The External Partnerships Committee at Surrey Heath Borough Council held it's first meeting of the new municipal year.
The purpose of the External Partnerships Committee is to provide scrutiny and oversight of the Council's partner organisations. Serving on the committee from Surrey Heath Conservatives are Cllr Lewis Mears and Cllr Jonny Cope.
Commenting, Cllr Jonny Cope said:
"This evening I attended my first meeting as a member of the External Partnerships Committee of Surrey Heath Borough Council.
"The main purpose of this committee is to provide scrutiny and oversight of the Council’s partner organisations. In particular (but not limited to) those organisations in receipt of Council Grants.
"This evening we received presentations from and asked questions of three partners:
"Probably the bulk of the meeting was taken up questioning Accent Housing. Councillors on all sides raised issues residents had faced in getting repairing issues dealt with by Accent, in particular longstanding “legacy” repairs, which are of particular frustration to residents. The Accent representatives insisted that “personal customer experience” was a key priority for them and that the number of outstanding repairs had reduced significantly in recent months. I know that all members of the committee will be working to hold Accent to account to ensure residents get the best possible service.
"Second was an interesting presentation on Frimley Health and Care Integrated Care System. This is part of a nationwide look at how health’s be care services are delivered - working to integrate services delivered by both NHS and local authorities to collaborate more effectively on public health issues. One of the important points, I felt was raised is that as access to services and how they are delivered is changing, it is important to engage with communities to give communities and residents a voice in how those changes will affect them. I raised a question on what structures are in place to allow for this engagement and how we as councillors can help with this. It is vitally important these decisions are made with full resident engagement and this is something I’ll be keeping an eye on.
"Finally, we had a presentation on local policing from the interim Borough Commander. While Surrey Heath remains a safe borough, there are instances of anti-social behaviour particularly around Camberley town centre. The Commander in particular updated us on vehicle crime and the theft of catalytic converters, which is a prevalent issue. The committee raised questions around police visibility and how this could be enhanced.
"Obviously this is only a very brief summary of the meeting but if you are interested in learning more on these issues, the full meeting can be viewed on the Council’s YouTube channel."
Pictured, Cllr Jonny Cope, St. Paul's Ward
