Overview and Scrutiny Committee - Thursday, 9th February, 2023 7.00 pm - Agenda and minutes

To confirm the Minutes of the Meeting held on 1^st December, 2022 (copy attached).

The minutes of the meeting held on 1st December, 2023 were agreed as a correct record.

The Chairman advised the Committee that Cllr Prabesh KC had been absent from three consecutive meetings of the Committee held on 20th October, 1st December 2022 and 9th February 2023.  Under the Council’s Constitution, Standing Order 4 (5) stated that ‘if any Member shall be absent from three consecutive meetings of a committee, he or she shall cease to be a Member thereof, unless he or she shall in the opinion of the Committee show reasonable grounds for their absence.’

It was noted that the Chairman would contact Cllr KC to determine the reasons for his absence at these meetings and report back at the meeting to be held on 30th March, 2023.

To meet with representatives from the Farnborough Airport, to discuss the economic and environmental impacts of the airport on the Borough following the publication of the Economic Impact of Farnborough Airport Report produced by Lichfields (copy attached).

In attendance from the airport will be Simon Geere, Chief Executive and Mark Sanderson, Group Corporate Responsibility Manager.

In attendance from the Council will be Tim Mills, Executive Head of Property and Growth, Lee McQuade, Economy and Growth Manager and Richard Ward, Environment and Airport Monitoring Officer. Mr Ward will give a presentation on air quality across the Borough with a particular focus on the impacts of the airport on the air quality.

In addition, Luke Bonnici, Associate Director – Economics at Lichfields, will be joining the meeting online to address any specific queries regarding the report.

The Committee welcomed, Simon Geere, Chief Executive, and Mark Sanderson, Group Corporate Responsibility Manager, at Farnborough Airport, Tim Mills, (Executive Head of Property and Growth) and Richard Ward, (Environment and Airport Monitoring Officer) who were in attendance to provide presentations on the environmental and economic impacts of Farnborough Airport. This followed the publication of the Economic Impact of Farnborough Airport Report produced by Lichfields. In Addition, Luke Bonnici, Associate Director – Economics, Lichfields, joined the meeting online.

Mr Mills provided a background to the Economic Impact Report. It was noted that the previous Report had been published in 2009 and had been commissioned to inform the Rushmoor Local Plan. The current Report had been commissioned jointly by the Council and Farnborough Airport to update the previous Report; calculate the Airport’s actual economic impact, as observed in 2019 (pre-covid baseline); and, revise how the economic impact of the airport might change as it increased its Air Traffic Movements (ATMs) and reached its current 50,000 ATMs per annum planning limit.

It was noted that the Report had been split into sections, also including an introduction and executive summary, as set out below :

·         Section 3 - An overview of Farnborough Airport, its facilities and operations, and other economic activities based there, which were considered in the economic assessment – key points

o   The Airport occupied 7% of the Boroughs land area

o   Operations were restricted by planning conditions

o   Key infrastructure included a 1800m runway, a state of the art control tower, modern terminal building and hangar space. Considerable investment in infrastructure and facilities on the site was also ongoing

o   Over 70 tenants co-occupied the space, including Gulfstream, Flight Safety International and Farnborough International

·         Section 4 - Definition of business aviation and an overview of the role Farnborough Airport played within the sector – key points

o   Farnborough was the largest UK business aviation airport

o   Business aviation had shown more resilience than commercial aviation during the pandemic

o   Farnborough was one of five “red list” entry ports in the UK

·         Section 5 - An overview of the policy context and socio-economic conditions in the area – key points

o   Policy context which influenced current operations and future growth  included, Government Policy, Sub-Regional Policy and the Local Plan

o   Socio-Economic characteristics of the local economy included, a resilient and strong local economy, stable employment levels with low levels of unemployment and dominant service sector/knowledge based industries

·         Section 6 - Examination of the economic impact of Farnborough Airport and consideration of how this had changed – key points

o   Total employment in Rushmoor, both direct and indirect, estimated to be in the region of 1,735 FTE jobs (3.5% of the Boroughs employment), an increase of 44.9% since 2009

o   Total economic contribution, at Borough level, estimated to be in the region of £151.8 million, as increase of 63.2% since 2009

o   Total fiscal contribution of £2.04 million in 2022/23 and capital investment of £55 million

·         Section 7 - The economic  ...  view the full minutes text for item 24.

To consider the Work Plan for the 2022/23 Municipal Year (copy attached).

The Committee noted the current Work Plan and was advise that the next meeting, scheduled for 30th March, 2023 would include a presentation on the management of damp and mould in the Local Housing Sector and the annual reports of the Council’s Cabinet Champions.

It was noted that a combined letter, from the Overview and Scrutiny Committee and the Policy and Project Advisory Board, had been sent to Hampshire County Council regarding a range of highways issues that had been raised by Members. An update would be provided at the next Progress Group.