 and the Adur Executive on 2nd February 2021. Both the estimates for Adur District Council and Worthing Borough Council included their respective share of the cost of the Joint Strategic Committee.

A Member questioned the level of reserves currently held and sought clarification regarding the quantifying of risks. Officers advised that the Council would not need to use reserves to support either the current or next year’s budgets. It was noted that reserves had been successfully built over the past couple of years and that contingency budgets had been set aside to manage risks. 

The recommendations were proposed by Councillor Daniel Humphreys, seconded by Councillor Angus Dunn and unanimously supported.

Decision

The Joint Strategic Committee

A.    noted the proposals to invest in services outlined in Appendix 2 which

were considered at the Executive meetings in early February;

B.    agreed to the proposed 2021/22 budget detailed in Appendix 3 which

would be adjusted by any growth proposals approved by the Executives.

Call In:

The call-in deadline for this decision will be 5.00pm on 19 February 2021.

To consider a report from the Director for Digital, Sustainability & Resources, a copy is attached as item 6.

Before the Committee was a report by the Director for Digital, Sustainability & Resources, copies of which had been circulated to all Members and a copy of which is attached to the signed copy of these minutes as Item 6.

The report asked Members to approve and adopt the contents of the Treasury Management Strategy Statement and Annual Investment Strategy for 2021/22 to 2023/24 for Adur and Worthing Councils, as required by regulations issued under the Local Government Act 2003.

The Committee noted the inclusion of all current counterparty ratings in the report, as had been requested by the Joint Governance Committee following its consideration of the report on the 26th January. 

The recommendations were proposed by Councillor Daniel Humphreys, seconded by Councillor Elizabeth Sparkes and unanimously supported.

Decision 

The Joint Strategic Committee

       i.         approved and adopted the TMSS and AIS for 2021/22 to 2023/24, incorporating the Prudential Indicators and Limits, and MRP Statements, including the increase in the counterparty limit for the UK bank Handelsbanken from £3m to £4m for both Adur and Worthing Councils; and

     ii.         forwarded the Prudential Indicators and Limits, and MRP Statements of the report for approval by Worthing Council at its meeting on 23 February 2021, and by Adur Council at its meeting on 18 February 2021.

Call In:

The call-in deadline for decision (i) will be 5.00pm on 19 February 2021.

There is no call-in for recommendations (ii) to Adur and Worthing Councils.

To consider a report from the Director for Communities, a copy is attached as item 7.

Before the Committee was a report by the Director for Communities, copies of which had been circulated to all Members and a copy of which is attached to the signed copy of these minutes as Item 7.

Whilst the Councils could not completely avoid the financial impact of the Covid pandemic on more financially vulnerable residents, they could, through proactive use of data, mitigate and help manage that impact. The works reflected the ambitions of ‘And then…..’ in terms of understanding what has been uncovered and illuminated by the Covd-19 pandemic.

The purpose of this work was therefore:

·       To provide an overview of the research carried out on behalf of Adur & Worthing Councils by Policy in Practice to look at the impact of benefit and Covid support measure changes on our residents

·       To outline the implications and impact of what we have learnt from this research.

·       To outline planned interventions and next steps.

Members welcomed the report and expressed their support of the approach outlined.

The recommendations were proposed by Councillor Daniel Humphreys, seconded by Councillor Val Turner and unanimously supported.

Decision

The Joint Strategic Committee received and acknowledged the report presented and requested that the Director for Communities report back in 6 months as to the efficacy of the interventions planned to respond to this insight.

Call In:

The call-in deadline for this decision will be 5.00pm on 19 February 2021.

To consider a report from the Director for Director for Digital, Sustainability & Resources, a copy is attached as item 8.

Before the Committee was a report by the Director for Digital, Sustainability and Resources, copies of which had been circulated to all Members and a copy of which is attached to the signed copy of these minutes as Item 8.

The JSC adopted the councils' Carbon Neutral Plan on 3 December 2019. The paper updated members on key progress that had been made in the delivery of the Carbon Neutral Plan, in particular:

·       successful bids made to the Government's Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme (PSDS) totalling in excess of £1.7m; and

·       the development of a larger pipeline of projects through feasibility studies funded by the Government's Low Carbon Skills Fund (LCSF)

Projects funded through both external funding and from within the existing capital programme were detailed in Appendix 1.

Proposed next steps were set out in Section 6 of the report and approval was sought to create budgets to allow the programme to be delivered expediently and to procure contractors that enabled project delivery.

Additionally, the Committee had approved the joining of UK100, a network of ambitious local authorities tackling climate change on 6 November 2018.

Reflecting the increased ambition of central government, UK100 had since created a new Pledge. The paper recommended formally making this pledge, which reaffirmed the Councils' ambitions to tackle climate change through the Carbon Neutral Plan and Platforms for Our Places .

The recommendations in the report were proposed by Councillor Daniel Humphreys, seconded by Councillor Carson Albury and unanimously supported by the Committee.

Decision

The Joint Strategic Committee

·       noted the successful funding applications to the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme and Low Carbon Skills Fund;

·       approved an amendment to the General Fund capital programme budgets as follows:

o   Adur: £466,000 funded by external funding of £364,970 and a contribution from the contingency budget £101,030;

o   Worthing: £103,850 funded by external funding;

·       approved the amendment of the Adur Homes Capital Programme to include schemes of £1.697m funded from external funding of £1,329,200 and by £367,950 from within the 2021/22 Housing Investment Capital Programme;

·       delegated to the Director of Digital, Sustainability & Resources the negotiation and letting of any contracts associated with this programme of works in consultation with the Executive Members for Resources providing the same were within the approved budget;

·       noted the delivery timescales, consultation proposals and works involved in delivering the carbon reduction projects that formed part of the successful bid and that further bids had been made to the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme, as set out in paragraph 4.2 and Appendix 1; and

·       agreed that the Councils adopt the new UK100 Pledge, as outlined in Section 8, along with other leading councils and in line with the enhanced ambition shown by central government, as part of its recognition of the responsibility to tackle the climate emergency and protect the environment.                                                                                                                                         

Call In:

The call-in deadline for this decision will be 5.00pm on 19 February 2021.

To consider a report from the Director for Director for Digital, Sustainability & Resources, a copy is attached as item 9.

Before the Committee was a report by the Director for Digital, Sustainability & Resources, copies of which had been circulated to all Members and a copy of which is attached to the signed copy of these minutes as Item 9.

The report presented members with a significant strategic opportunity for Adur District and Worthing Borough Councils to introduce a large scale bike and e-bike rental scheme to Adur and Worthing through Brighton & Hove City Council’s new BTN Bikeshare Procurement Framework.

It confirmed that a full options appraisal, business case and funding strategy would be presented to the Joint Strategic Committee in the coming months, with the current stage being limited to approval to join the BHCC procurement framework thereby securing the option to participate.

The Committee was recommended to consider the benefits of the scheme in the context of expected post COVID commuter and transport patterns and the opportunity to lead and promote sustainable and active travel through a significant, large scale and impactful initiative that would widen access to cycling to a broader range of users through the provision of electric bikes.

The Committee was also recommended to consider the benefits of joining an existing, highly successful bike rental scheme in Brighton & Hove that could transform the way local people travel; open cycling to a wider audience; help reduce congestion, air pollution and

carbon emissions; improve the health of local communities; benefit the visitor economy and increase connectivity across our places.

Members welcomed the opportunity to engage with the wider scheme, acknowledging the need to provide an offer that was beneficial to all. 

The recommendations in the report were proposed by Councillor Daniel Humphreys, seconded by Councillor Angus Dunn and unanimously supported by the Committee.

Decision 

The Joint Strategic Committee

·       approved Adur District and Worthing Borough Council becoming party to the BTN Bikeshare Operator Procurement Framework to investigate the delivery of a new Bikeshare scheme under that Framework;

·       noted that officers would undertake a full appraisal of all options for delivery;

and explore opportunities to secure funding to support the operation of a

scheme; bringing proposals to JSC in Autumn 2021 for approval.

Call In:

The call-in deadline for the decision will be 5.00pm on 19 February 2021.

To consider a report from the Director for Communities, a copy is attached as item 10.

Before the Committee was a report by the Director for Communities, copies of which had been circulated to all Members and a copy of which is attached to the signed copy of these minutes as Item 10.

The Committee was recommended to introduce plans to build the councils’ data capability and capacity and to outline the resource requirements to support this ambition.

A member questioned whether there was an opportunity to build capacity in house. Officers advised that the internal skill set had been assessed in regards to where the Councils were and where they needed to get to. It was acknowledged that the skills required took a while to learn and therefore the proposal was to appoint a strong lead to upskill the wider workforce.

The Committee expressed support for the appointment of a Senior Data Analyst.

The recommendations in the report were proposed by Councillor Daniel Humphreys, seconded by Councillor Heather Mercer and unanimously supported by the Committee.

Decision 

The Joint Strategic Committee

·       approved the approach outlined in the report;

·       approved the appointment of a Data Lead in order to further develop the data capability, subject to confirmation of the budget at the February Council meetings.

Call In:

The call-in deadline for the decision will be 5.00pm on 19 February 2021.

To consider a report from the Director for Communities, a copy is attached as item 11

Before the Committee was a report by the Director for Communities, copies of which had been circulated to all Members and a copy of which is attached to the signed copy of these minutes as Item 11.

The Committee was recommended to share a review of the one year pilot of Worthing Homes’ use of the delegated power to issue Community Protection Warnings and Notices to their tenants causing anti-social behaviour and to agree the extension of the delegated authority to issue Community Protection Warnings and Notices to Worthing Homes for a further 12 months.

Members expressed support for the proposals having noted the benefits of doing this 12 months ago whilst acknowledging that that past 12 months had not been ideal for trialling the approach. 

The recommendations in the report were proposed by Councillor Daniel Humphreys, seconded by Councillor Val Turner and unanimously supported by the Committee.

Decision 

The Joint Strategic Committee agreed to extend the power delegated to Worthing Homes for a further 12 months and receive a report on the impact of the extended delegation in 12 months time.

Call In:

The call-in deadline for this decision will be 5.00pm on 19 February 2021.

To consider a report from the Director for Communities, a copy is attached as item 12.

Before the Committee was a report by the Director for Communities, copies of which had been circulated to all Members and a copy of which is attached to the signed copy of these minutes as Item 12.

The report set out a motion referred from the meeting of Worthing Borough Council on the 15th December 2020 which was presented to the Committee by Councillor Carl Walker.

The Joint Strategic committee was asked to consider and determine the Motion and could either support the motion and ask for further work to be carried out in this regard, or reject the motion.

Members debated the motion, acknowledging the pressures caused by the pandemic, the effect this was having on young people’s mental health and the ongoing work of the Councils with young people including mentoring schemes for children.  Members thanked Councillor Walker for raising this serious matter with the Joint Strategic Committee but did not support the approach set out in the motion to tackle these issues.

It was proposed by Councillor Kevin Jenkins that the motion be rejected, the proposal was seconded by Councillor Heather Mercer and supported by the Committee.

Decision

That the Joint Strategic Committee rejected the motion.

Call In:

The call-in deadline for this decision will be 5.00pm on 19 February 2021.

To consider a report from the Director for Communities, a copy is attached as item 13.

Before the Committee was a report by the Director for Communities, copies of which had been circulated to all Members and a copy of which is attached to the signed copy of these minutes as Item 13.

The report set out a motion referred from the meeting of Adur District Council on the 17th December 2020 which was presented to the Committee by Councillor Lavinia O’Connor.

The Joint Strategic committee was asked to consider and determine the Motion and could either support the motion and ask for further work to be carried out in this regard, or reject the motion.

Members debated the motion, acknowledging the pressures caused by the pandemic, the effect this was having on young people’s mental health and the ongoing work of the Councils with young people including mentoring schemes for children.  Members thanked Councillor O’Connor for raising this serious matter with the Joint Strategic Committee but did not support the approach set out in the motion to tackle these issues.

It was proposed by Councillor Kevin Boram that the motion be rejected, the proposal was seconded by Councillor Brian Boggis and supported by the Committee.

Decision 

That the Joint Strategic Committee rejected the motion.

Call In:

The call-in deadline for this decision will be 5.00pm on 19 February 2021.

To consider a report from the Director for Communities, a copy is attached as item 14.

Before the Committee was a report by the Director for Communities, copies of which had been circulated to all Members and a copy of which is attached to the signed copy of these minutes as Item 14.

The report set out a motion referred from the meeting of Adur District Council on the 17th December 2020 which was presented to the Committee by Councillor Debs Stainforth.

The Joint Strategic committee was asked to consider and determine the Motion and could either support the motion and ask for further work to be carried out in this regard, or reject the motion.

Members debated the motion, acknowledging the impact of Covid on residents, the work that the Council had been doing with community hubs and residents associations and the need to look at best practice from across the UK.

It was proposed by Councillor Brian Boggis that the motion be rejected, the proposal was seconded by Councillor Kevin Boram and supported by the Committee.

Decision

The Joint Strategic Committee rejected the motion.

Call In:

The call-in deadline for this decision will be 5.00pm on 19 February 2021.