Richard Tear

Council - Tuesday, 8 October 2024 10.00 am

The meeting started with a statement from the Leader of the Council, Councillor Tim Oliver OBE, and a statement from the Leader of the Liberal Democrat group, Councillor Paul Follows. The Council then approved the appointment of Andy Brown as the Section 151 Officer, the absence of Councillor David Lewis from Council meetings, amendments to the constitution, and noted the annual report of the Audit and Governance Committee. A debate was held on an original motion to tackle the increasing problem of motorcycles parking on pavements, which was passed. Another original motion proposed making Surrey County Council an “End Poverty” Council was passed after the rejection of an amendment to commit the Council to not reducing funding for charities that tackle poverty. Finally the Council noted the recommendations of the Communities, Environment and Highways select committee on the referral of a motion on plant based meals.

Planning and Regulatory Committee - Wednesday, 25 September 2024 10.30 am

The committee approved an outline planning application for a new extra care housing scheme at the former Birchlands Care Home in Englefield Green, Egham. They also noted the outcome of a judicial review relating to a previous decision to grant planning permission for oil extraction at Horse Hill in Horley. The Supreme Court quashed that permission, and so the application will return to the committee for redetermination at a later date.

Surrey Pension Fund Committee - Friday, 13 September 2024 11.15 am

The Committee supported the proposed changes to the Council's Pension Fund Committee Terms of Reference and Scheme of Delegations. This decision reflects the ongoing project of ensuring that the Surrey Pension Fund is autonomous and appropriately ring-fenced from Surrey County Council, even though it is a wholly-owned entity. The committee heard a presentation from CEM Benchmarking on the fund's costs and returns relative to other pension funds. The committee noted their satisfaction at the successful application to become a signatory to the UK Stewardship Code. They also approved the fund's Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures report.

Audit and Governance Committee - Wednesday, 11 September 2024 10.00 am

At this meeting the committee approved the council's Risk Management Strategy and noted a report on the council's performance on risk management. They also noted a report on Internal Audit’s work in the first quarter of the year and a report on the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman's annual review letter. The committee commended their own annual report to the October meeting of the full council and agreed an amended process for dealing with allegations of breaches of the member code of conduct. The committee also agreed the process for the recruitment of new independent persons.

Joint Health and Overview Scrutiny Committee (Frimley Park Hospital) - Friday, 6 September 2024 2.30 pm

The Joint Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee agreed a number of recommendations for Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust and NHS Frimley Integrated Care Board relating to plans to replace Frimley Park Hospital with a new hospital building by 2030. The committee are concerned about the challenging timeline of the programme, and the lack of concrete plans from Frimley Health and NHS Frimley regarding the site selection process.