The Chairman welcomed all to the meeting.

To receive any apologies for absence.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor David Cannon and Parish Councillor Pat McDonald.

To receive any declarations of interest.

No declarations of interest were received.

To agree the minutes of the last meeting held on 17 October 2019.

RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY: that the minutes of the previous meeting on 28^th  January 2020 were a true and accurate record of the meeting.

Jane Corry, Chief Executive and Artistic Director will be presenting the highlights from 2018-19, visitor feedback and participation, work with community groups and volunteers. A financial summary and plans for 20^th Anniversary.

This item was deferred to a future meeting.

Suzie Parr, Stephanie Lewis and Louisa Knight will be presenting highlights from 2018-19, information on our service and the museum’s collection and the accreditation and plans for the next three years including our 10^th Birthday.

This item was deferred to a future meeting.

Kevin Mist and Julian Bullen to provide an update to the Panel.

Councillor Samantha Rayner, Deputy Leader of the Council and Lead Member for Resident and Leisure Services, HR, IT, Legal, Performance Management and Windsor, informed the Panel that the project was going very well and was on schedule. Kevin Mist, Communities Project Lead, gave the panel an update on the leisure centre. The following points were highlighted:

·       The swimming pool was now approaching being complete, it had ten lanes, 25m long and the tiling was being completed next.

·       The learner pool was now nearly complete and was now being tiled.

·       The 12 persons Jacuzzi was complete.

·       The changing rooms were being completed.

·       The health spa was almost complete.

·       Parkwood Leisure would kit out the café, which was located on the ground floor and it had provision for up to 180 covers.

·       It was noted that Parkwood Leisure operate a plastic free approach in all their leisure centres.

·       The cultural hall area was still under construction but with good progress.

·       Not much equipment and furniture was being taken across from the Magnet Leisure Centre to Braywick Leisure Centre as it was very old and tired.

·       The opening date was due to be 5 September 2020.

·       The demolition of the Magnet Leisure Centre and the build of Braywick Leisure Centre were being progressed as a means to fund the new centre from the re-development of the old one.

·       The contract fees would remain the same for Parkwood Leisure and there was an approximate investment of half million pounds for Braywick Leisure Centre by the operator which is a significant investment. A consultant had been used to assess the market and give a comparative assessment of the contract sum being received.

Councillor Price asked about the Shuttle bus to and from the town centre to Braywick Leisure Centre and the carbon footprint.  Councillor Price wanted to know if the free service bus shuttle had been accounted for in the budget and with the Adopted Resolution to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050 how would Braywick Leisure Centre achieve this target?

Kevin Mist informed the Panel that Officers were currently working with three local bus companies to firm up budget prices for the service which would be in place for the opening of the centre. It would be funded from the Leisure Centre revenue budget.

The Leisure centre design had been developed to reduce utility consumption by 70% on a like for like basis, the design included two CHP units generating heat and power on site, and a 108kW PV installation on the roof. Other features included rain water harvesting for toilet flushing, the design minimised solar gain which reduced the need for air conditioning, the sauna and steam room had been relocated to a ground floor location outside and away from the gym space and, all the air handling units had heat recovery systems. Background pool disinfection was by ultra violet light, reducing the use of chlorine by up to 40%. There were also electric car charging points at the Braywick Leisure Centre  ...  view the full minutes text for item 37.

To Consider the report.

David Scott, Head of Communities introduced the report. There were seven performance indicators that were directly related to the Panel that are included in the corporate performance management framework of key performance indicators, two of those were red (needed improvement) and five were green (succeeding or achieved). The reasons and commentary were given in the report.

Councillor Price asked if we could learn from other local authorities that were doing well. David Scott informed the Panel that officers were looking into an improvement enforcement regime, including the interrogation of fly-tipping material to identify the source of the materials, and also the transfer notices of people collecting rubbish at the doorstep and then not disposing of it through the correct routes. This is in line with what has worked effectively in other local authorities. Cllr Tisi asked for more detailed about the food waste scheme. 

ACTION: Send Councillor Tisi more information on food waste collection.

Councillor Johnson informed the Panel that we were in the process of developing and launching a new campaign to improve recycling including food waste.

Councillor Price commented on the data extract from UK Crime Stats and asked for more detail in the next report. Councillor Bowden gave the view that he felt that the data was not very reliable. Parish Councillor Malcolm Beer commented that the stats showed the number of cases, not the number of prosecutions and this was a matter of concern as theft was it appeared form these figures to be high in the borough.

The Panel commented that the grounds maintenance contract performance was still below target and improvement had been slower than it should have been, but the panel were advised that there had been a number of changes by the contractors and key personnel had changed. The panel was assured that these works and contract performance were monitored regularly.

RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY:That the Communities Overview and Scrutiny Panel noted the report and:

i)           Noted the 2019/20 Q2 Communities Overview and Scrutiny Panel Performance Report in Appendix A.

ii)          Requests relevant Lead Members, Directors and Heads of Service to maintain focus on improving performance.

To Consider the report.

The Panel noted the report.

Councillor Stimson pointed out that officers were working closely with the ‘Friends of Battlemead Common’.

To Consider the report.

Councillor Hilton introduced and summarised the report to the Panel. Councillor Hilton invited the Panel to ask questions.

Refocus Community Wardens on problem solving, achieving staff savings

Councillor Price asked about Community Wardens and what the strategic priority was had changed the earlier decision to move to twenty-five wardens that were initially required to keep residents safe but by how this would be achieved by reducing this number by six, and she, questioned how residents would still be safe, and what other impacts this would have on residents? David Scott, Head of Communities, informed the Panel that the Community Wardens would continue to do the work that they were currently doing, the workload would be refocussed and would be tasked to carried out in a more efficient way, that reflected the different priorities that the enquires received involved. Duncan Sharkey, Managing Director, informed the Panel that there would be fewer wardens, the work would be prioritised differently, but they would still be delivering the same as now. They would continue to focus on problem solving and work hand in hand with the police.

Councillor Werner, from the public gallery, pointed out that Community Wardens did a great job of looking after residential wards, they patrolled areas and dealt with issues, and he was concerned that a level of detail to this attention to detail would be lost. David Scott informed the Panel that both the revised tasking and the way of operating would change but there would still be a problem solving team and area wardens. Tasks would be allocated in a different prioritised way.

Councillor Lynne Jones, from the public gallery expressed concerns about rural areas, explaining that currently the area community warden knew their area and dealt with the public on almost one to one basis. Councillor Jones requested that the grouping of areas for Community Wardens be looked at carefully such that very large rural areas for single wardens did not result.

Councillor Davey expressed the view that the police should look after the town centres and Community Wardens, the rural areas.

Focus customer service in Windsor at Windsor Library. Increase the use of 24/7 digital options on the council website. Align Library opening hours to service demand. Align call centre opening hours to service demand.

Councillor Samantha Rayner informed the Panel that staff provision had been increased to provide the customer facing RBWM services from York House. This would now be closed at York House and moved back to the Windsor Library as this is what residents preferred. This decision had been resident-led.

The library hours would be reduced by 123 hours per week following a detailed analysis of current usage. This would include Sunday opening, alternate delivery in Woodlands Park and Eton (Mobile/container) and other reductions, subject to a public consultation.

The contact centre operating hours would be reduced to 9am to 5pm on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday and 10am to 5pm on Wednesdays. The weekends and evenings would cease.

Councillor Price was  ...  view the full minutes text for item 40.

To consider the Panel’s work programme for the remainder of the Municipal year.

To include consideration of items scheduled on the Cabinet Forward Plan.

Parish Councillor Malcolm Beer requested that updates be given to the Panel on the Thames Valley Athletic Centre in Eton and the Arthur Jacob Nature Reserve to a future meeting.

The Panel members Agreed Unanimously.

Suggested Scrutiny Topics from residents

Allotment Provision – Maidenhead

Resolved Unanimously: Item to be considered at a future Climate Change Stakeholder Group.

Review of lighting at Grenfell park

Resolved Unanimously: item to be considered in further detail by the Grenfell Park User Group.

Councillor Bhangra, Panel Member is also a member of the User Group so would seek to ensure the topic was added to the agenda for the next User Group.

“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 the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraphs 1-7 of part I of Schedule 12A of the Act"

To consider with Parks and Open Spaces Report in Part I.

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 the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as

defined in Paragraphs 1-7 of part I of Schedule 12A of the Act."