Agenda and minutes

Venue: Council Chamber - Town Hall - Maidenhead

Contact: Shilpa Manek  01628 796310

Items
No. Item

70.

ELECTION OF VICE CHAIRMAN

The Chairman will request nominations for the Vice Chairman position.

Minutes:

Councillor Luxton nominated Councillor Grey and this was seconded by Councillor Sharpe. This was Unanimously Agreed by the Panel.

71.

WELCOME

Chairman to welcome all to the Panel.

Minutes:

The Chairman welcomed all to the meeting.

72.

APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

To receive any Apologies of Absence.

Minutes:

Apologies for absence received from Councillors Judith Diment and Jesse Grey.

73.

DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST pdf icon PDF 217 KB

To Receive any Declarations of Interest.

Minutes:

Councillor Luxton declared a personal interest as she was a member of Charters Leisure Centre Trust (Charter School Community Recreation Trust).

 

74.

MINUTES pdf icon PDF 98 KB

To agree the minutes of the last meeting.

Minutes:

Councillor Stretton asked if her addition to the work programme for inviting Countryside to give a presentation to the Panel.

 

The Chairman advised that we could discuss this in the Work Programme item.

 

It was Unanimously Agreed that the minutes of the meeting held on 25 September 2017 were approved as a true and correct record.

75.

COUNCILS PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT FRAMEWORK REPORT - Q1 & Q2 pdf icon PDF 86 KB

Hilary Hall to present the quarter 1 and quarter 2 Performance Management Framework Report to the Panel.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Anna Robinson, Strategy and Performance Manager, presented the Councils Performance Management Framework Report for Quarter 1 and 2 to the Panel. Anna Robinson informed the Panel that the report was now streamlined to make it easier for residents to understand. Each Overview and Scrutiny Panel would now only have the indicators that were related to their area.

 

The Chairman commented that the report was attractive, the data was very useful and extremely helpful. The traffic light system was great as a quick glance indicator but could be a little misleading, especially if the indicator was a little behind but still on track. These would need to be considered in more detail.

 

Points raised by the Panel included:

 

·         The Panel approved of the lighter version of the report.

·         The customer services staff still required further training and more staff as the entire system had been changed.

·         Are the questions in the report standardised so that they can be compared with other councils? There are a mixture, some are particular to us and some are uniform to all. Some are statutory so they could be compared. Some benchmarking was already taking place.

 

Anna Robinson informed the Panel that a more specific report would be presented to the Panel again at the end of the financial year.

 

The Lead Member for Culture and Communities thanked Anna Robinson and her team for making the report much more relevant for our residents.

 

Councillor Sharpe asked about the recycling statistic and his concern that the borough’s recycling rate was only 48%. Was the council planning to do something to increase this level. Andy Jeffs informed the Panel that the levels had decreased and residents were using the general rubbish bin more and not recycling. Further education was required for residents to recycle better. All new bins are smaller, encouraging residents to use all bins.

 

The Panel agreed the recommendations in the report.

76.

2018/19 BUDGET PREPARATION pdf icon PDF 392 KB

Rob Stubbs, Head of Finance to present the 2018/19 Budget Preparation to the Panel.

Minutes:

Mark Lampard, Finance Partner – Corporate Services and Operations, presented the 2018/19 Budget Report to the Panel explaining that it was being presented three month early to allow for thorough scrutiny. Mark Lampard went through the key indicators including car parking and the Braywick Leisure Centre.

 

Councillor Stretton asked about why the Maidenhead Ceremony Room hire charges had gone up. Mark Taylor, Deputy Head of Library & Resident Services, informed the Panel that the room had a set price for two years. There had been some benchmarking across similar and nearby Registration districts and the proposed prices were still reasonable.

 

Councillor Samantha Rayner highlighted that we were offering a better service and are saving money at the same time. We are delivering differently.

 

Councillor Stretton asked about the recent changes in the structure and the replacement for Head of Community Protection & Enforcement. Andy Jeffs informed the Panel that the responsibilities had been shared between David Scott and Ben Smith and parking enforcement had been commissioned to a private company. The Panel felt that this needed to be communicated to RBWM staff and external bodies such as Parish Councils.

 

ACTION: Andy Jeffs to communicate structure.

 

Councillor Stretton asked about the funds that had been put aside for the regeneration of the Desborough Theatre. Councillor Samantha Rayner informed the Panel that the Desborough Theatre was part of the Maidenhead Regeneration Programme which was currently being considered and would feature in the Countryside presentation at a future meeting.

 

The Chairman asked if the Maidenhead Regeneration Work was included in the Culture and Communities budget and was informed that Regeneration of Maidenhead had its own budget.

 

The Chairman concluded that the Culture and Communities Overview and Scrutiny Panel would meet again in December 2017 to discuss this item if there were any changes to the report.

 

ACTION: Clerk to arrange an additional meeting in December 2017 if required.

77.

BRAYWICK LEISURE CENTRE

Kevin Mist, Community Project Lead, to provide the Panel with a verbal update on the planning application for Braywick Leisure Centre.

 

Minutes:

Kevin Mist, Communities Project Lead, gave a presentation to the Panel on the update on the Braywick Leisure Centre. Presentation attached.

 

Kevin Mist gave a presentation which showed the plans of the leisure centre, informed the Panel that the planning application had been submitted on 31 October 2017, the Scape Framework and process being used and explained the feasibility study that was being carried out by Wates, the Wates team, the communications strategy that was being used to inform residents and finally the programme of dates until completion.

 

Points discussed by the Panel included:

 

·         Location and access to the kitchens in the leisure centre.

·         Counting of votes during elections in the sports hall.

·         Disabled access to the stage and back rooms.

·         Events/entertainment plan.

·         The designs having the maximum flexibility.

 

With regard to the previous proposal to have a Member working group to track progress, it was agreed that the O+S Panel should be that Member group.

 

ACTION: Add to Work Programme, update at every Panel meeting.

 

Councillor Samantha Rayner informed the Panel that all Art centres (Norden Farm, Desborough Suite and Braywick Leisure Centre) would all work together to offer new things for residents. The Braywick Leisure Centre would be a community centre, not just the sports centre.

 

Other points discussed included:

 

·         The acoustics and what provisions were going to be in place. Kevin Mist advised that this had been considered and there were going to be curtains around the edges of the hall and the speakers would be in the ceiling space.

·         The doors at the stage level in order to get equipment in and out of the venue. Tall doors had been considered and a control box was also in place.

·         Would there be any outdoor events since there was plenty of green spaces around the centre. Many outdoor events would be planned.

·         Was there a possibility to collect the rainwater and reuse? The centre would not be harvesting the water but it would be collected in Swales having a pond effect and would be used for watering the plants.

·         Moving towards 2020 and the development of the Magnet site would generate more financial gain for the authority than rebuilding of the new leisure centre alone.

 

The Chairman summed up that this was a very exciting project.

 

It was Unanimously Agreed that the Panel would act as the Member working group to oversee the process. This would be presented to the Panel at each meeting.

 

78.

WORK PROGRAMME

Panel Members to suggest items for future meetings. Clerk to add to work programme.

Minutes:

Items to add to the Work Programme include:

 

·         Working group for the Braywick Leisure Centre.

 

ACTION: Place on every agenda for the Panel to receive an update on the progress.

 

·         Cultural Area/Quarter, getting involved in the work of our Joint Venture Partner, Countryside now and see the plans of the regeneration.

 

ACTION: Andy Jeffs – Lead Member to report back at next meeting in January 2018.

 

·         Sharing of leisure facilities, was supposed to be a task and finish group but would be better discussed by the Panel at a future meeting.

 

ACTION: Kevin Mist to update the Panel on shared sports facilities at next meeting in January 2018.

 

·         Norden Farm to present at next meeting in January 2018.

·         Windsor Arts Provider to present at meeting in March 2018.

·         Annual Updates on operation for the leisure centre – present at February 2018 meeting.

79.

DATES OF FUTURE MEETINGS

Panel Members to note dates of future meetings:

 

24 January 2018

21 February 2018

20 March 2018

16 May 2018

Minutes:

Clerk to see if an additional meeting in December 2017 would be required for 2018/2019 Budget.

80.

LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT 1972 - EXCLUSION OF PUBLIC

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"

Minutes:

Resolved to approve the motion.

81.

OAKS LEISURE CENTRE

Kevin Mist, Community Project Lead, to present the report to the Panel.