To receive any apologies for absence

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Saunders and Targowska.

To receive any declarations of interest

Councillor S Rayner declared a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest in item 6 ix Traveller Local Plan – Issues and Options: Extension of Consultation Period. She left the room for the duration of the discussion and voting on the item.

To consider the Part I minutes of the meeting held on 13 December 2019.

RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY: That the Part I minutes of the meeting held on 13 December 2018 were approved.

None

To consider the Forward Plan for the period February 2019 to May 2019.

Cabinet considered the contents of the Forward Plan for the next for months and noted the changes made since the last meeting including the addition of the following reports and amendments:

·         Regulation 13 Consultation – Borough Wide Design Guide. To be considered on 28 February 2019.

·         RBWM Property Company Business Plan to move from March 2019 to April 2019 Cabinet.

Cabinet were informed that two local residents, Mr Olu Odeniyi and Mr Gurpreet Bhangra, who lived near Mokattam had requested to speak on the Part II report.  They were allowed to address Cabinet in Part I and the Chairman informed that he would be making a recommendation that as much of the Part II resolution that could be published in Part I would be if approved.

Mr Olu Odeniyi informed Cabinet that after Mokattam had ceased being used as a care home the borough had plans to convert it into affordable housing.  Cabinet were informed that it was an historical street with a private road maintained by the residents and unique to Maidenhead.  It was felt that although affordable housing was important this was not the location for such a development.  The road was narrow and not suited for such development that would also set a precedent that would wipe out the character of the street.  The residents supported the regeneration of Maidenhead and that the sale of the site as a single unit would help provide appropriate affordable housing on alternative appropriate locations. 

Mr Gurpreet Bhangra explained the unique nature of houses in the street and the concern that if one of the properties was to be converted into multiple units with development in the garden than this would set a precedent that would eventfully destroy the nature of the street.  Residents understood the need for affordable home in the borough but they had to be in the right locations.  He urged Cabinet that when they discussed the Part II report that they approve to keep Mokattam as a single use property.

The Lead Member for Adult Services and Public Health informed that as ward member he had met with residents and visited the area.  He thanked residents for their comments and looked forward to the discussion on this item in Part II.

The Chairman mentioned that he had visited the area and agreed that unlike other developments underway mixed use may not be appropriate.  Areas such as York Road will have blind mixed tenure.

Discussion on this item was undertaken in Part II where it was agreed that the following parts of the resolution be published in Part I.   the full resolution is recorded in Part II.

Resolved unanimously:  that Cabinet notes the report and:

i)     Appendix A - Approves the capital budget spend for Appendix A for the refurbishment of the project.

ii)    Appendix A - Approves the transfer of the asset, once completed, to RBWM Property Company Ltd for use as affordable housing.

iii)   Appendix A - Delegates authority to the Acting Managing Director to progress the project, including appointing a contractor.

iv)   Appendix B – Approve the disposal of the asset with an overage clause, with the proceeds ring fenced for the provision of affordable housing.

v)    Appendix B – Delegates authority to the Acting Managing Director to progress the sale of the asset with an overage clause, and use of the receipts for affordable  ...  view the full minutes text for item 10.

Cabinet were addressed by Mr Lambourne and Mr McCarthy.

Mr Lambourne informed that research had shown that for every pound spent on cycling gave a two pound equivalent health benefit.   It had been shown that cycling could help with both mental and physical health as well as helping increase productivity of workers.  Mr Lambourne informed Cabinet how 30 years ago Holland decided to invest into cycling infrastructure that provided a cultural change towards cycling.  Without this action their cities would be clogged with traffic.

Mr Lambourne said that the Royal Borough should be spending £10 per head of population on cycling and that presently they were not near this amount.  Investment in cycling needed to come from the Government down.  A lot of people do not cycle due to poor infrastructure.  He hoped that the council would take a lead and help change residents outlook on cycling by removing obstacle to cycling.

Mr McCarthy informed that he had been part of the working group that helped produce the action plan.  There were a number of challenges in the local area such as congestion and air pollution that without more infrastructure investment would be exasperated by planned development. Currently only 3% of journeys in Maidenhead were made by bike.  Increasing cycling provided a number of benefits such as decreased congestion, reduced air pollution, increased employee productivity and decreased absenteeism.  Short journeys were more efficient by bile and the benefits would result in decreased spend on health and social care. 

Mr McCarthy informed that the Maidenhead Cycle Hub had refurbished over 600 bikes in three years, aimed to get more people cycling by providing servicing and repairs, organised rides, advice on bike routes and cycling safety.  He was pleased that Cllr D Wilson and Gordon Oliver had asked the Cycle Forum to help produce the action plan.

The Chairman thanked them for their contribution to the action plan and said he would help the Maidenhead Cycle Hub find a new location when their current site is closed due to regeneration work.   The Chairman also highlighted that it was planned to create a cycling hub of 300 secure cycling spaces at Maidenhead station that would be covered by CCTV.

The Lead Member for Highways, Transport and Windsor thanked those who had helped produce this plan.  He highlighted section 4.3 of the report that informed that an additional £5.992m of funding had been secured through the Thames Valley LEP for Maidenhead Station improvements and the Maidenhead Missing Links’ project that would help improve cycle routes and parking.  There was also a lot of investment going into local road surfacing improvements that would improve the cycling experience.  He recommended that Cabinet adopt the ten year plan. 

The Lead Member for Adult Services and Public Health thanked the speaker for what they said especially the health benefits associated with cycling.  This was a positive action plan that was important for health and adult social care.  He was pleased to see the investment in the Maidenhead station  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6f

The Lead Member for Environmental Services, (Including Parking, Flooding, Housing and Performance Management) introduced the report that outlined the detailed results from the council’s externally commissioned 2018/19 survey of residents, using Local Government Association best practice.

Cabinet were informed that the survey, conducted independently by DJS research via telephone and in person, asked residents a range of questions spanning three categories; Local Government Association core questions, living in the local area and council services.

The results from the survey showed that the council’s results in the core questions for LGA benchmarking exceed the most recent LGA national satisfaction levels in every case where there was comparable data.  This included an 88% satisfaction rating for satisfaction with your local area, 74% of residents being satisfied with the council, 72% feeling informed by the council, 68% having trust in the council, 66% feeling the council was responsive and 63% feeling the council offered best value for money.  These were above LGA benchmarked ratings.

The results showed that nearly three quarters of residents were satisfied with the way the council runs things, and almost two thirds agree that it provided value for money, two thirds felt that the council acted on the concerns of residents and almost three quarters agreed that the council keeps them informed.

When residents were asked to describe what they liked about their local area, they mentioned parks and green spaces, the picturesque setting and easy access to the town as well as facilities, amenities and services.

Parks and green spaces scored highly, with 87% very satisfied or fairly satisfied with the 60 parks and open spaces across the borough.

The survey results also showed that council services were praised, with the weekly recycling and refuse collection seeing 88% of residents ‘very’ or ‘fairly’ satisfied with the service.

The Lead Member for Culture and Communities reported that she was delighted with the 87% satisfaction rating for parks and open spaces as the team worked very hard and there was huge investment in this area.

The Principal Member for Neighbourhood Planning and Ascot and the Sunnings highlighted the excellent satisfaction rating in the south of the Royal Borough and that residents spoke positively about the Royal Borough. She highlighted the satisfaction in the weekly refuse collection especially when compared to neighbouring authorities.

The Chairman mentioned that the report was important in helping the administration develop policy and budget preparation.  The budget proposals for next year had taken into account the results from the survey with continued investment in roads, weekly waste and recycling collections and parks and open spaces which reflects what we have been told by our residents as being important to them.  Residents had informed that safety, policing and low crime were important to them so there was continued investment in these areas with wardens and cctv.  It was important to also get the message to our residents on areas such as value for money especially as the Royal Borough had the lowest council tax outside of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6a

The Lead Member for Adult Services and Public Health introduced the report regarding the award of contract for sexual health services. 

Cabinet were informed that following a sexual health needs assessment, a service specification for an integrated sexual health service across three East Berkshire authorities was developed to improve access to services. This approach was aimed at delivering the services in the most cost-effective way, delivering on quality and efficiency aimed at the best outcomes.  Following a joint competitive tendering process involving the Royal Borough, Bracknell Forest Council and Slough Borough Council, approval is sought to award the contract to Bidder 1.  Final approval was subject to the other authorities executive decisions. 

The Chairman asked what was being done regarding education on sexual transmitted diseases for young people and was informed that this was part of the curriculum but there was also a dedicated part of the Public Health England website specifically aimed at and designed for young people.   The Lead Member for Children’s Services also highlighted the role of personal, social, health and economic education as well as school nurses. 

          Resolved unanimously: that Cabinet notes the report and:

i)          Approves the award of contract for the provision of an integrated sexual and reproductive health service to Bidder 1 over three years from 1 July 2019, at a total cost of £5,604,851 for three years across the three local authorities in East Berkshire.

ii)         Delegates authority to the Deputy Director Strategy and Commissioning, in consultation with the Lead Member for Adult Social Care and Public Health, to finalise the details of the contract award in relation to the Royal Borough.

The Lead Member for Children’s Services introduced the report regarding  a new contract for delivering school waste collections for a three year period with an option to extend for a further two years.

If approved the contract would commence in May 2019 and that there had been an emphasis on sustainability and recycling.  The report had also been considered by the Girls Policy Forum who had set up a sub group looking at reducing waste.

Resolved unanimously:  Cabinet notes the report and:

i)          Approves the award of the new schools waste contract to Veolia Environmental Services Ltd.

ii)         Delegates authority to the Director of Children’s Services, in consultation with the Lead Member for Children’s Services, to exercise the option to extend the contract for up to an additional two years.

The Leader of the Council and Maidenhead Regeneration and Maidenhead introduced the report that provided an operational update on RBWM Property Company Ltd.

Cabinet were informed that none of the directors were councillors and that staffing structure currently included the Managing Director plus five staff.  The Property Company had also been asked to take on the line management function of the Council’s commercial property portfolio.  The company currently owned 11 properties and managed 1 on behalf of the Council.  There were a number of schemes in the pipeline that would help deliver affordable housing.

The company had also worked with the JV client Countryside, worked on the proposed Maidenhead Golf Course development and provided consultative services on a number of projects such as Nicholson car park.    

In response from a question from the Lead Member for Culture and Communities Cabinet were informed that the company’s annual report and accounts was due to be presented to Cabinet in February 2019.  

Resolved unanimously that: Cabinet notes the report and:

i)          Considered the update report and performance to date.

The Principle Member for Ascot Regeneration introduced the latest Financial Update Report that set out the council’s financial position to date for the financial year 2018 -2019.

Cabinet were informed that current pressures were being managed resulting in a financial pressure across the council of £1,721,000.  The council’s reserves were in a healthy position at £8,238,000 (9.65% of budget) which remains in excess of the £5,860,000 (6.87% of budget) recommended minimum level set at council in February 2018.

The Principal Member highlighted the additional payment for the recruitment of the new Managing Director and the work done regarding the high needs pressure within the designated schools grant.  Although the budget was in an envious position there were still a number of  continuing pressures detailed within the report such as an overspend on the staff pool cars. 

There was also additional investment in a number of areas such as transformation at Optalis to transform ICT infrastructure which included the appointment of a senior officer and supporting team.  There was also additional ICT investment in RBWM ICT hardware approved by CLT. 

The Chairman mentioned that there had been leaflets distributed that had inaccurate information regarding the financial position.    The pressures of £1.7 million was clear within the report.  There had been mitigating actions and additional income from business rates. 

Cabinet approved the additional investment into ICT that would enable officers to continue to provide excellent services to residents.  The Lead Member for Adult Social Care and Health informed that there had been opposition suggestions that investment in his portfolio had been cut but this was inaccurate as the full precept had been used resulting in additional investment.  A new commissioning model had been introduced providing best value for residents and supporting vulnerable members of our society.

Resolved unanimously: that Cabinet:

i)     Notes the council’s projected outturn position for 2018-19 and notes work undertaken to identify mitigations to deal with pressures.

ii)    Approves a one-off additional revenue budget of £35,000 for the recruitment of the new Managing Director.

iii)  Approves a capital budget of £91,350 for the appointment of a Head of Digital development (and small support team) and transformation at Optalis to transform ICT infrastructure (see para – 4.14).

iv)   Note a capital budget addition of £69,000 for IT hardware, approved under delegation by CLT (see para – 4.15).

The Lead Member for Planning and Health introduced the report that sought to prepare and undertake public consultation on an Article 4(1) Direction to remove the permitted development rights to change the use of office premises to residential.

Cabinet were informed that since the introduction, in 2013 of permitted development rights to convert offices to residential through a prior approval process, 18,067 sqm of office floor space has been converted to residential in the Borough. A further 9,136 sqm of floor space was likely to be lost as the result of prior approvals that have been granted but not completed. These changes of use have had a significant effect on the Council’s capacity to provide sufficient office floor space for future economic growth during the Borough Local Plan (BLPS) period.

If approved the recommendations would allow the council to manage the development rights and help maintain the balance between providing residential properties and commercial space that was essential to support the economic wellbeing of the Royal Borough.

Resolved unanimously: that Cabinet notes the report and:

                  I.        Authorises officers to prepare a draft Article 4(1) direction to remove the permitted development rights granted under the Town and Country Planning General Permitted Development Order 2015 Schedule 2 Part 3 Class O and undertake required consultation.

The Lead Member for Highways, Transport and Windsor introduced the report regarding the proposal to bring forward additional highways investment from the proposed 2019-20 budget.

The Chairman mentioned that improvement in our highways was the number one area that our residents wished to see. 

The Lead Member informed that the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced in the November 2018 budget that the government was allocating £420m in 2018/19 financial year for local highway maintenance, including the repair of potholes. The Royal Borough had been awarded £965,000 and it was proposed to allocate this funding to additional schemes to further enhance the highway network.

Cabinet were informed that resurfacing work had been undertaken but unfortunately in certain areas the quality of the work was not as expected.  An audit had been undertaken and the contractors would rectify the situation. 

The Lead Member also highlighted the draft capital programme for 2019-20 which included £1,900,000 for road resurfacing. In order to deliver these schemes and benefit residents early a draft programme had been prepared and attached in Appendix C. It was recommended that this programme is agreed subject to overall budget approval for 2019-20.

The Chairman mentioned that £9.4 million had already been spent this year on our highways and with the additional £1 million this spend would be £10.4 million. For 2019-20 it was proposed to spend £12.7 million.  He congratulated the Lead Member for securing additional Thames Valley LEP funding for road junction improvements in Maidenhead and investment in Windsor. A total of £5.3 million will be invested, £4.2m from the LEP for six junctions from the A4, Maidenhead Bridge through Maidenhead to the A308m roundabout.  £1.5 million would be invested in infrastructure in Windsor. 

Cabinet Members highlighted proposed investment within their wards such as Boyne Hill.  There was also investments, such as the £20,000 in Course Road, that were highlighted as being important to local residents.

Resolved unanimously:  that  Cabinet

i.       Endorses the supplementary programme set out in Appendix A (additional grant funding).

ii.      Delegates authority to the Director Strategy and Commissioning, in consultation with the Lead Member for Highways & Transport, to agree minor amendments to the approved schemes (within approved budgets) and implement substitute schemes should this become necessary.

iii.    Endorses the proposed resurfacing programme for 2019-20 set out in Appendix C, subject to approval of the 2019-20 budget by Council.

(Councillor S Rayner declared a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest as her husband’s family business owned land on some of the sites under consideration when the report was first considered by Cabinet on 13 December 2019.  She left the meeting during consideration and voting on this item)

The Lead Member for Planning and Health introduced the report that requested an extension to the approved Traveller Local Plan Issues and Options Regulation 18 consultation. 

Cabinet were informed that officers had provided a number of meetings / presentations scheduled with key stakeholders. At one of those meetings a formal request was made to the Lead Member for an extension to the consultation period.  Cabinet approval was required to extend the consultation.

Resolved unanimously: that Cabinet notes the report and:

i)          Agrees to a 2 calendar week extension of the Regulation 18 consultation period on the Traveller Local Plan Issues and Options; to close on 11 March 2019 (midnight);

ii)         Agrees to the publication of further letters and adverts as required to publicise the extension of the consultation period and the new closure date.

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 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 13 December 2018.