To consider the above report

Members considered approval of a Terms of Reference for a Community Governance Review for the unparished areas of Windsor.

Councillor Rayner explained that the area of Windsor in question included part of Eton and Castel, part of Old Windsor, Clewer & Dedworth East and Clewer East. The total electorate was 22,493. An e-petition to undertake a review had been started in September 2019. To require a council to undertake a review required a petition by 7.5% of the electorate of the area. At its close, the e-petition had 36% of the necessary 7.5% of signatures, but hard copy signatures had yet to be submitted. The council recognised there was an appetite for a review to take place therefore it was proposed that a Working Group be established to submit final recommendations to full Council by July 2021.

Councillor Johnson commented that it gave him great pleasure to second the report. At the end of May he had given a very firm statement of intent that such a report would be brought forward. It would be improper of him to load the device by giving his own views on the merits of the proposition but he looked forward to seeing the recommendations from the Working Group. He confirmed that the Working Group would be chaired by Councillor Shelim. He understood that the time scales were longer than some may have wished, if possible the council would look to compress them.

Councillor Wisdom Da Costa stated that he was honoured to speak wholeheartedly in favour of the motion to set up a governance review with the ambition to create a Windsor Town Council. The campaign had been led by a steering group of local residents from across the whole town, from the town centre, to the ancient boroughs of Clewer, Dedworth and Spital, all united by a common ambition to bring more localised representation to the historic town. 

Town or parish councils were the tier of local government that were closest to the electorate. In total there were some 10,000 parish or town councils in England alone. Windsor had a proud history of local representation since 1172 when a council was formed to discuss matters arising between the town and the crown, this representative body stood in various forms until the Local Government Act of 1972. This Act replaced Cookham Rural District Council, Eton Urban District Council, Windsor Borough Council and Windsor Rural District Council. Of the many towns within RBWM, now only central Maidenhead and the whole of Windsor were left without town or parish representation. The council must address the inequality of democracy.

Most parish councils lacked the capacity to undertake the provision of public services and therefore concerned themselves with local environmental, community and amenity issues. In 2018 the National Association of Local Councils submitted a report entitled ‘Points of Light’. Should the motion be successful, he suggested all members of the governance review committee familiarise themselves with the report, as it highlighted the work Parish and Town councils had undertaken.

There were some 270 more parish and town councils than in 2005, supported by the current Conservative Government and the preceding coalition and Labour Governments. This included town councils established in Weymouth and Christchurch in 2019.

The challenge when discussing a new council was the issue of funding. There were 32000 residents in Windsor, each paying a levy called a parish precept, despite having no such representation of where this money was spent. The current levy was on average £36 a year which amounted to a total of circa £650,000. This should be earmarked for the town, however it went into the central pot, with no tracking of how the money was spent. There was also the extra income, often in the hundreds of thousands of pounds, by way of S106 and CIL contributions from building developments in the town, which should be spent on Windsor, but which were lost to non-parished areas.

When setting up a town council there were running costs, such as the provision of a town clerk and other operational costs. These needed to be mitigated against the income streams to ensure the viability of the project. The proposed Governance Review committee should liaise with the Windsor Town Council steering group to understand in more detail their plans for generating increased revenue streams through the formation of a Town Guild, an idea that would bring philanthropy to the modern age, to run alongside the Town Council, generating funds for local charities in addition to supporting the local ambitions of residents and businesses.

Councillor Da Costa wanted Members to consider a number of issues:

·         To familiarise themselves with the national guidance, so they could engage with the principal authority with an understanding of the process it must follow and the criteria that should inform its decisions;

·         To reciprocate a working relationship with all impacted ward Councillors during a review.

·         To produce a definitive list of groups to be consulted, from across Windsor;

·         To involve the National Association of Local Councils (NALC) and the County Association of Local Councils (CALC), for advice and guidance on the process.

Councillor Davies stated that she was delighted to support the motion to set up a community governance review to consider the formation of a new town council for Windsor. Creating a town council for the unparished parts of Windsor would restore local governance, something that the town previously enjoyed for over seven hundred years and the value of which the existing parish and town councils across the borough continued to ably demonstrate.

Liberals had always believed power should be devolved to the lowest practical level and believed establishing a Town Council would provide a clear and distinct voice for Windsor. As both Councillor Rayner and Councillor W. Da Costa had alluded to, residents from across the whole town had come together to further this aim, including Councillor Tisi and herself who promised to ask residents if they wanted a Windsor Town Council in their election pledges.

She paid tribute to the collegiate spirit in which the Windsor Town Council Steering group had proceeded, led by Richard Endacott and initially chaired by the late Dee Quick, also a former mayor of the Borough. In this spirit, she looked forward very much to working with the Community Governance Review Working Group to shape a future Town Council for Windsor and she urged Members to support the motion.

Councillor Coppinger commented that, as Lead Member for Maidenhead, many councillors and residents had asked him why he was not following in parallel. This was very much new territory for the council and mistakes may be made along the way. He wanted to learn from them. He hoped that in due course he would be able to make a similar presentation for Maidenhead.

Councillor Rayner commented that the Windsor community was very proud and passionate; it was now an opportunity for everyone to have their say on its democratic future.

It was proposed by Councillor Rayner, seconded by Councillor Johnson, and:

RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY: ThatFull Council notes the report and:

i)          Approves the Terms of Reference document set out as Appendix A which will formally commence the community governance review process considering the formation of a new town council for Windsor.