The Chairman welcomed all to the meeting and read out the virtual meeting notes.

To receive any apologies for absence.

Apologies for absence were received from Parish Councillor Pat McDonald and Parish Councillor Margaret Lenton.

To receive any declarations of interest.

Councillor Price declared a personal interests as she was a member of Maidenhead golf club and the Windsor allotments association, both items were being discussed on the agenda.

To agree the Part I minutes of the meeting held on 3 November 2020 and the Part I minutes of the 10 November 2020.

Councillor Baskerville’s alteration was agreed by the Panel.

Councillor Del Campo asked about the following matters arising:

Page 13 Councillor Cannon was going to provide an update on working practices for District Enforcement. Councillor Cannon offered to send all panel members the risk assessment.

ACTION: Councillor Cannon to send all Panel Members the risk assessment for DE.

Councillor Price asked about the declarations of interest of public speakers and whether they needed to declare these. David Cook, host for the panel advised that public speakers did not need to register any declarations of interest.

The minutes of the meeting for 3 November 2020 and 10 November 2020 were unanimously agreed by the Panel.

RESOLVED Unanimously: that the minutes of 3^rd and 10^th November 2020 were a true and accurate record of the meetings.

To consider the report.

Adele Taylor presented the Q2 Performance Report. Councillor Price referred to page 30,11.1 and commented that she could not see all the documents that were referred to and the links in the report were not working. Adele Taylor would get clarification for Councillor Price. Councillor Price commented that the Q2 report had been prepared in October 2020 and as the Panel was considering it in January 2021, could the Panel have the reports in a more timely manner. Hilary Hall would look into this and make sure it was rectified for the next municipal year. Councillor Price referred to page 34, Recovery, and made the point that there were plenty of jobs and she felt that the council could do a lot more to make it easier for our residents to navigate to find these jobs. It was important to make all the resources clearer. The Chairman pointed out that Windsor was considered in the Slough area for jobs. Hilary Hall commented that she would look into to better promotion of opportunities in the borough. Councillor Price referred to page 34 and the new database reference and asked if it had already been rolled out and how it was being used. Hilary Hall informed the Panel that the new database was fully rolled out and was being used to manage the interactions with the clinically extremely vulnerable and anyone seeking help and support through the support line.  It was also being used to capture volunteers as part of the ongoing Covid response. The system was enabling the council to do data returns needed for government and overall, was bringing all this related activity together into one consolidated database. The training to community groups was also being rolled out as they would be able to use the database to. Councillor Price referred to page 35 and asked if the Panel could be updated on the SERCO contract and whether collections were now on time. Councillor Coppinger reported that the service was now running at a normal level. There were always a certain number of collections missed due to no access to a road  or if it was blocked or roadworks were being carried out on the road. Anything missed was tried to be collected the following day. Everyone seem to be happy with where the service has got back to. Councillor Price referred to page 38 and the Tivoli Contract. She had noticed that the level of service had dropped especially in parks as the bins were over flowing and there was plenty of glass on the floor. Was there a reason for the drop-in service ? Councillor Stimson reported that there had been a few issues with Tivoli but fortunately Officers were already dealing with the issues at present. Also there was a possibility that with more people out and about during the lockdown, the bins were getting fuller quicker. This was already being looked into and Councillor Stimson had suggested that when the bins were replaced, larger bins were  ...  view the full minutes text for item 120.

To consider the consultation update.

Councillor Rayner presented the report and thanked the whole library team for their hard work. The report was due to go to Cabinet later in the month. Due to Covid the consultation did not take place in March 2020 as planned but once the library reopened the consultation began on 3rd of September until the 30th of November.

The consultation received 1850 responses. The hours suggested in the consultation we're adjusted following the consultation to the hours that reflected residents preferences.

Extensive communications had been used to alert residents to take part. Councillor Price referred to page 49 and asked why the Transformation Strategy had not been available and had to be requested. The public had no access to this and hence had not seen all the reports. Councillor Price felt that both the library report and Transformation Strategy needed to be considered together to understand the changes. Councillor Rayner informed the Panel that the Transformation Strategy was part of the Cabinet discussion that was due to take place the following day. Councillor Rayner said that each level had to be looked in line. This was the report from last year's budget and from that we could build on, for this coming year’s budget.

Councillor Price commented that in areas with high levels of deprivation, the library and resources were desperately required. Losing these facilities in those areas would be detrimental to the local community. These local libraries were used for a number of purposes, whether it was for books, working space after school or meeting people. The Chairman suggested this could be discussed as part of the budget report.

Councillor Del Campo referred back to her previous question in the last report. Angela Huisman responded that two members of her staff were constantly available on the phone to assist residents with the digital offer that was available. There was also a new digital support email address that residents could use and an officer would call them back and talk through any issues. Angela Huisman understood that if a resident had no access to any device that could be a challenge. The team were currently looking into the options of loaning devices and providing support. Currently there were 12 devices to loan but officers were looking to get a lot more. This was currently being trialled on the mobile library so Officers were working through this on a step-by-step basis. Councillor Price commented that some households still had no devices for home-schooling and some schools were short. She asked if  the libraries team liaising with schools to make sure that these children could benefit from any spare devices. Adele Taylor informed the Panel that this was being discussed at Directors Group. Adele Taylor informed the Panel that the Transformation Strategy would be consulted on so there would be an opportunity for residents to comment. When a report went to Cabinet, that was the start of the process. Any library resident services changes would be consulted on. It was very important  ...  view the full minutes text for item 121.

To consider the report.

Councillor Hilton introduced the Budget report to the Panel.

There were two public speakers registered to speak for this item, Mr Andrew Hill and Mr Richard Endacott. Mr Hill made comments on the savings, item 5, Deliver the waste incentivisation scheme through the Climate Change Strategy, item 7, Reduction in Arts Grants and item 13, Remove funding from SMILE and stop service. Mr Endicott commented that he understood the situation, but many cuts were being made to areas with the highest level of deprivation such as in Dedworth. The area of Dedworth in Windsor comprised mainly of the elderly and young families and they would be affected the most. The points he wanted to raise included reduction of community wardens; this would be detrimental to the Deadwood area. the reduction of the library needed to be reconsidered and the gardens in bloom. It seemed that residents were paying more for less. Mr Endacott expressed concern about the planned savings for the next 3 years and the lack of consultation that had taken place with community groups.

The discussion for the budget item began with each Lead Member talking little bit about their areas.

Councillor Samantha Rayner, leisure, libraries, art funding and museums and tourism. With leisure, the budget had been affected by Covid and as a result there had been a change of operator in summer last year. It was expected that these losses could be recovered to pre-Covid levels of income in the future but not in the next year. Libraries, had to find budgets savings in this area as part of achieving a balanced budget for the council but to do this, the team had to look very carefully at historical information, experience of Covid and where we wanted to be in the future for this service. This would mean another public consultation, as any changes in this statutory service would need to have one. The library strategy which was being presented to Cabinet informed them of the consultation with a transforming and agile service with a professional team, not only looking at the core books but also mental health and wellbeing, the environment and the economy as part of the offer. Arts funding, enormous value of our art partners who achieved fantastic opportunities and culture in the borough. As part of the budget savings that had to be made in this non-statutory area was sought by talking to partners and working together to minimise the impact by working with them on the strategies to become sustainable. Museums and tourism, in order to achieve savings and protect these services, a plan was put together to bring both these areas together in one location, allowing these to be successful and utilising their specialist areas to be able to continue face-to-face and strengthening the fantastic work already achieved in digital during in Covid times.

Councillor Coppinger reported that there were two items that fell under him. Neither of these were cost savings for the council but both would  ...  view the full minutes text for item 122.

Verbal Update on Covid Developments.

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.

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."

To agree the Part II minutes of the meeting held on 3 November 2020.