Agenda and minutes

Venue: QEII Room, Shoreham Centre

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

Note: This meeting will convene on the rise of the Adur Joint Stratgic Sub-Committee 

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 interest.

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Minutes

To approve the minutes of the Joint Strategic Committee meeting held on 11 October 2022, copies of which have previously been circulated.

Minutes:

Resolved that the minutes from the Joint Strategic Committee meeting held on Tuesday 11 October 2022, 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 Wednesday 30th November 2022 to  Democratic Services, 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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Members Questions

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

 

Questions should be submitted by noon on Wednesday 30th November 2022 to  Democratic Services, democratic.services@adur-worthing.gov.uk  

 

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

 

Minutes:

There were no pre submitted questions from Members.

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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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2023/24 Budget Update pdf icon PDF 265 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 & 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 provided members with a progress report on the delivery of the financial strategy for 2023/24, along with details of the proposals that would help deliver a balanced budget for the next financial year and beyond. These proposals had already been considered by the constituent authorities.

 

Contained within the report were the specific budget proposals to increase income, to deliver efficiency, and other savings initiatives for 2023/24 which impacted on the Joint Strategic Committee

 

Members welcomed the report, thanking officers for all of the work undertaken to reach this point.

 

The recommendations set out in the report were unanimously supported.

 

Decision

 

The Joint Strategic Committee

 

(i)         Noted the current 5 year forecasts at appendix 1;

(ii)        Noted the committed growth items as set out in appendix 2; and

(iii)       Noted the proposed savings as set out in appendix 3 which had already been considered by the constituent authorities.

 

Call In:

 

The call-in deadline for the decision will be 5.00pm on the 16th December 2022.

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Joint Mid Year Treasury Management Review 2022/23 pdf icon PDF 383 KB

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

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 7.

 

The purpose of this and the other treasury management reports that were submitted during the year was to ensure that proper scrutiny was undertaken of the treasury and capital expenditure activities of the Councils and that the activities were conducted in a prudent manner in order to safeguard the financial position of the Councils.

 

Councils were required by regulations issued under the Local Government Act 2003 to produce a mid-year treasury management review of activities; and a review of performance against the prudential and treasury indicators for the year.

The key message arising from the report was that both Adur and Worthing Councils had complied with the approved policies and the indicators agreed prior to the start of the financial year with the exception of one minor breach as detailed within the report.

 

The report asked Members to note the Treasury Management mid-year performance for Adur and Worthing Councils at the 30 September 2022, as required by regulations issued under the Local Government Act 2003.

 

A Member sought clarification regarding the position with short term borrowing from local authorities at competitive interest rates. Officers advised that in terms of short term interest, local authorities were always active in the money markets, lending money to one another. It often represented better value than alternative sources of borrowing such as the PWLB. The Councils kept a percentage of their portfolio in short term borrowing because through asset disposal, there hopefully wouldn’t be a need for that borrowing in the longer term. The Council’s Treasury Advisers had also indicated that the latest economic forecast indicated that whilst there was a peak in interest rates around 2 months ago, those interest rates were expected to gradually decline over the next 2 to 3 years back down to a more affordable level. Therefore, part of the Council’s strategy was to keep a proportion of the debt portfolio invested short term, in order to take advantage, when rates fall, of longer term borrowing at lower rates, rather than fixing the position at the higher rates currently available.           

 

Decision 

 

The Joint Strategic Committee noted the contents of the report.

 

Call In:

 

The call-in deadline for the decision will be 5.00pm on the 16th December 2022.

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JOSC report on the review of Adur and Worthing Evening and Night-time Economy pdf icon PDF 202 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 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.

 

Councillors Loader and McGregor attended the meeting to present the findings and recommendations of the Working Group.

 

The Committee was asked to receive and consider the findings and revised recommendations of the Joint Overview and Scrutiny Committee (JOSC) review on the Adur and Worthing evening and night time economy (ENTE). These recommendations followed on from the discussions of a Working Group set up by JOSC and also the earlier consideration by the JSC on 5 July 2022. A copy of the revised recommendations from the

Working Group was attached to the report as Appendix 1.

 

The Working Group had identified a number of findings and considered that its report could assist the Councils and other agencies in developing the ENTE for the benefit of local communities, businesses and visitors to the areas.

 

It was requested that the work be reviewed through alternate 6 monthly reviews for Adur and Worthing.

 

Decision

 

The Joint Strategic Committee agreed to refer the findings and recommendations from JOSC and its Working Group to the relevant Adur and Worthing Cabinet Members (Adur Cabinet Member for Communities and Wellbeing and the Worthing Cabinet Member for Culture & Leisure) who had responsibility for this area of work, for consideration and action, the outcomes from which should be reported back to JOSC as part of the annual reviews of the ENTE which are to be included on the JOSC Work Programme. .

 

Call In:

 

The call-in deadline for the decision will be 5.00pm on the 16th December 2022.

 

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Falls Prevention - Inter Authority Agreement pdf icon PDF 136 KB

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

Minutes:

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 sought agreement to enter into an inter authority agreement with Mid Sussex District Council (MSDC) to deliver a countywide falls prevention programme, as part of the Wellbeing programme of activities, externally funded through the partnership arrangement with West Sussex County Council (WSCC).

 

An agreement would enable the procurement of a falls prevention programme consistent with other District and Boroughs in West Sussex, to be carried out by MSDC on behalf of Adur & Worthing Councils.

 

The current contract with an external provider to deliver a Falls Prevention programme contract had been in place since 2019 and was due to end March 2023. The council had been working in collaboration with WSCC Public Health and the other District and Boroughs with the aim of developing and procuring a coordinated countywide evidence based Falls Prevention programme based at District and Borough level, through a single contract from April 2023 to March 2027.

 

A Member sought clarification in regards to the financial implications of not delivering this work through an inter authority agreement. Officers advised that it was benefits around recruitment rather than financial implications that favoured an inter authority agreement.   

 

It was proposed that the recommendations be amended to delegate authority to the Director for Communities to enter into the inter authority agreement. The amended recommendations were unanimously supported.

 

Decision

 

The Joint Strategic Committee

 

      i.        Delegated authority to the Director for Communities to enter into an inter authority agreement with Mid Sussex District Council for the provision of a local Falls Prevention Programme from 2023;

 

     ii.        noted that Mid Sussex District Council had agreed to lead the procurement on behalf of West Sussex District and Borough Councils; tender documents had been drafted in collaboration with the District and Boroughs and WSCC Public Health, with the intention of carrying out market testing with potential providers during November-December 2022, before going out to tender. Due to the timescales there was likely to be a break in delivery from March 2023

 

Call In:

 

The call-in deadline for the decision will be 5.00pm on the 16th December 2022.