To approve the programme of meetings for the 2024/25 Municipal Year including the split of virtual meetings/in-person meetings.

The members present considered the report setting out the programme of meetings for the Council, Cabinet and the other various panels, forums, sub-committees and other bodies administered by Democratic Services for the 2024/25 Municipal Year.

Councillor Werner recommended the meetings programme noting that the schedule tried to avoid school holidays for all the councillors who were parents accepting that if something came up during the year that made one of the dates impossible there would be the opportunity to change it at a later date. Councillor Bermange seconded the proposed programme.

Councillor W Da Costa raised concerns that the proposed schedule did not include any scheduled dates for the Aviation Forum and none had been held since 2023. He stated that was very alarming for Windsor residents who were suffering from the level of aviation noise. He reported that Windsor residents were affected throughout the day with noise at levels that were 30 times greater than the World Health Organisation recommended. He reflected that there were a number of issues that had not been addressed in the Aviation Forum including the noise action plan and the various consultations. He requested that Councillor Werner put in a hybrid meeting of the Aviation Forum each quarter.

Councillor Price recorded her thanks to the officers who had created the meetings programme as she recognised that it was not simply rolled forward from the previous year but incorporated the changes with Cabinet meetings and avoided school holidays.

Councillor Coe responded to Councillor W Da Costa’s queries about the Aviation Forum and advised that they had been considering how the Forum could be reformed to make it more purposeful. They were looking to schedule the meetings to fit in with the meetings of the main Heathrow bodies so that the Forum would input into those consultations via RBWMs representative on those panels. He explained that there was a meeting coming up in relation to latest round of consultations and hoped to be able to timetable a programme that interlocked with the meetings of the subgroups so that information could then be discussed at the Aviation Forum. He stated that he had asked for the meetings to be held in Windsor in recognition that area was more affected currently than other parts of the borough.

Councillor W Da Costa requested a guarantee of four meetings per year.

Councillor J Tisi observed that as the Chair of Audit and Governance Committee he recognised that the excellent budget process this year had been supported by how Overview and Scrutiny meetings had been dovetailed to actually get really good scrutiny over the process. He considered that it was a welcome development from the previous CiFPA observations and it was important that they were able to act as a critical friend to the Executive of the Council.

Councillor Bermange reiterated the thanks to the officers in Democratic Services who had worked to accommodate an annual schedule with so many different bodies and getting it all to work together in harmony. He emphasised that avoiding school holidays, wherever possible, was important when recognising that Councillors come from all different walks of life and they needed to make sure that Council meetings were accessible to everyone. He noted that Councillor Coe had already responded to Councillor W Da Costa’s comments, acknowledged that the Aviation Forum was a really important body and they would look at firming up the next date soon. He concluded that as the Council moved forward into the next Municipal year they had a comprehensive schedule and should all look forward to it.

On the proposition of Councillor Werner, Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Community Partnerships, Public Protection and Maidenhead and seconded by Councillor Bermange it was

RESOLVED unanimously that

i)               the report be noted;

ii)             the programme of meetings for the 2024/25 Municipal Year, attached as Appendix B be approved;

iii)            the split of virtual meetings/in-person meetings for the 2024/25 Municipal Year, attached as Appendix C be agreed; and

iv)            that a further review of in-person/virtual meetings would take place if and when legislation is enacted to allow decision making meetings to take place virtually.