Agenda and minutes

Venue: Grey Room - York House - Windsor

Contact: David Cook  01628 796560

Items
No. Item

1.

Apologies for Absence

To receive any apologies for absence

Minutes:

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Carroll.

2.

Declarations of Interest pdf icon PDF 219 KB

To receive any declarations of interest

Minutes:

None received.

3.

Minutes pdf icon PDF 88 KB

To consider the Part I minutes of the meeting held on 30 October 2019.

Minutes:

RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY: That the Part I minutes of the meeting held on 30th October 2019 were approved. 

 

The Chairman mentioned that Cllr Price had contacted him requesting that her comment under Windsor Town Centre Vision that Cabinet had previously approved £240,000 for GL Hearn to carry out work be added to the minutes, this was approved.

4.

Appointments

Minutes:

None

5.

Forward Plan pdf icon PDF 39 KB

To consider the Forward Plan for the period December 2019 to March 2020.

Minutes:

Cabinet considered the contents of the Forward Plan for the next four months and noted the changes made since it was published.

 

6.

Cabinet Members' Reports

6e

Draft Datchet Design Guide Supplementary Planning Document - Regulation 13 Consultation pdf icon PDF 5 MB

Minutes:

Cabinet considered the report regarding the approval to undertake a public consultation on the draft Datchet Design Guide Supplementary Planning Document.

 

The Lead Member for Planning and Maidenhead informed Cabinet that the council wished to seek high quality design and thus design guides and neighbourhood plans were important tools.  The Datchet neighbourhood plan was still in its early infancy but both documents when adopted would support the local community and their place.  The draft guide had been produced with the support of consultants, design group and RBWM and was due to be adopted in April 2020.

 

The Lead Member for Public Protection and Parking informed Cabinet that he had spoken to the design group and they had said they had received excellent support from the planning and in particular Victoria Gibson.

 

The Lead Member for Finance and Ascot asked as neighbourhood plans came through the system would it be expected that they also have design guides.  In response Cabinet was informed that although they were separate documents they did complement each other and were important in protecting the unique areas within the royal borough. 

 

Resolved unanimously:  that Cabinet notes the report and:

 

(i)        Approves the publication of the draft Datchet Design Guide Supplementary Planning Document for public consultation, and

(ii)      Gives the Executive Director (Place) delegated authority to approve minor changes to the draft Datchet Design Guide Supplementary Planning Document, in consultation with the Lead Member for Planning and Maidenhead, prior to its publication.

 

6a

Demand for School Places pdf icon PDF 216 KB

Minutes:

Cabinet considered the report that provided projections for future demand for school places identifying future need for primary school places in Maidenhead, and upper school places in Windsor.

 

The lead member for Housing, Communications and Youth Engagement introduced the report on behalf of the Lead Member for Adult Social Care, Children’s Services, Health and Mental Health.

 

He informed that the report provided an update on work done on the school expansions feasibility programme for future demand. This had been carried out to ensure that the borough could expand school provision to meet the expected demand arising from the housing in the Borough Local Plan.

 

The Lead Member for Finance and Ascot made reference to the recent school expansion programme as detailed in table 5 3 and asked why there were differences in cost per pupil.  Cabinet were informed that this was due to the differences between the sites and complex need for providing additional space.  The work undertaken had provided great value for money.

 

Cllr Price questioned the surplus spaces in the Windsor system and how schools would cope with the reduced income.  Cabinet were informed that as pupil funding was based on October pupil numbers they did have 18 months to make adjustments.  Schools also worked in collaboration with each other or looked at joining multi academy trusts to get better value for money.

 

Resolved unanimously: that

 

i)          the outcome of the borough’s school expansions feasibility programme be reported to Cabinet in March 2020, including a prioritisation matrix of options for new school places. 

 

ii)         specific options be brought to Cabinet for consideration in March 2020 for new school places in:

 

a.    Maidenhead primary schools.

b.    Windsor upper schools.

 

 

 

6b

Q1-Q2 Performance Report pdf icon PDF 2 MB

Minutes:

Cabinet considered the report that set out performance against key strategic measures for the period Q1-Q2.

 

The Deputy Leader of the Council, Resident and Leisure Services, HR, IT, Legal, Performance Management and Windsor informed Cabinet that in June 2019 Cabinet resolved to delegate authority to Executive Directors in conjunction with Lead Members to amend and confirm the Strategic Performance Management Framework for 2019/20. The revised framework had 43 different measures aligned to the Council Plan 2017-21. There were 22 measures that have been identified as being of particular strategic importance and these are reported to Cabinet bi-annually via this report.

 

The Lead Member also informed that the report also contained a brief overview of key activities and milestones achieved by the council during the first half of the year support key priorities such as the Council approving a motion in June 2019 declaring a climate emergency and associated work, continued work on the Braywick Leisure Centre and Maidenhead regeneration work.  These were just a few examples of above and beyond work being undertaken.

 

Cabinet were told that at the end of quarter two, 17 of the 22 measures met or exceeded target, 3 measures fell just short of target, although still within the tolerance for the measure, and 1 measure was out of tolerance and required improvement.

 

The Lead Member for Environmental Services, Climate Change, Sustainability, Parks and Countryside informed that the 1 measure that had reported ‘red’ was the Tivoli contract performance.  Although the indicator would report ‘red’ improvements had been made following the introduction of a new management team.  The Lead Member had worked with Tivoli and felt that some of the targets, such as grass cutting, were now outdated following the council’s drive for better biodiversity and she would be reviewing the performance indicators.

 

The Lead Member for Housing, Communications and Youth Engagement highlighted the improvements made by the housing team over the last year which was reflected in the key performance indicator for the homeless households in temporary accommodation and more families in long term accommodation.

 

Cllr Price asked why the number of affordable housing statistics were not included in the report and was informed by the Corporate Director that these were included in the planning monitoring report and thus not this report.

 

Resolved unanimously: that Cabinet notes the report and:

 

i)          Endorses the 2019/20 Strategic Performance Framework in Appendix A.

 

ii)         Endorses the 2019/20 Q2 Performance Report in Appendix B.

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

 

6c

School Admission Arrangements and Co-ordinated Admissions Scheme 2021/22 pdf icon PDF 350 KB

Minutes:

Cabinet considered the report that that set out the local authority’s duty to determine the admission arrangements for community and voluntary controlled schools for the academic year 2021/22.

 

The lead member for Housing, Communications and Youth Engagement introduced the report on behalf of the Lead Member for Adult Social Care, Children’s Services, Health and Mental Health.

 

Cabinet were informed that as the admissions authority for all community and voluntary controlled schools in the royal borough the School Admissions Code 2014 required the admission arrangements to be determined on an annual basis and any changes to be consulted upon.

 

The following changes were proposed and required consultation:

 

·         Introducing higher priority for admission for children attending a linked infant school on transfer to school in Year 3, and for children of a member of staff across all community and voluntary controlled schools.

 

·         Reducing the published admission number for Courthouse Junior School from 105 to 90.

 

It was also proposed to automatically adding children to the waiting list for any higher preferred schools following the initial allocation on national offer day so that parents would no longer be required to call the authority.

 

Cllr Price mentioned that she had been informed that Holyport College were looking to change their admission arrangements and asked why this was not in the report.  The Corporate Director informed that as their own admissions authority they were consulting on increasing intake at year 7 which would be a positive for Maidenhead pupils but would result in a decrease in year 9 pupils. 

 

The Lead Member for Planning and Maidenhead reported that as the ward member he was delighted at the proposed changes to Holyport’s admission arrangements.

 

Resolved unanimously: that  Cabinet notes the report and:

 

i)          approves public consultation on the RBWM Admission Arrangements for 2021/22 set out at Appendix 1.

 

ii)         delegates authority to the Director for Children’s Services in consultation with the Lead Member,  to approve and thereby determine the revised admissions arrangements by the 28 February 2020 deadline.

 

iii)        approves consultation on the RBWM Co-ordinated Admissions scheme for 2021/22 set out at Appendix 2.

 

iv)        delegates authority to the Director for Children’s Services in consultation with the Lead Member, to approve and thereby determine the revised coordination scheme by the 1 January 2020 deadline.

 

6d

Financial Update pdf icon PDF 575 KB

Minutes:

Cabinet considered the report that provided the latest financial update.

 

The Lead Member for Finance and Ascot informed that there had been a slight improvement since last month report and mentioned that as well as noting the current position Cabinet were also asked to approve capital programme slippage and variances as detailed in Appendix E.

 

The Lead Member referred Cabinet to agenda pack page 113 that provided an explanation for the overspend in Adult Social Care.  This provided greater detail for the overspend and in next month’s report the same amount of detail would also be provided for children’s services. 

 

The Lead Member also reported that with regards to IT there was an increased overspend of £116,000 due to software licences being moved from capital to revenue.

 

Cllr C Da Costa mentioned that continued care was funded by the NHS.  Cabinet were informed that this was the case but there were a backlog of cases being reviewed that moved care from clinical to adult social care and thus created a pressure.  There was a robust challenge when the reviews were undertaken.

 

Cllr Price mentioned that the report summary suggested that there was a requirement to make further savings and asked if they had been identified.  The Lead Member replied that the report showed the current projected year end position but he also had to be mindful of the medium term financial position and thus pressures moving into the following year.

 

Resolved unanimously: that Cabinet notes the report and endorses the actions proposed:

 

i)     The council’s projected outturn position for 2019-20 and the mitigations proposed;

ii)    The budget movements since the previous month;

iii)   The projected spend on the capital programme; and

iv)   The projected borrowing for the remainder of the financial year.

v)    Approves Capital programme slippage and variances as detailed in Appendix E.

 

6f

Consultation about 0-19 Integrated Family Hub Model pdf icon PDF 668 KB

Minutes:

Cabinet considered the report regarding consulting on a  new Integrated Family Hub Model to transform early help services.

 

The lead member for Housing, Communications and Youth Engagement introduced the report on behalf of the Lead Member for Adult Social Care, Children’s Services, Health and Mental Health.

 

Cabinet were informed that in order to achieve efficiencies and to meet the needs of families that require support the most it was proposed to review early help provision with a key focus on universal provision.

 

This transformation would focus local resources to work with the most vulnerable young people and families in the borough strengthening families and reducing demand for statutory services.

 

There would be consultation on the design principles of a proposal to rationalise Children’s Centres, Youth Centres, the Parenting Service, Health Visitors, School Nurses and the Family Resilience Service into Family Hubs as part of the Government’s “Life Chances” agenda.

 

Cabinet were informed that the Health and Social Care Select committee had published a report looking at the impact of the first 1,000 days of life for a child.  The report challenged the government to develop a real focus on targeted support.  The principles of this review were shown in section 2.4 of the report.

 

It was proposed to introduce a family hub model that would have centres located in Windsor and Maidenhead.

 

Cllr C Da Costa asked for clarification if the hubs would be different to hubs currently in existence and was informed that we currently had youth centres and children centres and that there were discussions with the clinical commissioning group to bring services together in centrallocations. Cllr Da Costa mentioned that she had some concern regarding certain services but as she did not wish to break confidentiality she would discuss her concerns with the Lead Member after the meeting.

 

Resolved unanimously: that Cabinet notes the report and:

 

i)             Approves a public consultation to seek the views on transforming early help services into integrated Family Hubs for 0-19 year olds based in the model outlined in this report.

ii)            Requests a report to cabinet in April 2020 based on the results of the consultation and impact assessments to confirm the specification of the future Family Hubs based services.

 

7.

LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT 1972 - EXCLUSION OF THE PUBLIC

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 item 8 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"

Minutes:

RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY: 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.

 

RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY: That the Part II minutes of the meeting held on 30th October 2019 were approved. 

8.

Minutes

To consider the Part II minutes of the meeting of Cabinet held on 30 October 2019.