To receive any apologies for absence.

No apologies for absence were received.

To receive any declarations of interest from Cabinet Members.

Councillor Bermange declared a personal interest as per his register of interests. He was a member of Wild Maidenhead and also closely affiliated with the Climate Emergency Group in RBWM, both of which were involved in early engagement on Agenda Item 7 ‘Draft Sustainability Supplementary Planning Document – Regulation 13 Consultation’. However, he attended the meeting with an open mind.

Councillors Werner and Del Campo both also declared a personal interest on Agenda Item 7 ‘Draft Sustainability Supplementary Planning Document – Regulation 13 Consultation’, as they too were members of Wild Maidenhead. However, they too attended the meeting with an open mind.

To consider the minutes of the meeting held on Thursday 27 July 2023 as a true and accurate record.

Oran Norris-Browne, Principal Democratic Services Officer, confirmed that there had been two alterations to the minutes that had been published. He then read the changes out in full to the Cabinet.

The first was a change on paragraph 7 of the ‘Disposal of the Land at Braywick Park’ item, in reference to Councillor Taylor’s comments. The second was a change on paragraphs 4 and 5 of the ‘Finance Update Month 2’ item, in relation to Councillor Price’s comments.

RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY: That the minutes of the meeting held on Thursday 27 July 2023 were approved along with the changes above.

Cabinet Member for Highways and Transport, Customer Service Centre & Employment

To note the report and decide on whether to reduce the speed limit on this stretch of the A308 from 40 mph to 30 mph.

That Cabinet noted the report and agreed to reduce the speed limit from 40mph to 30mph on the A308 between Monkey Island Lane and the M4 Motorway Bridge.

AGREED: That the order of business be changed so that agenda item 8 be heard first, followed by agenda item 7. The order of business would then resume as per the agenda order.

There were two registered speakers on the item, who were invited to speak.

Councillor Cross addressed Cabinet as a registered speaker. As Ward Councillor for the area in question, she thanked Councillor Hill for assisting her in bringing this to the Cabinet. She then set out various reasons as to why the Cabinet should endorse the reduction of the speed limit. She referred to the Place Overview & Scrutiny Panel, which had met on 14 September 2023 to scrutinise the report, before Cabinet considered it. This was praised by allowing Councillors from al political groups, to have their say on the paper.

Andrew Cormie also addressed Cabinet as a registered speaker. He was Chair of the Holyport Residents Association. He urged the Cabinet to decrease the speed limit in this area from 40mph to 30mph. He said that the Council had not conformed with government guidance for speed limits, due to there being no legal challenge. He said that the advice that had been provided by the highway technicians and the police was also incorrect.

Councillor Hill, Cabinet Member for Highways and Transport, Customer Service Centre and Employment, thanked the speakers for their elegant and insightful words.

Councillor Hill said that the traffic on this stretch of the road needed to be slowed down due to not only the safety of persons crossing the road, but also the current issues that existed with congestion. He asked his fellow Cabinet Members to support the recommendation that he had put forward to them, which was to reduce the speed limit on this stretch of the road from 40mph to 30mph.

Councillor Reynolds, Cabinet Member for Communities and Leisure, stated that he was very happy to second Councillor Hill’s motion to reduce the speed limit. Both he and Councillor Del Campo, Cabinet Member for Adults, Health and Housing Services, praised the input from the Place Overview & Scrutiny Panel and said that this report was a fantastic example of a paper to go to a scrutiny panel and be seen by Councillors from all political parties, prior to the Cabinet considering it. This allowed them to gather a range of different views, before making an informed decision.

Councillor Coe, Cabinet Member for Environmental Services also supported this and said that he had seen a number of children attempting to cross this stretch of road on several occasions and that a reduction in the speed limit would make this easier and encourage more to walk.

Councillor Bermange, Cabinet Member for Planning, Legal and Asset Management, praised Appendix A of the report and said that it was important to recognise that each person had different needs and requirements when it came to users crossing the road. This could be that they were young or had a disability perhaps, which would limit their ability  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9.

Cabinet Member for Planning, Legal & Asset Management

To note the report and:

i)               Approve the publication of the draft Sustainability SPD for public consultation; and

ii)              Delegate authority to the Assistant Director of Planning in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Planning, Legal and Asset Management, to approve and publish any minor changes to the draft Sustainability SPD, prior to its publication.

That Cabinet noted the report and:

i)               approved the publication of the draft Sustainability SPD for public consultation; and

ii)              Delegated authority to the Assistant Director of Planning in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Planning, Legal and Asset Management, to approve and publish any minor changes to the draft Sustainability SPD, prior to its publication.

Two public speakers, Rob Acker and Graham Owens had registered to speak on the item. They were invited to address Cabinet.

Councillor Bermange thanked the public speakers for their thoughts and stated that he was very pleased to propose the report’s recommendations to Cabinet. He outlined the purpose of the SPD and offered fellow Cabinet Members a brief context on it. He stated that the last administration had not delivered on this as a priority within the borough. The new administration would live up to the commitment to climate change and sustainability. Once adopted it would become a material planning document for all applications moving forward.

Councillor Bermange then stated that the SPD if adopted would strengthen the existing carbon offset fund. He did however note that although the SPD was a huge step forward and that the borough would benefit from it, in a way the SPD did not yet go far enough. This was in no way stated as a detriment to officers or the groups that had been consulted on it, but just that sustainability was an ever-growing thing. He also stressed that the report before Cabinet was merely a draft and that further changes could be implemented in the future.

Councillor Coe asked in regard to the adopted Borough Local Plan (BLP), which limited what the proposed SPD could actually do. He asked what potential opportunities existed to look back and review certain aspects in the BLP.

Councillor Bermange responded by saying that if the Cabinet wished to go further, then significant changes would be required to the planning policy, which had been depicted by the BLP, in which the current administration had inherited. Any changes to this of significance, would be an extremely lengthy process. A partial review could be an option, with conversations with officers already occurring, but there were no timeframes currently being discussed. He said that if something was made less viable for a developer, then the deliverability of building affordable homes for example, could reduce. He hoped that there was a way forward and stated that it would remain under review.

Councillor K Davies, Cabinet Member for Climate Change, Biodiversity and Windsor Town Council, thanked Councillor Bermange, Ian Motuel, Planning Policy Manager and fellow officers for the work that they had put into the report. She commended the pre-consultation that had been carried out with both developers and also the community, ahead of the consultation going live. She thanked a number of individuals for their advice and thoughts on this SPD. She then stated that she wished to second the proposal.

Councillor A Tisi, Cabinet Member for Children’s Services, Education and Windsor, asked what would happen if developers wished to go further than the SPD. Councillor Bermange responded by saying that the SPD stated what the Council wished for developers to do and offered mere base line requirements. However, it certainly encouraged developers to come forward with additional ways to be sustainable, in which the Council would welcome.

AGREED:  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

To note the appointments to the below:

St Luke’s Community Hall – Councillor Jack Douglas

Spoore Merry and Rixman Foundation – Philip Love

Non-Religious Worldviews position in Group A on SACRE - Dr Anthony Lewis

Councillor Reynolds commented on the administration’s commitment to inclusion, which was shown by the appointment of Phillip Love, who was a former Conservative Councillor in the borough. He believed that this showed the new administration’s commitment to openness and transparency.

All of the listed appointments were confirmed by the Cabinet.

To consider the Forward Plan for the period October 2023 to January 2024.

Cabinet noted the Forward Plan for the next four months including the following additional changes:

·        ‘A308/Mill Lane/Parsonage Lane junction improvement’ had been moved from September’s Cabinet to October, to allow for further time for the budget setting process to occur.

·       ‘Mill Lane Conservation Area Appraisal’ had been moved from September’s Cabinet meeting to December, due to capacity and to better align with the appraisal’s implementation.

·       ‘Article 4 Direction– removal of permitted development rights’ had been moved from October’s Cabinet meeting to December, due to progress currently being unable to be made due to a staff vacancy in the Planning Policy team.

·       ‘Sale of Oakley Green, Windsor’ had been removed from the Forward Plan.

·       ‘Renewal of Lease at Cookham Marina’ was originally scheduled for October’s Cabinet but had instead been brough forward and had been incorporated into item 12 of the meeting’s agenda.

·       ‘Annual update on demand for school places’ had been moved from October’s Cabinet to December, to allow further time to evaluate data and outcomes.

·       ‘Leasing of Sport Pavilion in Braywick Park, Maidenhead’ had also been added as a new item for the October Cabinet meeting.

Councillor Del Campo asked for an update on the ‘Empty Homes Strategy’ item and if it could be included on the Forward Plan. Andrew Durrant, Executive Director of Place confirmed that he would speak to his team on this.

Councillor Price asked if going forward, more information could be provided by officers when items are uploaded to the Forward Plan. This would allow both residents to be more informed and also for Overview & Scrutiny Panel Members to identify items that could be scrutinised.

ACTION: Officers to provide greater information on forward plan item submissions moving forward

To receive a verbal update on the Council’s current financial position.

Councillor Jones stated that in May 2023, after 16 years of continuous Conservative administrations, residents voted overwhelmingly for Liberal Democrats and Independent Councillors to take charge and to bring back accountability and transparency. She said that the new administration knew they would be inheriting a challenging financial position. To put the debt into context, it was now almost twice the total annual revenue spend and the forecasted borrowing costs were £8m in the current year and £14m in the 2024/25.

Councillor Jones said that the spending decisions on council tax and borrowing over the last 10 years combined with weak financial management and low financial resilience, had put the borough in a situation where it lacked the resilience to cope with increased borrowing costs and increases in demand. She referred to schemes such as Vicus Way Car Par that had failed to bring in money weekly. She then added that in 2019 the previous administration had dismissed the concerns of opposition Councillors on debt and been told that the borough would be ‘debt free including the pension deficit by 2024’. She used the phrase of ‘kicking the can down the road’ as one to describe the situation that the Council now found itself in.

Councillor Jones admitted also that there was currently a disconnect between central and local government. Reduced funding from central government and increased local demand for services had contributed to the situation. She admitted that tough decisions would need to be made, however the Cabinet were fully committed to sorting out the financial situation, and that it would remain their top priority, to avoid issuing a Section 114 notice.

Elizabeth Griffiths, Executive Director of Resources and s151 officer, outlined the forecast in-year position for 2023/24 (at month 5), which showed an overspend on service budgets of £7.3m. The available in-year contingency was £3.3m and that the forecasted underspend on non-service budgets, would reduce the net overspend to £3.6m. General fund reserves were currently at £10.2m. Reserves would be reduced to £6.6m, following this, which was below the minimum requirement set by the s151 officer. She added that the process for setting the budget for the year 2024/25 continued, with a draft budget being brought to Cabinet in November 2023. However, the scale of the budget gap for 2023/24 and 2024/25, put the borough at significant risk of having to issue a Section 114 notice, unless further significant action was taken.

Elizabeth Griffiths then outlined some of the main causes of these increased budget pressures, which were as followed:

·       Inflation, that has remained higher than expected, for longer.

·       The increased costs of goods, services, transport, premises, and utilities.

·       Higher than budgeted inflation has added a £1m pressure to large contracts within the Place directorate.

·       Increased interest rates have increased the cost of Council borrowing.

·       Increased cost of Adult Social Care services has added a total pressure of £5m in 2023/24.

The Council’s current borrowing amount stood at £203m. Borrowing costs were forecasted to reach £8m in 2023/24 and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

Cabinet Member for Adults, Health & Housing Services

To note the report and:

i)        Approve a two-year direct award to an eligible provider to ensure continuity of specialist, integrated SRH service provision beyond the 30^th June 2024 across Berkshire East (RBWM, Bracknell Forest Council (BFC) and Slough Borough Council).

ii)              Delegate authority and accountability for the contract award to BFC as the Lead Authority for the procurement.

iii)              BFC to work with the market and NHS commissioning bodies to develop a life course response to sexual and reproductive health needs that offers better services for local communities. This process will result in initiation of a procurement of the specialist integrated SRH service during the lifetime of the 2-year contract to ensure longer term provision.

That Cabinet noted the report and:

i)               Approved a two-year direct award to an eligible provider to ensure continuity of specialist, integrated SRH service provision beyond 30 June 2024 across Berkshire East (RBWM, Bracknell Forest Council (BFC) and Slough Borough Council.

ii)              Delegated authority and accountability for the contract award to BFC as the Lead Authority for the procurement.

iii)             Agreed that BFC would work with the market and NHS commissioning bodies to develop a life course response to sexual and reproductive health needs that offered better services for local communities. This process would result in initiation of a procurement of the specialist integrated SRH service during the lifetime of the 2-year contract to ensure longer term provision.

Councillor Del Campo outlined the key aspects of the report to Cabinet. This was a statutory service that the borough provided to its residents and that it was a requirement of the public health grant to provide reproductive and sexual health. 27% of the contract was owned by RBWM, with it also being shared with Bracknell Forest Council and Slough Borough Council. She then made it clear to Cabinet that there was also a Part II appendix to the report, however a decision could be made in Part I. Councillor Werner seconded this.

AGREED: That Cabinet noted the report and:

i)               Approved a two-year direct award to an eligible provider to ensure continuity of specialist, integrated SRH service provision beyond 30 June 2024 across Berkshire East (RBWM, Bracknell Forest Council (BFC) and Slough Borough Council.

ii)              Delegated authority and accountability for the contract award to BFC as the Lead Authority for the procurement.

iii)             Agreed that BFC would work with the market and NHS commissioning bodies to develop a life course response to sexual and reproductive health needs that offered better services for local communities. This process would result in initiation of a procurement of the specialist integrated SRH service during the lifetime of the 2-year contract to ensure longer term provision.

Cabinet Member for Highways and Transport, Customer Service Centre & Employment

To note the report and approve the redesign proposals and authorises a tender process.

That Cabinet noted the report, approved the redesign proposals and authorised a tender process.

Councillor Hill began by thanking the officers, including Tim Golabek, Service Lead for Transport, for the hard work that had gone into producing the report that was before Cabinet. He began by asking for patience as it had not yet been decided on bus routes, and until contractors worked out their numbers, this would not be known. The key takeaways from the report were that more funding was being put into buses from an amount of £870,000 to £1.14m. 22 routes existed within the borough, 9 of which were commercial and 13 were subsidised by the borough. On some of the routes, up to 60% of the cost was subsidised by the borough. The pre-covid usage of buses was 9.3 trips per resident, per year. This now sat at 4.8, showing a dramatic decline in usage.

Councillor Price said that the Eqia of the report showed that the elderly and persons on a lower income would be the most impacted by this. In terms of the consultation that would occur in October 2023, they would be particularly hard to reach out too via social media for example. She pleaded for these people to please be contacted through various means.

Councillor Price said that some of the bus routes within the borough were currently being subsidised by central government, to allow residents to travel on buses for as little as £2. This would get residents back into the habit of taking buses, so promoting this should be explored further. Councillor Hill thanked Councillor Price for her comments and said that he and officers would take it on board. He wished to in the future put money into upgrading bus stops, along with other infrastructure projects, however understood that this would require revenue investment.

Councillor Bermange said that developer contributions could be used for things such as the upgrading of bus stops and that through investment, a better uptake would be clearly seen. Councillor Hill thanked him for his comments, and said that if any s106 money was allocated, he would be happy to use it.

Councillor Sharpe asked as a non-cabinet member about the plans for buses and transport for residents in the south of the borough such as Ascot, Sunninghill and Sunningdale. He stated that it would take over 2 hours to get a bus from Ascot to Maidenhead currently. Alternatives would mean that a train connection was needed at Reading station to be able to get to Maidenhead. Councillor Werner thanked him for his comments and agreed in large parts with what he had said. He referred to the previous administration’s lack of funding towards the south of the borough and in particular its bus routes. Councillor Hill concurred with this.

AGREED: That Cabinet noted the report, approved the redesign proposals and authorised a tender process.

Cabinet Member for Planning, Legal & Asset Management

To note the report and:

i)               Adopt the Self-Build and Custom Housebuilding Guidance Note to be published as guidance and afforded weight as a material consideration in the planning process; and

ii)              Delegate authority to the Assistant Director of Planning in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Planning, Legal and Asset Management, to approve and publish any minor changes to the Self-Build and Custom Housebuilding Guidance Note, prior to its publication.

That Cabinet noted the report and:

i)               Adopted the Self-Build and Custom Housebuilding Guidance Note to be published as guidance and afforded weight as a material consideration in the planning process; and

ii)              Delegated authority to the Assistant Director of Planning in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Planning, Legal and Asset Management to approve and publish any minor changes to the Self-Build and Custom Housebuilding Guidance Note, prior to its publication.

Councillor Bermange outlined the report to Cabinet by saying that it would signpost all of the interested parties to other sources of information. There was reasonably strong demand for this within the borough, with there being around 248 persons being on the register, comprised of 2 groups. It showed that this was becoming ever more popular. The BLP set a policy, where 5% of houses on a plot, should be set up for this. The guidance note assist in supporting all of this. He then reference a recent appeal that had occurred in Holyport.

Councillor Reynolds thanked Councillor Bermange and officers for bringing the report forward. As a Councillor who had sat on planning panels since 2019, he believed that this was a very good way forward.

Councillor Bermange then made it clear to Cabinet that a few minor changes had been made to the originally published report. This had been uploaded earlier that day to the website and asked Cabinet to consider these amendments when agreeing to a recommendation.

Councillor Werner stated his pleasure in seeing the Community Land Trust being included within the report as they could do amazing things and have done previously around the country.

AGREED: That Cabinet noted the report and:

i)               Adopted the Self-Build and Custom Housebuilding Guidance Note to be published as guidance and afforded weight as a material consideration in the planning process; and

ii)             Delegated authority to the Assistant Director of Planning in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Planning, Legal and Asset Management to approve and publish any minor changes to the Self-Build and Custom Housebuilding Guidance Note, prior to its publication.

i)               thority to the Assistant Director of Planning in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Planning, Legal and Asset Management to approve and publish any minor changes to the Self-Build and Custom Housebuilding Guidance Note, prior to its publication.

Cabinet Member for Planning, Legal & Asset Management

To note the report and delegate authority to the Executive Director of Place Services in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Planning, Legal and Asset Management, to conclude the renewal of the lease over land at Cookham Bridge and Toll House, Cookham.

That Cabinet noted the report and:

i)               Delegated authority to the Executive Director of Place Services in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Planning, Legal and Asset Management, to conclude the renewal of the lease over land at Cookham Bridge and Toll House, Cookham.

Councillor Bermange introduced the report to Cabinet and stated the reasons as to why it had to receive Cabinet approval. He outlined the location and some background information on this. Construction work was soon to commence on the bridge, which allowed for the Council to assess things during this time. The increase in rent payment was also not very significant, as this was a low-income lease.

Councillor Hill thanked Councillor Bermange for getting the item before Cabinet as attention had been drawn to it at the Maidenhead Development Management Committee in Summer 2023, where the construction works were agreed.

AGREED: That Cabinet noted the report and:

i)               Delegated authority to the Executive Director of Place Services in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Planning, Legal and Asset Management, to conclude the renewal of the lease over land at Cookham Bridge and Toll House, Cookham.

Cabinet Member for Communities & Leisure

i)               To Note the retender for the supply of library stock by the Central Buying Consortium under the compliant procurement process.

ii)              Approve the Council continuing to remain an Associate Member of the Central Buying Consortium for the supply of library stock until 31 March 2028.

iii)             Delegate authority to the Executive Director of Resources, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Communities and Leisure, to award the tender and exercise the optional extension until 31 March 2028 if CBC pursues the extension.

iv)             Delegate authority to the Executive Director of Resources, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Communities and Leisure, to consider increasing the proposed £100k minimum spend should the budgetary opportunity arise during the period of the contract.

That Cabinet noted the report and:

i)               Noted the retender for the supply of library stock by the Central Buying Consortium under the compliant procurement process.

ii)              Approved the Council continuing to remain an Associate Member of the Central Buying Consortium for the supply of library stock until 31 March 2028.

iii)             Delegated authority to the Executive Director of Resources, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Communities and Leisure, to award the tender and exercise the optional extension until 31 March 2028 if CBC pursued the extension.

iv)             Delegated authority to the Executive Director of Resources, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Communities and Leisure, to consider increasing the proposed £100k minimum spend, should the budgetary opportunity arise during the period of the contract.

Councillor Reynolds outlined the report that was before Cabinet. This was for the retendering of the library stock contract that would run from April 2024 to March 2026, with the option of a 2-year extension. The renewal of this, would allow for the Council to retain the high discount that currently was obtained from suppliers. The proposed spending would bring the borough in line with neighbouring boroughs, and he made it clear that the paper only covered the spending on physical books, and not the digital offerings.

Councillor Tisi commented on the digital range of materials that the libraries possessed. Items such as magazines could be viewed online and fit in with the Council’s sustainability goals. Councillor Reynolds said that this functionality was superb and that it was very impressive that with a library card you could read almost any newspaper in the world for free.

Councillor Price referenced to the Eqia and the persons who would be disadvantaged by the understandable cuts. She asked if donation boxes could be used in areas that did not necessarily have deprivation within the borough, to ensure that good quality books could be obtained and be provided to those who really needed them.

Councillor Reynolds noted this and referred to recommendation ‘iv’ of the report, in addition to thanking Councillor Price for her comments. He would certainly pick this up with officers moving forward.

That Cabinet noted the report and:

i)               Noted the retender for the supply of library stock by the Central Buying Consortium under the compliant procurement process.

ii)             Approved the Council continuing to remain an Associate Member of the Central Buying Consortium for the supply of library stock until 31 March 2028.

iii)            Delegated authority to the Executive Director of Resources, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Communities and Leisure, to award the tender and exercise the optional extension until 31 March 2028 if CBC pursued the extension.

iv)            Delegated authority to the Executive Director of Resources, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Communities and Leisure, to consider increasing the proposed £100k minimum spend, should the budgetary opportunity arise during the period of the contract.