To receive any apologies for absence

There were no apologies for absence received.

To receive any declarations of interest

There were no declarations of interest received.

To consider the Part I minutes of the meeting held on 27 September 2018.

RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY: That the Part I minutes of the meeting held on 27 September 2018 were approved.

Councillors S Rayner and P Love were appointed to the Countryside Joint Venture Board.  It was noted that the position were not remunerated.

To consider the Forward Plan for the period November 2018 to February 2019.

Cabinet considered the contents of the Forward Plan for the next four months and noted the changes made since the last meeting including the addition of the following reports going to November 2018 Cabinet:

·         Thames Hospice – Waiver of Covenant

·         Housing Allocation Policy

·         Homelessness Policy Update

The Lead Member for Environmental Services (including Parking, Flooding, Housing and Performance Management) introduced the report regarding the performance of commissioned services for 2017 to 2018.

Cabinet were informed that the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead was committed to the delivery of high quality services that residents value.  The council commissioned 20 providers to deliver 90 percent of the council services.

The Annual Report on commissioned services 2017-2018, set out how these arrangements had performed in 2017-2018 and the outcomes achieved.  Although performance was good there was still room for improvement and the Royal Borough has worked in partnership with the range of delivery partners to secure high quality services and to address issues as they have arisen.

The Chairman asked how Tivoli were performing.  The Member for Culture and Communities (including Resident and Business Services) responded that the original contract was with ISS Landscape but in June 2018 the grounds maintenance part of ISS was purchased by Tivoli.  Work has been undertaken with Tivoli to improve performance and by the end of November 2018 performance was expected to be on track.

The Chairman asked the Lead Member who was responsible for rubbish collection and was informed that Tivoli was responsible for  collection from park bins whilst Veolia was responsible for domestic waste and recycling. It was noted that there would be a report presented to Cabinet in November 2018 on Big Belly Bins which would have greater capacity and more environmentally friendly.

The Chairman asked for an update on NSL, if it was possible to increase the number of enforcement officers on our streets and if residents could contact NSL directly to report instances.  The Head of Commissioning and Communities informed that NSL were performing well with all targets now currently being met.  The contract allowed the number of officers and hours on the streets to be varied.  Residents are provided with an email address to contact NSL when problems are reported and residents can also report via the RBWM website where officers can monitor responses.

The Chairman asked the Lead Member for Children’s Services how Achieving For Children (AFC) were performing and was informed that the contract was performing well.  Progress was being made on the secondary school expansion programme with the final school, Furze Platt Senior School due to be completed in 2019.  The number of schools rated ‘Good’ or ‘Outstanding’ was being reported at 85% against a 84% target with the level currently at 90%.  It was noted that there was no school in the Royal Borough that was rated as ‘Inadequate’.  Work was being undertaken to mitigate pressures due to agency staff spend and child placement costs.  These were national issues and it was important to protect our vulnerable young people by getting the right placements. 

The Chairman asked how Optalis were performing.  The Lead Member for Adult Social Care and Public Health informed that the contract was still relatively new but there had been positive performance.  The Lead Member highlighted delayed transfers to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6a

The Lead Member for Finance introduced the council’s latest financial update report for 2018-19 that confirmed a projected overspend on service budgets of £1,426,000 with a General Fund Reserves of £8,663,000.

The Lead Member for Finance informed Cabinet that as well as noting the current projected outturn position there were an additional three recommendations in the report.

Cabinet were asked to approve an additional capital budget of £61,000 for the council’s two participatory budget schemes, Greenredeem and Member Budgets.

To approve that the Royal Borough act as guarantor for Windsor and Maidenhead Youth Counselling Service.  This former charity had changed its status to an incorporated organisation and 2.5FTE are to be TUPE transferred from RBWM.  In order to do so, the organisation would need to apply for admitted body status to the Berkshire Pension Fund. To be accepted as an admitted body, a bond or guarantor is required to cover potential future liabilities arising from an early termination of the admission agreement.

The Lead Member for Finance informed that as per the two previous Financial Update reports to Cabinet he was confident that the NET financial outturn would remain at a £1.4 million overspend.  The outturn was not expected to significantly improve or decline.   The budget continued to be subject to national pressures such as high cost child placements for our vulnerable children and the ability to fully recover business rates.

Cabinet were informed that the cost of the Royal Wedding between HRH Prince Harry of Wales and Ms Meghan Markle was £1,178,000. A reimbursement of £1,085,000 had been received from the Department of Culture, Media and Sport. The balance of £93,000 had been transferred from the balance sheet to general fund reserves.

With regards to business rate revaluation support the methodology for the distribution of the £329,000 had been agreed and implemented to help support our hard working companies who had been adversely affected by the revaluation.

The Lead Member for Finance informed that the last recommendation in the report was for the removal from the capital budget of £18,361,250 for the acquisition of residential or commercial properties relating to the Maidenhead Golf Course development site.

The Chairman mentioned that the budget had been put into place to support the Maidenhead Golf Course development site but this was no longer required and the removal of the funds should give residents living near the site reassurance.

Resolved unanimously: that Cabinet:

i)        Notes the Council’s projected outturn position for 2018-19 and requests work continues to identify mitigations to offset the projected variance

ii)    Approves an additional capital budget of £61,000 for the council’s two participatory budget schemes (Greenredeem and member budgets), see paragraph 2.2.

iii)   Approves the Council act as guarantor for Windsor and Maidenhead Youth Counselling Service which is the same approach taken with both the Ways into Work and Parkwood Leisure contracts, see paragraph 2.3.

iv)   Removes a capital budget of £18,361,250 for the acquisition of residential or commercial properties relating to the Maidenhead Golf Course development site  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6b

The Chairman introduced the report regarding a late members allowance claim by Cllr Da Costa. 

Cabinet were informed that the Member Allowances Scheme operated by the Council provides that claims submitted in excess of six months after the date of the qualifying meeting must be referred to the Cabinet for consideration.

Cllr Da Costa had reported that unfortunately there had been a number of family bereavements and hence the late claim.  Cabinet sent their condolences to Cllr Da Costa and his family and approved the payment of the late claims.

Resolved unanimously: that Cabinet notes the report and:

i)          To pay the outstanding claims for Cllr Da Costa on this occasion only.

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 takes place 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 II minutes of the meeting of Cabinet held on 27 September 2018.