To receive any apologies for absence

No apologies were 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 29 August 2019.

RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY: That the Part I minutes of the meeting held on 29 August 2019 were approved.

The Chairman mentioned that as he had announced at Council he intended to have a different approach in terms of style and vision.  The new look Cabinet was announced as:

To consider the Forward Plan for the period October 2019 to January 2020.

Cabinet considered the contents of the Forward Plan for the next four months and noted the changes made since it was published.  It was noted that the School Places in the Royal Borough was moved from October 2019 to November 2019 Cabinet.

In addition Cabinet later decided to defer the Windsor Town Centre Vision report from September 2019 to October 2019.

The Lead Member for Adult, Children and Health introduced the report requesting the contract extension for Drug and Alcohol services.

The Lead Member informed that in 2015 there had been a comprehensive and systematic review that resulted in a successful procurement process awarding contracts to Cranstoun and Claremont & Holyport starting in 2017.  The services had been run extremely well and the Care Quality Commission had awarded them a rating of Good, this would have been outstanding if it were not for issues with their building. 

The Lead Member wished to thank officers for their excellent work, with the leadership of Hillary Hall, that resulted in this outstanding service.  As the two contracts were working well he was recommending taking up the two year extension.  This was a critical part of public health as well as supporting the homeliness strategy.

The Lead Member for Finance and Ascot informed that he was on the original task and finish group that had been comprehensive and included a number of external agencies.  The report showed that performance was improving year on year and he informed that they also had an outreach service going into prisons.

Resolved unanimously that:  Cabinet notes the report and:

i)           Approves the award of a two-year contract extension for drug and alcohol services, comprising psychosocial intervention and support to Cranstoun, and to Claremont and Holyport surgeries, for substitute prescribing commencing on 1 April 2020.

The Deputy Leader of Council, HR, IT, Legal Services (Including Performance Management) and Windsor informed Cabinet that the report would be deferred for one cycle of Cabinet.

The Lead Member for Transport and Infrastructure (previously Sustainability, Waste Services and Economic Development) introduced the report regarding the processing of dry mixed recycling. 

The Lead Member informed that there was statutory duty to collect and recycle and a procurement exercise had been undertaken as no tenders were received and a direct award for one year was made to the current provider, Pure Recycling.

As there was such volatility in the market place with price fluctuation a long term contract had not been viable and thus the terms had been adjusted and a new procurement exercise was recommended.

Resolved unanimously that:  Cabinet notes the report and

i)          Approves the commencement of procurement of a contract for the processing of dry mixed recycling in December 2019.

ii)         Delegates authority to award a contract for the processing of dry mixed recycling to the Interim Director of Adult Services and Deputy Director Strategy and Commissioning, in consultation with the Lead Member for Sustainability, Waste Services and Economic Development, following a competitive procurement.

Prior to the Lead Member for Finance and Ascot introducing the latest financial update report. The Chairman addressed Cabinet.

The Chairman told Cabinet that the administration were committed to delivering value for money for the residents and committed to protecting the most vulnerable in our society.  The council found itself in a challenging financial position but the administration were resolute and determined to address the immediate financial challenge as well as getting the Royal Borough back on a long term sound financial footing.  Cabinet were informed that there would be difficult decisions ahead of them but they would united in meeting their objectives.

The Lead Member informed that the Council had a history of clean financial audits but he had become aware of financial risks and because of these risks the administration and Managing Director felt it was prudent to call in Cipfa to review the financial position.  Their findings have been circulated and work was underway in addressing identified issues.

Cabinet were informed that as there was a projected overspend of £4,179,000 measures were to be undertaken to reduce this such as there would be no more Member capital bid process.  Focus would be on the current position with Members being able to report issues with officers.

The Lead Member informed that the council had not been immune to the national pressures facing adult social care and was facing a projected pressure of  £1,421,000 in this area. There are currently just over 2,000 people receiving services in the borough some with physical disabilities, learning disabilities and or mental health challenges. The cost of placements and the associated complexity of need because people are living longer was creating pressure on the budget.

One of the main areas of pressure was domiciliary care and placements which had already been recognised with associated recovery plans in place. There was evidence that actions taken was having an impact with costs levelling off.  Work would continue with officers and Optalis.

The Deputy Chairman of Cabinet, Adult Social Care, Children’s Services, Health and Mental Health informed Cabinet that the financial pressures needed to be out in the national context of people living longer, which was good, but also living longer with complex conditions and a rising cost of provision.  The Government was bringing forward a prevention paper.  Within the Royal Borough we had an ageing population that came with a cost to the borough, care provision was improving and the Royal Borough had a high percentage of excellent care homes when compared nationally.  This was a positive challenge with people living longer but tis came at a cost.  The administration would continue to push the Government for a fair funding stream.  Moving to Optalis had been successful and future proofed services. There was a five year transformation programme for social services looking at prevention; there was a need to invest to save in the long term.   

The Chairman reported that we had excellent  children’s and social services teams that were good at identifying vulnerable young  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6d

The Leader of the Council and Chairman of Cabinet, Business, Economic Development and Property introduced the report regarding the Queen Street junction arrangements.

The Chairman informed Cabinet that approval for the project had already been through Cabinet and this was next phase of the Maidenhead Station Improvement Scheme project.  Consultation on this phase had been undertaken including discussion at the Maidenhead Town Forum. 

The overall project was valued at £4.5 million and was mainly funded by Thames Valley Berkshire Local Enterprise Partnership who had approved the business case for the overall scheme.

This phase would see the Queen Street / A308 junction being redesigned with the right-turn for motorists from Queen Street removed to create improved facilities for pedestrians and cyclists.  A pilot had been run throughout the summer and all three statutory services had said there would be no impact upon their operations. 

The consultation summary was attached to the report and the Chairman provided the following highlights, pedestrians and cyclists were overwhelmingly in support of the scheme, 70% of people believe it would improve connectivity between the town centre and the station, 67% felt it would improve public space, 66% felt it would result in better safety for pedestrians and 64% felt it would be better for cyclists.  60% of people believed it would improve the junction, however only 40% believed it would improve traffic flow.  The chairman reported that he felt that this was due to the temporary traffic lights not being able to sync with the permanent lights. 

The Deputy Leader of Council, HR, IT, Legal Services (Including Performance Management) and Windsor mentioned that with the Braywick leisure centre, the York Road development and this project improving the infrastructure of Maidenhead.  This was part of making Maidenhead the best it could be.

The Lead Member for Finance and Ascot said he had attended a recent LGA course where all of the five leaders of councils across the country presenting said how important ‘Place’ was, having a place where people wanted to live and work.  The Lead Member for Planning and Maidenhead reiterated these sentiments and also mentioned that building a place to live was about people as well as building.

The Lead Member for Environmental Services, Climate Change, Sustainability and Culture said she approved of the scheme but would have liked to have seen more biodiversity such as green walls.

          Resolved unanimously that:  Cabinet notes the report and:

i)          Endorses that the junction improvements at Queen Street / A308 as previously approved as part of the business case and set out in Appendix A be delivered

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 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 29 August 2019.