a. Councillor Graham Alleway to move that
“this Council resolves to ask the Executive to review the policy for distribution of Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) funding, taking into account the following recommendations:
(i) each ward be allocated 45% of CIL generated from development in the ward, inclusive of the 15 or 25% statutory allocation to Parish Councils, and the current 15% non parished ward allocation established by this Council;
(ii) the CIL balance above the amounts currently issued for parished or non parished wards be held by the Borough in ward CIL accounts;
(iii) the consultation process to identify needs and improvements to infrastructure to deliver priorities reflected from consultations be reviewed, to include:
(a) a central role for ward councillors consulting with residents;
(b) Officers engaging appropriate authorities and agencies responsible for infrastructure and service provision to deliver the infrastructure;
(c) a central role for ward councillors engage with adjoining Ward Councillors to identify infrastructure concerns and opportunities to mitigate effects of development; and
(iv) any unspent CIL money in the Ward accounts to be returned to the Borough general CIL fund if unspent in the statutory timescale.
b. Councillor Robin Perry to move that
“this Council
(i) notes that
(a) HMG awarded a new contract to audit local authority annual accounts to BDO, through Public Sector Audits Appointments (PSAA) in 2020;
(b) with the much publicised pressures across the whole Local Government Audit system that are the result of staffing and capacity issues within those audit firms, many Councils like Surrey Heath are experiencing significant delays in the completion of the audits on their accounts;
(c) having outstanding unaudited accounts, falsely and unnecessarily undermines confidence in the finances of all those Councils, including Surrey Heath;
.
(d) recognising that staff turnover issues in the finance team contributed in part to the initial delays in the process, despite subsequently expending many hours working with the Auditors, actively supporting them and responding to their queries as part of the standard audit process and receiving multiple re-start dates, disappointingly the 2019/20 audit has still not been completed by the current external auditor;
(e) despite having been prepared diligently and in a timely manner, the external auditor has yet to start work on the audit of accounts for 2020/21. This delay has also impacted the preparation of the 2021/22 accounts;
(f) it has already incurred significant expenditure retaining temporary staff with the historic knowledge and experience required to respond to queries relevant to the outstanding annual accounts; and
(ii) asks the Leader of the Council to write formally to the Secretary of State for Levelling-up Housing and Communities to seek his assistance in:
(a) enabling the PSAA to offer the Council the appointment of an alternative audit company that has the necessary capacity to complete the above audits, or
(b) releasing the Council from the requirement to use the currently appointed auditors (BDO) under the existing national Public Sector Audits Appointments (PSAA) arrangement for the audit of its annual statement of accounts for financial years 2019/20, 2020/21, 2021/22 and 2022/23 until the new PSAA arrangement commences from 1 April 2023, to allow the Council the option of securing new external auditors from PSAA or otherwise, that have the capacity and capability to complete the outstanding audit of accounts.”
Minutes:
It was moved by Councillor Graham Alleway and seconded by Councillor Victoria Wheeler that
“this Council asks the Executive to review the policy for distribution of CIL funding, taking into account the following recommendations:
(i) each ward be allocated 45% of CIL generated from development in the ward, inclusive of the 15 or 25% statutory allocation to Parish Councils, and the current 15% non parished ward allocation established by this Council;
(ii) the CIL balance above the amounts currently issued for parished or non parished wards be held by the Borough in ward CIL accounts;
(iii) the consultation process to identify needs and improvements to infrastructure to deliver priorities reflected from consultations be reviewed, to include:
(a) a central role for ward councillors consulting with residents;
(b) Officers engaging appropriate authorities and agencies responsible for infrastructure and service provision to deliver the infrastructure;
(c) a central role for ward councillors engage with adjoining Ward Councillors to identify infrastructure concerns and opportunities to mitigate effects of development; and
(iv) any unspent CIL money in the Ward accounts to be returned to the Borough general CIL fund if unspent in the statutory timescale.”
It was moved by Councillor Morgan Rise and seconded by Councillor Graham Tapper that (i) be amended by changing 45% to 33%. The motion was put to the vote and lost.
RESOLVED to ask the Executive to review the policy for distribution of CIL funding, taking into account the following recommendations:
(i) each ward be allocated 45% of CIL generated from development in the ward, inclusive of the 15 or 25% statutory allocation to Parish Councils, and the current 15% non parished ward allocation established by this Council;
(ii) the CIL balance above the amounts currently issued for parished or non parished wards be held by the Borough in ward CIL accounts;
(iii) the consultation process to identify needs and improvements to infrastructure to deliver priorities reflected from consultations be reviewed, to include:
(a) a central role for ward councillors consulting with residents;
(b) Officers engaging appropriate authorities and agencies responsible for infrastructure and service provision to deliver the infrastructure;
(c) a central role for ward councillors engage with adjoining Ward Councillors to identify infrastructure concerns and opportunities to mitigate effects of development; and
(iv) any unspent CIL money in the Ward accounts to be returned to the Borough general CIL fund if unspent in the statutory timescale.
Note: In accordance with the Members’ Code of Conduct Councillor Graham Alleway declared a non-pecuniary interest as he was a director of the Surrey Association of Local Councils, that was affiliated to the National Association of Local Councils, which he referred to in moving the motion.