Decisions

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 10.

The report requested additional resources for this financial year (2022/23) from Adur District Council’s reserves for the Housing Revenue Account to accelerate the work required to ensure Adur Homes complied with health and safety regulations. 

Members welcomed the report and unanimously supported the proposals.

Decision

The Adur Joint Strategic Sub-Committee

      i.        Approved the provision of additional resources, in that £47,410 be released from the Capacity Issues Reserve to support the proposed programme of Health and Safety work; and

     ii.        Noted that the residual £99,090 would be funded through the HRA revenue budget in 2023/24.  

Call-in

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

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 8.

The Committee was asked to recommend to Adur District Council the criteria for the Council Tax Support Scheme in respect of 2023/24.

Decision

The Adur Joint Strategic Sub-Committee

A.         Noted the content of the report;

B.         Recommended to Adur District Council that the Council Tax Support scheme for Adur District Council in respect of working age customers for 2023/24 should

i.          Include a new provision that a valid claim for Council Tax Support would be deemed to have been made by customers who had been awarded Universal Credit and indicated that they wished to claim Council Tax Support (unless further information was required to enable entitlement to be determined)

ii.          Be based upon the scheme for 2022/23 with no restrictions; and

iii.         Not be further altered with any other changes beyond necessary technical amendments required to keep the scheme consistent with the national rules in respect of Housing Benefit

Call-in

There is no call-in for recommendations to Full Council.

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 7.

The report provided members with a progress report on the delivery of the councils’ 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.

The report outlined the medium term financial challenge through to 2027/28 and updated members, where possible, on government funding proposals.

Contained within the report were specific budget proposals to increase income, to deliver efficiency, and other savings initiatives for 2023/24.

Members welcomed the report, thanked officers for all of their work which had been undertaken in extremely difficult financial circumstances and unanimously approved the recommendations outlined in the report.

Decision

The Adur Joint Strategic Sub-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)       Approved the proposed savings as set out in appendix 3; and

(iv)       Recommended to council to approve the use of capital receipts to support the delivery of the budget as set out in Appendix 4.

Call-in

The call-in deadline for decisions (i), (ii) and (iii) will be 5.00pm on the 16th December 2022.

There is no call-in for recommendations (iv) to Full Council.

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 7.

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.

The programme included schemes which supported the delivery of services by the Joint Services Committee.

Members welcomed the report, acknowledged the work being carried out post pandemic and unanimously supported the recommendations.

Decision

The Adur Joint Strategic Sub-Committee

i)          noted the reprofiling of the Adur District Council capital schemes as advised in paragraphs 6.1 and Appendix 2;

ii)         noted the scheme removed from the Capital Investment Programme as advised in paragraph 6.2;

iii)         approved the provision of Commerce Way female facilities and the upgrade of the male showers, and the addition of the schemes to the 2022/23 Capital Investment Programme funded from contingency as detailed in paragraph 6.3.1;

iv)        approved the procurement of COSHH Management Software, and the addition of the scheme to the 2022/23 Capital Investment Programme funded from capital contingency as detailed in paragraph 6.3.2.

Call-in

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

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

As at quarter 2, the current outturn projection for the 2022/23 financial year for the Adur District Council General Fund was a net overspend after reserve transfers of £64,000. A breakdown was set out in section 4.4 of the report.

Members welcomed the report and paid thanks to the officers for all of their work in getting to this position.

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 2b).

Call-in

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

Before the Committee was a report by the Director for Digital, Sustainability & Resources, presented by the Cabinet Member for 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 13.

A motion was raised at the meeting of Worthing Borough Council on the 22nd February 2022, which was subsequently supported by the Joint Strategic Committee in March 2022.

Since March 2022, the new administration had been developing its priorities working with officers, as illustrated in the New Economic Principles report on the Committee’s agenda.

The purpose of the report was to acknowledge the strategic importance of Fair Trade in the Council’s approach to the local economy, procurement and sustainability.

The report highlighted the opportunities in forthcoming strategy and policy development work where support for Fair Trade could be embedded.

The recommendations in the report were proposed by Councillor Silman, seconded by Councillor Taylor and unanimously supported. 

Decision

The Worthing Joint Strategic Sub-Committee 

1.    Requested that officers engage with the Fair Trade Steering Group with a view to supporting their renewal of Fair Trade Community Status, and helping connect them with support and funding opportunities where needed.

2.    Agreed that Fair Trade and its principles be embedded in the strategy and policy development work outlined in the New Economic Principles report presented on this agenda, including procurement and contracts.

3.    Requested that officers appropriately promote Fair Trade through its communications channels as part of driving towards a fair, green and local economy.

Call-in

The call-in deadline for the decision will be 5.00pm on the 15th December 2022.

Before the Committee was a report by the Director for the Economy, presented by the Cabinet Member for Culture and Leisure, 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 12. An exempt appendix to this report was shared with Members of the Sub-Committee as Item 14.

Following a request from Worthing Theatres and Museum Trust, the Council was reviewing the contractual arrangements for both Trusts with respect to the pension fund.

The revised arrangements, if approved, would provide the Council with a significant saving in annual pension contributions and would benefit the Trusts by supporting better management of the risks associated with the cost of pensions.

It was noted that the proposed arrangements did not represent a significant contractual change to either South Downs Leisure or Worthing Theatres and Museum. They sought to treat the staff of the two trusts as if they were Council staff and to remerge their pension pots back into the Council’s pension pot. This would enable better management of risk for both the Council and the Trusts moving forward.   

The recommendations in the report were proposed by Councillor Garner, seconded by Councillor Wells and unanimously supported. 

Decision

The Worthing Joint Strategic Sub-Committee 

      i.        Approved that both South Downs Leisure Trust and Worthing Theatres and Museum Trust contracts be revised to include new clauses regarding pension risk sharing arrangements.

     ii.        Agreed to extend the Pension Guarantee for Worthing Theatres and Museum Trust for the duration of the contract in line with the arrangements for South Downs Leisure Contract

    iii.        Delegated authority to the Director for the Economy, in consultation with the Council’s Monitoring Officer and the Chief Financial Officer, the agreement of the final wording for the new contract clauses.

   iv.        Noted that this change would save Worthing Borough Council approximately £106,660 per year in additional pension costs.

Call-in

The call-in deadline for the decision will be 5.00pm on the 15th December 2022.

Before the Committee was a report by the Director for the Economy, presented by the Cabinet Member for Culture and Leisure, 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 11.

The report presented the Worthing Theatres and Museum Trust Annual Review for 2021/22.

A Member questioned whether the timing of the report could be looked at with a view to it being reported earlier in the year so that it could be considered alongside the budget strategy.  Officers confirmed that Worthing Theatres and Museum (WTM) had agreed to bring forward the Annual Report. It was acknowledged that WTM had had a couple of exceptional years but that the Annual Report was too late in the year.

Another Member highlighted that WTM was a unique portfolio of venues, including the Pavillion Theatre and Atrium, the Connaught Theatre and Studio, the Assembly Hall and the Museum. It was good to see that KPIs had been set for the first time to help measure the key priorities. Footfall was mentioned for the museum but how much was known about the use of the other buildings. Officers acknowledged that there was a more accurate measurement for the Museum and that in future more granular data for the other venues would be provided.          

The recommendations in the report were proposed by Councillor Whorlow, seconded by Councillor Garner and unanimously supported. 

Decision

The Worthing Joint Strategic Sub-Committee 

1.    acknowledged and welcomed the achievements of Worthing Theatres and Museum over the year;

2.    agreed to refer the report and the accompanying Annual Report to the Joint Overview & Scrutiny Committee for noting.

Call-in

The call-in deadline for the decision will be 5.00pm on the 15th December 2022.

Before the Committee was a report by the Director for Digital, Sustainability & Resources, presented by the Cabinet Member for Citizen Services, 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.

At the meeting of the Joint Strategic Committee held on 11 January 2022 it was determined that a public consultation should be undertaken by Worthing Borough Council with a view to removing the £5.00 weekly restriction from the scheme for working age customers with effect from 1 April 2023. 

At the meeting of the Worthing Borough Council Joint Strategic Sub-Committee held on 6 September 2022 refinement of the consultation questions was delegated to the Head of Revenues & Benefits in conjunction with the Cabinet Member for Citizen Services.

The Council Tax Support scheme for pensioners was set nationally and Members therefore had no ability to determine local criteria.

The report detailed the consultation responses that had been received and recommended changes that could be made to the local working age Council Tax Support Scheme for Worthing Borough Council in respect of 2023/24.

The recommendations in the report were proposed by Councillor Taylor, seconded by Councillor Whorlow and unanimously supported.    

Decision

The Worthing Joint Strategic Sub-Committee noted the content of the report and recommended to the Full Council that with effect from 1 April 2023 the following changes should be made to the local Council Tax Support scheme for working age residents in Worthing:-

a)    The £5.00 weekly restriction will no longer apply;

b)    The discretionary budget to support those in severe financial difficulty will no longer be required as the result of the removal of the restriction;

c)    A valid claim for Council Tax Support shall be deemed to have been made by customers who have been awarded Universal Credit and indicated that they wish to claim Council Tax Support (unless further information is required to enable entitlement to be determined)

d)    No other changes should be made beyond necessary technical amendments required to keep the scheme consistent with the national rules in respect of Housing Benefit

Call-in

There is no call-in for recommendations to Worthing Full Council.

Before the Committee was a report by the Director for Digital, Sustainability & Resources, presented by the Cabinet Member for 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 9.

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 to deliver a balanced budget for the next financial year and beyond.

The report outlined the medium term financial challenge through to 2027/28 and updated members, where possible, on government funding proposals.

Contained within the report were specific budget proposals to increase income, to deliver efficiency, and other savings initiatives for 2023/24.

It was noted that no comments had been received following the Joint Overview & Scrutiny Committee considering the report at its meeting in November. The Committee was also advised that the appendices referred to in the recommendations should read 1, 2, 3 & 4 rather than 2a, 2b, 2c and 2d. 

The recommendations in the report were proposed by Councillor McCabe, seconded by Councillor Turley and unanimously supported.    

Decision

That the Worthing Joint Strategic Sub-Committee

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

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

(iii)       Approved the proposed savings as set out in appendix 3 subject to any changes arising from consultation;

(iv)       Recommended to council to approve the use of capital receipts to support the delivery of the budget as set out in appendix 4.

Call-in

The call-in deadline for decisions (i), (ii) and (iii) will be 5.00pm on the 15th December 2022.

There is no call-in for recommendations (iv) to Worthing Full Council.

Before the Committee was a report by the Director for Digital, Sustainability & Resources, presented by the Cabinet Member for 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 outlined Worthing Council’s approach for supporting and developing the local economy and outlined those activities that would help deliver a new approach.

The key pillars of the Council’s economic approach reflected the vision of the Council:  fair, green and local.  The paper outlined what those meant in economic terms.

The report set out the commitment to make the best use of council assets to deliver excellent quality services for residents together with the wider economic benefits associated with places that people value and enjoy.

A foundation to this economic approach was community wealth building. This was a people-centred approach to local economic development, which redirected wealth back into the local economy, and placed control and benefits into the hands of local people.     

Members welcomed the report and thanked Officers for the significant amount of work that had gone into this area of work.

The recommendations in the report were proposed by Councillor McCabe, seconded by Councillor Silman and unanimously supported.    

Decision

That the Worthing Joint Strategic Sub-Committee agreed

1.    To set up a working group to manage progress which should include officers, members and representatives from the local business and community groups and delegated authority to the Director for Digital, Sustainability and Resources to agree the terms of reference for the working group in consultation with the Leader which would include the requirement to report back to the Committee (at such intervals to be agreed in the terms of reference) with further recommendations to the Committee. 

2.    That the Working Group design and develop outcome measures to be reported to the Committee with agreed outcome measures published every 6 months.

3.    To Initiate a review of identified policies in section 7 in order to embed these principles.

Call-in

The call-in deadline for the decision will be 5.00pm on the 15th December 2022.

Before the Committee was a report by the Director for Digital, Sustainability & Resources, presented by the Cabinet Member for 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 report updated the Sub-Committee on the progress made on the delivery of the 2022/23 Capital Investment Programme for Worthing Borough Council. The programmes included schemes which supported the delivery of services by the Joint Services Committee.

The following pre-submitted question was received in advance of the meeting:-

Q4 - Looking at Appendix 2 - this council was successful in being granted £100k by the Government specifically for providing a new Changing Places facility in Worthing. The application indicated a town centre site.

Can you please advise where this £100k is profiled with the capital budgets ?

The Cabinet Member for Resources replied that the capital programme was due to be uplifted by the Changing Places grant of £100,000 as part of the development of the 2023/24 programme. The grant was on top of the £230k in the current capital budget of which £100k had been reprofiled into next year. Locations were investigated for the Changing Places facility and views and comments had been received as part of the Big Listen project. As a result, the changing places facility would be located near the Guildbourne Centre and delivered in the summer 2023. The grant had to be used by March 2024. Any additional funds required would come from the public conveniences capital improvement budget. In relation to public conveniences generally, the capital improvement priorities would be the Lido and High Street Multi Storey Car Park. These were also planned for 2023.   

The Committee wished to place on record its thanks to the Officers for all of their work to enable the Council to carry on as a going concern, noting that this would require a significant amount to be taken out of reserves to balance the books.

The recommendations in the report were proposed by Councillor Wells, seconded by Councillor Whorlow and unanimously supported.

Decision

The Worthing Joint Strategic Sub-Committee

i)          noted the reprofiling of the Worthing Borough Council capital schemes as advised in paragraph 6.1 and appendix 2;

ii)         noted the schemes removed from the Capital Investment Programme as advised in paragraph 6.2;

iii)         noted the additional s106 receipt received for play area equipment at Bourne Close and Northbrook Recreation Ground and the addition to the budget provision already in the 2022/23 Capital Investment Programme as detailed in paragraph 6.3.1;

iv)        approved the provision of Commerce Way female facilities and upgrade of the male showers, and the addition of the schemes to the 2022/23 Capital Investment Programme funded from capital contingency as detailed in paragraph 6.3.2.

v)         approved the procurement of COSHH Management Software, and the addition of the project to the 2022/23 Capital Investment Programme funded from capital contingency as detailed in paragraph 6.3.3.

Call-in

The call-in deadline for the decision will be 5.00pm on the 15th December 2022.

Before the Committee was a report by the Director for Digital, Sustainability & Resources, presented by the Cabinet Member for 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 updated the Worthing Joint Strategic Sub-Committee with the latest expenditure and income projections for both Adur District Council and Worthing Borough Council for the current financial year 2022/23, compared to the Revenue Budget approved by both Councils in February.  Whilst the 'spend to date' was the position as at the 30th September 2022, the forecast outturn position reflected the latest information available to ensure an up-to-date forecast was presented.

As at quarter 2, the current outturn projection for the 2022/23 financial year for the Worthing Borough Council General Fund was a net overspend after reserve transfers of £2.017m. A breakdown was set out in section 4.4 of the report.

The following pre-submitted questions were received in advance of the meeting:-

Q1 - The 2nd quarter revenue monitoring report provides some sober reading, this is an authority that went into 2022/23 with a balanced budget, including agreed savings of £1.136M and yet only a matter of a few months later is now forecasting an overspend of £2.017M.

At section 4.13.3 you outline the council’s financial sustainability, here it states that:

The level of earmarked reserves will reduce if they are required to meet the overspends currently forecast for the year. This is a particular issue for Worthing where the level of available reserves (excluding the Business Rates Smoothing Reserve, the Tax

Guarantee Reserve and Grants and Contributions) will be reduced significantly. The predicted level of reserves undermines the Councils financial stability and potentially puts Worthing Council in an unsustainable financial position.

Clearly a lot of people reading this report will be rightly alarmed by this language as it indicates that if savings cannot be found, that either council fees or tax will have to rise significantly or services cut dramatically to provide a balanced budget or you have to raid the council’s reserves and leave it with a perilously low level of reserves for future years.

So can you please elaborate further on this and in doing so, advise members of the public when you or the Chief Financial Officer will be able to say with confidence that the Council’s financial position is sustainable, that their public services are no longer at risk and given the Council’s current financial position, in terms of risk, how would you describe the council's current financial sustainability risk rating;  High, Medium or low ?

Officers replied that 2022/23 had been an extremely difficult year, with many other Councils in a similar position. The situation was made more challenging in Worthing due to the levels of reserves held, which were not as significant as some neighbouring authorities. If the forecast is correct, experience indicates that the position should generally improve during the financial year, although it had been a highly unusual year due to the financial shocks experienced. However, the Council would have a very low level of reserves. This would be ok as long as the Council did not experience another year like this one and took proactive steps to improve the position. There was no absolute level of reserves the Council needed to hold, guidelines suggest that it should be holding around 6% as a minimum. The Council was below this level. Therefore urgent action was necessary to improve the position going into the next financial year.         

Q2 - In Appendix 1 at para 1.1 you identify that there are :

In addition there are unbudgeted cost pressures of £99,000 associated with transactional fees on electronic payment methods.

Previously this council has driven car park users down the electronic payment route as a preferred method of payment, how or why was this associated cost not factored into the  budgetary planning or cost of introducing this payment method.

Officers replied that the Council had seen an accelerated trend towards electronic payments, almost certainly as a result of the pandemic. Up until this financial year, the Council had a very suppressed level of both income and associated fees so it hadn’t been immediately apparent. As income levels had begun to return to normal, the Council was seeing a trend and needed to adjust as part of the development of the 2023/24 Revenue Budget.  

Q3 - Para 1.5

It is good to read that this administration is building on the work of the previous administration and continuing to invest in property in Worthing that will create a revenue return to this authority. Clearly the declaration in this report of Southern House having been purchased has now placed this information in the public domain, from what was previously confidential material. Can you please advise the public how much this authority spent on purchasing Southern House?

* The Monitoring Officer advised that the information within the report remained exempt, however, the information requested was now within the public domain and no longer exempt.  

The Cabinet Member replied that the overall cost of the acquisition was £22,323,000 which included all associated costs (stamp duty land tax and professional fees).

The recommendations in the report were proposed by Councillor Turley, seconded by Councillor McCabe and unanimously supported.    

Decision

The Worthing Joint Strategic Sub-Committee noted the contents of the report and projected outturn position for the Joint Committee and Worthing Borough Council against the approved revenue budgets and proposed use of reserves (Appendix 2b).

Call-in

The call-in deadline for the decision will be 5.00pm on the 15th December 2022.

The decision is to award a JCT construction contract for the redevelopment of three sites at Leconfield Road, St Giles Close, and Sylvan Road, known as ‘Lot 1’ to Cheesmur and Sons (Lewes) Ltd. to provide new Affordable homes, for a sum of  £3,042,924.

Following a successful tender exercise to award the building contracts for Lots 1, 2 and 3 of the Hidden Homes sites the Council agreed to award contracts for all three lots to W Stirland Limited.  The Director’s decision was published on 4th August 2022.  Unfortunately, prior to entering into those contracts W Stirland Limited went into administration and is now no longer trading.

In order to keep the momentum of the projects moving, the Council needed to identify a compliant procurement route to award the contracts to another suitable contractor.

The sites identified within Lot 2 have not yet gained Planning Permission and therefore it was agreed that contractor procurement for this lot would not progress until such time as Planning Permission is Granted.

For Lot 1 and Lot 3 the tendering exercise previously carried out in July 2022 was revisited.  The tender figures had expired, however it was agreed with the Senior Procurement Officer, the Head of Legal Services, and the Chief Financial Officer that the second most successful tenderer for Lot 1 and Lot 3 could be approached for a revised tender price, following the principle of Regulation 72 of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015.

The second choice contractor for Lot 1 is Cheesmur & Sons (Lewes) Ltd. (Cheesmur)

The revised contract sum is: £3,042,924

This compares favourably with the W Stirland Ltd contract sum for Lot 1 of £ £3,054,604

Interviews have been held with Cheesmur and officers are satisfied that they are capable of carrying out the construction to a high standard of quality, in a timely manner that will not adversely affect neighbouring homes, schools and businesses.

The decision is to award a JCT construction contract for the redevelopment of two sites at Gardner Road and Wilmot Road, known as ‘Lot 3’ to Woodhart Construction Ltd. to provide new affordable homes for a sum of £1,993,758.

Following a successful tender exercise to award the building contracts for Lots 1, 2 and 3 of the Hidden Homes sites the Council agreed to award contracts for all three lots to W Stirland Limited.  Unfortunately, prior to entering into those contracts W Stirland Limited went into administration and is now no longer trading.

In order to keep the momentum of the projects moving, the Council needed to identify a compliant procurement route to award the contracts to another suitable contractor.

The sites identified within Lot 2 have not yet gained Planning Permission and therefore it was agreed that contractor procurement for this lot would not progress until such time as Planning Permission is Granted.

For Lot 1 and Lot 3 the tendering exercise previously carried out in July 2022 was revisited.  The tender figures had expired, however it was agreed with the Senior Procurement Officer, the Head of Legal Services, and the Chief Financial Officer that the second most successful tenderer for Lot 1 and Lot 3 could be approached for a revised tender price, following the principle of Regulation 72 of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015.

The second choice contractor for Lot 3 is Woodhart Construction Ltd. (Woodhart)

The Revised contract sum is:  £1,993,758

This compares favourably with the W Stirland Ltd sum for Lot 3 of £2,003,234

Interviews have been held with Woodhart and officers are satisfied that they are capable of carrying out the construction to a high standard of quality, in a timely manner that will not adversely affect neighbouring homes, schools and businesses.

I agree the following:-

·         To approve a direct award to FFT via the SEC framework for delivering the comprehensive review and assessment of the properties identified with E,F,G rated EPC’s and no record of primary heat source.

·         To note that FFT are the number one supplier on the framework, and their rates have been checked to ensure they are in line.

·         To note that the framework tender was evaluated in accordance with (MEAT) Most Economic Advantageous Tender, with the apportionment set as 40% cost, 60% quality.