To receive any apologies for absence

None received

To receive any declarations of interest

None received.

To consider the Part I minutes of the meeting held on 26 January 2017

To note the Part I minutes of the meeting of the Cabinet Prioritisation Sub Committee held on 18 January 2016

RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY: That:

i)             The Part I minutes of the meeting held on 26 January 2017 be approved.

ii)            The Part I minutes of the meeting of the Cabinet Prioritisation Sub Committee held on 18 January 2017 be noted

None

Cabinet received questions from pupils at Cox Green School.

Matthew Mundy, joint Head Boy, asked the following question:

More than 50,000 teachers left the professionbefore retirement last year, with the government failing to meet its targets for recruitment levels of teachers in the past five years. Maidenhead is an area that struggles with the competition from London schools and the extra pay these schools provide; are there any plans to try and encourage more teachers to the secondary schools in the area?

The Lead Member for Children’s Services responded that there were all types of schools in the borough, from Maintained schools to Academies and Faith schools to Independent schools, and there was competition from the London area. Individual schools make local choices to make their roles more attractive, for example some Academies offered support with transport costs for staff who commuted while the council had a manifesto commitment to recognise great teachers which it did through a pay policy which rewarded the top performing teachers each year.

The borough was an expensive place to live which made it hard for teachers and other public sector workers to settle into the area.  In response to this the local authority had set up a property company, called RBWM Property Services, which offered affordable rents to public sector workers. Therefore a number of different sectors contributed to help the situation.

The Chairman commented on the recent successful recruitment of an A-level Chemistry teacher at Holyport College; however there had only been one applicant. The council was looking to increase the amount of housing available in the borough including more affordable housing.

Matthew Munday asked what the council could do to help young people get on the housing ladder?

The Chairman commented that house prices in the south east had taken off in the last 15 years. The council’s policy position was to ensure more new houses would be built, to help stop the inexorable rise in house prices.

Oliver Clements asked the following question:

The local council is providing extra funding for the expansion of secondary schools in the area, including Cox Green. Are there plans in place to help schools deal with the services these extra students will need, e.g. alternative provision, CAHMS, etc?

The Lead Member for Children’s Services responded that expanding schools came with additional needs, including infrastructure impacts. The council was providing almost half of the £30m capital investment in secondary school expansions which would create great spaces for young people to learn and grow.  There were different streams of funding. The schools themselves would receive more money each year as the pupils took up places in the school.  In addition the government also provided resources through other sources, such the High Needs grant and funding for the NHS to provide support services for young people in the borough. The local authority worked closely with the Health service to strengthen and grow the specialist support services such as CAMHS.  This year there has been an increase  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9.

Members considered the council’s budget for 2017/18, for recommendation to Full Council.

The Lead Member explained that the majority of councils were opting for the default position of increasing council tax by 4.99% (3% adult social care precept and 1.99%, the highest increase without the requirement for a referendum). The borough was proposing an increase of 3.95% (3% adult social care precept and 0.95% increase in core council tax). The Lead Member highlighted that 0.95% was broadly half of the reference inflation figure for September 2016.

The council was committing to substantial and meaningful investment in areas of importance to residents, including:

•     £1m for adult social care additional demand

•     Meeting increased costs such as National Minimum Wage: £350,000

•     Increasing costs in residential care homes: £200,000

•     More children’s social workers to reduce work loads: £180,000

•     Rising home to school transport for special needs pupils: £330,000

•     Increasing early years pupil premium spend: £120,000 over 3 years

•     Expanding the practical support for homeless Residents: £400,000

•     Expanding the planning team’s expertise and capacity: £196,000

•     Increasing the care and maintenance of public trees: £100,000

•     More grants for voluntary organisations: £160,000

Band D council tax would be set at £961.46. In 16/17 this was £373 less than the average unitary, £213 less than any other Berkshire unitary and £189 less than any other unitary. The 3% adult social care precept at band D of £27.75, added to the 2% in 16/17 of £18.14. The 0.95% increase in council tax at band D, added £8.62 to the £906.95 which did not increase from 15/16 to 16/17. Fees and charges were either not increased, or were increased at or below 2.0%, or were aligned to other councils.

The Lead Member explained that over recent years the council had chosen to fund capital projects from cash balances avoiding £200,000 in interest fees. However, cash reserves were not a bottomless pit. In anticipation of substantial capital receipts from the five development sites in which the council had a controlling interest, the council would borrow up to £73m in the short term to fund capital projects including:

•      Consolidating the St Clouds Way development site: £4.5m

•      Stage one expansion Broadway Car Park: £9.4m net: total £17.8m

•      Stage one new leisure centre: £14.5m: total £29.0m

•      Other property and parking improvements: £8.3m

The Lead Member thanked all officers and Members involved in putting the budget together.

The Lead Member for Highways and Transport highlighted details of spending in his area, totalling £5.438m:

·         £1,65m - resurfacing roads

·         £1.6m - replacement LED street lights

·         £450,000 - bridge works

·         £400,000 - flood prevention and drainage

·         £400,000 - traffic management and road safety

·         £285,000 – cycling, reducing congestion and the Thames Flood Alleviation Scheme.

·         £60,000 – public transport

·         £80,000 – Pave Dedworth scheme.

The Lead Member proposed an additional recommendation to agree the final element in relation to ‘Pave Dedworth’.

The Lead Member for Adult Services and Health highlighted that the 3% precept  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5a

Cabinet considered approval of recommendations from the Grants Panel for grants to voluntary organisations. Although the discussion took place in Part II, it was agreed that the decision should be minuted in Part I.

RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY:  That the applications listed below for the allocation of RBWM / ‘3’ Grassroots Funding be approved and the decisions be minuted in Part I following Cabinet’s confirmation of the Panel’s recommended awards.

The Chairman supported the proposal for a report to be presented to a future Panel meeting on the wider work of the Berkshire Community Fund in the Borough.

RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY: That: 

i)  The grants as detailed below be approved, subject to:-

a)      The approval of the budget.

b)      The organisations receiving Capital Grants obtaining any requisite planning or building regulations consents and producing copies of audited accounts and evidence of the availability of finance for the remainder of the schemes.

c)      The organisations receiving Kidwells Trust Grants:-

i)     Providing suitable acknowledgement for the grant assistance in all publicity material.

ii)    Ensuring that there is adequate insurance cover for items purchased with grant assistance.  Continuing to look for other forms of sponsorship for special events.

d)      Organisations in receipt of Revenue and SLA Grants being required to complete an Annual Return Form which should demonstrate written evidence that the money had been spent according to their application and to identify the specific outcomes achieved as a result of the grant awarded.

e)      Organisations should, wherever possible, seek funding from other sources to ensure that they were not solely reliant on funding through the Royal Borough and it be noted that those organisations would not necessarily be automatically awarded funding year on year.

ii) That the following decisions be minuted in Part I following Cabinet’s agreement of the budget:

Revenue Grants

*The Chairman requested that the remainder of the grant funding applied for (£9500 for the Mentoring Scheme) be deferred for consideration in a second round of Grants, date to be confirmed.

** The Chairman commented that the borough would be keen to work with the organisation  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

To consider passing the following resolution:-

“That under Section 100(A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public be excluded from the remainder of the meeting whilst discussion takes place on items 7-8 on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraphs 1-7 of part I of Schedule 12A of the Act"

RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY: That under Section 100(A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public be excluded from the remainder of the meeting whilst discussion takes place on items 7-8 on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraphs 1-7 of part I of Schedule 12A of the Act

To consider the Part I minutes of the meeting held on 26 January 2017

To note the Part I minutes of the meeting of the Cabinet Prioritisation Sub Committee held on 18 January 2016