To elect a Chairman and Vice Chairman for the municipal year.

Councillor Cox proposed Councillor Clark for the Chairman position and this was seconded by Councillor Sharpe. The Panel Unanimously Agreed.

Councillor Clark proposed Councillor Cox for the Vice Chairman position and this was seconded by Councillor Mills. The Panel Unanimously Agreed.

A welcome to the Panel Members from the new elected Chairman.

The Chairman welcomed everyone to the meeting and it was proposed that the order of Agenda Items be changed. This was Unanimously Agreed by the Panel.

To receive any apologies for absence.

Apologies for Absence were received from Councillors Diment, Luxton and Stretton. Councillors Mills and Hollingsworth were substituting at the Panel

To receive any Declarations of Interest.

There were no declarations of Interest received.

To agree the minutes of the previous meeting.

It was Unanimously Agreed that the minutes of the meeting held on 16 May 2018 were a true and accurate record.

An update to be provided on the cultural quarter.

Russell O’Keefe Provide the following update on the Cultural Quarter:

The position on York Road id the same at the meeting namely, the Council and its JV partner Countryside are continuing to discuss with a range of cultural  and community groups the detailed arrangements for cultural and community provision.

ACTION: Provide further update at next Panel meeting

An update to be provided on the Braywick Leisure Centre.

David Scott introduced Julian Bullen, the development and project management lead, who provided an update to the Panel on the Braywick Leisure Centre site. Julian Bullen informed the Panel that some Saxon Archaeology had been found on the site which would assist in capturing the story and history of Maidenhead. This had been found during the exevation of a trench, the site was still being stripped until ground level and had to be completed very carefully. This would delay the project by three months. There would be an initial soft opening once all ready.

Julian Bullen continued that planning consent had been received from planning subject to S106 discussions with the planners. All pre submitted papers had been submitted to the planners. The design team were in the process of obtaining pricing from Waites on package by package basis. The work on the site was due to begin in August subject to planning. The projected delay was for three months plus or minus one month.

The archaeological remains that had been found were going to be identified and catalogued and then some technical interpretation would take place and would be kept in the Royal borough at the library to tell a story about Maidenhead.

Julian Bullen was asked about the cost implications of the three month delay. These were currently not known and a meaningful update could be provided at the next Panel meeting.

ACTION: Update at next Panel on Braywick Leisure Centre.

Councillor Hollingsworth asked the Chairman to set up a task and finish group to look in to the management of Windsor Leisure Centre as he had been informed that there were issues and as the company concerned would be managing the new Braywick Leisure Centre. This was confirmed by Councillor Shelim as he had many complaints from residents. David Scott informed the Panel that the contract with the management company ran for 20 years and the only time it could be reviewed was at the ten year point.

An update to be provided on the annual performance 2017/18.

David Scott present the Annual Performance Report to the Panel. David Scott highlighted that this was a new annual report with a new format. There had been a number of significant changes to make it easier to read  for residents. There were 25 corporate indicators and performance indicators were still being collected and reported to Overview and Scrutiny Panels. There had been a shift in focus, now showing the intentions of the council and the close link between strategic priorities and annual performance.

The Chairman summed up the points raised by the panel as below:

·         The annual report was very accessible with great detail and breadth. This was a major step forward.

·         The Panel agreed that a key was needed for the diagrams to show what the symbols indicated at the key performance section.

·         The feedback on the phone call data could be presented in a more positive manner.

·         A little explanation of why targets fell would assist understanding as there may be good reasons of why we fell short of fulfilling targets.

·         What improvement strategies were in place for falling targets could be included in the report.

All recommendations were noted and endorsed subject to the points above.

An update to be provided on the annual report on SMILE and the Steps to Health Programme.

This was postponed to the next Panel meeting.

A presentation to be given on Reading and Learning Support.

Mark Taylor introduced the item and the team presenting to the Panel. Colleagues attending the Panel included

The Panel were presented with a highly informative presentation by the Reading and Learning Support Team. The Panel were informed about the following points about the services provided by RBWM:

·         The library was visited by many people.

·         Activities were provided for the under 5’s.

·         There was an author and reading development programme.

·         There was a focused reading programme.

·         There was a local history museum at the Windsor Guildhall, this was open six days a week and a tour of the Guildhall was available

·         A huge number of history enquiries were received.

·         There were 57000 visitors last year.

·         Every half term and school holidays, a number of activities were offered at all libraries in the borough for children alone and families. In April 2018, 27 events took place.

·         Access to the museum was on flat ground and a stair lift was available for access to the Guildhall. There was a ramp outside the museum of the Guildhall. The property services team were looking into options for accessibility as the stair lift was not appropriate for all.

·         The library worked closely with the Oakbridge Centre which many disabled people attended.

·         The May half-term had a sci-fi themed event for children.

·         The summer reading challenge is a national challenge which is promoted at school assemblies had 4980 children that completed the challenge.

·         A wonderful character costume event takes place and attends all schools with the character.

·         There a lots of events taking place over summer, at Kidwells Park, the Great park and at all the libraries.

·         RBWM had great relationships with school and authors.

·         Other events included a Victorian Christmas, Living advent calendar, Harry Potter night, World book day, Easter trail, Blue pack event and the Royal wedding were to name a few.

·         A focused reading programme was also provided at schools where a school was provided with books and advice on using libraries and referencing facilities. In the borough, eighteen schools were participating.

·         Working with the Old Court on events.

·         The Chairman suggested more Maidenhead centric activities with relation to the Spit Fire, one of the only two in the world, Sir Nicolas Winton and Charles 1^st. The Lead Member highlighted that the team were constantly working on new events and these would be incorporated.

An update to be provided on the Shared Sport Facility.

David Scott updated the Panel informing them that we were currently working with colleagues in Children’s Services and an update would be provided to Panel Members before the next Panel meeting and then that would close the matter. Councillor Cox reminded officers that liabilities needed to have been considered before the matter was closed.

ACTION: Update to be provided to Panel Members

The Panel to discuss the work programme.

The Chairman reminded Panel Members that items could be raised for the CCOSP Agenda. Items that were already on the Agenda included Braywick Leisure Centre, Shared use facilities( should be resolved before next Panel) and Cultural Quarter.

Councillor Shelim pointed out that residents had complained about the facilities at Windsor Leisure Centre and was advised to take these up with the Lead Member outside of the meeting.

ACTION: Add to work programme.

Councillor Sharpe suggested that the Panel could address the cultural facilities available in south of the borough. There were very limited facilities for all age groups. Councillor Sharpe was advised that David Scott would discuss with planning to trigger a review of facilities. Currently the High Street was being redeveloped and Heatherwood Hospital had recently been redeveloped. This would be added to the work programme for future consideration.

ACTION: Add to work programme.

Panel Members to notes the dates of future meetings:

Monday 20 August 2018

Tuesday 13 November 2018

Thursday 24 January 2019

Tuesday 19 February 2019

Monday 15 April 2019

Dates of future meetings were noted by the Panel.