Agenda and draft 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.

There were no declarations of interest.  

To approve the minutes of the Joint Strategic Committee meeting held on 8 February 2023, copies of which have previously been circulated.

Resolved: that the minutes from the Joint Strategic Committee meeting held on 8 February 2024, be approved as the correct record

To receive any questions from members of the public.

Questions should be submitted by noon on Thursday 7 March 2024 to Democratic Services, democratic.services@adur-worthing.gov.uk    

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

There were no questions from the public.

Pre-submitted Members questions are pursuant to rule 12 of the Council & Committee Procedure Rules.

Questions should be submitted by noon on Thursday 7 March 2024 to Democratic Services, democratic.services@adur-worthing.gov.uk    

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

There were no pre submitted questions from Members.

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 by the Assistant Director of Housing and Homelessness Prevention, copy attached as item 6

Before the Committee was a report by the Director for Housing Wellbeing, 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 before Members provided an update for both councils on the progress made against the Housing Strategy 2020-2024. Provided a summary of the Homelessness & Rough Sleeping assessment, and requested an extension to the housing and homelessness strategies (Housing Strategy 2020-2023, Temporary Accommodation  placement & Procurement Policy, Community Homelessness Prevention Strategy 2017-2022)  The report further asked Members to approve updates to the respective Choice Based Lettings Policies detailed in section 4.

Members supported the approach taken by officers and noted the unprecedented pressure on Housing.

Decision

1.    That the following strategies and policies be extended until the end of 2024

a)    Housing Strategy 2020-2023

b)    Temporary Accommodation Placement and Procurement Policy

c)    Community Homelessness Strategy

2.    That the progress and plans underway to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping contained within the report be noted.

3.    That changes to the respective Councils Choice Based Lettings Policies be approved.

4.    That Minor changes to be delegated to the Director of Housing and Communities in consultation with the respective Cabinet Members (Cabinet Member for Adur Homes and Customer Services and Cabinet Member for Housing and Citizen Services for Worthing) and wider approval for more significant changes detailed in section 4

Call In: The call-in deadline for the decision will be 5.00pm on 21 March 2024

To consider a report by the Assistant Director for People and Change, copy attached as item 7

Before the Committee was a report by the Assistant Director for People and Change, 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

This report updated the Joint Strategic Committee (JSC) on the reporting and governance for the Organisational Design programme. Members were told that subsequent updates will be brought to the JSC at regular intervals.

Members supported the approach being taken by officers and recognised the need for rapid change. Members explored measures to improve staff resilience and the range of support that would be available to staff during the process.

Decision 

1.    That the scope of the programme, the development of the operating models and roadmaps for the initial first group of areas of focus and delegate decisions on the delivery of the programme to the Chief Executive be noted and agreed.

2.    That the reporting format for the tracking of the delivery of the programme be agreed.

Call In:

The call-in deadline for the decision will be 5.00pm on 21 March 2024

To consider a report by the Director for Sustainability and Resources, copy attached as item 8

Before the Committee was a report by the Director for 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 updated the Joint Strategic Committee with the latest expenditure and income projections for both Adur District Council and Worthing Borough Council for the financial year 2023/24, compared to the Revenue Budget approved by both councils in February. Whilst the 'spend to date' would be the position as at the 30th December 2023, the forecast outturn position will reflect the latest information available to ensure an up-to-date forecast is presented.

The outturn projection for the 2023/24 financial year for the Worthing Borough Council General Fund was a net overspend after reserve transfers of £1.657m and for the Adur District Council General Fund a net underspend after reserve transfers of £299k. A breakdown was set out in section 5.1 of the report.

The position had been achieved as a result of a very significant in-year spend controls and savings process, However the savings achieved had been largely counteracted by significant emerging pressures.

Decision 

1.    That the report and projected outturn position for Worthing Borough Council against the approved revenue budgets and proposed use of reserves be noted (Appendix 2b).

2.    That the report and projected outturn position for Adur District Council against the approved revenue budgets and proposed use of reserves be noted (Appendix 3b).

Call In:

The call-in deadline for the decision will be 5.00pm on 21 March 2024