Agenda and minutes

Venue: Council Chamber, Worthing Town Hall

Contact: Neil Terry
Democratic Services Lead
01903 221073  Email: neil.terry@adur-worthing.gov.uk

Note: There will be limited public access to the meeting. Admission is by prior arrangement only, bookable via democratic.services@adur-worthing.gov.uk. The meeting will also be available to watch live via the media link below. 

Items
No. Item

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Declarations of Interests

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.

Minutes:

 

There were no declarations of pecuniary interest.   

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Minutes

To approve the minutes of the Joint Strategic Committee meeting held on 7 September 2021, copies of which have been previously circulated.

Minutes:

Resolved that the minutes from the Joint Strategic Committee meeting held on 7 September 2021, were approved as an accurate record and signed by the Chairman.

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Public Question Time

To receive any questions from members of the public.

 

Questions should be submitted by noon on Tuesday 5 October 2021 to Democratic Services via democratic.services@adur-worthing.gov.uk   

 

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

Minutes:

There were no questions from the public.

     

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Items Raised under Urgency Provisions

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

Minutes:

There were no items raised under urgency provisions.

 

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Towards a Safer Adur and Worthing- Introducing the Adur and Worthing Safer Communities Partnership Strategy (2021-2024) pdf icon PDF 1 MB

To consider a report from the Interim Director for Communities, a copy is attached as item 5.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Before the Committee was a report by the Interim 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 5.

 

The report presented the new Adur and Worthing Safer Communities Partnership Strategy 2021-2024 which set out how the Councils would work together to improve safety and feelings of safety for all who live, work and visit Adur and Worthing.

 

Adur and Worthing Councils had a dual role in the Safer Communities Partnership, as lead partner in facilitating and monitoring partnership activity but also through maximising opportunities to embed community safety priorities through service delivery, contracts and commissioned projects. Through relationships and interactions with the community, the councils were also ideally placed to identify opportunities to take an early intervention approach in preventing harm.

 

The Committee noted that whilst the lead for many of the work streams would sit with partner agencies, Adur and Worthing Councils needed to ensure they were also embedded across all of the councils services, if the Councils were to play there part in the systems change required to ensure safer lives for communities in Adur and Worthing.

 

The Committee was advised that an updated version of the strategy (including the foreword) had been added to the website and circulated in advance of the meeting. In addition, the recommendations had been revised as follows:-

 

·         to note the strategy was led by the Adur and Worthing Safer Communities Partnership and the Councils role was as a lead partner of this strategy;

 

·         to consider and endorse the content of this Strategy, recommending its approval to both Adur and Worthing Full Councils.

 

Members discussed the consultation process, the use of social media as a consultation toolkit and how the strategy linked with other strategies such as Health and Open Spaces. 

 

The amended recommendations were proposed by Councillor Sean McDonald, seconded by Councillor Emma Evans and unanimously supported.

 

Decision

 

The Joint Strategic Committee

 

·         noted the strategy was led by the Adur and Worthing Safer Communities Partnership and the Councils role was as a lead partner of this strategy;

 

·         considered and endorsed the content of this Strategy, recommending its approval to both Adur and Worthing Full Councils.

 

 

 

Call In:

 

The call-in deadline for decision (i) will be 5.00pm on 18 October 2021.

 

There is no call-in for recommendation 2 to Adur and Worthing Full Councils.

 

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Carbon Neutral 2030: Working towards the councils’ carbon neutral target: progress update pdf icon PDF 354 KB

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

Minutes:

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 6.

 

On 9 July 2019 Joint Strategic Committee (JSC) declared a ‘Climate Emergency’. As part of the declaration, Members committed to work towards becoming carbon neutral by 2030.

 

The report presented the second annual update on progress towards this target. When compared to the previous year, emissions from the councils' buildings and fleet reduced by 7.4%, including variations as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.

 

An update on current carbon reduction projects was presented and it was estimated that the councils would deliver projects to save 188 tonnes of carbon this year.

 

A new project for delivery in 2021/22 at Tollbridge House was presented. This replaced the previously approved project at Marsh House, which had had to be paused due to unforeseen costs.

 

A trajectory of future carbon emissions to 2030 was presented in Section 8 of the report. This used indicative pipeline projects to map a potential route to meeting the 2030 target, subject to viable business cases being developed.

 

Consideration was given to the increased costs associated with the Marsh House project, impacts associated with increased gas prices and further reduction of the Council’s Carbon Footprint.

 

The recommendation was proposed by Councillor Daniel Humphreys, seconded by Councillor Angus Dunn and unanimously supported.

 

Decision 

 

The Joint Strategic Committee noted:

 

?          the councils' current carbon emissions and carbon reduction work programme;

 

?          the trajectory of future emissions reductions which aimed to ensure the

councils meet their carbon neutral 2030 target; and             

 

?          that further funding bids might be made, in consultation with the relevant          

executive member, and that if required further reports would brief members on the outcome of the bidding process.

 

The Joint Strategic Committee approved:

 

?          the publication of the carbon emissions report on the council website and the

submission of these figures to external bodies where required by membership

(e.g. UK100); and

 

?          the changes to the carbon reduction work programme for 2021/22,

specifically the replacement of the project at Marsh House with one at

Tollbridge House.

 

The Joint Strategic Committee delegated authority to the Director of Digital, Sustainability & Resources for the negotiation and letting of any contracts associated with the Tollbridge House heat replacement project providing the cost was within the approved budget.

 

Call In:

 

The call-in deadline for decision will be 5.00pm on 18 October 2021.

 

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Southwick Estate Consultation pdf icon PDF 954 KB

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

Minutes:

Before the Committee was a report by the Director for the Economy, 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.

 

The report updated members on the initial engagement with Southwick Estate residents to improve housing standards in the area.

 

The report sought agreement from the Joint Strategic Committee for continued engagement with residents and leaseholders and to conduct a full options appraisal to identify the best way forward for the estate.

 

Members sought clarification regarding the budget for this work and were advised that monies were to be released from reserves for this purpose, rather than being redirected from other projects. 

 

The recommendations, as set out in the report, were proposed by Councillor Angus Dunn, seconded by Councillor Carson Albury and unanimously supported by the Committee.

 

Decision

 

The Joint Strategic Committee:         

 

I.               approved funding of £454,100 to conduct stages 2 and 3 of the engagement and         options development work on the future of the estate funded from the new development and acquisition reserve;

 

II.              delegated authority to the Head of Major Projects & Investment to enter into any contracts      necessary for the appointments above within the allocated budget; and

 

III.            noted that following stage 3, a further report would be presented to the Joint Strategic Committee to consider project progress and determine a preferred option.

 

Call In:

 

The call-in deadline for decision will be 5.00pm on 18 October 2021.

* At 7.14pm, Councillors Parkin, Dunn and Evans left the meeting in accordance with the Joint Committee Agreement

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Carbon Neutral 2030: Worthing Heat Network: progress update pdf icon PDF 521 KB

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

Minutes:

Before the Committee was a report by the Interim Director 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 report set out the progress made since March 2021 to deliver a flagship heat decarbonisation scheme in the centre of Worthing.

 

The proposal would enable 8 council-owned buildings, multiple other public sector buildings (WSCC, MoJ, NHS and Sussex Police) along with major development sites to switch to very low-carbon heat in a cost effective manner.

 

The report updated members that the funding application to the Heat Network Investment Programme (HNIP), submitted following the Joint Strategic Committee meeting in March, had been successful and that council had been awarded the following amounts:

 

? £950,000 grant funding for Commercialisation;

? £3.158m grant monies for Construction; plus

? £1.275m loan funding (at 0.01% interest) for construction.

 

Delegated authority had been given to the Director for Digital, Sustainability & Resources to accept this funding in March 2021. Officers were currently working on finalising the Grant and Loan agreements ahead of officially accepting the award and drawing down the commercialisation funding.

 

The proposed next steps for this project were set out in the report with Members' continued endorsement being sought to the approach, ahead of a further report detailing the conclusion of the procurement process.

 

The recommendation was proposed by Councillor Daniel Humphreys, seconded by Councillor Kevin Jenkins and unanimously supported.

 

Decision

 

The Joint Strategic Committee

 

1.     noted the receipt of funding under a Grant Funding Agreement from HNIP, totalling £950,000 for the Commercialisation Phase of the Heat Network and, subject to Conditions set by HNIP being met during the Commercialisation phase, approved the further receipt of:

 

                         i.         £3.158m grant monies for Construction; plus

                       ii.         £1.275m loan funding (at 0.01% interest) for construction.

 

2.     authorised the Director for Digital, Sustainability and Resources to enter into the HNIP Funding Agreements;

3.     noted and endorsed the next steps for the Worthing Heat Network;

4.     approved an amendment of the 2021/22 revenue budget by £950,000 to fund the commercialisation element of the project;

5.     approved the amendment of the 2022/23 capital programme for a contribution of £4.433m towards the construction of a heat network;

6.     authorised the Director for Digital, Sustainability and Resources to enter into any contracts for expenditure of HNIP funding to progress the two phases of the Heat Network delivery; and

 

7.     requested that a further updating report be brought to the Committee prior to the commencement of the procurement process.                        

 

Call In:

 

The call-in deadline for decision will be 5.00pm on 18 October 2021.