To elect a Chairman and Vice Chairman for the remainder of the 2022/23 municipal year.

A motion was put forward by Councillor Luxton to elect Councillor Bowden as Chairman for the remainder of the municipal year 2022/23. This was seconded by Councillor Hunt.

A second motion was put forward by Councillor Davey to elect Councillor Walters as Chairman for the remainder of the municipal year 2022/23. This was seconded by Councillor Baldwin.

A named vote was taken on the first motion that was put forward and seconded, which was Councillor Luxton’s motion.

AGREED: That Councillor Bowden be elected as Chairman for the remainder of the municipal year 2022/23.

Councillor Davey’s motion was not voted upon due to the first motion passing.

Councillor Baldwin asked if the newly elected Chairman was going to forgo his Special Responsibility Allowance, in the wake of a 10^th cabinet member being appointed. Oran Norris-Browne, Democratic Services Officer, said that this was the Chairman’s decision, and it was not a matter for the panel members to discuss.

A motion was then put forward by Councillor Shelim to elect Councillor Taylor as Vice-Chairman for the remainder of the municipal year 2022/23. This was seconded by Councillor Luxton.

Discussions then took place as to whether or not Councillor Taylor could be nominated as she had given her apologies for the meeting. Oran Norris-Browne confirmed that this was allowed as she was still a panel member. Councillor Baldwin raised a point of order and asked how the panel could nominate someone without them being present to accept the nomination. It was stated that this was allowed, and subsequently Councillor Davey received confirmation from Councillor Taylor that she was happy to be elected via telephone communication. This ended the debate.

A named vote was taken.

AGRED: That Councillor Taylor be elected Vice-Chairman for the remainder of the municipal year 2022/23.

To receive any apologies for absence.

Apologies were received from Councillor Taylor.

To receive any declarations of interest.

All Panel Members declared an interest in agenda item 7 as all of their Wards were at risk of flooding.

To go through the actions arising from the previous meeting.

All actions had been completed in June 2022.

To consider the minutes of the meeting held on 21^st June 2022.

AGREED UNANIMOUSLY: That the minutes of the meeting held 21 June 2022 were a true and accurate reflection.

1)    After the Chair opens the meeting the members who asked for the decision to be called in will be asked to explain their reasons for the request and what they feel should be reviewed;

2)    On matters of particular relevance to a particular ward, ward division Members who are not signatories to a call-in have the opportunity to make comments on the call-in at the meeting, such speeches not to exceed five minutes each. Ward Members will take no further part in the discussion or vote. Ward Members must register their request to speak by contacting the Head of Governance by 12 noon on the day prior to the relevant hearing;

3)    The relevant Cabinet Member for the portfolio (or holders if more than one is relevant) will then be invited to make any comments;

4)    The relevant Executive Director or his representative will advise the Panel on the background and context of the decision and its importance to achieving Service priorities;

5)    Panel Members will ask questions of Members and officers in attendance;

6)    The Cabinet Member(s) will be invited to make any final comments on the matter;

7)    The Panel votes on a decision.

Councillor Davey who was one of the three Councillors who had called in the Draft Electric Vehicle ChargePoint Implementation Plan began by reading out the reason provided within the report as to why they had decided to call in the decision.

Councillor Baldwin who was the second of the three members that called in the decision, stated that he was present at cabinet when the draft plan was passed, and he had listened closely to the debate. He added that the previous Lead Member for Transport & Infrastructure had said that any future policy that came forward, would be informed by the data from the trial. He said that no data was present, and that cabinet had not been informed sufficiently to approve the draft plan.

Councillor Baldwin expressed concern that when the draft plan went out to public consultation in the future, the public would be commenting on a plan that did not have the full facts and data that were required to give sufficient feedback. Instead of asking residents to comment on evidence-based suggestions, he said it appeared that the Council were asking residents what the policy should be instead.

Councillor Baldwin said that going forward, the strains on the revenue budget, which were already tight, could only be offset if capital receipts were converted into revenue flows, such as CIL contributions. The figure quoted in the report was between £250,000 and £500,000. He was astonished that cabinet unanimously agreed to the draft policy. He said that the report needed to include further data from the trial and be referred back to cabinet for reconsideration. He said that it was an example of bad policy that would negatively affect the borough for years to come.

Councillor Singh who was the third member of three who signed the call-in, expressed his concern over the lack of detail that was present within the draft report that went to cabinet. He said that the Council had an obligation to achieve the best value for money. He wished for the report to go back to cabinet with the correct data, to be reconsidered.

Councillor Singh said that this decision would impact residents for the next 10-20 years and the fact that this power had been delegated to just one officer and one councillor, was greatly concerning. He added that there was no mention of covering costs through CIL payments, although did acknowledge the struggles of the borough financially.

Councillor Davey said that there were roughly 150,000 people within the borough and potentially around 50,000 vehicles. 500 permits had been issued for electric vehicles. This equated to 1% of vehicles within the borough being electric. He enquired about the use of hydrogen energy, instead of electric.

Councillor Davey said that no traffic regulation orders had been made, and therefore that issue would need to be sorted out. He said that if the suppliers were installing the planned works at their expense, they would be looking to make the best profit and not care about  ...  view the full minutes text for item 12.

To consider the report.

Prior to the discussions on this item, the Chairman adjourned the meeting for a 5-minute comfort break at 21.00. The meeting resumed at 21.05. Councillors Baldwin, Luxton and Walters along with Parish Councillors McDonald and Lenton left the meeting at this time and took no further part in it.

The panel considered the resident scrutiny topic report on the River Thames scheme and flood relief in Wraysbury.

Chris Joyce provided a brief introduction to the report and stated that the River Thames scheme had been discussed many times during meetings in RBWM and encouraged the panel to focus more on developing a scope on the Datchet to Hythe End Flood Improvement Plan and challenge the process of both the borough and the Environment Agency.

Councillor Davey said that there needed to be some work within that area and that if any works occurred, then Councillor Larcombe be included on them due to flooding being fundamental to him and residents within his ward of Datchet, Horton and Wraysbury.

Ben Crampin, Flood Risk Manager, said that the Datchet to Hythe End Flood Improvement Plan was currently with the Environment Agency and was going through their programme network. The first stage of this was for the plan to go through the strategic outline case. This had been and will be shared through various channels such as through the Flood Liaison Group. Following March 2023, engagement would then start with Ward Councillors at some point after the Local Elections in May 2023. Public consultation would also then occur.

Chris Joyce said that Ben had done a lot of good work such as delivering short term improvements, which would hopefully alleviate the flood risk within the borough.

Councillor Singh asked for further detail on the quick wins that had been discussed.

Ben Crampin said that there were currently 3 projects that were underway. One regarded the Wraysbury Drain and its risks, which Councillor Larcombe was heavily involved in. The 2^nd was the Datchet Barrel Arch, which the borough were working closely with the Parish Council. The third was a project to identify the feasibility of installing a flat valve to alleviate the flood risk towards Datchet. These were ongoing investigations.

Councillor Singh expressed concern over the £50 million that had been commissioned by the borough in the past. He wished for reports to come before the panel to show what was being done to protect residents and their possessions from flooding. He expressed concern over the political issues that may be caused by this.

Chris Joyce said that this was the reason for the recommendation that had been put forward within the report, so that the panel could really add some value to the scheme.

Councillor Hunt asked if the £10 million was going to just be for short term improvements. Chris Joyce said it was not and that it was for the whole programme including both short term and long-term things.

Councillor Brar said that £50 million was originally committed and questioned why  ...  view the full minutes text for item 13.

To consider the Panel’s work programme for the remainder of the municipal year and discuss any scoping documents that the Panel are working on.

As it had passed 21.30, the Panel agreed to discuss the work programme offline via email.

AGREED UNANIMOUSLY: That the last agenda item titled ‘Work Programme’ be addressed offline via email.