The Executive confirmed the minutes of the previous meeting and heard a petition on the state of Dean Parade, Camberley. The Executive also made a series of decisions on how it would calculate the Council Tax for 2025/26, agreed a grant to SHAWS, and reviewed a report on how the Council had been performing in the first half of the 2024/25 financial year.

Dean Parade Petition

The Executive considered a petition asking the Council to designate Dean Parade, Camberley, a conservation area, as a High Street under the terms of the Levelling Up and Regeneration Act 2023 and to make full use of the provisions of that Act. In particular the petition requested that the Council use its powers to compel the landlords of long-term vacant shops to enter into rental auctions on the properties.

The petition described the situation as a scandal , arguing that landlords had been allowed to leave them unoccupied for so long . The petition was started by Trefor Hogg, a local County Councillor and the chair of the Old Dean Community Group. The group presented a petition containing 203 signatures to the Executive and said that it had also gathered a further 418 physical signatures.

After some discussion, the Executive agreed to write to the landlords of the properties and to delay any further action until it had had an opportunity to assess the success of using these powers elsewhere.

Calculation and setting of the Council Tax Base for 2025/26

The Executive reviewed a report on the setting of the 2025/26 Council Tax Base for Surrey Heath. It discussed the implications of changes introduced from April 2013 that empowered Councils to make changes to Council Tax discounts and exemptions as well as to apply premiums to long term empty properties.

The Executive was advised that the 2025/26 Tax Base would be 40,049.0 Band D equivalent properties, which is an increase of 301 properties from the 2024/25 figure.

The meeting also discussed the Local Council Tax Support Scheme (LCTSS). The Executive was advised that the current cost of the scheme was £3,560,907, compared to an outturn of £3,364,952 in 2023/24. The Council decided to continue to apply a premium on long term empty homes and resolved to keep the Council Tax Hardship Fund at its current level of £30,000.

The Executive also made a series of decisions about the LCTSS:

• The income bands used in the LCTSS will be increased by 1.7% as per the recent budget announcement for benefit uprating and rounded to the nearest £0.99p.
• Incomes from recipients of Employment and Support Allowance (C) will be disregarded.
• The scheme will be updated to prevent people from claiming if they have intentionally deprive[d] themselves of capital .
• Any capital gained from backdated relevant Department for Work and Pensions benefits will be disregarded.
• Income from Military Compensation will be disregarded.
• Payments made under the Post Office Compensation Scheme will be disregarded.
• Payments made as compensation or support in respect of the fire on 14 June 2017 at Grenfell Tower will be disregarded.
• Payments made under the Vaccine Damage Act 1979 will be disregarded.
• Payments made under the Infected Blood Compensation Scheme will be disregarded.
• War Disablement Pensions and War Widow’s Pensions will continue to be disregarded.
• If the Government creates any new compensation schemes, the LCTSS will be amended to reflect them.

Community Fund Grants

The Executive agreed to award a £7,500 grant to Strategic Health and Wellbeing Services (SHAWS), a local Community Interest Company. SHAWS is a health and social care provider. The money will be used to extend the provision of Strength and Balance classes to Frimley Green and Bagshot Libraries from its current location in Camberley Library. The classes, which cost £2 to attend, are aimed at residents over 65 years old with long-term health conditions.

Mid Year Performance Report

The Executive reviewed a report summarising the performance of the Council in the first half of 2024/25 against its corporate objectives, priorities and performance indicators as set out in its Annual Plan.

The report showed that 28% of the objectives and projects in the plan had been achieved by the time of the meeting, that 59% were on track, 11% were delayed and 2% were not delivered. The Executive noted that the Council had met or exceeded targets for 80% of the performance indicators in the Annual Plan, but that 13% had missed their targets by less than 10%, and 6% had missed their targets by more than 10%.

The Executive agreed to two recommended changes to the Annual Plan:

• The target for the number of days taken to process new Housing Benefit claims will be amended from 20 to 25. The report explained that the target had not been met because remaining claims left with Surrey Heath to determine tend to be more complex exempt accommodation cases.
• The target for the amount of Household Waste recycled or composted will be reduced from 63% to 61%. The report explained that 63% is not currently achievable in the post-pandemic context and under current arrangements and legislation.