To receive any apologies for absence

To receive the minutes of the ordinary meeting of the Council held on 26 April 2022 and the Annual Meeting held on 24 May 2022.

To receive any declarations of interest

To receive such communications as the Mayor may desire to place before the Council

a)    Sajid Khan of Furze Platt ward will ask the following question of Councillor Haseler, Cabinet Member for Planning, Parking, Highways & Transport:

Community groups had been reassured that a surface level crossing across the A4 would provide connectivity to the Town Centre and Hines Meadow Car Park due to loss of parking in Holmanleaze.

Could the Cabinet Member for Planning inform RBWM Residents the details of funding of the surface level crossing and the timeline for the completion of this crossing.

b)    Ed Wilson of Clewer and Dedworth West ward will ask the following question of Councillor Johnson, Leader of the Council:

RBWM has been awarded £40,000 from the Government's Changing Places Fund. This is a very positive development for the Royal Borough and for those disabled residents who need specific facilities at public toilets. Will the Leader of the Council confirm how and where this money will be invested?

c)    Ed Wilson of Clewer and Dedworth West ward will ask the following question of Councillor Stimson, Cabinet Member for Climate Action and Sustainability:

HM Government is providing more than £5M for tree planting to local authorities in England and Wales through its Treescapes Fund.  RBWM has confirmed to me that it has not applied for any of this funding and has no intention of doing so.  Will the Lead Member advise why the Royal Borough appears uninterested in this source of funding?

d)    Hari Sharma of Furze Platt ward will ask the following question of Councillor Haseler, Cabinet Member for Planning, Parking, Highways and Transport:

If you have a pure electric car and live in the borough you can get a free parking permit, which is a hugely popular scheme. Can I ask the Cabinet Member how many residents have taken advantage of this and what action this council is taking to create more charging points?

e)    Hari Sharma of Furze Platt ward will ask the following question of Councillor McWilliams, Cabinet Member for Digital Connectivity, Housing Opportunity, and Sport & Leisure:

As I see cranes and diggers everywhere in the borough, building more homes for our children and grandchildren which is wonderful news for our residents and their children who can live close to their elderly parents, how many developments have agreed to build 30% social and affordable homes to buy or rent, or are paying Council Infrastructure Levy?

f) Mohammed Ilyas of Belmont ward will ask the following question of Councillor Carroll, Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care, Children’s Services, Health, Mental Health, & Transformation:

As a teacher by profession, I have some awareness of the effect of Covid and the lockdowns on children's education over the last 2 years in particular. May I ask the Lead Member for Children's Services to share what initiatives RBWM have taken and investments made to support the life chances of our young citizens following the pandemic to date.

g)    Lars Swann of Clewer and Dedworth East ward will ask the following question of Councillor Johnson, Leader of the Council:

Given  ...  view the full agenda text for item 5.

To receive any petitions presented by Members on behalf of residents.

(Notice of the petition must be given to the Head of Governance not later than noon on the last working day prior to the meeting. A Member submitting a Petition may speak for no more than 2 minutes to summarise the contents of the Petition).

To consider referrals from other bodies (e.g. Cabinet)

To consider the following recommendation:

RECOMMENDATION: That full Council notes the 2021-22 annual reports of the Overview and Scrutiny Panels.

To consider the referral from the Member Standards Panel.

To consider the recommendations of the Independent Remuneration Panel

To consider the above report

a)    Councillor Larcombe will ask the following question of Councillor Cannon, Cabinet Member for Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime, and Public Protection: 

Apparently a further £13k of public money has recently been spent on maintaining a riparian owned ancient ordinary watercourse in Wraysbury.  Can you please confirm that this money has been or will be recovered from the riparian owner? 

b)    Councillor Larcombe will ask the following question of Councillor Carroll, Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care, Children’s Services, Health, Mental Health, & Transformation: 

What percentage of RBWM primary school children are taught to swim at school? 

c)     Councillor Brar will ask the following question of Councillor Haseler, Cabinet Member for Planning, Parking, Highways and Transport: 

Despite a petition, signed by over 2000 residents, and two years of engagement with officers and lead members we have still taken no action to provide a pedestrian refuge at the site of a fatality. Why has this obvious and necessary measure not been approved? 

d)    Councillor Davey will ask the following question of Councillor Rayner, Cabinet Member for Business, Corporate & Residents Services, Culture & Heritage, & Windsor: 

Why does it feel like all council meetings are moving to Maidenhead and what are the reasons for the change? 

e)     Councillor Davey will ask the following question of Councillor Johnson, Leader of the Council: 

Why wasn’t Councillor Price given a role on an outside body and instead a resident was put forward by the administration, and is this constitutionally sound? 

(The Council will set aside a period of 30 minutes to deal with Member questions, which may be extended at the discretion of the Mayor in exceptional circumstances. The Member who provides the initial response will do so in writing. The written response will be published as a supplement to the agenda by 5pm one working day before the meeting. The questioner shall be allowed up to one minute to put a supplementary question at the meeting. The supplementary question must arise directly out of the reply provided and shall not have the effect of introducing any new subject matter. A Member responding to a supplementary question will have two minutes to respond).

a)    By Councillor Larcombe

This Council:

i) Agrees to allocate seats on the politically balanced committees to single non-aligned members in accordance with the political proportionality calculations.

ii) Requests officers to bring a report to full Council in September 2022 to consider the representation of the different political groups and single non-aligned members on bodies appointed by the Council for the remainder of the 2022/23 Municipal Year

b)    By Councillor Cannon

Since the Environment Agency took responsibility for managing the Thames and alleviating its flood waters, it has ceased the river dredging that had been in place for the previous 50 years.

It is believed that this has caused a decrease in capacity due to unmanaged silting, impacting on river navigation and the river’s capacity to contain flood waters.

This Council:

i) Requests that the Environment Agency resumes dredging of the River Thames within the boundaries of RBWM (especially the undefended reach between Black Potts and Bells Weir) to both ease navigation and increase the rivers capacity to hold water and therefore alleviate flood risk to our riverside communities.

ii) Requests that the Environment Agency expedites its efforts (in working with RBWM) to bring forward its alternative plans for flood alleviation for the Black Potts to Bells Weir reach of the River Thames following the EA removal of Channel One from the River Thames Scheme in July 2019.

c)    By Councillor Bhangra

This Council:

i) commends the excellent work of the Trading Standards team;

ii) thanks the officers in the team for their commitment to the Borough’s residents, and;

iii) supports the team’s continued efforts to provide an environment in which residents can buy goods and services without fear of being cheated, and honest businesses can be supported to thrive and grow.

 
d) By Councillor Davey

Outside bodies determine their own memberships, including whether their constitution requests a council representative.

This Council agrees that as outside bodies are able to appoint non-Councillors to other positions in their membership, any appointment of a council representative must be restricted to an elected Member or a council employee.

d)    By Councillor Coppinger

This Council:

i) Thanks every one of our residents for the positive way in which they have approached the changes we made to the collection of waste last year. 

ii) Notes that change is never easy but as a result waste reduced by 18%; recycling increased from 51% to 55.7% of the total and most importantly food waste recycling increased from 2500 tonnes to 4600 tonnes.

e)    By Councillor Reynolds

Both Parliament and this Council have declared an Environmental and Climate Emergency. Yet, the Climate and Ecology Bill is hopelessly stalled in Parliament and our own Biodiversity Action Plan has been deferred for a second time. Cabinet won’t consider it until November 2022, at the earliest. To break this log jam, we need a clear statement of purpose now.

This Council:

i) Will halt and reverse its overall contribution to the degradation and loss of nature in the Royal Borough  ...  view the full agenda text for item 10.

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 12 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"

To note the Part II appendix to the earlier Part I report