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.

There were no declarations of interest.

To approve the minutes of the Joint Strategic Committee meeting held on 8 September 2020, copies of which have been previously circulated.

Resolved that the minutes from the Joint Strategic Committee meeting held on 8 September 2020, 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 2 October 2020 to Democratic Services, democratic.services@adur-worthing.gov.uk    

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

No public questions were received prior to this 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 Communities, a copy is attached as item 5.

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 5.

The report briefed Members on the proposed, and recommended, product build and launch of a new Commercial Food Waste (CFW) collection service for Adur and Worthing businesses.

Authority was sought to proceed with the proposals and delegate authority, where appropriate, to the Director for Communities to procure equipment and tender for contracts, where required, to operate the service.

During discussion of the item, Members sought clarification regarding whether the proposed scheme would lead to a residential food waste collection service, whether 1 vehicle would be sufficient, whether the Councils would look to generate an income stream from the fuel that was created through anaerobic digestion and whether this was the best time to launch the service.

It was noted that the proposed scheme was separate to residential food waste collections, it was for business food waste collections only. The scheme would enable the Councils to learn more about the collection of food waste, however, it was noted that the volumes involved with a residential food waste collection service would necessitate West Sussex County Council taking the lead as it would not be a revenue generating scheme like the one proposed. The Committee was informed that the number of customers would ultimately determine the number of vehicles required to deliver the service. It was proposed that 1 food waste collection vehicle be purchased initially and this would be reviewed dependent on the success of the scheme. Members were informed that Councils had been in talks with compressed natural gas providers for a closed loop of an anaerobic digester and would be looking to do something along those lines in years 2 and 3 of the scheme.

In regards to the timing of the launch, it was noted that by launching now, the costs for some customers would be reduced, equally the Councils could take on more contracts from people who had been less well served elsewhere. It was noted that there were competitors out there who had not been thriving as a result of the pandemic and it was possible that the Councils could provide a better service to those customers. Whilst there was the potential for a small loss from the proposals, it was based on moving existing customers onto the proposed food waste collection. If the service took on 10 additional bins, from new customers, the Councils would be looking at making a surplus.

Members sought clarification regarding the expenditure split proposed whilst acknowledging that the proposals opened significant opportunities for the Councils and would hopefully improve sustainability. 

The proposals were unanimously supported by the Committee. 

Decision: 

The Joint Strategic Committee

delegated authority to the Director for Communities to procure for, and purchase, a waste food collection vehicle;

delegated authority to the Director for Communities to procure a food waste disposal agent,  ...  view the full minutes text for item JSC/55/20-21

To consider a report from the Director for the Economy, a copy is attached as item 6.

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 6.

The Committee was updated on the government’s Kickstart Scheme, including the intended outcomes and the mechanisms of delivery.

The report set out Adur & Worthing Councils’ strong commitment to supporting young people through Kickstart, and highlighted options for the Councils involvement.

In addition, the Committee’s support was sought for the proposed approach to supporting the Kickstart scheme.

A Member sought clarification regarding the timeline for implementing the scheme, the number of hours supported by the scheme and whether employers would be able to pay any additional hours worked. Officers advised that 25 hours were supported by the scheme which was due to start in November 2020 and ran until December 2021. Officers agreed to provide a written response to the query regarding employers paying for additional hours worked.

Members welcomed this incisive intervention and unanimously approved the proposals.

Decision: 

The Joint Strategic Committee

1.1    noted the approach proposed for the Councils to be ready to become a Kickstart gateway for partner organisations and / or businesses;

1.2    agreed to the Councils seeking to host a number of Kickstart placements over the duration of the scheme period.

Call In:

The call-in deadline for this decision will be 5.00pm on 16 October 2020.

To consider a report from the Director for Digital, Sustainability & Resources, a copy is attached as item 7.

Before the Committee was a report by the Director for Digital & 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 7.

Councillor Andy McGregor, Chairman of the Working Group, attended the meeting to present the Working Group’s report to the Committee.

The Joint Strategic Committee was asked to receive and note the findings and recommendations of the Joint Overview and Scrutiny Committee (JOSC) review on the alternate weekly refuse and recycling collection service. The recommendations followed on from the discussions of a Working Group set up by JOSC. A copy of the Working Group’s report was attached to the report as Appendix 1.

The Committee noted that the Working Group was generally pleased with the way that the new alternate weekly refuse and recycling service had been introduced in September 2019 and was also pleased that the introduction of the new service had seen an increase in overall recycling and a reduction in general waste collected. However, the Working Group had identified some recommendations which it considered would assist the Councils in increasing recycling rates and providing better information on recycling in general to the Adur and Worthing communities.

The Committee thanked Cllr McGregor and the Working Group for their work, acknowledging that more should be done to encourage and remind people about what they could and should be recycling. It was noted that Worthing Borough Council were members of both the Local Government Association and District Councils Network, the Leader of Worthing was the lead member for this portfolio of work for the latter, and that meetings had been held with senior government officials from the department for the environment where they were working up the Environment Bill and Waste and Resources Strategy for future years. Enhanced producer responsibility was an emerging element of this work that the Leader of Worthing BC was supportive of and which linked closely to the topic under discussion. Seeking to support and influence helped to put more pressure on the big companies, not just the supermarkets, about all the extra packaging that consumers really didn’t need. 

Decision: 

The Joint Strategic Committee.

1.     noted the report, findings and recommendations from the JOSC Working Group; and

2.     agreed to receive a report in December 2020 on the issues raised by the JOSC and consideration of the implications for each recommendation contained in the Scrutiny report at Appendix 1 in order for the Executive to provide a formal response to the JOSC. 

Call In:

The call-in deadline for this decision will be 5.00pm on 16 October 2020.

The Chairman advised of a change to the order of the agenda, advising that Item 10 would be considered before Item 8.

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

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 10.

Worthing Borough Council introduced a Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) to allow funds to be raised from developers to pay for infrastructure that was needed to support growth. The Council adopted the Charging Schedule for CIL in February 2015 and implementation of the levy commenced in October 2015.

Given the time that had lapsed and the change in market conditions, a review of the CIL Charging Schedule was needed. Council appointed consultants undertook a review of the current charging schedule and their recommendations formed the revised CIL draft Charging Schedule. The draft Charging Schedule was consulted on for 8 weeks between June and August 2020.

The report provided an update on the revised CIL draft Charging Schedule (DCS) consultation and proposed that the document was now submitted for examination.

A Member asked whether the Worthing CIL would be superseded by the proposed National Infrastructure Levy. Officers advised that there was no timeline, as yet, for the implementation of the new legislation, therefore, it was necessary that Worthing’s Charging Schedule was appropriate and kept up to date. It wouldn’t be appropriate to continue charging if the Council had evidence that suggested that it was affecting the viability of some brownfield developments. 

The recommendations were unanimously approved by the Committee.

Decision: 

The Joint Strategic Committee

1.     noted the progress made and the responses received from the public consultation on the revised CIL draft Charging Schedule;

2.     noted the modifications made to the draft Charging Schedule since the consultation;

3.     agreed to minor changes to the Schedule in consultation with the Worthing Executive Member for Regeneration, if required, prior to submission; and

4.     approved the submission of the formal revised draft CIL Charging Schedule for examination.

Call In:

The call-in deadline for this decision will be 5.00pm on 16 October 2020.

To consider a report from the Director for Communities, a copy is attached as item 8.

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 8.

The report provided details of the small sites programme, which was planned to develop up to 56 new affordable homes on Adur Council owned sites.

Members were asked to comment on or remove any schemes considered unsuitable for further consideration following the recent consultation exercise and approval was sought for an increase to the capital programme of £15.934m, funded from borrowing and external funding, to enable the programme to progress.

Members considered the viability of the sites within the programme and concluded that some were marginal. Concerns were raised about the inclusion of the Downs Way site, as it had been considered a number of times in the past and set aside due to a number of issues including access and parking.

An amendment to recommendation (v) was proposed by Councillor Neil Parkin, seconded by Councillor Angus Dunn and the recommendations, as amended, were unanimously approved.

Decision: 

The Joint Strategic Committee

      i.        noted the progress on the schemes and approved the approach being taken;

     ii.        noted the list of included sites set out at section 4.6 of the report, based on the feedback from the recent public consultation exercise, and agreed the amendment of the list to remove Downs Way;

    iii.        approved the business plan;

   iv.        recommended that Adur District Council approve the  proposed capital expenditure of £15.935m from the development budget to deliver the projects funded by grant of £2.24m and prudential borrowing of £13.695m;

    v.        any proposed substitutions or amendments to the sites within the programme, to be agreed by the Joint Strategic Committee; and

   vi.        approved the principle of the sale of sites to aid delivery of the programme and reduce potential rents should the need arise. Delegation to be given to the Director for Communities, in consultation with the Adur District Council  Executive Member for Customer Services and the Leader of Adur Council, to agree sites for disposal;

  vii.        delegated authority to the Director for Communities, following a tender process, to award the building contracts and all associated contracts to enable delivery of the sites.

Call In:

The call-in deadline for decisions (i), (ii), (iii), (v), (vi) and (vii) will be 5.00pm on 16 October 2020.

There is no call-in for recommendations to meetings of Adur and Worthing Councils, decision (iv).

To consider a report from the Director for Communities, a copy is attached as item 9.

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 9.

The report updated Members on the draft Leasehold Management Policy and sought approval to consult Adur Homes Leaseholders on the policy.

The Committee welcomed the report and unanimously approved the proposals.

Decision: 

That the Joint Strategic Committee

1.     approved the draft Leasehold Management Policy for consultation with Adur Homes Leaseholders; and

2.     requested that a further report on the outcome of that consultation and recommendations be brought to the Joint Strategic Committee meeting in December 2020.

Call In:

The call-in deadline for this decision will be 5.00pm on 16 October 2020.