Good morning, all. Welcome to this annual meeting of county council, our first meeting
of the new term. I will now run through some housekeeping rules. Social media in line with
our guidance on the use of social media. I am happy for anyone attending to this meeting,
including members of the council to use social media, provided these does not disturb the
business of the meeting. Mobile phones, please turn mobile phones on silent. Web casting members,
please may I remind you that this meeting is being webcast live throughout, although I
have the right to suspend filming if the need arises and it is open to the public. Microphones
members will have to indicate that they wish to speak to the chair and then called use
microphone to speak. Please remember to turn this off after you have spoken. There is no
fire drill expected, so in the event of fire alarm sounding, everyone present is asked
to leave by the nearest exit and assemble at the top car park, reporting to a member of
the building management staff team. Staff will be on hand to guide you to your nearest exit.
Speaking rules, those that can please stand when addressing the chair and council. Speeches
will be time limited as usual. We will be using the time light system. A clock will appear
in the corner of the screen. When a member has 30 seconds remaining, the clock will change
to amber. When a member's time is up, the clock will flash red. Voting will be by raising
your hands or by verbal ascent. I will confirm how voting will be done for each item as we
go through the agenda. Item 1 is the election of chair for the civic year. I will pass it
over to you. See you exactly. Thank you, Chair. Morning, everyone. So, item 1, election
of the chair for the council for the civic year 2024-25. I have received nomination from
Robert Evans OBE for Sajus Ains, seconded by Jonathan Essex. Thank you very much, Chief
Executive. Earlier this month, Councillors, the world watched mostly with dismay as Vladimir
Putin was re-elected leader of Russia with 88.5 per cent of the vote. Hardly democracy
at work. Today, in Surrey, we have a free choice and the opportunity to re-elect our chair,
Sajus Ains, with an even higher percentage of the vote possibly than Mr Putin received.
Like Mr Putin, he currently faces no serious opposition, but unlike the Russian Federation,
anyone here is still welcome to put themselves forward. I will pause for a while, but there
seems to be no other nominations. So, I will speak in support of Sajus Ains for a second
year. Actually, as last year's AGM was held on the 23rd of May, Saj has only completed
364 days in office so far, 24-2024 being a leap year, and so he doesn't complete his
full year until tomorrow. That of course will be longer than the 44 days the hapless Liz
Truss spent as Prime Minister, longer to than the unfortunate Labour MP Alfred Dobbs served
as Member of Parliament for Smevic, who was elected on the 26th of July 1945, only to
be killed in a car accident the very next day, or the even more unfortunate Thomas Higgins,
who in 1906 was taken ill at his count and died of a heart attack, being posthumously
declared the winner a few hours later. Sajus' term of office is already longer than three
British monarchs, from Edward V 77 days, Lady Jane Grey's nine days, and more recently
Edward VIII's 11 months in 1936. Assuming Saj makes it in office to Thursday of this
week, he will overtake Alec Douglas Hume's period of office of one year in a day as Prime
Minister. Saj will surpass many a football manager in terms of his office, whose tenures
have often been cut short by poor performances or totally ineptitude, like Les Reed of Charlton
sacked in 2006 after only 41 days and later voted the worst manager of all time. By this
time next year and next year AGM colleagues, they will certainly be a new county council
elected, but also, perhaps possibly, who knows, a new Prime Minister. The previous chair of
Surrey County Council saw us through smoothly a change of monarch, and likewise I'm sure
Saj will use his charm, charisma and genuine decency to take Surrey County Council through
whatever changes the next 12 months will bring. Along with all colleagues here today, I wish
him well, and it is an honour and a privilege to propose Sajus saying the member for Nap Hill
and Goldsworth West as Chair of Surrey County Council for the year 2024-25. Thank you.
Jonathan Essex, a second, would you like to add anything?
Thank you and congratulations to Sajus saying for being put forward for a second year as
Chair of Surrey County Council nominated by my good friend and fellow Councillor Robert
Evans. I would like to second your nomination, Robert, perhaps for the few less jokes, for
this coming year as a culmination of this four-year term as a Councillor, and as a postmaster
since 1986, I look forward to a year when our meetings, just like Royal Mail, receive
a first-class service. Look forward to a year of apolitical chairing remaining impartial
either side of the general election to make sure that this Council carries on regardless
of the changes that happen in the run-up and indeed in the aftermath. To utilise the chair
in its key role in ensuring debate here remains within the rules is either neither shut down
nor allowed to continue in banter that diminishes the quality of the outcome and standing of
this Council in the eyes of the public to uphold the Nolan principles in this place.
And for Sajus to look upon us as opposition leaders and members in equal measure as reflected
in the Conservatives' invitation for all of the other parties to nominate and second
the Chair and the Deputy Chair of the Council this year. To make sure that this gesture is
reflected in your chairing, Saj, in ways that ensure the full range of voices across
the Council are encouraged equally. To enable no one is left behind, inside, as well as
outside the Councillors to favour it, sorry. So therefore, I would like to second your
honourisation and wish you all the best of this coming year.
Thank you, Jonathan. So the motion is that Sajus saying be elected Chair of the Council
for the Council for the Council year 2024-2025. All those in favour of Sajus saying please
indicate your agreement. Thanks so much everyone. Therefore, declare Sajus saying to be duly
elected as Chair of the Council. Is that please, could everyone stand for the statutory
declaration?
I Sajus saying having been elected to the Office of Chair of the Council for the County
of Saray declared that I take office upon myself and will duly and faithfully fulfil
the duties of it according to the best of my judgement and ability. Please be seated.
Thank you to Robert Evans, O.B. and Jonathan Essex for proposing and seconding my nomination.
It's very, very difficult to follow Councillor Evans remarks but I will do everything I can
to make it to the Chair's office to live by his impartiality and I think I have demonstrated
that in my last year. I am impartial and I am a fair to everybody. Just to mention,
Robert Evans, I did actually have an art attack last year but I survived. But I am really grateful
for all my colleagues for having a trust and faith and it is honour to be here for the
second time. I will do my best. Thank you.
Apologies for absence, Vicki.
Thank you Chair. Apologies for absence have been received from Amanda Boot, Liz Bose,
Chris Barr, Marissa Heath, Rebecca Jennings Evans, Frank Kelly, Andy Lynch, Michaela Martin and
Liz Townsend. We do have a couple of members attending remotely today which they have
speaking rights but no voting rights. Thank you.
Any other apologies? Item 3 is minutes, pages 9 to 40 of the agenda. May I sign the minutes
of the Council meeting held on 19th March 2024, 9th April 2024. That is a correct record
of the meeting. Declaration of interest, are there any declarations of disclosure of community
interest, significant personal interest or produced interest that members wish to make
at this point? The Chair's announcement, I note the sad news of passing of Chris Norman
former Conservative Councillor in the Chelsea Division. Chris passed away in April after
a long battle with illness. Some of you will remember Chris who retired from public office
in 2017, having served two years as a County Councillor. I am sure you will join me in
sending a notice to his wife Judith. Barbara Mossgrave, Rest in Peace, yesterday I learned
the sad news that Barbara Mossgrave, formerly Councillor Peterman, has sadly passed away.
Barbara was a former County Councillor for sheer division in the 1980s and 90s and also
served as the Mayor of Guildford. She was a parliamentary candidate in Blitz Valley and
a long-standing Councillor in the Tillingbourne Ward, a Guildford Borough Council. As and when
we learn of Barbara's funeral, my office will pass these details on. For those that
can please stand for a moment's reflection in respect of the last police.
[Applause]
[Applause]
Thank you.
Since the last Council meeting, we have had a last Wednesday. We held a reception for
volunteers that were nominated by the members. I am really grateful for all of the ones that
were submitted and people that attended. They thoroughly enjoyed the day. Lots of pictures
were taken and it was really encouraging to see so many volunteers coming forward. I
think our County is much richer for the volunteers that help us and I am grateful to the members
who bring the name forward. Also to the staff that helped on that one. The other announcements
are in the agenda sheet so you can see that. Item 6 is the Vice Chair. I have received
the following nominations. Clear current nominated Tim Hall, seconded by Will Foster.
Clear, do you wish to say a few words in support of the nomination?
Thank you, Chairman. Yes, I would like to say a few words in support of the nomination
of Tim Hall as Vice Chairman of this Council. I have known Tim for perhaps more years and
I would like to admit both as a colleague at Mall Valley District Council and here at
Surrey County Council and I know him to be a hard working committed and faithful member
of this Council. He is a very dedicated Councillor. He works extremely hard in the interests
of the residents of his division and in fact of the residents of the whole County and I
know over the last 12 months, Chairman, he supported you in your role and he has carried
out and enjoyed a wide range of duties as Vice Chairman. And Tim as a past Chairman and
past leader of Mall Valley District Council is well known across the whole County. I know
he has many friends in this Chamber and many friends in Districts and boroughs across Surrey
and in fact across the southeast and in fact probably across the country. I think Tim embodies
the values of this Council. He has a really good relationship with residents. He is an
excellent and open Councillor and he works hard with and respects others. I am very pleased
to nominate Tim as Vice Chairman of this Council for a further municipal year. Thank you, Chairman.
Will as a seconder, do you like to say? Thank you, Chairman. I am happy to second Tim Hall's
nomination at the Vice Chair. Tim grew up in his native Mall Valley going to school but
he then left to go to Northern Ireland to Ulster University but then returning home
eventually where he became Fetchum West's Council at a young age and he served at Mall
Valley District Council for some time. There is clear current highlighted. He was chairman
there but he was also leader of the Council for there. And I might say it was back when
Conservatives had leaders of Councils. Tim was a very good active leader of Mall Valley
District Council when it was in no of all control. But what I want to turn my attention
to and add to different words from what Claire said is Tim became a counter caption in 2005
and soon after that he became cabinet member for change and efficiency which is corporate
services to you and me. He then became cabinet member for education making sure our school
place expansion program was on track. After leaving the cabinet he chaired the Mall Valley
local committee and until recently he chaired the planning and regulation committee at this
Council. Tim is a caring, dedicated and energetic person that should be the Vice Chair of this
Council. Thank you, Chairman.
The motion is that Tim Hall be appointed to Vice Chair for the Council for the Council
here 2024-25. All those in favour of Tim Hall please indicate your agreement. Thank
you. I declare Tim Hall be duly elected as Vice Chair. Please stand for the declaration.
I, Tim Hall, having been elected to the Office of Vice Chair for the Council for the County
of Surrey declare that I take that office upon myself and will duly unfaithfully fulfil
the duties of it according to the best of my judgement and ability. Please be seated.
Tim, would you like to see? Yes. Can I start by thanking my proposal and seconder? I'm
not quite sure where that person lives or sort of a very admirable person but not quite
sure it's me some days but never mind. I think that there's somebody much more admirable
oopsies out there somewhere. Can I thank Sarge for his kindness over the year? And I will
relay you one small story purely for your amusement because the Chairman's already opened
the subject up. Cast your minds to a Monday morning just before the Member Development
Seminar. You've put the computer on, you open the email and an email pops up from the Chairman's
office saying, Sarge is in hospital. We don't know anything about this either. It's probably
quite serious, Tim. You're not doing anything else this week are you?
Or words that effect.
And we coped and we were very pleased to be Sarge back. It did however reveal to us one
of the communication failings in our organisation that we didn't always communicate as well
as we can do. From the Chairman's office, my friend, the Chairman and I are very keen
to be supportive of all members. We've had some interesting conversation with people
in health issues. I rang one of the senior members of the Liberal Democrat group to
discover she was stuck in the role, sorry for instance. We've had a series of conversations.
Please, if there are issues, we are there to be helpful and supportive as Claire has already
indicated. We do know a lot of people quietly. We are there to be helpful. We are there to
be supportive. Do users. We are there to be helpful for you. So thank you all very much
for your kindness and the wonderful words about some accolades who frankly I don't believe
her. I've met but we'll see. Thank you very much.
Mr Chairman and members, can I first of all congratulate you Chairman on your re-election
and indeed Tim Hall as Vice Chair. I wish you a very enjoyable and successful year coming
up to 2025. But this meeting comes at a time when this Council is at a point of renewal.
A brief period of some changes that will rejuvenate us on our journey of improvement that we've
been embarking on for the last six years. I look forward to welcoming our new Chief Executive
Terrence Herbert when he arrives later this summer and he is already playing an important
role in how we shape the rest of the leadership team here as we look to add to the outstanding
talent that we have at the top of this organisation. Terrence brings with him valuable experience
in successfully tackling many of the challenges local government is currently facing and first
hand knowledge of how we can continue our improvement and development as a Council that
truly serves its residents. I must also give thanks to Lee Whitehouse for whom this will
be his final Council meeting here at Surrey before he departs to take on the Chief Executive
role of Wes Sussex. There is no doubt that Lee has played an instrumental part in the improvement
of this organisation, helping establish a sound financial footing to give us the stability
and foundations to deliver real progress. Over the last few years we have faced monumental
challenges and the external financial pressure has been intense. Without Lee's work and
sound judgement it would have been extremely difficult to navigate through those challenges
as successfully as we have. I wish Lee all the very best in his next challenge and I
am sure our paths will cross as he goes about that work just next door and perhaps you would
just give Lee a round of applause. Following Lee's departure and ahead of Terrence's
arrival Michael Coughlin has agreed to act as head of paid service. Michael is of course
vastly experienced, has been our Deputy Chief Executive previously and knows this organisation
inside out. I am grateful to him for stepping up and keeping us firmly on track over the
next few weeks. Members may have seen that this morning Lee sent out a note to all members
and staff to announce that after more than four years as a key Executive Director here
at Surrey and most recently Executive Director for Environment, Infrastructure and Growth,
Katie Stewart will be leaving us in the summer to take up a new post as Executive Director
for Environment at the City of London Corporation. Katie has been with us since March 2020 leading
the Council's emergency response to the pandemic alongside her day job and an energetic champion
for staff in her different roles and again I am sure you will all join me in congratulating
her on her new post and wishing her well for the future. That note also sets out details
of the revised CLT structure including an interim Executive Director of Highways who
will provide additional strategic capacity and give us the enhance delivery focus it
requires over the coming months. I recognise that the appointment of a new Chief Executive
as well as other changes to our corporate leadership team that are in process can be
unsettling but we have a clear vision and a clear plan that we are cracking on with
and delivering. Our foundations are now solid this is not comparable to the last time this
Council saw such changes to its top team back in 2018. As we face challenges like every
other Council we are in the best possible shape to overcome them. The building blocks
that we put in place over the last six years are bearing fruits are improvement is measurable
and clear we are delivering day in day out and we are focused on our collective vision.
We are building a stronger sustainable economy in Surrey we are delivering stronger thriving
empowered communities. We are progressing our vision for a greener future in line with
our targets. We are putting practical measures in place alongside our partners to tackle
health inequality within the county and we are totally committed to our ambition that
no one in Surrey is left behind. As leader, as cabinet, as the political administration
of this Council and indeed I hope all members are unwavering in that direction of travel
and that ambition. Any change to the directors, executive directors, even chief executive
will not alter that focus, that north star. It may bring new ideas and new approaches
in how we get there but our destination remains the same and our commitment to delivering
for the people of Surrey remains steadfast every single day.
We started this journey towards the back of the pack struggling if we are honest with
a lot to fix and a lot of catching up to do. We have now progressed steadily and consistently
around obstacles and through turbulent surroundings we are now rightly recognised as a leading
authority. We are having a brief pit stop to refuel, refresh and revitalise and the
driver might be changing but we are ready to continue that journey in the best shape possible
to kick on to successfully reach our ambition.
Mr Chairman, our progress is clear. Just last week we received our latest report from
an Offstead Focused Visit to Children's Services which noted that progress for children is
evident in the improved quality and timeliness of assessments, the increased timeliness of
visits to children and a more consistent application of thresholds.
Our comprehensive improvement plan in this area is delivering and children and families
are having better experiences, more positive relationships with social workers and ultimately
will see outcomes that demonstrably improve their lives.
We know that there is more to do but it is evident that we are on the right track and
we will not let up on that improvement journey. I am proud of our staff and our leadership
who work extremely hard and put children and families at the heart of everything that
we do. This is just one area of our comprehensive transformation, our continuous improvements
as a council. We are focused on improving and modernising how we deliver our services,
the things that people rely on in life that we have a responsibility to provide. We cannot
do things in the same way as we always have and over the last six years we have been adopting,
adopting best practice, innovating, finding ways to be more effective and use new skills
and technology that can revolutionise how we deliver services, continuous improvements.
Our current areas of focus in this space include improving the systems and experiences of
families with children who have additional needs and disabilities. And as I just outlined,
we are seeing progress in this area already thanks to focused investment and a clear plan.
Our fire and rescue service is improving with his Majesty's inspectorate recently discharging
the sole area of concern following a robust improvement plan being put into action. We
are also currently consulting on the Community Risk Management Plan using robust evidence,
data and technology, planning and structuring our resource so that we are able to most effectively
keep the people of Surrey safe long into the future. And of course, we are on track to
deliver our decarbonisation programme for Surrey County Council by 2030 with the recent approval
of a new training facility for Surrey Fire and Rescue which will significantly reduce
this Council's carbon emissions as well as the relocation from Quadrant Court to Victoria
Gate in working later this year. Another important area of focus is the transformation of adult
social care, how we manage the high and growing demand with an ever changing care market and
how we deliver the very best appropriate accommodation and technology to support people's strengths
to live independently for longer. This type of prevention is at the heart of this work
and indeed at the heart of our ambition. We must enable and empower our communities and
our residents to thrive and to be resilient. We must be proactive as an organisation and
as a system of partners in Surrey across health, the voluntary sector and other public
service delivery. By making our communities stronger, by supporting people early and by
helping people help themselves, we can help prevent people getting to crisis point, reduce
demand on our services and live healthier lives with better opportunities and experiences.
And we must do this particularly for people and in communities that need us the most to
level up our county and ensure that no one is left behind. With our multi-disciplined
team around the community model in our adults wellbeing and health partnerships directors,
we are working with our partners to do just that, building strong support infrastructures
around our towns and villages alongside our key stakeholder partners, the district and
boroughs, the police, the VCSE, business and of course the health system. Another key focus
of our improvement that cuts across everything we do is our customer services. We want our
residents to have a positive experience of engaging with us and services every single
time. We want to improve the customer journey, make it better and smarter so people don't
need to keep coming back to us. We want to make it as easy as possible for people to
do what they need to do, to find the information that they need to find, to reach the solution
they need to reach. Our work in this space is huge and it will impact every area to truly
make sure we get it right for our residents. This transformation work will help us be an
organisation that is fit for the future. We have done it before and we are still doing
it and we will keep doing it. The world is changing, demand for services is increasing,
new challenges are emerging and budgets are being stretched. We have to be proactive in
getting ourselves in the best shape to cope and to thrive. We have to see those challenges
and tackle them head on rather than react too late. We have to continuously improve and
we are. Another tangible area of that improvement is our highways. We know that the states of
our roads continues to be a source of frustration for our residents. The increasingly wet weather
really impacts on our roads which are some of the busiest in the country and the road
network across every area of the UK is feeling battered at the moment. We are focused on doing
everything within our power to improve the quality of our road network. We know that
it is our most visible universal service, vital for everyone and hugely frustrating when it
is not working, not safe or in poor condition. We are delivering on this. Right now we have
112 surface dressing schemes about to start. We have invested over 8 million to deliver
real improvements on 80 miles of our busiest roads on the network. This is just one aspect
of our enhanced maintenance programme for roads and pavements which we will see us deliver
a further 300 million pounds worth of vital improvements by 2028. We are working hard
to reduce the impact caused by works on our network being innovative in the way we use
new materials to reduce the time spent on site as well as planning further ahead to coordinate
with other work providers. Utility companies, emergency demands in Surrey are amongst the
top five highest in the UK and we know that this is causing disruption and further impacts
on the quality of our highways network. We will continue to hold utility companies to account.
We want essential works to be completed quicker, better traffic management, better coordination
and better resident communication to ensure they play their part to manage the significant
congestion on the network caused by their works. I will not let up until this is improved and
with Jonathan Hully appointed as an additional Deputy Cabinet Member he will take forward
responsibility for driving through the recommendations from the task and finish group.
We are also scaling up on our own communications with residents about hot highways,
providing clear, informative on the ground signage and local bespoke weekly updates
and improving how we respond to their inquiries. Mr Chairman, last week I had the pleasure of
attending the official launch of Business Surrey. The County Council's new business facing brand
and business support service, a platform which is key to delivering our strategic priority
to support the sustainable growth of our economy. I was joined by the Chancellor of
Exchequer and local MP Jeremy Hunt along with representatives from businesses and public sector
partners from across the county. The event reinforced what many of you know Surrey has
a fantastic economic story to tell. More than 100,000 businesses here, a great location,
a highly skilled workforce, world-leading R&D, creating an economy which contributes
more than 50 billion a year to UK PLC. Business Surrey is focused on taking that further
using our new powers inherited from the local enterprise partnerships to provide free support
to businesses across the whole of Surrey for the first time. By going alive with such a service
within weeks of let powers being transferred across the county council, Surrey is well ahead
of the national curve. I am pleased to say thousands of people have already engaged with
Business Surrey since the website went live last month and I look forward to updating you
on progress in the months to come. More progress, more improvement, making Surrey a better place.
Mr Chairman, Surrey is a great county full of great people. We have a huge responsibility though
as a council to help people go about their day-to-day lives, supporting those who need us most from
cradle to grave, to keep improving people's life chances and make sure Surrey remains the very best
place to live, to work, to do business long into the future. Our plan is working. We are
delivering. There is of course more to do further to go and we must keep up the momentum behind
our improvement plans. We may be seeing a change in our corporate leadership team but we will not
change course. We will not lose sight of our ambition that no one in this county is left behind.
We are a strong local authority, robust in the face of challenging and unwavering in our
commitments and ambition. We are cracking on. We are delivering and we will not stop. Thank you.
Our call will worsen. Thank you, Chairman. I want to start by endorsing and seconding the
leader's comments about Lee Whitehouse and Katie Stewart. I want to thank them for their service
to this county council. Although I am sad they are both leaving, I am pleased that they are
getting a step up and they are not going far. I wish you both well and thank you for your time here.
As one of the leaders of the opposition groups here, it is my role and responsibility to highlight
areas of risk for the county council and areas where this council can be doing better. I want
to highlight the concerns that my group and I have that this council seems to be in limbo.
We have a significant change in the senior staff of this council. Cabinet meetings are
cancelled and key decisions are not deferred. That is not good enough for our residents. The
leader talked about a need to renew and I agree with him on that. There is a lot of work for the
new CEO of Terrence which we fully support his position. There is a lot of work for him to do.
I want to also talk about Offstead which recently reported on this council's children's services.
I would like to thank Offstead for their report but particularly for the work and dedication of
staff in this organisation that is ensuring this council's children's services continue to improve.
However, in that Offstead report they did highlight two notable weaknesses.
It firstly said that the quality of letters sent out from this council to vulnerable families
has a huge standard in variation and some are not written sensitively enough.
If you are a parent in a vulnerable situation receiving what could be seen as a threatening
letter with insensitive language is not acceptable. Offstead have highlighted that and this council
needs to change that approach. Secondly, they have highlighted the consistency and quality
of the direct work this council does for children and families. That needs to improve. We need to
have a consistent approach across all of Surrey. Finally, I want to highlight the elephant in the
room, the financial future of this authority. Really fair for the financial future of local
government and Surrey County Council in particular. This government's plans to cut local government
funding is awful. On top of the quarter, the 25% cut we've had since 2016, the Chancellor's further
plans to cut local government funding could push many local authorities over the edge.
When we are just about coping with increased inflation costs and service pressures that is
unacceptable. I remember a former Prime Minister standing on the steps of Downing Street in his
first speech saying that social care would be fixed. It was one of these priorities.
That is a can that has been kicked down the road for too long and vulnerable residents in Surrey
for paying the price. At some point, social care authorities like Surrey County Council will not
be able to cope. The leader needs to continue to bang the drum for a proper solution for social care.
The AGM is always a time to reflect on the previous year, lessons learned and setting the scene
for the year ahead. Reflecting on last year, there has been definite improvement. Unlike last
year, we are getting Verges Cup. We now have maps of the Verges we are responsible for,
although the quality of some of the cutting still needs a lot to be desired.
There is definite progress on the backlog of the HCPs. We do have more EPs,
but mine works is essentially closed to neurodiversity diagnosis, leaving children, families,
carers and schools struggling. The briefing paper says schools were on their knees and that
is what the select committee heard on the 10th of May. The number of complaints my group
receive on children's services is still very high. The number of children and families in crisis
does not seem to be going down, although the service are convinced they are.
We are building new, much needed children's homes, extra care housing and we are creating
more send places, but the reality is it is costing more than we budgeted, taking much
longer than we planned and that is delaying positive benefits for our residents and revenue
savings. What will the year ahead bring? Definitely a change in Chief Exec, monitoring officer
and many other new faces on the SLT and I will add my thanks to Lee and Katie and wish them well
in their new roles. A general election for sure, this is the last year we can all work together
as a council before the elections in May 25. The biggest challenge we face is setting a balanced
budget by bridging the gap between what we say no one left behind and what we deliver.
We all know that the revenue and capital budgets for this year are already under strain
and the promise of more Councillor engagement and more budget information sharing is welcome.
But there are key challenges clearly articulated in the last year that still need to be addressed
and most importantly we need to look at areas of high expenditure holistically.
For example, children's social care must not be seen as line items, it needs to be seen as interdependences.
We must, as the leader says, be proactive and seek continuous improvement, effectively supporting
families when and where they need it, the earliest possible intervention and prevention.
We don't get this strategy right, we will leave parents, carers and children behind
and the cost and demand for statutory services will continue to rise. Most children taken into care
have sent and how we support parents, carers and children will impact how many families reach
the point where they just can't cope. There must be a real focus on maximising support for foster
carers to absolutely maximise our potential to attract, retain foster carers and allow them
to care for our children to the best of their ability and ours. The management and scrutiny of
the capital programmes that provide better outcomes for children but also reduce revenue costs in
Surrey are critical provision of more send places but the right type in the right place
and provision of more Surrey children's homes but these schemes are running over budget and delivery
is behind the original schedule. We must ensure excellence in project management and oversight
and a clear strategy for performance improvement with openness and transparency. Where is this
being scrutinised? Where will the review of the capital budget and the pipeline be scrutinised?
Failure to recruit more foster carers and build more Surrey children's homes will lead to poorer
outcomes for our look after children and higher revenue costs. We simply must ensure every penny
of taxpayers money is spent well. We must learn from the examples of Unit 4, the budget 16.6
million, final cost 27.9 and overspend of 11.3 million, 18 months late and still ungaring issues.
To me we are still not getting the basics right. Let's consider the council's core values,
our residents being excellent, being open, working together, respecting others. I am not at all
convinced that the current situation with mine works or the rollout of the foster carers charter
are consistent with us working to these values. Neither am I convinced that issuing letters to
parents and carers who are struggling with the send an EHCP system and have done for years
and then receive a letter saying they can only communicate with one person once a week,
even when they have multiple open issues, is not sharing respect for those residents.
I think we need to refocus on getting the basics right, working together with officers,
but that officers truly recognise that Councillors, residents and the voluntary charity and face
sector have knowledge and skills that can help improve services, outcomes and reduce costs and
timescales. My group and I will continue to focus on those things. Thank you.
Do you want to learn the ethics? Thank you, Leader. Recent research at ETH, ETH Zurich,
found that limiting global warming to one and a half degrees could reduce economic costs of
climate change by two thirds and this month research found that the economic impact of a one centigrade
rise in global temperature leads to a 12% decline in gross domestic products with costs
surprising the uniform around the world. The social cost of damage of each additional ton of carbon
emissions is now over £800, equating to £4.5 billion of damage each year from our five
million tonnes of emissions here in Surrey, clearly dwarfing even our annual Council budget.
Yet the reach of Council has an impact on 80% of UK emissions. Price Waterhouse Cooper's estimated
that Council-led climate action would achieve net zero by 2050 for half the cost of a national
approach and deliver three times the financial returns and wider benefits. So, Leader, what are we doing
to better make the case to Government to scale up our capital programme in this area in Surrey
and to encourage similar scaling up across all councils. An honour, a different subject,
recent research by the Institute of Fiscal Studies found that sure start centres increased educational
outcomes and improved physical and mental health outcomes substantially, reducing SCND and mental
health costs and reducing NHS hospitalisations. So, what has been the impact of closing family
centres across Surrey and reducing the support we provide to preschool children? That was refused
proper scrutiny last year, we simply don't know. But at the recent scrutiny of our child mental
health contract mind works, the NHS told us that their medical model was no longer working.
There is a national shortage of ADHD drugs and they urged us to support them in shifting to a
social model, supporting the likes of a sure start centre and youth work being across Surrey instead.
Indeed, in March 2011, this Council highlighted the high quality outcomes for young people
of our then universal youth delivery service, especially those most vulnerable and at risk
preventative work that avoids costly interventions by other agencies in future.
That future is now Leader. Leader, do you recognise and do you agree with the NHS that just like there
is a better care fund that recognises the link between adult social care and the NHS, we need
to recognise the same links between universal children services, the NHS and schools and put
that as part of our commitment to leaving no one behind? So, Leader, do you agree that we should be
making the case to Jeremy Hunt, our Chancellor, to once again increase real terms funding to
councils, sufficient to provide these kind of universal child and youth services and lead as
we can do our climate action above what we do today? Thank you.
Robert Evans. Thank you very much, Chair. I'd like to thank the Leader for yet another
stimulating and forceful contribution to Council today. I'd also like to associate myself and a
whole of my group with the thanks to Lee Whitehouse and Katie Stewart and our best wishes to them
for the future. Now, the Leader's theme was a bit of renewal and rejuvenation.
We know we have a new Chief Executive coming soon and he will have obviously challenges ahead,
challenges to renew where renewal is necessary and rejuvenate where rejuvenation is necessary.
And along with the interim Director of Highways, I think they will have similar agenda items to
or ongoing agenda items. References already been made to Potholes. I think the Leader spoke about
Potholes. That is an ongoing flight for many people in this county. I think one way they could
improve highways would be better monitoring of the temporary traffic lights in the spring up
everywhere and stay in place even when there's not very much traffic around or less traffic around
at the weekend. I think Councillor Powell referred to grass cutting and I think Councillor
Furnace for his help in this area but it's a constant battle I have either that the grass is
not being cut regularly or often or that it's not being properly cut and residents of mine are
very concerned about that as they are about the ongoing menace of flight tipping which seems to
have no serious solution at the moment. Also on highways and it's probably not the Leader's personal
responsibility but if I wonder if he could use his extensive experience and influence
to do something with highways England to see if they can improve the traffic flow
around Whisley with the A3 and 25 junction. I look to the Leader to do something in this field and
will judge him accordingly because it is hugely disruptive that area as colleagues will know.
Councillor Forster referred to the Offstead report and still more to do. One of the areas in
there that was highlighted by Offstead was the overreliant or number of staff vacancies
and the overreliance on agency staff. Can I ask the Leader what plans his administration has to
avoid this very expensive overuse of agency staff because I'm sure Surrey can do better than that.
Since his last speech to us there have been local elections across Surrey and changes in many
boroughs and districts. The mayor of London was also re-elective and increased majority.
Can I ask the Leader if he and his cabinet will make increased efforts of renewal
to improve Surrey's relations with London with as we have many borders and many train road and
other links. Our fire service already works very closely in cooperation with the London Fire Brigade
and I'm sure this Council can only benefit from rejuvenated links with London through the mayor.
And finally can I echo the points on adult social care that have been made by others.
Children's homes, foster care is referred to by colleagues. We can only hope that for Surrey
better times are just around the corner. Thank you.
It's open for debate any members who wish to comment or question.
Thank you Chair. At the start of his speech today Council Oliver thank the officers who are
leaving for their work and I appreciate that and I support that too. However when I started at this
Council there were just nine officers paid over £100,000. In the most recent organisational chart
provided to me that figure stands at 42. What Councillor Oliver said in his speech was he's looking to
add to the outstanding challenge we have already had at this Council. But even today we have an
email where it tells us that with one director leaving they are going to be replaced by two new
interim directors for years. It does seem to me that we have to end this policy which sees
the resolution to any problem being the appointment of another director. And under the new chief
executive we need to move towards a much leaner and more targeted senior leadership team and
director team while focusing on the appointment of key front facing officers where we have too
many vacancies and too many agency staff. Thank you. George Potter.
Thank you Mr Chairman. I wasn't really going to be giving that multiple people have now mentioned
grass cutting. I think it's and to which I do have to say about I think it's really reassuring to
hear that so many divisions apparently have no greater issues than grass cutting to be concerned
with. I would make the point that personally I do find it somewhat disappointing that compared
but whilst I do appreciate the new online cutting map that's been launched I think is very commendable
so residents can see when their verge is next due to be cut and whilst I commend the decision to go
back to contracting out the maintenance to the borough and district councils which is a sensible
way of doing things I do find it disappointing that at the same time that this Council has declared
a climate emergency it appears to be backtracking on the scaling back of grass cutting during the
summer months when it is so vital to butterflies pollinators and other insects that the grass be
allowed to remain uncut. Obviously we need to maintain clear sightlines around highways and
junctions and things like that but it's disappointing that in places where there are no subtle implications
whatsoever we seem to have gone back to having an increased program of cutting this year compared
to the reduced program we saw in the past years it was far better for biodiversity and made a
noticeable impact on insect and butterflies in local areas across the county and again it seems
to me disappointing that the as for always be with any change they'll always be both so unhappy
about it but it seems to be disappointing but at the first sign of pressure or discomfort
this Council has backtracked on something which is making a clearly beneficial impact
on wildlife and biodiversity which is a particular shame at the same time this county council has
just started the development of a nature recovery strategy please a little bit a little bit more
resoluteness to do the things that are necessary even with there might be some criticism.
No more speaker Salida please. Thank you very much Chairman.
I'm glad that people have recognised that there is improvements across many of the areas
and I'll just we will read it just one sentence one paragraph from the Offstead
review in just a moment but I think it is important to recognise it to will of cost us
opening comments around the change in staff that we have cancelled the council the cabinet meeting
in May which is probably the second time during my term as as leader of this council and that in
part it is inevitable with a new chief executive coming in that's really important long-term
decisions for this council the way he has the ability to to influence those and to be consulted
on those there wasn't anything in particular on this agenda that was was that urgent
the on Offstead though there was a recognition that has been a recognition about the the tone of
the letters that point was raised in the send area review and was the whole sort of communication
issue was it was a big point of discussion with family voice sorry and so on and it is right and
that and work has been done on those letters don't forget these these these reviews are kind of
retrospective so I know Rachel Ward others in here today for personal reasons but but I think
she will be able to give us some reassurance that that issue has been addressed but ready to
to Catherine's main points around children's service I will read this letter this paragraph
which I'm sure you've already read from Offstead on the 17th of May 2024 which under headline findings
a comprehensive improvement program has continued to strengthen the quality of support
to children in need of help and protection since the last inspection in January 2022
seniors senior leaders know their service as well as demonstrated by their self evaluation
they have a deep understanding of the quality of practice and where further improvements are
needed I think that that is that is the key part of this that they do absolutely the service does
know where it is falling short and the improvement plans and the transformation plans that we have
across this organization which are in the process of being rolled out are intended to
identify and to fill those gaps I'm not sure I understand Will's comment about the plan the
government's plan to cut local government money I would remind you that the chance for the exchequer
gave us two billion pounds more for adult social care two years ago billion last year
and a billion the year before he also gave a 600 million in February this year as a direct result
of the lobbying of the County Council's network 500 of which a million went into children's services
and indeed there is a recognition in the Offstead letter about that increased investment in our
children's services I think on mine works you know I'm not going to stand here and defend
mine works and the issues that we know exist in the delivery of mental health services both to
adults and to children all I would say is that there have been some
promising conversations with those organizations that that are involved in delivery of that service
and I think part of for me part of the issue is the current model where there is no separation
between particularly that children where where children have genuine mental health issues that
need a medicalised solution therefore referral to sorry borders a partnership as opposed to those
that are on a neurodiverse pathway and I think that is what needs to be separated out and there
are conversations that are starting with representatives of GPs across the county to see whether or not
they can help particularly in relation to ADHD and where you know that child might need some
medication on prescription GPs can do that it doesn't need to be referred through to sorry
in borders you might also have picked up that Joanna Killian the former chief executive of this
county council is co-chairing a national piece of work on ADHD such is the concern nationally
around that very issue on the ballot the budget the but we know that the budget is always going
to be challenging we absolutely know that and we know that this last year we overspent by a
short amount over the over the contingency fund that is what the transformation plans are
intended to do not only to improve the delivery of services but also to address the longer term
financial issues I like Catherine would love to see the capital projects delivered quickly
you know they are the inflation can't pretend that inflation hasn't of course as difficulties
and lack of capacity in the construction sector which I think I told is now improving but we are
moving forward in building children's homes we are creating extra care facilities for those
that want to or able to live independently longer you know we are also doing making some good progress
on EHC backlogs as you have said on the recruitment of foster parents it is I you know this this
this council has been asked every member of this council has been asked on many occasions
to help the recruits foster parents they are absolutely key to the the outcomes for the child
undoubtedly are much better if they are in a safe secure foster home so that this is care
this is this is not any lack of desire to do that it is you know I think incumbent upon all of us
to try and help the service recruit and retain those foster carers
Don Jonathan I mean I will continue to lobby government on capital program I'm not sure
where the Labor Party is now having seemingly abandoned their 28 billion pound commitment to
capital for green a green a future but we will continue to certainly press this government
for for more funding it was clear that we we whilst we can address part of the the carbon
issues here around transport in particular we we don't have that ability to do it in relation to
retrofitting of housing and building houses that are environmentally friendly
to Robert Evans I'm afraid I can't emulate your stand-up comic approach
my my speech is all tend to be a little bit more serious but actually hopefully more informative
but we are going through a renewal and
just a period of change that that is good for every organization no organization
would should stagnate and you know that is why members change just as much as officers change
on your points about national highways we have become very close and that furnaces of myself
and David Lewis to national highways over this last week we've had two calls a day with them
following the debacle the with the closure of part of the 245 down to a single lane
the Member of Parliament for running mean and way bridge bench Spencer has also been involved
and because of the direct lobbying from parents to attend the local schools whose children were
currently missing their GCSE exams there is they they have put in a ban on the on the northbound
the slip road off the north ban a three and that will stay in place for 10 weeks I you know it is
immensely frustrating for all of us I mean it is the right thing to do you know the junction
ten was the busiest busiest junction on the network it had 300 000 car movement today
you know the slip roads onto the M25 should have been reopened by now that was a plan in April
but the bad weather apparently is the reason they haven't done that you know it is gridlock anybody
coming down you know down to the A3 from along the M25 and of course the massive impact for
in particularly my residents in way bridge and in Cobham where we are seeing the displacement of
the traffic off the M25 so they are national highways is an interesting organisation to deal with
has to be said but we will continue to to lobby them to not only to do this work as quickly as
possible but to to try and recognize the disruption that these works are causing to all of us
on your other point I would absolutely delighted to welcome them the the mayor of London
and representatives from TFL down to Surrey with an offer on the compensation around the
EULA's fines that he has introduced so perhaps he should be passed that back to him then
whenever whenever he's got the time to come down to regate we'd be delighted to see him or we might
even manage to put on a lunch for him you never know to Eva Kington yes of course
Eva as ever you know your usual point I would say that you mentioned the cost of or the number of
people that's that are on a hundred thousand pounds here at nine nine when you started in
about 1950 or whatever it was you first joined the county there has been some inflation since then
Michael and Michael Coughlin and Casey will both be living which is why they're being replaced with
an identical number of two people you know in terms of recruitment and retention of staff we
have seen a better rate within children's services we do have a because I'm the called Connect to
Surrey which is a joint recruitment agency that we use with Kent County Council for the
recruitment interim staff and we have seen some success in converting interim social workers
agency workers into permanent staff it is social work is it's a it's a difficult area though that
there are a lot of people that do that job it's a very very demanding job and a lot of them want to
do it on a kind of an agency basis rather than on a permanent basis but we are doing everything
we possibly can the the that that by setting up that joint that joint venture though it has reduced
significantly the cost of agency staff but it is our absolute ambition to get that down as much
as we possibly can but we have to make sure that we have the people in the front line doing those
roles and I think I know George Potter's comments I think as always you know for for every resident
has one view there's a resident that has a different view you know Robert Evans lights his verge is
cut to death whereas others don't but I do think we have a blue heart scheme my understanding is
that residents are encouraged to identify areas where they're happy that the grass is left to grow
and of course we could do have no mo may at the moment but but you know it is absolutely right that
we get a sensible balance between you know severe verge cutting and allowing those
allowing that at that biodiversity so thank you very much Chair.
Point of order is understanding order 16.1c which enables the members who's already spoken
they may at the chim's direction rebut a personal allegation just to say that I wasn't born in
1950 thank you for that right item eight is the changes to cabinet portfolios
some pages 41 to 42 of the agenda the leader could you please introduce the report
polity share yes there's a one small amendment to the cabinet and that's Jonathan Halle will be
joining as a deputy cabinet member for strategic highways any debate on that George Potter
um mr chairman I'm on record as having requested previously in the past that if changes to cabinet
portfolios are due to become an almost standing item that the reports should highlight what specific
positions have changed I'm grateful to the leader therefore for for the point from verbally indicating
it even if the report doesn't that we appear to have lost the deputy cabinet member for customer
and communities but have gained one for strategic highways. Andy Warhol famously remarked that in
the future everyone will be famous for 15 minutes perhaps he should have said that in the in the
future every conservative counselor will be a deputy cabinet member for 15 for 15 minutes
but while some may look asking at this I formed like to commend the council leader
for his commendably equitable and egalitarian approach he may have had more reshuffles than a
DJ but no one could accuse him of leaving talent languishing on the backbenches and I for one look
forward to seeing the next round of cabinet changes at the next council meeting and indeed
the one after that and the one after that any other speakers
recommendation is council's asked to note the leaders change to the cabinet noted
I'll be agreed please raise your hands thank you item nine any review of the political
prosperity pages five to eight of the first supplementary agenda I refer to the report
the monitoring officers in the first government agenda the item is open for debate
the recommendation is on page six of the first supplementary agenda and is the council adopt
the scheme of proportionality has sat out in a annex one to this report for the council year
2024-25 I'll be agreed please raise your hands here item 10 appointment of committees pages nine
to 16 of the first supplementary agenda I refer to the nominations in the first
supplementary agenda I have been notified by the concept of group that they wish to add
Tim Hall has an additional substitute to the planning regulatory committee the item is open for debate
the recommendations are pages 16 of the first supplementary agenda and are to appoint members
to serve on the committees of the council for the year 2024-25 in accordance with the wishes of
political groups to authorize the chief executive to make changes to the membership of any of the
council's committees as necessary during the council year in accordance with the wishes of the
political groups to appoint the council's representatives to the Surrey police and crime panel for the year
24-25 to appoint up to two members to the Buckinghamshire county council and Surrey
county council joint trading standards service committee one of whom must be cabinet member
the other in an advisory non-voting role to note the leader's appointment to the council's
executive committee has outlined above are we agreed please raise your hands
election of committee chairman and wash chairman this is on pages 17 and 18
the first supplementary agenda I refer to the nomination in the first
supplementary agenda the item is open for debate nor debate the recommendations on page
18 of first preliminary agenda is that the members listed are duly elected as chairman
and vice chairman respectively of the select committees regulatory committees as shown
for 24-25 are we agreed agreed appointment of an interim head of page services pages 43-44
I'll call the leader as a chairman of the people's performance and development committee to introduce
the report thank you thank you chairman I don't think this really needs much introduction I think
everybody's aware that Michael Kofland has postponed his retirement from this authority and will take
over his head of paid service with effects from the 31st of may which will be Lee White House's
last day and will stay with us until I think August the 16th which is the Friday just before
Terrence Herbert arrives on the on Monday the 19th of August so just ready to thank
to record my thanks to Michael for taking on the recommendations on pages 43 of your agenda
and is that the county council appoints Michael Kofland attracted head of page service sorry
county council from 30 June 2024 until 18 August 2024 are we agreed agreed a former independent member
of the audit and governance committee this is on pages 45-48 of the agenda I call the chairman
of the audit and governance committee Victor to introduce the report thank you very much mr chairman
so just very quickly the report in front of you all relates to the appointment of the new independent
member of the audit governance committee and that's following the resignation of the previous
member that was mr Terry Price I would just like taste the opportunity to thank Terry for all his
work over the last two years on the audit committee and for all his experience
and expertise on that committee following an interview process which was carried out by myself
mr Richard Tear mr mccormack and mr Will Forster we unanimously decided to offer the role to mr Matthew
Woods all panel members concluded that mr Woods had the breadth of experience and knowledge which
is very suitable for this role thank you very much item open for debate
the recommendations are page 46 that council agrees to the appointment of Matthew Woods has
the independent member of the audit and governance committee for the period of four four years
are we agreed item 14 amendments to the constitution pages 49 to 70 of the agenda
I note the proposed changes to part three and six of the constitution
the items open for debate
recommendations are pages 52 of your agenda and are that the recommend amendment to part three
section three part four of the constitution has set out in paragraph three if this report be
approved that the revise office of court of conduct panel part six oh three has set out in the
annex one to this report be approved that the changes to part three section two of the constitution
scheme of delegation made by the leader on the 26th of March 2024 be noted are we agreed
item 15 members question time pages 5 to 22 of the seconds of our agenda notice has been received
of 13 questions there will be a five minutes per question for subcommittee questions
on the questions please please be brief these must be framed as questions and not statements
and must be relevant to the original question question time will be limited to 45 minutes at
which point I will finish the question we are on and close the item any questions not covered
during the 45 minutes written on so has been tabled and members can of course follow up with
the relevant cabinet member outside the meeting moving on to the questions first question is from
Robert Evans to Matt furnace thank you very much chair I'd like to thank the cabinet member for
his answer although actually of course it really just lists the current situation rather than
my question is about progress but can I ask him what discussions has he had with
the other councils the airport and any other interested agencies and will he encourage those
responsible as time is going on and no real progress is being made it seems to will he encourage
those responsible to look closely at not just the schemes currently under consideration but
possibly some of the more of imaginative options that are now becoming aware from abroad from
Japan China for example magnetic trams and finally when the conclusions this work or the interim
conclusions become available in June we need to perhaps report back to council to let us know
an update on how we're getting on thank you any other supplementary
thank you chair thank you council overs for your supplementary question I think this is
fair to be saying this has been a debate that's been rolling on for quite a few years now
this piece of work between ourselves Heathrow airport and and spell form as well I think we'll
hopefully bottom out a preferred route that we can all get behind and support personally and
this council has always said we support the southern library the rail link which is currently
the bus service we're looking at how we can enhance that with Heathrow airports as well
providing additional stop points so that they can access out of the M25 to avoid the dreaded
Ules that has been implemented as well as the parking charges that the airports has put in place as
well so I think it would be best actually if we wait till June let's bottom out the answer
see if we can get all the authorities behind one particular proposal and then move on from there thank
you second question is from Catherine Powell final note in so on so way clear current Catherine
thank you chair like to thank the cabinet member for her long response and for recognizing that
disadvantaged children and young people have been disproportionately affected I am however unclear
from the responses to what targeted provision is being provided to disadvantaged young children
and young people and would ask the cabinet member to please provide the list of schools
that have been prioritized for support to hopefully improve my understanding thank you chair any other
supplementary Claire thank you chairman in my response I gave quite a lot of detail about the
work that we're doing particularly in the early years with the extension of the early years entitlement
particularly around those children who are eligible for the free early years education offer which
is specifically targeted at deprived children from a more deprived background disadvantage background
but I gather that the councilor's question is more around the provision in schools and one thing
I would like to say is that obviously this school does not run control or manage any schools in the
council sorry in the county and we do not have a direct relationship with schools individually
standards in schools are predominantly the responsibility of school governors and head
teachers of every single school are accountable to their board of governors or if they're in a
trust to to the trustees so when I have spoken in the the response about our education partnership
and how that is particularly has a priority about raising that attainment of disadvantaged
group or closing the attainment gap that can only be done through working in partnership chairman
we do not have direct authority over schools we do not have direct influence over schools
or the way they deliver their curriculum or the way that they teach that sits with governors
so our partnership our education partnership the delivery of our lifetime of learning strategy
which talks about closing that attainment gap must be a partnership it must be an equal partnership
working with schools with school leaders with the Surrey Alliance for Excellence which is our
school improvement partnership and trying to bring everybody together to work together to
close that attainment gap and I will say that the attainment gap in Surrey is probably more
acute than in very many other counties our high performing children achieve incredibly well
but we do have a large number of children who do less well than that appears in other counties
in other education areas we know a lot of work has been done on this in London we know a lot
of work has been done on this in the London powerhouse sorry in the northern powerhouse
where they have collectively um as partnerships come together to focus on raising that attainment
gap and bringing up educational attainment of those who come from more disadvantaged backgrounds
but it can only be done in schools it can only be done in partnership I'm happy to talk to the
member more about the the work that this partnership is doing it is in its early days but it can only
be a partnership of the willing we can only bring along those schools and those school leaders who
want to be involved and want to take this initiative further but I'll be very happy to speak to her
but in terms of what this council is doing to focus um work in individual schools there isn't
that that that information it's something that's done through the Surrey Alliance for Excellence
our school improvement partner not directly by this authority thank you champ. Question three
from Jordan Essex to Kevin Dinnis do you have a supplementary care?
I'd like to start just by thanking the cabinet member Kevin Dinnis for his answer
and in light of the answer noting that Surrey police have extended their offer of a lease until
2026 and and residents concerns including raised to me by email yesterday regarding
a major house fire on Sunday the 12th of May this year in Banstead which completely destroyed
the house and surrounding woodlands but thankfully didn't spread any further is it possible to confirm
please how the the station the Banstead fire station in its huge police own setting cannot be
made fit for purpose and in the meantime that Surrey County Council accept a one-year extension
to the current lease of Banstead fire station which has been put forward by Surrey police already
as this would seem to make sense and allow time to look into this proposed closure more closely
and properly consider the alternative options and also may may I request that the extra details
shared in this answer be put on the consultation website so all those seeking to respond to the
current consultation can see the facts that have been outlined and shared today thank you.
Robert Evans thank you chair in the cabinet members response paragraph D subsection
three it says the crews and equipment are moving not being removed and the services minimum availability
of fire engines will not change 20 in the day and 16 at night is he aware that a similar assurance
was given in spell form when two fire stations were closed and one new one opened that the fire
cover would not change but then of course later on the cover was reduced at night. Can the
cabinet member give us assurances that this is the in fact the case for Banstead and also
what Surrey wide can you give us assurances that there are no further closures of fire stations
or reductions in service in the pipeline thank you.
Rebecca Paul thank you chair and firstly can I start by thanking council adenas for meeting
with myself and councillor luke Bennett last week to discuss our concerns around the proposed
closure of Banstead fire station and in your response you provided really useful information
about the response times before and after the proposal specifically to Banstead village and
can we ask that we are also provided with that same information for the following villages
Tadworth, Walton, Kingswood, Berheath, Chipps did and Woodmanston thank you.
Steve will call me.
Thank you chair. My question of concern is that the the an appliance was moved from Epson station
to Banstead reducing the number of appliances available at Epson the backup and submental cover
was to be provided by Banstead for Epson in your area. With the proposed closure of Banstead
will Epson station return back to two appliances and if not what is the plan to provide Epson
renewal with enough coverage and how will this be done.
What's chair?
I will start by thanking the cat I remember very much for a very interesting response
having been here a long while I do remember previous discussions about fire stations
very heavily. There is a slight dichotomy between what our public see
and the realities of how the fire service works. However, I think the thing which would be very
helpful to all members if a better explanation of the mapping and why white leaf is a preferred
option because I suspect it probably makes a lot of sense once you get the maps out and have a look
and I know the chief fire officer in the previous guys when he was assistant chief fire officer
did a sterling job of explaining it. Can I suggest a member seminar or a member briefing
to explain with the maps why and how it all fits together and the motorway. I am very aware as
Councillor for Junction 9 at the M25 how some of these things fit together so could he actually
do a seminar of briefing with that information because that was what we are looking for I think
probably to actually make this sensible for a movie.
If it is in fact a true consultation and if not what the key objections of that consultation process are.
Thank you. What I want to say is I was involved many years ago when actually Epsom had three
pumps and we had to go through all the malarkey of don't worry everybody now has got we won't have
any more fires that was the best bit because we're so modern we won't have fires hey things like
clothes get caught on cookers so we were told yes we're going to lose one and off it went up to
Bansti where I have to say must declare an interest my family live there but the point is I haven't
seen much activity there however we're only left with one pump down in Epsom and over the last few
years we've been pushed and pushed to build more houses so therefore I know what's going to say
all all the intellectual people say doesn't mean more houses you'll have more fires well I'm not
waiting for that I'm not waiting for that rigmarole I want to make sure that what we have in place
is sufficient and we've got one of the heaviest traffic loads throughout borough and therefore
we can't always make the time but I appreciate it but really no one's come to me but my question
is why did no one come to me as the world who or the member of the of Epsom who's been mostly
involved over the years and they haven't this is the first I've knew I think I think I remember
we've gone over time now could you like to respond to all these questions or would you do it I'm not
sure I've written them all down and I've probably missed a few bits so just a couple of points I
think counselor over and as you want to know about the 20 during the day and 16 appliances during
the night there's no plans for that to change
counselor Paul I'm happy to provide some additional information but I just need to remind you this
is about it's about risk and not based on response times but I'm happy to provide you with that
information Stephen you asked about Epsom I think it was you was asking about Epsom when you look at
the risk of Epsom and a number of incidents and the risk there is no risk based evidence to say
a second vehicle is required there it's based across the whole county not on the individual areas
counselor all about the dynamic tool I think people are always welcome to go into Sorry Fine
Rescue and have a look at the dynamic tool it's a live big screen where you can see where all the
risks are and how vehicles are moved across the county to manage those risks but I'm happy
if democratic services can find a space maybe you want to do a little briefing for all the
different briefings I think it's a save time yeah please thank you yeah and we're running out of time
and those questions will be sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry
sorry for the same standing order as Eva Kingston raised earlier I've put out a question I raised
the supplementary I think Councillor Diness has responded to all of those who
supplemented to my supplementary but hasn't given me the courtesy of an answer to my question
is it possible that he might try and answer my question too because normally I think you'd start
with a person who who asks the supplementary go on to the others afterwards but you seem to
miss me I think in this case we had quite a few supplementary's and what I'm saying is
if you want to take that I did ask a question is it not possibly in this meeting to address the
question answer to ask the supplementary answer for the person who actually asked the question
in the first place rather than just everyone else I don't think that's fair Chair and is your
space be chairing meeting to make sure fairness rules I ask you to intervene thank you have you
got the supplementary from the Catholics okay I think was obviously about the banstead as you
probably know the police station is likely to be sold so we have no control over that and as you
know the actual fire station is not fit for purpose there's no yard for a cruise to do their drills
which means they're then having to go to other fire stations to do that so they were away from
the area just to do that there's nowhere for their personal protection equipment when it's got
contaminants on and there's no facilities for different genders so one the fire station is not
fit for purpose but two it doesn't match the risk of sorry and where the fire service should be
so hopefully if there's any you want to take this off
Chair may or request a written answer because that didn't actually answer the question I hope
thank you can you do that on the yeah thank you thank you question four is from Kathleen
Bart to Claire Curran Kathleen Bart do you have a supplementary I do thank you thank you for the
answer I could you provide more information about how we have established that the majority of parents
favor the the current terminally modeling thank you any other supplementary Claire
yes chairman I'd be happy to do so question five is from Fiona Davidson to Claire Curran
Fiona do you have a supplementary I do chair thank you to the cabinet member for her response
I'd like to quote from NHS England's national framework which was published in April 2023 about
autism assessment pathways it says universal equitable and timely access to autism assessment
in every ICB is important for an undiagnosed autistic person access to personal understanding
health care education social care reasonable adjustments in the workplace
statutory protection from discrimination or benefits may be withheld for this reason it's
important that ICB do not restrict or withhold access to an autism diagnosis for example because
locally a decision has been made by health to conduct only a needs-based assessment barriers to
a diagnosis increase a person's risk for poor outcomes in life would the cabinet member agree
that the current mind works neuro diverse assessment and diagnosis process and practice
effectively restricts and withholds access to an autism diagnosis thank you any other
supplementary yes thank you chairman will the cabinet member agree with me
that failing to intervene before a child is in crisis will affect that child for the rest of
their lives will she also agree that anyone listening to the school heads SEM practitioners
and parents who gave evidence at the recent joint meetings of the adults and health and
children's committee would expect us to demand that mind works up their game and provide a much
better service to children who need their help they should not make the service match the money
available they should design a service that meets the needs and then we should all demand that
central government properly funds that provision anything less makes a travesty of the slogan
no one left behind thank you chairman chairman thank you chair i'll point out that this was
a joint question of my self-wiz Fiona thank the cabinet member and leader for their responses
and their recognition of the impact the backlogs and lack of capacity in the existing system
are having on vulnerable children and their families and i ask the cabinet member and
lead of their help to establish the effective governance of mind works that is clearly required
George Potter thank you mr chairman um as some i know i am a person with autism and one of the
things which is uh the fact which is quite remarkable that i've learned over years is that one of the
reason why autism diagnosis is so difficult is because so many of the symptoms of autism
are in this are so indistinguishable from PTSD and trauma responses and the reason for that of course
is that basically sarti fails to produce any examples of a non-traumatized autistic person
because of the way that sarti fails to adapt to it and to accommodate people who are different
and a big part of that is the failings in the education system and particularly around
diagnosis and failure to adapt would the cabinet member agree that at the moment the service as
being provided is inflicting further trauma on children with autism by preventing them from
getting the support that they need when they need it and as council white has said only supporting
people when it's their will past the point of crisis Jonathan Essex
we are running out of time so please thank you um may i have assurance that the council
will through its role on on the integrated care board um raise this issue with the icb
about rationing of access to mental health and that this rationing will end because it's entirely
inconsistent with our promise to leave no one behind it sorry Claire you've got very limited
thank you chairman i don't want any member in this chamber to be under any illusion that this
is not one of the biggest concerns for the children's directorate one of our main priorities and we're
working really hard with all system leaders across the health and the health service and other
partners to resolve it i completely agree with all the points made and we i am the leader and i know
our executive director are really focusing on on resolving these issues at the earliest possible
opportunity for children for young people and their families thank you question six is from
Robert Evans to David Lewis, Robert Evans your supplementary thank you very much chair yes i'd
like to thank the cabinet member for his answer so in the three years colleagues since 2021 there
have been 5,619 claims from sorry residents for damage under potholes that in itself probably a
fraction of the actual number of occurrences there were and of those of the claims 581 have
been successful and a total of 190,000 pounds paid out that represents just about 10 percent
of the claims can i ask the cabinet member whether he considers the 90 percent of claims rejected
as fraudulent claims if he doesn't consider that what criteria being used to judge what is a
successful claim good water thank you just to expand slightly on that 10 percent refusal rate
it is worth noting that at the moment the process for submitting a claim of compensation is incredibly
onerous not least including multiple independent quotes before you get any work done exact measurements
of the damage to your vehicle details of not just when it not just the day in which it happened but
the precise time and the weather conditions and the direction of travel now many of these things
may well - can we have a supplementary please - there's a question don't we many of these
themselves be reasonable in isolation but as a whole they create a process which is very difficult
and time-consuming and bureaucratic which will discourage many people from going all the way
through with their claims will the cabinet member be reviewing the criteria required for somebody
to seek compensation to improve the rate because as has been suggested i highly doubt that 90
percent of claims are fraudulent and it seems far more likely but only 10 percent of people are
determined enough to see through a difficult process to the end so will that be reviewed please
karen remember thank you chair and thank you uh co-oxel Evans for your supplementary question
i don't believe that the 90 percent of claims which were unsuccessful were fraudulent in any way
i think that clearly those claimants believed at the time that they submitted their claims that
they had a good case and in any situation like this there are criteria that have to be met
and clearly those claims didn't meet the criteria that's not to say they were fraudulent claims
it simply means that there was a lack of knowledge in terms of what the criteria
would be in terms of actually settling the claim um i think that um you know we do have a duty
in this local authority uh to protect our finances to protect the money that's raised
largely from our residents and and and and whilst it's quite right that we have a process in place
to uh to settle claims where there is a a good case for it and and and the criteria met
you know at the same time we simply can't have a process where every claim that's put in is paid
out so i think that the the system that we have currently is is fair the criteria are published
to my knowledge on the website and there are no plans to review those in terms of counselor potters
um question i think the question um was was something around would the criteria be reviewed
for compensation and the general complaint about the bureaucracy and complexity of of submitting a
claim well these issues are complex if anyone has put in the claim to their insurance company
they would know the the difficulties of of actually doing that and this is a similar type of process
and so currently there are no plans uh to review the criteria for determining whether or not
compensation will be paid thank you sir question service from Catherine Powell to Claire Cameron
Catherine do you have a supplementary yes please chair i'd like to thank the
candidate member for her long and detailed response i'm sure we're all very aware of the fact that
the provision of the right places and the right type of places is really important
given that there are several reports that have referenced in this report that may give the
more detailed answers i'm really looking for to provide reassurance please can the cabinet member
commit to sharing those reports thank you chair any other supplementary cabinet
yes i'm happy to do section question ages from uh jonathan s6 to matt furnace uh jonathan do you
have a supplementary um thank you i'm not sure whether it's arising though out to the answer or
badly worded nature of my question um point b of the question what i was seeking to understand
is the the road maintenance deficit in terms of how much money would be needed to restore the the
road network up to its current condition but the answer talks about road maintenance defects
as opposed to deficits and says it's not possible to provide an answer and i ask for that to be
broken down between concrete roads and tarmac roads so we can see whether it's greater for
concrete roads or not um and and also by bar and district which in part a has been noted as being
more prevalent concrete roads in two boroughs and districts so if it's not possible to break it down
now by concrete and flexible roads is it possible to show what the relative um road maintenance deficit
or or whatever that right terminology is by bar and district so we can see whether it is equitable
and equal across the county or differs in different places and would the councilor cabinet member
agree with me that it would be useful to um create a very simple record perhaps at start of where
the concrete roads are and then to apply that to that data set so we can see whether or not there is
a greater deficit in maintaining good maintenance of our concrete roads as opposed to flexible roads
and and there and and there by seeing where that where that lies across the county thank you
uh thank you chairman um firstly i'm grateful to council sx for raising this question because
there are a lot of councilors across sorry that have a large number of concrete roads within
our divisions and this is a topic that is of interest both to us and our residents um i don't
understand in the answer in the second line of the answer the first part of the answer saying we do
not have a record of concrete roads how is there a fine milling process program run by highways
without having a record of the concrete roads in sorry to which it applies um it then estimates
that between five and ten percent of sorry roads are concrete well that could be between two and three
hundred miles of roads and chairman those are mainly in residential areas i believe
in roads of a and houses of a certain age where that was the construction um that was at the time
and over the years particularly in the 70s and the 80s it became fashionable to cover those concrete
roads in tarmac which simply to hear a question please yes so would the cabinet member agree to
review this area give members more information about the five million milling process what is
happening where and when and particularly liaise with divisional members who have concrete roads
in their division and are more interested in this than the ones that don't
met
thank you chair thank you uh as well to to council for their supplementary um so council sx apologies
we will we'll look at getting a breakdown of the cost of bringing up all roads to uh standard by
district um for information it's probably within the region of three hundred six hundred million
pounds um for a one off go across the entire three thousand miles of network and uh pavements
that we have in the county so as you can see despite us putting in 76 million to 100 million a year
we have still got a way to go but we are seeing an improvement there the number of potholes are
coming down the number of defects are decreasing as well um in identifying the type of road as it
does set out uh a lot of roads were actually made of concrete particularly in the north east
section of the county um when these have been as councilor with them as just said uh tarmac over
it has proved to be a bit of a challenge um however we can see what we can do about the breakdown
between concrete and flexible what i will say is our costs to repair might be higher with concrete
but we often have to repair a concrete road far fewer times uh it is a much more long-lasting
uh material uh if the engineers have their way everything would be a concrete road which we do
not want uh particularly from road noise and other aspects um councilor with them um i'll do my best
to get all that that information that you are requesting um as i said it is challenged we do know
of a number of areas of concrete road we wouldn't necessarily know of areas until it becomes an
issue um but what we have said is we're no longer going to be tarmacing over concrete roads we will
be looking to move forward with the fine milling uh because the two materials do not work together
and uh it is just uh a failed cost that continues so any records that we have
happily share them uh and we can do yet another member briefing on concrete milling we seems to
do it every year but i'm happy to continue doing that uh just so members are aware of the options
available thank you chair thank you uh question known from Catherine Bart um to much furnace
Catherine Diosa fragmentary and please can we make these a supplementary note statements thank you
thank you um i think the uh my supplementary question is based on the last sentence
which says therefore could you review in including utility to works on minor roads uh which don't
appear on the bulletin at the moment and uh also aren't communicated obviously to divisional
members um and i note that uh there's uh there's advanced warning signage is usually placed on
site and their promoters are often asked by the county council to to do letters please could we
um do more with utility works on minor roads get them on the bulletins and uh perhaps letters
could go out in every case and advanced warning signage in every case it would help very much thank
you any other supplementary council furnace thank you chair thank you councilor for your
supplementary question um i would fully recommend you sign up to one dot network to get an alert
for all road works in your area um it is a free uh free account that anyone can apply for
we encourage all residents to to sign up for that because you get instant alerts as soon as a permit
is granted if it helps the reason we don't include any works which are all unlikely to cause a level
of disruption is we have over 110,000 permits issued on our 3000 miles of road every year so as you
can imagine those highway bulletins will become incredibly long uh and uh instead we would ask
that if people are interested in their particular local area they do that we post the ones which we
know are going to have some level of disruption um but i do encourage anyone to sign up to the
the one dot network um if it helps uh a lot of the about 70 percent of our works on the network
our utility works we only know about 30 percent uh a majority of that is broadband and uh water
company and the minor road is mostly the broadband which tends to be in the pavement which i know
does cause a number of issues. I need ten minutes left now so a question ten is from Kathleen
Powell to Claire Coven catching the year's supplementary. Yes please Chair. I'd like to thank the
cabinet member for her response but ask whether she has any concerns that schools in areas of
deprivation where it would not be possible for parents and carers to transport their children
are becoming vulnerable to closure and would also ask whether she is following up with central
government regarding changes that might help us to support these areas. Thank you Chair. Any other
supplementary Claire. Thank you Chairman. Yes as I said in my answer we're looking at the school
organization plan again for next year and we are doing some very uh extensive work with schools
about the sustainability of small schools across the county and the director of education and I
were recently um we recently joined a seminar which was run by the Diocese of Guilford um particularly
looking at the future and the viability of small church schools. The viability of schools generally
particularly smaller schools is an issue which is um which is the viability of smaller schools
generally is an issue across the whole country. There is a falling birth rate and um particularly
small schools in rural areas is one which is recognized in many other counties and I talk to
other peer members um about this issue um regularly and we are working as a southeast region to see
what other strategies and what other initiatives we can take again working in partnership with
schools with maths with school leaders again we cannot dictate action that schools take um they
must do that themselves but it's very important that we all work together as a system to protect
small schools because as we know particularly in rural schools village schools are the heart of a
community and we do not want to be losing these valuable assets um that residents so value.
Question 11 is from Catherine Barte to Claire Cameron Catherine do you have a
supplementary? I do thank you um is it possible to share the cost of the
places that we're talking about I note that the the answer states that they would be prohibitive
for families um it would be interesting to provide the families with that cost in some
circumstances in certain circumstances um so an idea of the cost uh which is deemed prohibitive
would be helpful thank you for any other supplementary Claire um I will lead to liaison to the service
about this to see if this is um whether this will be information that they will be prepared to
share with families and there might be commercial interests around this with contracted providers
but I will lead us with the service to see if that's possible. Catherine um question 12 is from
Catherine Powell to Claire Cameron Catherine Powell do you have a?
Thank you chair I'd like to thank the cabinet member for her response
however she will have received an email as I did from the Surrey County Fostering Association
overnight in response to the responses provided this includes the following statement there seems
to be some misunderstanding or you have been misinformed as when comparing the contents of
the on the Surrey website and the charter presented at the corporate parenting board there are still
significant differences and they also shared a comparison which the cabinet member has a copy
of and I can provide another copy of if it would help well the cabinet member please commit to
working with me and the Surrey County Fostering Association and the Fostering Service to resolve
this inconsistency to drive a positive far forward on what is an utterly critical issue
for attracting new foster carers and retaining existing ones thank you chair. Can you hear the
supplementary Claire? Thank you and yes of course I recognize the the value that foster carers
have to this organization they are the backbone of our care system and we owe them a tremendous
debt of gratitude for the difference they make to children's lives and I hope that every member
in this chamber will join me in extending that voter thanks to them I know there have been
difficulties in in resolving this issue and that perhaps there have been a bit of a catalog of errors
but I will certainly take this forward with the service I want to get this resolved as quickly as
possible and to be able to move forward with the foster carers association in the most possible
in the most positive possible collaboration to get this the get this charter live and working
at the event last week I was able to extend my personal apologies to the leadership of the
foster carers association for for the unfortunate errors and the fact that we weren't able to
collectively to sign this document in the way that we wanted to and to celebrate and champion
the work of our foster carers during this really important foster care fortnight
which I hope all members have had the opportunity to engage with the fostering service at different
places around the county thank you Jim. Thank you question 13 is from Catherine Bart to
Marissa Heath Catherine Bart your supplementary? I do thank you I'd like to I know Marissa is not
here at the moment I'd like to thank her for her answer I note that we've been the county council
has been awarded bronze level for carbon literacy there are that's the that's the base level
there is a platinum level and my question is have we got an ambition to achieve platinum level
and a plan to get there thank you. Any other supplementary leader will you have to pick this?
Thank you Chair. Marissa Heath it's the best place to answer that but I'm sure we do have that
ambition and I'll find out exactly where we are on that journey. Should we go for gold?
Item 16 is stated by members I have received two statements from members there was a time
limit of two minutes per statement and these are put without discussion or reply. I'll call
Jonathan Halley to make a short statement. Thank you Mr Chairman. In November of 2023
Tara Wales a constituent of mine was on the verge of a physical and emotional breakdown
unable to find the supported living accommodation in Surrey so desperately needed for her son Joshua
a 24 year old who cannot care for himself cannot wash or clothe himself is unable to feed himself
the stresses and strains on Tara and her family having to look after him while also having to
solve some secure alternative accommodation was taking its toll. But in stepped two unsung heroes
of this authority Melanie Hall and Amy Verrill of the West Learning Disability and Autism team
part of the all-aged learning disability directorates who like to celestial being stepped in and worked
tirelessly to source accommodation for Joshua even helping to negotiate the tenancy agreement
and working to secure the funding that they needed including funding for new furniture provision.
Now Mr Chairman at the Royal Hill Park complex in Red Hill Joshua has now found a new home and Tara
and her family have new hope for a better future for their son. This would not have been possible
without the support of Melanie and Amy and they Mr. Chairman will simply say that they have been
doing their job. I will say to you this morning maybe so but I want to say here today thank you
thank you to both of you you have made a lasting difference to one family in Surrey and for that
Tara, Joshua and I are eternally grateful thank you.
I now call on Steve McCormack to make his state.
Thank you Chair. At this AGM the start of our municipal municipal year I wanted us to consider
a reflect on the unintended consequences that decisions made and actions taken have on each
verse and our residents as we go about our daily lives. Specifically the chalk pit a waste transfer
and processing site on the board of my division and it sits in John Beckett's division. Planning
permission was granted for a change of use of his site and since that time residents in the local
area have borne the consequences of that decision. The building to contain the waste processing and
to mitigate the noise and dust is still not complete and is in fact party to a change of
planning conditions which will come before committee in the coming months. All activities have
continued since the original planning permission was granted with a continued noise and disturbance
to residents. The increased presence of heavy good vehicles has led to substantial rise in the
traffic volume. This will not only cause congestion but also increase for likelihood of accidents
posing a risk to the safety of our residents and especially pedestrians and cyclists.
Secondly the surge in HDV traffic will accelerate for wear and tear on our road network. Our local
roads are not designed to handle such heavy and frequent loads. We'll deteriorate faster leading
to more potholes and surface damage. This will necessitate more frequent and costly repairs.
Furthermore the constant noise and air pollution from these large vehicles would degrade in the
quality of life our residents. Noise pollution can lead to increased stress and health issues
with emissions contributing to air pollution, exacerbating respiratory problems and impacting
overall public health. In conclusion while the development of a waste transfer and processing
centre may offer certain benefits we must carefully weigh these against the significant
negative impacts on our road infrastructure and the well-being of our residents. It is crucial
that we consider the unintended consequences and explore alternative solutions that do not
compromise the safety and quality of life in our community. Thank you Chair.
Item 17 is the report of the cabinet pages 71 to 76th of the agenda. I call the leaders
present the report of the meeting cabinet held on the 26th of March and 23rd of April 24th.
Thank you very much Chair. I beg to move the reports of the cabinet to say held on the 26th
of March and 23rd of April 2024. There were no reports for the recommendation for Council.
Reports for information discussion 26th of March are called Paragraph A to B.
Called Paragraph A, service structure plane raises five schemes.
Called Paragraph B, Chezzington Primary School roof replacement works.
23rd of April I called Paragraph C to E. Called Paragraph C, Kalamajipc, Roma Travellers Camp
Woking. Called Paragraph D, your fund survey, the Hazelmeal Link Community Hub. Paragraph E, Ashwell
Community Development Meeting Place and New Scout Headquarters.
I'll call Paragraph F, quarterly report on discussions taken under special urgency arrangements
tells the March 2024 and turning the March 2024. The cabinet recommends that the County Council
know that there has been one urgent discussion since the last cabinet report to the Council.
Chezzington Primary School roof replacement works cabinet 26th of March 2024.
Following discussion on the above, the motion is that the report of the meeting of the cabinet
held on the 26th of March 2024 and 23rd of April 24th will be adopted. How we agreed?
Minutes of the cabinet meeting, pages 77 to 96, I now turn to the final item agenda today
and no notification to make statement question on the minutes has been received.
This brings us to the conclusion of the meeting. I'd like to thank all the members
for taking part. Lunch is provided for members and CLT. Please do join me in the
subject. I look forward to seeing you all there. Please follow staff instructions. Thank you.
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