Meeting documents

Parish Conference (Expired March 2020)
Wednesday 29 July 2015 7.00 pm



v
PARISH CONFERENCE

29 JUNE 2015

RBWM Councillors: Mrs Christine Bateson (Joint Chairman) & Mrs Claire Stretton (Joint Chairman)

RBWM Officers: Rupert Avery, Richard Ellis, Andrew Green, Harjit Hunjan, Shilpa Manek (Clerk), Sean O’Connor and Dave Perkins.

Parish and Town Councils:

Cookham: Martin Coker and Eileen Bune.
Datchet: Ewan Larcombe (also representing Wraysbury), Joanne Stickland and Katy Jones.
Hurley: Sandra Baker (also representing DALC).
Old Windsor: Jane Dawson and Lynne Jones.
Sunningdale: Anne Martin and Anne Catherine Buxton
Sunninghill & Ascot: Barbara Story
Waltham St Lawrence: Maggi Bevan, John Birkett and Mike Kay
White Waltham: Keith Robinson.

Also Attended: Karen Morton and Tim Parry (Our Community Enterprise)
PART I

WELCOME

The Chairman of the Conference, Councillor Mrs Bateson, welcomed everyone to the meeting. The Chairman told the Conference that as of the next meeting, the Chairmanship would be a joint one with Councillor Claire Stretton and they would alternate in chairing the Parish Conference.


APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

Apologies for absence were received from Andrew Davies, Bob Austen and Doug Stuart.

MINUTES

The minutes of the last meeting held on 17 February 2015 were approved.

Members of the Conference briefly discussed the number of vacancies at the Parish Councils. The Chairman advised the Conference to fill the vacancies as quickly as they could.

DEVOLUTION OF SERVICES


The Conference received a presentation from Dave Perkins, Head of Neighbourhood and Streetscene Delivery on devolution of services. Mr Perkins gave a brief update on the day to day management of Streetscene and explained his liaison role with the Parish Councils. He advised that he and his team were available to assist with issues but also stressed the importance of using systems already in place such as the Customer Service Centre.

Mr Perkins explained that the original devolution of services to Parishes, Menu of Options had been successful with twelve services being taken up and that all of the Parishes had taken up at least one of the services. Mr Perkins continued to explain that a revised menu of options for the devolution of services had been sent out by Andrew Green, Community Partnerships Officer on 28 May 2015. Mr Perkins explained that the borough wanted Parish Councils to have more choice in devolved services and have a greater local influence over how services are delivered.

Other issues discussed included:
    Possibility of licensing, the Council is keen to promote increased local influence but current legislation makes this difficult.
    Planning training, this is being looked at and training is being arranged for September/October 2015.

The Chairman summed up the discussion encouraging the Parish Councils to look through the revised menu of options for the devolution of services and consider the advantages of having greater local influence over how services are delivered.

The Chairman gave an example of localism and how through Parish Councils residents could have more influence over services.

ACTION: Parishes to brief at Conference about devolution and services they have used.

DELIVERING DIFFERENTLY IN NEIGHBOURHOODS

The Conference received a presentation from Dave Perkins, Head of Neighbourhood and Streetscene Delivery on delivering differently in neighbourhoods. Mr Perkins said that a bid had been submitted to DCLG and the Borough had been successful and had received grant funding.

Mr Perkins explained that the Borough had had success with the menu but more could still be done. The Borough was looking to build a new, innovative closer working relationship with Parishes with mutual agreement.

Mr Perkins informed the Conference that stage one of the consultation was currently underway and that Karen Morton from Our Community Enterprise was contacting all Parish Councils to hold small, short meetings to decide their ideas and thoughts and the deadline for completing this is the end of July 2015. Mr Perkins encouraged all Parish Councils to contact Karen and arrange a date and time.

Mr Perkins continued to explain that stage two would consist holding a number of workshops in September 2015 to advise on the outcomes of stage one and then agree a set of actions to help the Borough and the Parish Councils work together.

Other points discussed included:
    Looking at all potential services
    Building a two way process
    Building a commission model for the future
    Passing as much local choice as possible to Parish Councils
    Having one place with lots of choice for Parish Councils to choose from.

Issues raised by Parish Councils included:
    Parish Councillors are volunteers with other commitments too and the worry was that many of the Councils policies were expected to be followed by Parish Councils.
    It was better for the Borough to hold main contracts with larger companies and Parish Councils have options of using them.
    There was generally less money is available now for Parish Councils.
    Good to see more examples from comparable authorities.
    What would happen if only some of the Parish Councils took up the ideas, what would happen then?
    Mr Perkins highlighted the following points:
      The menu issued in May 2015 was as a result of the January workshop and a lot of work was ongoing. The menu of services was a live document and was evolving all the time.
      The Council was looking at a number of services and contracts and allowing as much freedom, flexibility and choice as possible for Parish Councils.

    The Chairman summed up the discussions and stressed that Parish Councils would not be forced into working in ways they didn’t want to. She confirmed that the borough would hold all the contracts relating to the menu options, giving Parish Councils the choice to influence the services if they wished to.

    The Chairman reminded the Conference that the new revised menu of options for the devolution of services was a direct result of the January workshop. The Borough is keen for further dialogue around the services on offer and to further develop the menu in line with parish interests.

    The Chairman suggested Mr Perkins report back at the next meeting on 1 October to inform the Conference of the outcome of the workshops.

    ACTION: Dave Perkins to update the Parish Conference on the progress of the meetings and workshops.

    Richard Ellis, Strategic Director of Corporate Services, updated the conference on the Transformation Programme. Mr Ellis discussed what Transformation was, business as usual and business continuity. Mr Ellis went on to explain that the transformation programme had been going on for the last four months and was now being rolled out to staff.

    Sean O’Connor, Senior Lawyer introduced Shared Legal Services (SLS) to the conference and explained that he was raising awareness of his team and the services provided by SLS. Mr O’Connor explained that SLS had already been working with some Parish Councils but not all. Mr O’Connor indicated that SLS were cost effective at £85.00 per hour and offered fixed fees.

    Mr O’Connor opened the discussion to the Conference requesting areas that Parish Councils would like further information on at future Parish Conferences. The members of the Conference suggested:
      Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) – the borough’s obligations, general overview, exemptions, ring fencing of budgets, regulations, section 106. Handouts would be useful.

    ACTION: SLS to provide information on CIL at next meeting on 1 October 2015.

    FLY TIPPING

    The Conference received a presentation from Dave Perkins, Head of Neighbourhood and Streetscene Delivery on fly tipping and the responsibilities of the Borough. Mr Perkins raised the following points:
      The responsibility for removing fly tipping rests with the land owner.
      All cases of fly tipping are checked by the Borough.
      All rubbish found is opened and checked to find evidence and if found it can be used to prosecute.
      Currently there are ten cases being investigated.
      Contact the Borough via the Customer Service Centre and all cases will be investigated. Provide as much information as possible.
      Cases were highlighted by Parish Councils.

    SEWAGE

    Dave Perkins, Head of Neighbourhood and Streetscene Delivery informed the Conference that Craig Miller (Community Protection & Enforcement Services Lead) could not attend the Conference and highlighted the handout distributed. Mr Perkins informed the Conference that Craig Miller would be at the next meeting with Thames Water to do a joint presentation and answer questions.

    ACTION: Sewage on next agenda to be presented by Craig Miller and Thames Water.

    The Chairman informed the Conference that flooding and bus routes would be discussed at the next meeting.

    ACTION: Flooding and Bus Routes on next agenda.


    DATE OF NEXT CONFERENCE

    Thursday 1 October 2015.


    MEETING

    The meeting, which began at 7.10pm, ended at 8.50pm.