To consider the above report.

Anna Robinson introduced the item and reminded Members of the number of manifesto commitments and provided a revised summary on the numbers being met since the last update. Members were informed that since March an additional 29 commitments had been met, meaning a total of 56 commitment, or 41 per cent, had been met. A further 78 commitments, or 57 per cent, were on target to be met. One target had been revised from being unmet to being just short. Anna Robinson provided Members with examples of some of the manifesto commitments that had been met since March, such as the transferral of services to Optalis and Achieving for Children and the implementation of the MASH.

Anna Robinson informed Members that two manifesto commitments, 5.09 and 12.05, were considered just short of being met, while commitment 5.11 was scheduled to be unmet. The Chairman asked who the Lead Member for each manifesto commitment was, and requested that they should attend a meeting of the Corporate Services Overview and Scrutiny Panel in the new year if those commitments were still on track to be either just short or unmet in January. Anna Robinson said there would now be a focus on ensuring these three commitments would be met.

Cllr Beer asked about the progress of securing either outside funding or assistance with flood prevention schemes. Anna Robinson stated that the Leader had been present at meetings with the Treasury to discuss this, and that a dialogue was continuing with the Environment Agency in the hope the scheme would come to fruition. Ben Smith reminded Members that a paper on the topic of flood prevention had been discussed at Full Council. He stated that a similar process was being followed by Surrey County Council. Ben Smith stated further that it had been acknowledged there was a funding gap that was currently preventing the scheme from coming to fruition.

Cllr Dr Evans noted that particular attention should be paid to commitment 5.11 as this was the only one with a red rating, meaning it was scheduled to be unmet. Cllr Quick stated her belief that this had been a brave manifesto commitment that would not have been pledged by a less ambitious authority, as the successful implementation of it lay largely outside the control of the Council. She expressed her hope that the commitment would soon be reclassified to being on target. Cllr Dr Evans suggested that more should be done to raise awareness of the focus on closing attainment gaps for poorer pupils. The Chairman suggested that an article could go in Around The Royal Borough.

The Chairman asked if it could be ascertained how many of the green ‘on target’ commitments would not be met by the time of the next local elections. Anna Robinson reminded Members that the report appendix detailed expected completion dates for each of the commitments; beyond that it could not be said with any certainty when the commitments would be met. She reiterated that the focus would be on commitment 5.11 as this was the only ‘red’ target scheduled to not be met. Cllr Quick suggested that Councillors should be encouraged to enter into dialogues with the schools in their wards in order to help meet the target.

The Chairman asked if it had been highlighted if any vulnerable adults or children were at risk due to a target not being met. Anna Robinson stated that she did not believe this was the case, highlighting that the commitment to implement the MASH had been met.

Cllr Dr Evans asked if there were any service areas where significant amounts of work had been carried out despite it not being a manifesto commitment to do so. Anna Robinson stated there were none that weren’t in some way linked to the manifesto commitments, but highlighted that a significant amount of work had been carried out relating to the Council’s housing strategy.

Cllr Beer asked about the manifesto commitment to increase the number of community wardens employed by the Council. Andy Jeffs stated that a paper on this topic was being prepared for the Senior Leadership Team.

The Panel Agreed Unanimously to note the progress of the manifesto commitments. It was requested that if any commitments are still off target in January, the appropriate Lead Member should attend the Corporate Services Overview and Scrutiny Panel and explain why the commitment is off target and what action is being taken to resolve it. It was also requested that in future all commitments in the report that are not on target should include Lead Members’ names in that report. The motion was proposed by Cllr Beer and seconded by Cllr Bowden.

The Chairman was disappointed that the Lead Member had been unable to attend the meeting to present the report.

Anna Robinson left the meeting at 7.27pm.