Lead Member – Councillor Gwilym Butler, Portfolio Holder for Finance, Corporate Resources and Communities

Lead Officer – Jane Trethewey

RESOLVED:

That Cabinet approved:

·       The delegation of grounds maintenance services currently undertaken by Shrewsbury Town Council under a Service Level Agreement directly to Shrewsbury Town Council, along with the appropriate associated budget, subject to a parallel agreement by Shrewsbury Town Council to accept this delegation.

·       The delegation of the detailed agreement between Shropshire Council and Shrewsbury Town Council to the Chief Executive in consultation with the Portfolio holder for Finance, Corporate Resources and Communities.

·       That a Monitoring Board is established to meet a minimum of once a year to monitor the operation of the delegated services with joint membership from Shropshire Council and Shrewsbury Town Council.

It was agreed that items 15 and 16 would be brought forward to this part of the meeting.

The Portfolio Holder for Finance, Corporate Resources and Communities introduced the report which proposed that a range of grounds maintenance services currently undertaken on behalf of Shropshire Council by Shrewsbury Town Council under a Service Level Agreement are formally delegated to them for future delivery from April 2025. He drew members’ attention to an alteration to the recommendation contained within the report: delegation of the detailed agreement to the Chief Executive, not the Executive Director of Place

At the invitation of the Leader, Councillor Alan Mosley, Leader of Shrewsbury Town Council, read a statement on behalf of the Town Council expressing their disappointment that the maintenance of the golf course had been removed from the SLA and requested that this be reconsidered.

The Portfolio Holder emphasised that the decision to remove the golf course from the agreement was based on the need to improve the quality of the golf course as the current maintenance arrangement was not meeting the required standards. It was suggested that the decision could be reviewed in the future once the golf course's quality has improved.

The Leader addressed concerns that the golf course could be closed or sold for redevelopment and reiterated that the recommendations were to improve the facility.

RESOLVED:

That Cabinet approved:

·       The delegation of grounds maintenance services currently undertaken by Shrewsbury Town Council under a Service Level Agreement directly to Shrewsbury Town Council, along with the appropriate associated budget, subject to a parallel agreement by Shrewsbury Town Council to accept this delegation.

·       The delegation of the detailed agreement between Shropshire Council and Shrewsbury Town Council to the Chief Executive in consultation with the Portfolio holder for Finance, Corporate Resources and Communities.

·       That a Monitoring Board is established to meet a minimum of once a year to monitor the operation of the delegated services with joint membership from Shropshire Council and Shrewsbury Town Council.