To receive any apologies for absence

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors N. Airey and Bicknell.

To receive any declarations of interest

Councillor S. Rayner commented that her family were farmers and had a long association with BCA. The Rayner farms currently had two apprentices from BCA. Her daughter had recently started a young farmers association in conjunction with BCA. .

To consider the Part I minutes of the meeting held on 24 August 2017

To note the Part I minutes of the meeting of the Cabinet Regeneration Sub Committee held on 5 September 2017

RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY: That:

i)             The Part I minutes of the meeting held on 24 August 2017 be approved.

ii)            The Part I minutes of the meeting of the Cabinet Regeneration Sub Committee held on 5 September 2017 be noted.

The Chairman announced that, following feedback from the recent LGA Peer Review, the council would be strengthening its economic development resources with the appointment of a new Business Development Partnerships Manager. Members noted that Councillor Gilmore was also to be appointed Deputy Lead Member for Business Development and Partnerships.

Cabinet received questions from pupils of Berkshire College of Agriculture (BCA).

Niamh Bulbeck asked the following question: There is going to be a new hospice built by Bray Lake which is a level 3 flood plane. How did the environment sector allow this to be developed? I live across from the site and it floods every year.

The Lead Member for Planning explained that planning permission had been granted for the relocation and expansion of the Thames Hospice, currently based in Windsor, together with the amalgamation with the Paul Bevan Hospice which was at the Heatherwood site in Ascot.  The site was located on land south of Bray Lake, the wider site was one of the sites identified in the emerging Borough Local Plan (BLP) for housing and specialist housing.  The Hospice fell into the specialist housing bracket.

Flood zones were shown on the Strategic Flood Risk Assessment maps.  In Flood Zone 1, 2 and 3A residential development can be permitted; in zone 3A it had to pass some technical tests to show that there was not another suitable site available and that a safe means of escape in the event of a flood was possible.  This had been done through a Flood Risk Assessment.

The site was actually located in flood zones 1, 2 and 3.  None of the building would be located in flood zone 3, it was mostly located in flood zone 2.  The building had been designed to be flood resilient and the floor levels had been set to reduce the risk of the actual building itself flooding.  An escape route had also been identified through the flood zone. Given the vulnerability of the users the applicant was expected to devise a Flood Management Plan.  The Council was satisfied that this would ensure that no one was put in danger from flooding.

In addition to flooding the application showed that drainage would be dealt with on site through a sustainable drainage system.  Some water would be discharged into the lake however parts of the site had been designed to be floodable during a flood event.

By way of a supplementary question, Niamh Bulbeck stated that the plans showed floodwater would be drained back into Bray Lake. However this flooded so how could it be planned to drain back into the lake?

The Lead Member for Planning agreed to provide Ms Bulbeck with a written response to her supplementary question. He was sure that the issue would have been taken into account by the Flood Risk Assessment.

Niamh Bulbeck asked the following question:   In the next few years my friends and I might be looking into moving out of our family homes and into houses or apartments of our own however this isn't possible with houses being the prices they are. Is there any way of making houses and apartments move affordable to young people to buy or to rent?

The Deputy Lead Member for Policy and Affordable Housing commented that this was one of the biggest  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

To consider the Forward Plan for the period October 2017 – January 2018

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 ‘SEND statement of Action Update’ would be presented to Cabinet in November 2017.

·         The item ‘2018/19 Budget Preparation,’ currently listed for October 2017, would be deferred to November 2017.

·         The item ‘Maidenhead Golf Club’ would be presented to Cabinet Regeneration Sub Committee on 30 October 2017.

Members considered progress against the administration’s 137 manifesto commitments. The Chairman explained that following feedback from the LGA Peer Review that the report was a political one, this would be the last time the report would be presented to Cabinet. However, monitoring and review would continue to ensure services to residents were improved and enhanced.

The Deputy Lead Member for Manifesto Delivery highlighted that 41% of commitments were met, with a further 57% on target. Since the last report a further 29 targets had been met. Members noted the actions proposed to deal with the three commitments were either just short or not met, as detailed in table 2 of the report. He thanked officers for their meticulous work in preparing the report.

The Director of Children’s Services commented that the approach of local advertising for foster carers had brought a number of families to the door. Feedback was that foster carers needed more support when children were in crisis. Support was now provided with on-call officers until midnight Monday-Friday and at weekends. Two more families were expected to be approved by the end of the year. In relation to the attainment gap, he explained that progress would be shown by the results from the summer 2017 examinations, which would not come out in standardised form until the new year. Indications for Key Stage 1 and Early Years was for an improvement for disadvantaged pupils greater than for all pupils.

RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY: That Cabinet:

          i)        Notes the progress in delivering the manifesto commitments.

Members considered recommendations in relation to the pool cars leased by the Royal Borough and Electric Vehicle Charging points.

The Lead Member for Adult Services explained that the council currently had a fleet of 13 petrol Minis. The proposal was to move to electric or hybrid vehicles without losing the benefit of keyless access. During the next year BMW had confirmed more vehicles would offer this benefit. The proposal was to equip the fleet with up to 10 vehicles which took into account the new delivery model in the council.  In addition, officers would be encouraged to use the new cars; this would be moved forward with HR.  Officers would work with ward members and residents on identifying locations for charging points.

The Lead Member referred Cabinet to the comments from the Overview an Scrutiny Panels. In relation to the request for a further cost/benefit analysis, he explained this would not be necessary as a third party would be running the scheme on behalf of the council. He explained that whilst it may not have been widely publicised, the council’s pool car scheme had been open to Members for some time.

The Principal Member for HR, Legal and IT commented that as Chairman of the Employment Panel, she was supportive of the proposals to ensure staff used the pool cars. It was confirmed that the car club would ultimately be based in the Broadway car park following the redevelopment. It was noted that residents were able to pay for charging electric vehicles via a key-in code which was then charged centrally. The Chairman referred to a useful app called Podpoint. A fast charger could charge a vehicle in 30-40 minutes whereas a slow charger could take some hours. This was one of the issues for discussion with Members and residents. The new leisure centre would include 6 charging points, with the capacity for 200 more.

The Lead Member for Maidenhead Regeneration and Maidenhead commented that the report went to three Overview and Scrutiny Panels; there was a need to modernise the system. The Chairman commented that this would be addressed as part of the Boundary Review for May 2019.

The Deputy Lead Member for Ascot Regeneration commented that the announcement that Dyson was to enter the electric car market demonstrated the direction of travel in the market It was noted that an electric charging point could cost up to £850 to install in a home, although government grants were available. It was suggested that the inclusion of charging points in all new homes built as part of the Joint Venture could be required.

RECOMMENDATION: That Cabinetnotes the report and:

i)  Delegates authority to the Executive Director in conjunction with the Lead Member for Adult Services, Health and Sustainability, and the Deputy Leader of the Council and the Lead Member for Highways and Transport to:

          a. procure a new electric / hybrid pool car fleet of up to 10 cars

          b. recommend to Employment Panel that new travel policies  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6b

Members considered the council’s Homelessness Strategy under the Homelessness Act 2002 which must be reviewed and refreshed every five years.  The Deputy Lead Member commented that the Homelessness Reduction Act focussed on prevention rather than crisis management. The council provided temporary accommodation at a number of locations including John West House.  The in-house team was working with various charities such as the CAB to provide other services such as debt management.

The strategy was the first of three stages, which included the completion of the BLP and the production of an SPD on Affordable Housing. The overall ambition was to provide opportunities for all to have a home of their own and home ownership for those that wanted it. As a member of the Housing Association he was aware that one of the biggest problems was the lack of affordable rented properties. The inclusion of a 30% requirement for affordable housing in the BLP would open up opportunities to expand social housing. This would feed into stopping homelessness.

The Deputy Lead Member for Ascot Regeneration highlighted that the strategy offered opportunities to build relationships with landlords and increase the availability of affordable private rented accommodation. Members of the Planning and Housing Overview and Scrutiny Panel had been sceptical about the delivery of 30% affordable housing. Based on past delivery this was understandable. However the emerging BLP would dramatically change the development landscape. It would be important to ensure robustness on the issues of affordability and viability.

The Lead Member for Culture and Communities thanked the Head of Customer Services and her team who worked to prevent people from becoming homeless. The Chairman requested that the deposit loan scheme for rented accommodation be more prominently advertised on the borough website.

The Chairman requested that the Forward Plan be amended so that the report ‘Options for Community Land Trust’ was listed in the name of himself and the Deputy Lead Member for Policy and Affordable Housing.

The Lead Member for Finance commented that in such ab affluent borough homelessness could be seen as a minor or modest issue. However it was often said that a civilised society was judged on the way it looked after the most vulnerable. The council’s determination to ensure homelessness remained a priority was to it’s credit.

RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY: That Cabinetnotes the report and:

i)     Approves the Homelessness Strategy 2017-2022 for publication.

Members considered the latest financial update. The Lead Member explained that during the course of recent months the council had experienced a number of challenges largely driven by increases in demand and volume of the needs of some of the most needy residents, that had exceeded budgeted expectations.  Across a number of issues the £2.5m buffer built into the budget had been largely eaten up. It had therefore been essential for Lead Members and lead officers to carefully evaluate the situation and seek to ensure all opportunities for savings or favourable revisions of forecast costs were identified. This had resulted in an impressive expectation against a demanding budget, that a balanced position would be reached at year end without the need to utilise any of the buffer.

The Lead Member explained that prior to the transfer to Achieving for Children (AfC), the council would have funded working capital requirements. The second recommendation reflected the need to transfer this facility to AfC. The maximum was set at £11.7m but in reality the maximum use so far had been £3.5m. In relation to the third recommendation, the Lead Member explained that following the finalisation of relevant government grants in education, officers and Lead Members were satisfied that although funding had reduced, there was no anticipated reduction in the quality or quantum of additional facilities or services required.

The Lead Member for Adult Services highlighted that the £1m saving identified in his area was relatively small given the entire budget for the service.  A number of windfalls had occurred. He highlighted two elements:

·                     Increased client contributions being received from older people £382,000

·                     A provision was made for a high cost ordinary residence case which was only partially required following settlement, releasing £213,000

The Chairman commented that his father-in-la had recently died and the house had been sold as his mother-in-law was in a nursing home in the borough. He had felt that the council officers who had dealt with the care funding situation for his mother-in-law had not sufficiently understood the implications for funding, despite it being a common situation. The Managing Director commented that the situation was increasingly common and had led to an increase in client contributions. There had been a number of learning points for the borough including the need to probe and question on the  eligibility to claim.

The Chairman highlighted the excellent work undertaken on CCTV and civil enforcement, which had led to some in-year pressures as the predicted savings were therefore not going to materialise. It was the right thing to have done to pause on the saving to enable the review to take place and he congratulated the Lead Member.

RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY: That Cabinet:

i)     Notes the Council’s projected outturn position for 2017-18 and mitigating actions to address service pressures.

ii)    Adds Achieving for Children (AfC) to the Council’s lending list with a maximum limit of £11,700,000 for a revolving credit facility in accordance with the contract with AfC as detailed in paragraph 4.31.

iii)   Approves  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6d

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 item 8 on the grounds that it involves 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 took place on item 8 on the grounds that it involves 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 24 August 2017

To note the Part II minutes of the meeting of the Cabinet Regeneration Sub Committee held on 5 September 2017