A welcome from the Chairman and introductions of all present.

The Chair welcomed all to the forum.

To receive any apologies for absence.

No apologies for absences were received.

To agree the minutes of the last Forum held on 11^th of Septmber as a true and accurate record.

Minutes from the last forum were approved.  

To hear a presentation from Greg Nelson on RBWM taxi’s Livery and DBS checks.

Greg Nelson spoke to the forum about his work on RBWM’s taxis. Mr Nelson stated that with a change of administration, the new leadership was looking to potentially change the livery of RBWM’s licenced taxis. The Chair thanked Mr Nelson for speaking to the forum about taxis, the chair stated that in her opinion the livery should not be changed as it made the taxis recognisable. Councillor Price asked Mr Nelson if the hesitation for changing the livery, was due to the associated cost which taxi drivers themselves had to pay. Councillor Price suggested that perhaps taxis could have removable labels, Mr Nelson said it wouldn’t be a goof idea as taxi drivers could forget to put the labels on.

Councillor Price commented that with the painted livery people found it reassuring, that they knew which taxis ae operated by the borough. Vice-Chair Lisa Hughes brought up the same point as Councillor Price, stating that magnetic signs could be sourced for drivers.  Dominic Manley asked Mr Nelson if drivers could be incentivised to display the livery. Mr Nelson stated that it was something that could be investigated.

Councillor Catherine Del Campo asked Mr Nelson how people could respond to consultation questions for taxis. Mr Nelson asked is the Clerk could send the document around to members of the forum, the Clerk agreed to do this.

Action: Send the Taxi consultation documents to members of the forum.

The Chair asked what number of taxis where registered with the borough, Mr Nelson stated that there were about 90 to 100 taxis. Chair asked how many where wheelchair accessible, Mr Nelson stated that about 90% are wheelchair accessible.

Mr Nelson continued to talk about the DBS, explaining to the forum its purpose and the national standard. Councillor Price stated that there was some confusion, as some residents did not think RBWM did not do such checks. Mr nelson thanked Councillor Price stating that he would amend the wording in the consultation.

Peter Haley stated that DBS checks sometimes the person driving didn’t aways match up, Mr Nelson stated that enforcement checks are regularly carried out. Mr Nelson stated that another method required taxi drivers themselves paying £6, so that the borough could keep track of themselves and their vehicle. Mr Nelson pointed out that there was not a budget for such checks.

Vice Chair Hughes stated that the rolling record was a good idea to keep track of DBS, but council funds should not be used.

Mr Nelson thanked the forum for their time.  

To hear an update on Broadway car park from officers.

Ellen McManus-Fry delivered a verbal report on the Broadway car park to the forum. She asked questions to officers related to the carpark.

1.       How will the demolition of Broadway car park effect blue badge parking? Ellen McManus-Fry state that the information was not available at the time.

2.       At what point will there be new blue badge spaces to replace ones lost in December 2022? Ellen McManus-Fry state that the information was not available at the time.

3.       Accessible Toilets in the Nicholson centre whether they would be operational during the Broadway demolition. As it stands they will not be operational during the demolition. They will not be operational during demolition due to fore safety issues, but people will be signposted to alternative facilities and they should be operational again once the demolition is complete’.

Chair expressed disappointment about the lack of progress on this subject. The Vice-Chair concurred with the chair also expressing regret.  Peter Haley said that the number of blue pass parking was being kept track off, but that the situation was difficult. Dominic Manley also expressed regret over the situation with blue parking spaces in Maidenhead.

Councillor Del Campo also expressed regret and stated the issue would be raised at cabinet; Councillor Werner explained the difficulty with the demolition was related to the council’s financial position.

Other members of the forum expressed further disaffection with the current situation around Broadway car park. 

To hear a presentation delivered by Clive Dent on the most common scams and how to protect yourself from them.

Clive Dent gave a presentation to the forum on the types of scams that people might encounter. Mr Dent explained that fraud is a type of crime and that as such it could take many forms, Mr Dent listed phone scams and doorstep scams as the most common. Mr Dent introduced the forum to the idea of taking five when encountering a scammer. It encourages people to think clearly when talking to a scammer, by taking five seconds to think if they were expecting a call etc. Mr Dent also gave the example that scammers would pose as police officers, to try and convince people to hand over their personal details. 

Mr Dent emphasised that many people found it incredibly difficult to turn down a scammer who was posing as a police officer. This demonstrated how important it was for people to all ways consider who they were speaking with.  According to Mr Dent scammers phoning up people and posing as HMRC is also popular amongst scammers.

Mr Dent highlighted that common theme amongst these types of scams was fear. Mr Dent gave personal examples he had with scammers, such as incidents with scammers posing as police officers over the phone and doorstep scammers.

The Chair thanked Mr Dent for his talk.

Councillor Price stated that it was difficult to counter scammers, as for some people it might be their only human interaction all day. Mr Dent concurred.

Vice-Chair Lisa Hughes added her own experiences with scammers. A call purporting to be from her housing providers maintenance team, as the Vice-Chair Lisa Hughes is a homeowner she knew this was a scam call. She also detailed how a scammer knocked on her door claiming to be from a window company, asking for people’s names and address. 

The Chair thanked Mr Dent for his talk.

Update delivered by Ellen McManus-Fry

Ellen McManus-Fry delivered an update to the forum on the corporate plan.

RBWM is currently working on developing a new Corporate Plan, that will set out refreshed priorities for the council and the place it serves. Ellen McManus-Fry delivered an update to the Forum on the development of the Corporate Plan and presented a series of slides. She talked about the early engagement sessions which had taken place in October with different stakeholder groups, one of which focused on older people and people with a disability. Ellen McManus-Fry highlighted some of the key themes from the feedback at that session, which included issues with parking, pavements and public transport; the strength of potential volunteers in the community and the need to promote volunteering opportunities; lack of opportunities for paid work and volunteering for people with a learning disability; potential improvements around accessible and inclusive communication.

Chair asked when the corporate plan would be published. Ellen McManus-Fry stated that the corporate plan would go to cabinet in December, and would probably be adopted around February 2024.

Councillor Price stated she found the plan interesting; she asked if the plan was publicly available. Ellen McManus-Fry stated that they would be.

The Chair asked if the corporate plan included a plan to tackle graffiti in the borough. Councillor Werner stated that some Graffiti was not on borough land, he gave the example of graffiti on BT phone boxes which the council did not have responsibility for. Councillor Werner stated that Graffiti was a problem in the council and that it was an important issue to tackle for the council.

To discuss any other business

The Chair asked if the corporate plan included a plan to tackle graffiti in the borough. Councillor Werner stated that most Graffiti was not on Borough land but that the council aimed to tackle Graffiti.

The Chair mentioned that Non-Mainstream housing was going to be included on the agenda, but wasn’t for lack of response form officers. 

Ellen McManus-Fry stated that staffing changes had occurred, because of this an officer was unavailable to speak at the forum on non-mainstream housing.

Councillor Price stated that day for the disabled occurred on the 3^rd December and that the council did not celebrate it. Councillor Price suggested that the forum take charge of such days and promote them when they occurred.

Councillor Price also asked at the next forum an item to be about the state of local pathways in the borough. The Chair agreed.