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 made.

To receive any questions from members of the public.

Questions should be submitted by noon on Friday 2nd September 2022 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.

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

There were no urgent items raised.

To consider a report from the Director for Digital, Sustainability and Resources, a copy is attached as item 4.

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 4.

The report updated the Joint Strategic Sub Committees for Adur District and Worthing Borough Councils with the latest expenditure and income projections for each Council for the current financial year 2022/23, compared with the Revenue Budget approved by both Councils in February. Whilst the 'spend to date' was the position as at the 30th June 2022, the forecast outturn position reflected the latest information available to ensure an up-to-date forecast was presented.

As at quarter 1, the current projection for the 2022/23 financial year General Fund outturn were net overspends after reserve transfers of £239k in Adur and £2.345m in Worthing. A breakdown was set out in section 4.4 of the report.

Members discussed the number of voids and how annual inspections might assist in reducing numbers moving forwards. Officers replied that naturally, voids occurred when tenancies came to an end, either through the choice of a tenant or for another reason.   The Council always budgeted for a level of voids and there was a turnaround procedure where the Council went into a property to inspect and ensure that all essential certificates were brought up to date in compliance with the relevant legislation. In any normal time the Council would expect 30% of voids to be in need of significant maintenance and 70% could be turned around quickly. Some of the properties that were currently void, required significant repair. The Council had contractors in place to undertake those repairs but this work was likely to take some time. Procedures had been reviewed and there was a new surveyor on the case with the result being that the Council was beginning to clear its void properties.    

The recommendations in the report were unanimously supported.    

Decision

The Adur Joint Strategic Sub Committee noted the report and projected outturn position for the Joint Committee and Adur District Council against the approved revenue budgets and proposed use of reserves (Appendix 1b).

Call-in

The call-in deadline for the decision will be 5.00pm on the 20th September 2022.

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

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 5.

The report updated the Adur Sub-Committee of the Joint Strategic Committee on the progress made on the delivery of the 2022/23 Capital Investment Programmes for Adur District Council, Worthing Borough Council. The programmes included schemes which supported the delivery of services by the Joint Services Committee.

It was proposed, seconded and unanimously agreed that recommendations (III) and (IV) be amended to add the wording ‘.....in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Environment & Leisure’.

The recommendations, as amended, were unanimously supported. 

Decision

The Adur Joint Strategic Sub-Committee:-

      I.        noted the reprofiling of the Adur District Council capital schemes as advised in paragraphs 7.2.1 and Appendix 2;

    II.        approved the ring-fencing of capital receipts from the sale of the Parks Service redundant equipment and vehicles for funding new equipment and vehicles for the Parks Service as detailed in paragraph 6.1.1;

   III.        approved the addition of the replacement of end of life play equipment in Adur Recreation Ground, funded by S106 receipts, to the 2022/23 Capital Investment Programme in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Environment & Leisure;

  IV.        approved the addition of the £100,000 Changing Places Facilities Grant to the 2022/23 Capital Investment Programme in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Environment & Leisure.

Call-in

The call-in deadline for the decision will be 5.00pm on the 20th September 2022.

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 report outlined the publication of the Transport for the South East (TfSE) Draft Strategic Investment Plan (SIP) and provided an opportunity for members of the Sub-Committee to respond to the current consultation on the SIP.

Members welcomed the holistic study, unanimously supporting the recommendations as set out in the report.

Decision

The Adur Joint Strategic Sub-Committee:-

That in response to the consultation on the Draft Strategic Investment Plan (SIP), members of the Sub-Committee welcomed:

·         the potential environmental, social and economic benefits that could be delivered from the SIP’s emphasis on integrating transport, digital and energy networks, together with a high-quality, reliable, safe, and accessible transport network;

·         recognition in the SIP that achieving the scale of investment needed to reduce carbon emissions in line with national policy will require fundamental changes to existing funding mechanisms for transport infrastructure;

·         the SIP’s emphasis on linking regional policy with local initiatives such as those set out in Adur’s Local Cycling and Walking Improvement Plan (LCWIP).

That members of the Sub-Committee supported:

·         the SIP’s emphasis on transforming east – west connectivity and enhancing east – west corridors to the same level as radial links to and from London;

·         the package of place based ‘Solent and the Sussex Coast’ interventions that would benefit Adur, including Sussex Coast Rail; Sussex Coast Bus Mass Transit; and Sussex Coast Active Travel packages;

·         the specific inclusion in the SIP of a long term highways proposal to resolve the challenges presented by the A27 road in Worthing as part of an integrated approach to planning for transport in the region.

That members of the Sub-Committee:

·         recognised that statutory status for Transport for the South East would help to drive delivery of the SIP and empower TfSE to explore funding solutions; procurement options and work with constituent local authorities to leverage funding of the scale needed to deliver major infrastructure projects;

·         would welcome the inclusion of references in the SIP to Adur District and the regeneration of the Western Harbour Arm of Shoreham Port in particular, as a strategically significant contributor to the business case for rail and mass transit interventions;

·         recognised that whilst the SIP’s inclusion of a long term solution to the A27 is welcome, the impact of congestion in Worthing remains a major problem that has an adverse impact on local quality of life and is of regional significance. The SIP’s long term proposal should not therefore preclude other bodies such as National Highways, making short and medium term interventions to improve local quality of life that are consistent with the SIP’s decarbonisation objectives.

Call-in

The call-in deadline for the decision will be 5.00pm on the 20th September 2022.