To receive any apologies for absence.

To receive the minutes of the meetings of the Council held on 29 February and 11 March 2024.

To receive any declarations of interest.

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

a)    John Baldwin of Boyn Hill ward will ask the following question of Councillor Coe, Cabinet member for Household & Regulatory Services

Budget 24/25: Appendix F, Fees/Charges for Environmental Health – Commercial Services

There are 94 items listed. Against 23/24 59 are new, 18 went up, 2 remained the same.

15 went down! 14 of these relate to services involving animals. Why are pet and horse owners an exception to the general rule?

b)    John Baldwin of Boyn Hill ward will ask the following question of Councillor Werner, Leader and Cabinet member for Community Partnerships, Public Protection and Maidenhead

There are four Public Space Protection Orders in place within the Royal Borough, dealing with dog control, cycling, alcohol consumption and BBQs. Two are Borough-wide and one other may as well be, given the long list of stipulated locations. Isn’t their very existence proof that this Council does not trust the residents of the Borough to police their own behaviour?

c)    Simon Williamson of Datchet, Horton & Wraysbury ward will ask the following question of Councillor Bermange, Cabinet member for Planning, Legal and Asset Management

Despite the submission of substantial evidence demonstrating that no commercial garage was in operation at 102 Hythe End Road, Wraysbury, for the decade leading up to 2019, and with no counter-evidence provided by RBWM, why has the LPA not acted to reverse the decision detailed in Closure Note 21/50026/ENF?

The Council will set aside a period of 30 minutes to deal with public questions, which may be extended at the discretion of the Mayor in exceptional circumstances. The councillor 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 councillor responding to a supplementary question will have two minutes to respond.

Hari Sharma of Furze Platt Ward has submitted the following petition for debate:

We the undersigned petition the Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead to restore every half an hour direct bus service from Maidenhead to Heathrow. A. Recently Maidenhead had lost every half an hour direct bus service Number 4 to Heathrow Central. B. This direct bus service to Heathrow had been running more than 20 years, serving Maidenhead train station/Taplow/Burnham/ Slough/Colnbrook /Heathrow Central. C. New replaced service number 6 terminates at Wexham Estate in Slough D. Residents have to change at Slough to another bus service to get to Heathrow which is causing inconvenience to elderly, disabled in wheel chair and people with young children in buggies + luggage. especially in the dark, rain and bad weather as there is no waiting space due to non-operational bus station. 

Full information about the petition, context and signatures can be viewed on the petition pages of the website.

The Constitution provides for a maximum time of 30 minutes for councillors to debate petitions; this can be extended at the Mayor’s discretion.

a)    The Mayor will invite the Lead Petitioner to address the meeting (5 minutes maximum)

b)    The Mayor to invite the relevant Cabinet Member to speak, including proposing any recommendation in the report (if relevant) (5 minutes maximum)

c)     The Mayor to ask for the motion to be seconded

d)    Motions without Notice (other than those detailed in Part 2 C13 of the constitution) will not be allowed.

e)    The Mayor to invite any relevant Ward Councillors to speak (5 minutes maximum each)

f)      The Mayor will invite all Members to debate the matter (Rules of Debate as per the Constitution apply)

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

Notice of the petition must be given to the Service Lead – Electoral and Democratic Services not later than noon on the last working day prior to the meeting. A Councillor submitting a Petition may speak for no more than 2 minutes to summarise the contents of the Petition.

To approve the new Council Plan, 2024-28, setting out the council’s strategic aims and priorities for the next four years. This includes a Technical Appendix, comprising of key deliverables for 2024-25 and a revised set of performance metrics to monitor performance and progress against the Plan.

To approve proposed amendments from the Constitution Working Group to a number of sections within the Constitution to improve clarity, consistency and transparency, avoid duplication, ensure efficient use of resources and to amend job titles that no longer exist.

a)    Councillor Wilson will ask the following question of Councillor Hill, Cabinet member for Highways and Transport, Customer Service Centre and Employment

Please explain the plans to support EV owners in the Borough, particularly where they live in Resident Parking Zones or otherwise need public charging facilities. Could some on street charging spaces be reserved for EV's, and could car parks with EV chargers installed be open for Residents Permit holders to park in using their permit and recharge overnight?

b)    Councillor G Singh will ask the following question of Councillor Reynolds, Cabinet member for Communities and Leisure

Having been closed for 7 years I was glad to hear from Councillor Reynolds last year that the Kidwells Park Pavilion was to be put on the market and reopened.

Could the Lead Member give us a progress update on how this is going?

c)    Councillor Buckley will ask the following question of Councillor Werner, Leader and Cabinet member for Community Partnerships, Public Protection and Maidenhead

Can you confirm that all expenditure whether through a reallocation of Community Infrastruture Levy (CIL) or 106 monies or just general spending, not itemised in the budget, will be approved by the spending panel? The spending panel was set up in 2023 to help control and improve the council’s precarious financial position by scrutinising all expenditure over £500.

d)      Councillor Buckley will ask the following question of Councillor A Tisi, Cabinet member for Children’s Services, Education and Windsor

Datchet’s Churchmead secondary school had 300 applicants for 120 places this year. Many local families from the feeder school, Wraysbury Primary weren't allocated places. They were offered places in Maidenhead, up to 19 miles away, disrupting friendships and harming education and well-being. Why are some RBWM schools primarily attended by non-local children and how do you propose to fix this?

The Council will set aside a period of 30 minutes to deal with Councillor questions, which may be extended at the discretion of the Mayor in exceptional circumstances. The Councillor 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 Councillor responding to a supplementary question will have two minutes to respond.

a)             By Councillor Wilson

The Roundmoor Stream in Eton Wick has seen three major incidents of raw sewage being released from the local Water Treatment Works this year. Critical annual maintenance is jeopardised due to the heightened health risk from manually removing sewage-covered plants. The environmental harm is excessive, with dead fish, stream vegetation covered in residue, and strong, unpleasant odours facing RBWM residents.

This motion calls upon the Leader of the Council to write to Thames Water, the Environment Agency and the Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, The Rt Hon Steve Barclay MP, to request:

1.    In the short term, call on Thames Water and the Environment Agency to clean the Roundmoor Ditch vegetation of sewage residue so that an appropriate maintenance plan can be carried out safely.

2.    Subsequently, to implement an infrastructure improvement plan to ensure sewage is not released into the streams but either contained within the Treatment Works, or released directly to the River Thames, where it is subject to much more dilution immediately.

3.    That DEFRA and the Environment Agency review the permits issued to Thames Water and tighten them so that Thames Water are prohibited to release anything other than fully treated water into natural waterways.

A maximum period of 30 minutes will be allowed for each Motion to be moved, seconded and debated, including dealing with any amendments.  At the expiry of the 30-minute period debate will cease immediately, the mover of the Motion or amendment will have the right of reply before the Motion or amendment is put to the vote.

To provide Council with an overview of progress and seek approval for the additional capital cost to ensure the successful implementation of the new system.

To consider the proposal to continue use of an updated Unit 4 Agresso Finance system and its transition to a Cloud based version.

To note the report explaining the Highway Maintenance Contract Extension decision, the reasons for it and why the decision was treated as matter of urgency.