To elect a Chairman and Vice Chairman for the One Borough Group for the Municipal Year 2019/2020.

RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY; That Karnail Pannu be elected as Chairman of the One Borough Group for the Municipal Year 2019/2020.

RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY; That Paul Samuels be elected as the Vice-Chairman of the One Borough Group for the Municipal year 2019/2020.

Chairman to welcome forum members and forum members to introduce themselves and representative organisations.

The Chairman welcomed all attendees to the meeting and asked that each member introduce themselves and their representative organisation.

To receive any apologies for absence.

Apologies of absence were received from David Scott (RBWM), Madhuri Bedi ( Radian Housing), Shabana Farooq (Radian Housing), Michael Gammage (Baha’I representative), Ravinder Zandhu ( Sikh faith representative), Ila Gangotra (WAMCF)

To receive any declarations of interest.

None.

To note the terms of reference for the One Borough Group.

Members were informed that this item was deferred to the next meeting.

To consider the minutes of the last meeting held on the 4^th March.

RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY; That the minutes of the meeting held on the 4^th March were agreed as a true and accurate record of the meeting.

To receive an update on the above titled item by Vanessa Faulkner, HR Manager (RBWM).

Vanessa Faulkner (RBWM), gave a verbal report on the above titled item. Members were told that currently RBWM were aspiring to achieve gold standard and were currently looking at options to enhance their current silver awarded recognition award. The Forum were told that a meeting with the account manager in Aldershot had occurred and that a questionnaire would be sent to all RBWM staff capturing as much detail as possible into whether they had been in active service or a reservist.

ACTION- Vanessa Faulkner to provide figures of how many RBWM staff are currently acting reservists at the next OBG meeting scheduled for the 11^th September.

Councillor S Rayner stated that she was the military champion for the Council and that there was a bigger commitment to elevate the platform. Members were reminded that the Household Cavalry would soon be leaving the borough and that recently a Freedom March had taken place in Windsor to commemorate the presence of the cavalry. Members were informed that Princess Anne had been in attendance and that the borough was keen in welcoming the Welsh Guards to their new home in Windsor.

To receive an update on the One Borough key details document.

Members of the One Borough Group were reminded of the action agreed at the last meeting to create and collate a directory of all members key organisational details. It was confirmed that work had occurred and that a joint up approach with Adult Social Care was being worked upon to ensure better transparency and accessibility to this information for our residents.

Members were reminded to forward their key details to the clerk at democratic.services@rbwm.gov.uk

To receive a presentation on the above titled item by David Scott, Head of Communities, Enforcements and Partnerships (RBWM).

Andy Aldridge and Trish Calzioni outlined the above titled item. Members were informed that post the royal wedding that there had been a restructure to the Community Warden team. It was outlined that there were two limbs, to tackle low level anti-social behaviour and homelessness along with various outreach work streams. There was now a problem solving and knowledge team. A MEAM co-ordinator had been in post for 6 months and that they directly reported into a panel of statutory and non-statutory partners. It was highlighted that there were 10 engaged stakeholders and that a robust referral mechanism was in place to assist the assessment team. Forum members were told that best practice had been identified by visiting other local authorities to see how the MEAM co-ordinator worked in practice and there was re-assurance that the MEAM co-ordinator for RBWM had gone beyond expectations in their work. The MEAM co-ordinator provided a wraparound service  and there were currently 8 people being worked with and 3 pending referrals.

Members were told that there was a strong culture of support before enforcement for those individuals who had previously refused support. It was outlined that the first course of action would be working positively with individuals who had refused support and that Community Protection Orders would be issued where necessary. It was highlighted that community wardens worked 24hours a day and that operational and strategy groups had been set up. Next steps included further work around mental health support and scheduling of appointments where further intrinsic outreach was needed. Trish Calzioni stated that the community wardens were managed under the Neighbourhood teams and held community based hubs and were able to signpost accordingly. Community wardens were able to provide advice and assistant and carry out high visibility patrols, issue fixed penalty notices, safeguard vulnerable residents and work with stakeholder/partners to resolve community issues.

Community wardens contributed to the night time economy and anti social behaviour concerns. It was noted that there was a specialised community warden who dealt specifically with welfare concerns. Further work would be carried out to cluster the area as RBWM were not currently doing so. It was outlined that there were currently 25 community wardens but that some were purely administrative support. At the conclusion of the update, the forum thanked the community wardens for their time and dedication to providing a safe borough for residents.

To receive a verbal update on the above titled item by the Chair.

The Chair outlined the above titled item. Members were informed that there had been an IAG meeting with Thames Valley Police to raise the concerns of faith centres across the borough following the recent tragic mosque attack in New Zealand. Saghir Ahmed outlined that there had been multiple incidents globally and as a local community that there had been concerns. There had been review security measures for Maidenhead Mosque which included having more visible security and CCTV cameras. Andy Aldridge highlighted that there was a patrol plan for the local community wardens and that an increased presence could be arranged. Members felt that there had been a lack of engagement post the Christchurch shooting and that community cohesion was key to tackling security issues. Members were told that Faith group leaders had met and discussed a chain of communication in the worst case scenario. There were designated persons for communicating matters and members were assured that this was a good system for any security issues to be shared effectively and quickly.

To receive a project update from Anita Ambasani and Dawn Sines on the above titled item.

Anita Ambasni (Give and Take Care), gave an update on the above titled item. Members were told that there were currently three members of staff focussing on the Maidenhead area. It was outlined that there had been a recent ambition to host a project which would encourage young persons to recycle and upcycle their clothing whilst enhancing their skill set. It was outlined that older persons would be able to exchange useful sewing skills to younger persons and that there were spaces for 20 persons. Members of the forum were encouraged to communicate details of the project.

It was also highlighted that there a gardening buddies scheme which would take place in September/October and that this would promote gardening skills with exchange of skills from older persons to young persons. Members were told that the food academy had also been successful and that this was a good showcase of how to eat and cook healthily. Members were informed that there would be a showcase of talent and skills at the end of each project and the ambition was to develop confidence and life skills for our borough’s young people. Further work with isolated mothers was being carried out with older persons through church groups. It was also highlighted that there was an art project commencing at Eton School and the next meeting of the group would be on the 27^th June 2019 at Thames Valley Police Station.

To receive an update from Nicola Davidson on the above titled item.

Nicola Davidson outlined the above titled item. It was highlighted that MaidEnergy Co-op had been in existence for the past five years and that its intention was to rejuvenate renewable energy sources across the borough. Forum members were informed that there had been 10 identified sites across the borough, including Maidenhead Synagogue, various schools, TPAK, leisure centres and Churches. It was highlighted that a share offer would be going out shortly and that there were savings to be made. Members were asked to communicate this information via their networks. It was outlined that there would be a 5% ROI on and that RBWM were currently receiving dividends .

To receive updates from forum Members.

Nicola Davidson reinforced the launch of MaidEnergy Co-op Share offer, details to be communicated through the clerk.

Parvati Mistry highlighted that ipad workshops were being held Dedworth libraries. And that details would be circulated to the wider forum.

Ramesh Kukar highlighted that the next WAM forum would be held on the 26^th August and would include details of falls prevention.

Sheila Holmes highlighted that the Older Persons Advisory Forum supported both health and social care and that currently work was being carried out with the Chariot group to support research in dementia treatment advancements and cognitive functioning support.

John Diak informed the Forum that there had been a myriad of scams across the borough and that work was being carried out to deter fraud and education residents against potential scams. Members were told that promotion of the website, www.friendsagainstscams.org  provided useful hints and tips to protect against scams.

Karun Passi (RBWM) highlighted that there was now a senior dementia lead in place at the authority and that partnership working was helping support the good work locally to raise awareness for dementia.

Paul Samuels highlighted his enthusiasm for the group and was pleased to be appointed as the vice chairman for the municipal year. It was outlined that there were currently 25 individuals who attended Mens Matter and that meetings were well attended.

Jeff Pick (Thames Valley Police) highlighted that there was a live TVP alert system which would provide community messaging. Details of IT training for children for online safety had also been rolled out. There were also three videos accessible through the Thames Valley Police website which helped provide support for online scams and that the Windsor Drama Guild had worked together with TVP to produce these videos. Members were also asked to refer any young persons who may be interested in the food academy directly.

Zena Pike highlighted that the mental health recovery college had been running for two years successfully  and that there had been a struggle to find suitable venues in windsor. If members had any details of suitable venues, they were asked to email the following address; wam.recoverycollege@berkshire.nhs.uk

Elaine Keating (RBWM) outlined that a proposal for a RBWM based Youth Council would be drafted shortly and submitted to the Senior Leadership Team for approval. The Youth Council would seek to elevate the voice of our young people and an information session would be held in July. Members were informed that there was a second round of applications for Youth Voice; Your Choice and members were encouraged to nominate any suitable young person for this award.

Alison Bradshaw (RBWM) informed the forum that there was an early help hub which wanted to strengthen community links. It was requested that Alison provide an update at the next meeting on the early help hub and its work.

The dates of future meetings are as follows;

·         11^th September 2019- venue to be confirmed

·         11^th November 2019- venue to be confirmed

The date of the next meeting was confirmed as follows:

11^th September- 10am, Venue to be confirmed.