Transcript

that it's two o'clock. So it's two o'clock. And first of all, I'll run through a few points. If the 13th of January, I hope isn't too late to, again, wish everybody a Happy New Year. I think after about the middle of January, it gets a bit boring. But good wishes to everybody for 2025, whatever 2025 holds for us all. So welcome to everybody, members and officers. First, there is no fire drill planned for today. You'll be pleased to hear. In the event of a fire alarm sounding, everyone is asked to leave by the exit just here and assemble at the top of the car park and report to the team. Could I ask everybody to put your mobiles either switched off or put on silent? And in line with our guidance on the use of social media, I'm happy for anyone attending today's meeting, including members of the committee, to use social media if this doesn't disturb the business of the meeting. Today's meeting is being webcast to the public and a recording will be available online afterwards. I'd also like to mention that this meeting allows for participation by videoconference via Microsoft Teams. I know we have some colleagues online today, so welcome also. But for those participating remotely, if the chat feature is enabled, please don't use it. Its use limits the transparency and open discussion that we have in a public meeting. For those officers who have joined the meeting remotely, please use your raise hand function to indicate if you'd like to speak and please mute your microphone and turn off your camera when not speaking. If there are any hands raised, DILIP on my left here will let me know. For those officers and members who are here in person, could I just ask you to, anyone who is presenting, to speak clearly and directly into your microphones. And when called on to speak, press the right-hand button on your microphone and start speaking when the red light appears. And remember to turn it off after you've finished. If you're sharing a desk and microphone, you may need to press the left or the right-hand button, depending on which side of the microphone you are sitting on. Now we have a number of apologies, because this is a special meeting. Inevitably, some councillors cannot be here today, but they have appointed substitutes. We've had apologies from councillor Cameron McIntosh, but welcome to councillor Bob Hughes, who is here for him as a substitute. Also apologies from councillor John Beckett, and welcome to Stephen McCormack, here for him. And also councillor Mark Sugden, our vice chairman, is unable to attend today, but councillor Jeremy Webster is here attending for Mark. So, could I ask at this point if there are any members who wish to declare any interests, either any disclosable pecuniary interests or any other interests arising under the Code of Conduct in respect of the item on the agenda? Stephen Cooksey. Yes, thank you, chairman. I have no pecuniary interest, and I emphasise that I'm here as a county councillor looking at this from the county perspective. But I am leader of Moorl Valley District Council, and Moorl Valley District Council is a partner in JWS. That's fine. Thank you very much, Stephen. Any other declarations from anyone? No? Right, item three is the substantive item today, and that's the call-in which has taken place on the Surrey Environment Partnership and Joint Waste Solutions. We have Natalie Bramall here today, the cabinet member, Simon Crowther, the Interim Executive Director for Environment, Property and Growth. Welcome, and Stephen Foster, the Interim Director for Waste, and Andy Brown, Deputy Chief Executive, who is also here today, and also Tony Ozzieri from Finance. So, welcome to all of you. There may also be another finance officer online, in case of any detailed points. The monitoring officer, Asmet Hassan, is also expected to be online if there are any queries. Our introduction to this item, and the call-in, our vice chairman, or one of our vice chairmen, Councillor Lance Spencer, on my right, has called in the following decision taken by the cabinet on the 17th of December. The decision said that cabinet agrees the principle of SCC bringing back the functions and associated funding to SCC from the Joint Waste Solutions team, and to delegate authority to the Executive Director for Environment, Property and Growth, in consultation with the Deputy Chief Executive, and Executive Director of Resources, and the Director of Law and Governance, to take such actions and decisions as are necessary to facilitate the manner and mechanisms through which this decision can be most suitably implemented. Now, a number of points, members. The majority of the reasons for the call-in relate to Part 2 information, and therefore, in a short while, we will move into private session for the debate. At the end of the meeting, the committee will be asked to either agree that the decision should stand, or refer it back to the cabinet for reconsideration. A third option would be that the decision could stand, but there are a number of comments or issues that the committee would like the cabinet member to look at again. But we will come back to those options after the discussion. As Stephen has just alluded to, there will be members who are affected and maybe have issues on a borough basis, but members here are reminded that they attend this call-in meeting in their capacity as councillors for Surrey County Council, and that they should consider the decision from the perspective of the county council's strategic needs and interests, and not those of the boroughs and districts. The call-in process is a constitutional check and balance to ensure effective, high-quality decision-making by the executive, i.e. the cabinet, based on robust evidence. It should not be used for political reasons. Members are encouraged to focus on whether there has been some flaw or deficiency in how the decision has been reached, e.g. lack of consultation, evidence disregarded, incomplete information, etc., or issues of legal and financial consequences. Now, before we move into part two, I'd like to ask Lance Spencer, as the councillor who called this in, if there are any comments he would like to make in public before we close the meeting to private session. Yes, please. Thank you, Mr Chair. So, the reason for bringing this, calling this in, was I watched the cabinet meeting where this subject came up, and to me this felt a little bit like the transfer of the parking services that were brought in from the boroughs and districts into Surrey County Council, and also the curb cutting and the vegetation cutting that was transferred in. It felt like it was something that Surrey County Council wanted to do, but they hadn't put enough time and effort into thinking it through. And that's what it felt like in the part one part of the exercise. I was then subsequently contacted by a member of the Surrey Environmental Partnership, who was surprised by the decision the cabinet had made, and gave me a number of reasons why he thought from the Surrey Environment Partnership point of view, this was not a good decision. So, on the basis of both of those, I've decided to call it in. I was then alerted to the part two elements of the discussion, and when I looked at the part two, I was even more concerned about the decision, and that will be covered in the part two of our discussion today. Thank you very much, Lance. Unless there are any other comments at this stage in public, I will read the recommendation that under Section 100A of the Local Government Act, 1972, the public be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information under the relevant paragraphs of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act. Is that agreed? Agreed. Okay. Thank you. So, the webcast can be halted now. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.