To receive any apologies for absence

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Bicknell, Carroll, McWilliams and Targowska.

To receive any declarations of interest

Alison Alexander and Andy Jeffs declared Disclosable Pecuniary Interests in item ‘Future Royal Borough Service Model for Residents’. They left the room for the duration of the discussion and voting on the item.

Councillor Jones declared an interest in the item ‘Kings Court First School’ as the Finance Governor at the school. She remained in the room for the duration of the discussion and voting on the item.

To consider the Part I minutes of the meeting held on 9 February 2017

To note the Part I minutes of the meeting of the Cabinet Local Authority Governors Sub Committee held on 6 February 2017

RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY: That:

i)             The Part I minutes of the meeting held on 9 February were approved.

ii)            The Part I minutes of the Cabinet Local Authority Governors Appointments Sub Committee haeld on 6 February 2017 were approved.

The Chairman placed on record his thanks to all staff in the borough who had been dealing with the consequences of the high winds in the borough.

The Chairman, on behalf of all Members, thanked David Scott for his hard work and dedication during the time he had been Monitoring Officer.

To consider the Forward Plan for the period March 2017 – June 2017

Cabinet considered the contents of the Forward Plan for the next four months and noted the changes that had been made to the plan since the last meeting. In addition it was noted that:

·         The item ‘Delivering Differently in Operations & Customer Services – Civil Enforcement Services’ would be deferred from April to May 2017.

·         The item ‘Royal Borough Crematorium – Concept’ would be presented to Cabinet in April 2017.

·         The item ‘Home to School Transport - Post 16 Policy (Annual),’ currently listed for April 2017, would no longer be required as no changes to the policy were proposed.

Members considered the latest performance management report. The Strategic Director for Corporate and Community Services introduced the report. He explained that overall, performance had improved compared to the previous quarter, with 68% of indicators on target. Where indicators were off-target, improvement plans, agreed with the Lead Member, were in place and published on the borough website. A review process involving the Corporate Overview and Scrutiny Panel was also in place. The document was continually evolving  and further improvements to the layout and use of data were planned for the next quarter.

The Lead Member for Children’s Services highlighted target ACH4, the percentage of children in care with a personal education plan. A large number of children had come into care in the autumn term and there had not yet been enough time to properly assess their needs. It was anticipated that all plans would be in place by the end of February 2017. In relation to ACH10, the percentage of care leavers in education, employment or training, it was noted the cohort was small and some of the individuals were teenage parents, in the penal system or had significant learning difficulties that would preclude them from being in education, employment or training. When the target was set for the following year, it would relate to those who could practically be in education, employment or training. The Lead Member commented that the attainment gap for children receiving pupil premium remained a focus. As part of the budget for next year the council had agreed to match fund the pupil premium (£120,000) to ensure the right resources were available.

The Lead Member for Customer and Business Services highlighted that business rates collection rates were just short but well ahead of the situation the previous year. There were no concerns about meeting the target by year end. Members noted that the borough received approximately 500 complaints per year from a population of over 100,000. In Housing Benefits the number of complaints had reduced by 94%. The Lead Member felt that going forward it would be important to monitor the number of complaints as well as those upheld. In relation to the number of projects completed, the figure was now 71% compared to 63% in the report. The number of calls answered within one minute was just off-target. It was noted that the indicator relating to the number of residents taking up customer services out of hours may be off target as all aspects of the digital channel were due for completion by the 1 April 2017 and the service had purposely not been heavily marketed.

The Lead Member for Environmental Services referred to indicator OCS24 in relation to fly tipping. He assured Members that the council was keeping an eye on the target and wanted to reduce the number of incidences. An action plan was in place to achieve the target by year end including proactive enforcement and prosecution where sufficient evidence was available.  In relation to OCS37, performance was slightly down in  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6a

Members considered the determination of admission arrangements for 2018/19. The Lead Member explained that the council had a statutory duty to determine arrangements for a number of schools. No changes were proposed from previous years for voluntary controlled schools. Changes were recommended to co-ordinated admissions to bring the council in line with neighbouring authorities in dealing with late applications and prevent claims of maladministration. The Lead Member confirmed that people moving into the area after national decision day would be prioritised accordingly. The change did not relate to in-year transfers.

RESOLVED UANANIMOUSLY: That Cabinetnotes the report and:

i)       Approves and thereby determines, the admissions arrangements for 2018/19 by the 28 February 2017 national deadline.

ii)     Approves, and thereby determines, the revised co-ordinated admissions scheme for 2018/19.

iii)    Approves the variation to the co-ordinated admissions scheme for 2017/18, determined on 15 March 2016.

Members considered the future of the nursery class at Kings Court First School. The Lead Member explained that the driving factor for the school’s request was the financial implication of keeping the nursery class open. In 2009-10 there were 52 pupils in the nursery, but this had reduced to 27 in the current year. The reduction was the result of a reduced birth rate in the area and the fact that the nursery was only open in term time when parents increasingly wanted a 52 weeks a year service. The council had assessed other providers to ensure their were sufficient places in the area; a number of new private providers had recently opened. Without closure the school faced a predicted deficit of £48,000; with the closure this would reduce to £28,000.

A recent consultation had shown that 43% of respondents were in favour of closure and 53% were against. The majority of those against were parents with children in the nursery, however it should be noted that by the time the closure occurred, their children would then be in the main school. If the report were approved, a four week consultation would be required, therefore a delegation for the final decision was requested.

Councillor Jones stated that she was the Finance Governor at the school. The school accepted that there was little demand for term-time only care in the area. To run a nursery in a maintained school required a teacher therefore costs were higher that at a private nursery. The teaching and learning in the rest of the school would be impacted if the closure did not occur. Should the situation improve, the school would be happy to look at the issue again.

RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY: That Cabinet notes the report and:

i)          Approves, in principle, the request from King’s Court First School Governing Body that the age range at the school changes so that it serves children aged 4-9 years old, rather than aged 3-9 years old, from September 2017.

ii)         Authorises the Lead Member for Children’s Services and the Managing Director & Strategic Director of Adult, Children and Health Services to publish a proposal to change the age range, and to determine the proposal following the end of the representation period.

iii)        Requests that officers, in partnership with the school, keep the demand for early years provision in Old Windsor under review, and bring forward proposals to re-open the nursery class or otherwise provide early years’ provision on site as needed, using the school’s existing accommodation

Members considered apprenticeships in the borough. The Lead Member explained that the borough was slightly behind its peers and there was impetus at both the national and local level to improve the situation. To lead by example, a step-change in approach was proposed. The council’s apprentice scheme had opened in 2013 funded by £40,000 of revenue funding for six apprentices. The target of 18 by April 2017 had then been set. The council currently had 12 apprentices and recruitment was ongoing. The target by 2018 was 33. Every time a post became vacant at the council the Head of Service and HR were tasked with considering if all or part of the role could be undertaken by an apprentice. There was therefore no revenue implication.

Members noted that the borough was holding a STEM apprenticeship day on 15 March 2017 to bring local schools and colleges together with local employers looking for apprentices. All procurement contracts now included a 2.3% of payroll  expectation or apprentices. The Joint Venture partner would include an expectation of at least 62 apprentices in the construction industry.

The Lead Member referred to an email sent to him by Councillor Beer in relation to Heathrow. It was hoped that the relationship between the Maidenhead Chamber of Commerce and Heathrow would result in higher recruitment of apprentices from the borough.

Members noted the National Apprentice Levy that was being imposed. Apprenticeships could involve recognised qualifications up to Masters level. Borough schools that were impacted by the levy, particularly small schools, would be supported.

The Deputy Lead Member for Ascot Regeneration commented that the levy was similar to the training levy introduced by the government 50 years ago, however the retention of funding was more challenging now. He had recently met an apprentice in the Grow Our Own team. He asked if council apprentices would have the opportunity to achieve recognised qualifications.

It was confirmed that the council was not interested in apprentices for cheap labour; a number of apprentices in finance and planning were already working towards qualifications.

The Lead Member for Finance offered to Members the example of his son who had left school with university offers but had decided to take up an apprenticeship instead on a building site. Eight years on he had just finished as the senior project manager on the 5 Broadgate site, the new home of UBS.

The Principal Member for Maidenhead Regeneration and Maidenhead highlighted the need to ensure proper training and mentoring was in place for each apprentice.

The Chairman placed on record his thanks to the Grow Our Own team.

RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY: That Cabinet notes the report and:

i)      Notes the implications of the Apprenticeship Levy and the introduction of public sector apprenticeships targets which come into effect on 1 May 2017 and the impacts on the Council’s scheme.

ii)  Approves the increase in the number of apprenticeships within the Council to 33 for 2017/18 and the action plan to increase the number of apprenticeships more widely across  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6d

Members considered the latest financial update. The Lead Member referred Members to the cash flow forecast on page 147 of the report, which was largely flat up to May 2017. Three months previously he had advised Cabinet of the potential need to borrow up to £15m by the end of March 2017. Due to the efficiencies of the Lead Member for Customer and Business Services and Interim Strategic Director of Operations and Customer Services and the finance team, the line remained flat. There was minimal expectation of the need to use the authority to borrow. Members noted that the graph illustrated the subsequent consistent and continuous stepping up of potential borrowing referred to in the budget by the end of the next financial year. The figures were based on all projects happening as hoped, however timetables may change.

The Lead Member provided commentary on the summary table presented on page 144 of the report. This demonstrated that the council would materially underspend on the predicted budget and that reserves would be materially higher than originally expected. Some of the budget set aside for additional expenditure had not occurred to the full extent allowed in the budget therefore by year end balances in the general fund were set to be £700,000 higher than the budget had expected them to be.

The Principal Member for Maidenhead and Maidenhead Regeneration highlighted the saving of £180,000 as a result of not being required to take enforcement action in relation to the Shurlock Road site. He placed on record his thanks to all officers involved. The Lead Member for Environmental Services commented that work was underway to put the site back to the state it was in prior to incursion.

RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY: That Cabinet:

i)              Notes the Council’s projected outturn position

Alison Alexander and Andy Jeffs left the meeting.

Members considered a new delivery model for the council. The Chairman explained that the way the council would operate was dramatically changing. In January 2016, 1.4% of gross council budget flowed through 28 shared service arrangements; from April 2017 this figure would rise to 45%. The council was moving to a commissioning model. Table 1 illustrated that this would mean the number of staff employed directly by the council would reduce from 1076 to 489. The vast majority would continue to be involved in the provision of services to residents but employed not by the borough but by Achieving for Children, Optalis or Volker.  The remaining 489 would still discharge significant functions and manage the relationships with the commissioning organisations.

The Chairman explained that the current strategic officer model had been brought in during 2013 with a Managing Director operating as a ‘first among equals’. It was the view of Cabinet that in a complex organisation there needed to be ultimate accountability and in the current model this could be blurred. Subject to agreement by Employment Panel, it was proposed that Alison Alexander be appointed as Managing Director with two Executive directors, one of whom would be Russell O’Keefe. A recruitment process would take place for the second Executive Director post.

The Lead Member for Finance commented that he had experience of partnership models and understood the importance of clarity of leadership and accountability; it was therefore the right time to change the model. He commended the simplicity and transparency of the new model.

The Lead Member for Environmental Services offered his gratitude to the Managing Director for her time and effort taken to explain her thinking behind how the council should operate. The Chairman echoed these comments.

It was noted that the Part II Appendix 3 would be revised to remove names and then put into the public domain to aid communications with staff.

RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY: That Cabinet notes the report and:

             i)        Approves the service delivery model of the council, effective from April 2017.

     ii)     Endorses and recommends to Employment Panel, March 2017, the adoption of the strategic leadership model comprising a Managing Director (Head of Paid Service) and two Executive Directors, effective April 2017.

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 8-9 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 8-9 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 theAct.

To consider the Part II minutes of the meeting held on 9 February 2017

To note the Part II minutes of the meeting of the Cabinet Local Authority Governors Sub Committee held on 6 February 2017