a)    Question submitted by Councillor E Wilson to Councillor Coppinger, Lead Member for Planning and Health:

Will the Royal Borough add the location of defibrillators to its website?

b)    Question submitted by Councillor Jones to Councillor N. Airey, Lead Member for Children’s Services:

 

Many schools are struggling financially. The funding doesn't allow for rises in costs such as pensions & NI (that have cut teaching budgets by 5.5%) and inflation.  The IFS estimates that schools will lose nearly £2 billion by 2020.

 

What steps can this council take to raise awareness of this funding deficit and how are we supporting our schools?

 

c)    Question submitted by Councillor Jones to Councillor Dudley, Leader of the Council:

 

Can the Leader update us on the steps taken to address the recommendations highlighted within the LGA Peer challenge?

 

d)   Question submitted by Councillor Da Costa to Councillor S Rayner, Lead Member for Culture and Communities:

 

Universal Credit has already caused great suffering to citizens young and old in the UK and will affect our residents from May 2018.

 

What preparations are being made by RBWM to offer financial help, coaching, education and outreach and can you assure residents that none of our residents will fall into the poverty trap because of Universal Credit’s roll out?

 

e)    Question submitted by Councillor Da Costa to Councillor Bicknell, Lead Member for Highways, Transport and Windsor:

 

There are reports on social media and from Slough Council, that First Buses are discontinuing the routes 702, 2, 5, 10/11, 15 and reducing availability on routes 1, 7 & 4. Can the Lead Member shed any light on this and whether the no. 2 will be continuing?

 

(The Member responding has up to 5 minutes to address Council. The Member asking the question has up to 1 minute to submit a supplementary question. The Member responding then has a further 2 minutes to respond.)

a)    Question submitted by Councillor E Wilson to Councillor Coppinger, Lead Member for Planning and Health:

Will the Royal Borough add the location of defibrillators to its website?

Councillor Coppinger responded that this was a simple task to complete, and the locations of theAutomated External Defibrillators (AEDs) can be added to the RBWM website as a list, or as pin points on the existing RBWM community map.  In addition, HeartSafe had the AED Locator and Arrhythmia Alliance website, on which RBWM’s AEDs would be added. www.heartsafe.org.uk

 

South Central Ambulance Service had an App available for iPhone and iPad which had an AED Locator to which RBWM’s AEDs could be added. He was aware that many Councillors had put some or all of their personal grant money towards defibrillators.  In Bray he and Councillor Walters had supported one at Braywood Cricket Club and one in Holyport.   On 15 December 2017 on Holyport Green a carol concert would take place to raise money for charity, including a further AED for Holyport.

By way of a supplementary question, Councillor E. Wilson asked if the Lead Member would work with the  Windsor and Maidenhead Lions who had a fantastic scheme to support AEDs.

Councillor Coppinger agreed to follow this up.

b)    Question submitted by Councillor Jones to Councillor N. Airey, Lead Member for Children’s Services:

 

Many schools are struggling financially. The funding doesn't allow for rises in costs such as pensions & NI (that have cut teaching budgets by 5.5%) and inflation.  The IFS estimates that schools will lose nearly £2 billion by 2020.

 

What steps can this council take to raise awareness of this funding deficit and how are we supporting our schools?

 

Councillor Coppinger, on behalf of the absent Councillor N. Airey,  responded that schools in the Royal Borough were making great strides in providing excellent education for borough children and young people.  86% of schools in the Royal Borough were rated Good or Outstanding by Ofsted; indeed one third of them had reached the Outstanding judgement despite an increasingly difficult test by Ofsted.  The scale of improvement in education across the country since 2012 was illustrated by the recent announcement in respect of reading: In 2012, 58% of 6 year olds passed reading checks. This year, that figure rose to 81%.

 

The borough worked well with schools in the Royal Borough and the Schools Forum was an effective representative body which made decisions about school funding and advised the Local Authority on its decisions.  The Forum explored the proposed National Funding Formula which was to come into operation in April 2020 and considered ways to best transition from the current local formula to the National Funding Formula.  Based on that work, schools had been consulted on a local funding formula for financial year 2018/19 which would mean 57 schools in the Borough would receive more money in 2018/19 than they did in 2017/18.

 

The overall increase in budget for education in the Royal Borough in financial year 2018/19 did not offset the costs which affected all schools as Councillor Jones had indicated.  The Local Government Association and the Association of Directors of Children’s Services were campaigning for a review of funding levels in education and social care, as part of a public sector budget which balanced the wide range of pressures the country was now facing.

 

In the Royal Borough increasing financial pressure for many schools would come from the rising volume of those young people with additional needs.  The council, along with its partners in Health had committed £450,000 to raise the skill levels in this area over the next three years, while schools themselves had committed £416,000 in 2018/19 to pilot new ways to support mainstream schools.

 

Schools, particularly small schools, may find the current financial climate challenging and the council was already seeing innovative collaboration which was saving money, such as sharing specialist expertise or resources.  Also school Governors were leading the way by asking how each pound spent was driving progress for pupils and the council had asked its officers to work with small schools to develop a financial sustainability strategy to tie in with the development of options to meet the future demand for school places.

Councillor Jones confirmed she did not have a supplementary question.

c)    Question submitted by Councillor Jones to Councillor Dudley, Leader of the Council:

 

Can the Leader update us on the steps taken to address the recommendations highlighted within the LGA Peer challenge?

 

Councillor Dudley responded that Following the LGA Corporate Peer Challenge report, a comprehensive action plan had been drawn up focusing on eight areas:

 

·         Structural and constitutional governance.

·         Accountability.

·         Scrutiny.

·         Understanding of local place and priority setting.

·         Leadership of place.

·         Financial planning viability.

·         Organisational leadership and governance.

·         Capacity to deliver.

 

He was able to report good progress against all the recommendations and highlighted in particular:

 

·         Members of the executive and wider executive, i.e. Deputy Lead and Principal Members, had now been replaced on Overview and Scrutiny panels. 

 

·         A review of the constitution would start in January 2018 through a working party involving the Principal Member for HR, Legal and IT.

 

·         For the first time the Royal Borough had published its budget plans three months early to enable discussion and robust scrutiny before the budget was set in February 2018.

 

·         A comprehensive resident survey by an external professional agency was being planned and the outcome will be reported in June 2018.

 

·         The scope of the existing vacant Economic Development Officer post had been reviewed to now include a greater business partnership focus.

 

·         The council continued to move forward with the Borough Local Plan process.

By way of a supplementary question, Councillor Jones suggested that new Members receiving SRAs should be given a role description and training, possible mandatory.

Councillor Dudley responded that some of these issues could be dealt with via the constitution review.

d)   Question submitted by Councillor Da Costa to Councillor S Rayner, Lead Member for Culture and Communities:

 

Universal Credit has already caused great suffering to citizens young and old in the UK and will affect our residents from May 2018.

 

What preparations are being made by RBWM to offer financial help, coaching, education and outreach and can you assure residents that none of our residents will fall into the poverty trap because of Universal Credit’s roll out?

Councillor S. Rayner responded that the council had worked closely with the DWP to ensure the most vulnerable residents were protected. The DWP had advised that there would be 665 new Universal Credit claimants in 2018/19 of which 40 would require assisted digital support and personal budget support. Officers had started to map out the additional provision that would be needed by the council and partner agencies.  WAM Get involved were undertaking training on Universal credit for various local organisations. Information would be available 24.7 via the council website and in libraries. A Member briefing would be held in the new year.

By way of a supplementary question, Councillor Da Costa asked when details of the programme would be published for scrutiny, and if sufficient funds would be made available to allow immediate payments for Universal credit and Council Tax support?

Councillor S. Rayner responded that information would be available in community libraries and the hubs. Members would be invited to a training session.

e)    Question submitted by Councillor Da Costa to Councillor Bicknell, Lead Member for Highways, Transport and Windsor:

 

There are reports on social media and from Slough Council, that First Buses are discontinuing the routes 702, 2, 5, 10/11, 15 and reducing availability on routes 1, 7 & 4. Can the Lead Member shed any light on this and whether the no. 2 will be continuing?

 

Councillor Bicknell responded that First Group’ had deregistered a number of existing services which affected residents within the Royal Borough.

 

Details were not shared by ‘First’ in advance and officers had subsequently met with the Managing Director (FirstBus in Hampshire, Dorset & Berkshire) to express disappointment about the manner in which this was handled and communicated and to understand the rationale for the decision which was entirely commercially driven.

 

The routes impacted by the decision were:

 

• Service 2 (Dedworth – Windsor – Slough)
• Service 10/11 (Slough – Datchet – Sunnymeads – Wraysbury – Heathrow)
• Service 15 (Slough – Eton Wick)

 

In addition, route 702 (Greenline service from Bracknell to London Victoria via Ascot and Windsor) was deregistered by ‘First Group’ but had been taken on by ‘Reading Buses’ which would ensure similar levels of services were maintained without a break in service.

 

The council’s objective was very clearly to ensure that all the communities that were currently served by these routes continue to be served from 21 January 2018, when the ‘First Group’ services would cease. However, there may be alterations to routes and timetables.

 

The council had engaged with different operators and secured proposals to continue operating services in these areas and was working very closely with Slough Borough Council, Heathrow Airports Ltd. and Surrey County Council to agree a new network. It was also important to note that this piece of work would be data led and services would reflect levels of need and demand.

 

In parallel the council was exploring demand responsive services which may better meet needs and had engaged with Arriva with respect to their uber-style bus service (Arriva Click) which had been launched in Kent and may offer real benefits for residents and business.

Work on the new proposals was well advanced but not concluded. However, it was his intention to ensure continuity of services in the affected areas when the existing services ceased.

By way of a supplementary question, Councillor Da Costa commented mobility was key to economic prosperity and success. He hoped that proposals would include a transport solution including buses that helped to reduce pollution and supported the mobility of the vulnerable, enliven the town centres and support more high density development. He asked when the results of the review would be available.

Councillor Bicknell responded that the results would be available shortly, before Christmas.