Agenda and minutes

Members are asked to declare any disclosable pecuniary or affected interests in respect of any matter to be considered at this meeting.

Any Member with a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest in a matter should withdraw from the meeting when the matter is under consideration and should notify the Democratic Services Officer in attendance that they are withdrawing as they have such an interest. If the Disclosable Pecuniary Interest is not entered on the register of Members interests the Monitoring Officer must be notified of the interest within 28 days.

Any Member with an affected Interest in a matter must disclose the interest to the meeting and must not participate in discussion of the matter or vote on the matter unless granted a dispensation by the Monitoring officer or by the Governance and Audit Committee.  There is no requirement to withdraw from the meeting when the interest is only an affected interest, but the Monitoring Officer should be notified of the interest, if not previously notified of it, within 28 days of the meeting.

To consider and approve the minutes of the meeting of the Executive held on 19 December 2017.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting of the Executive on 19 December 2017 together with the accompanying decision records be confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Leader.

The Executive considered the following items. The decisions are recorded in the decision sheets attached to these minutes and summarised below.

To seek approval of the draft Bracknell Forest Local Plan (Appendix A) and the Consultation Strategy (Appendix B) to go to Full Council for ratification and subsequent publication for a period of public consultation between Thursday 8 February and Monday 26 March 2018. Approval is also being sought to update the Local Development Scheme.

RECOMMENDED that:

1.    Council agree the draft Local Plan (Appendix A) and Consultation Strategy (Appendix B) of the  Director of Environment, Culture and Communities report.

2.    Council agree to the Local Development Scheme being updated and published to reflect the timescales set out in the Director of Environment, Culture and Communities report.

RESOLVED that:

1.    subject to agreement of the recommendation set out at 2.1 of the Director of Environment, Culture and Communities report, the draft Local Plan (Appendix A) of the Director of Environment, Culture and Communities report and other supporting consultation material be published for a period of public consultation starting on Thursday 8 February and ending on Monday 26 March 2018.

2.    minor changes to the draft Local Plan and other supporting material produced prior to the consultation be agreed with the Executive Member for Planning and Transport in consultation with the Chief Officer: Planning, Transport and Countryside.

To approve the updated School Places Plan 2018-23 and the updated School Capacity Strategy 2018-23, that set out where and when additional school places are required to be provided across Bracknell Forest.

To update the Executive on the potential requirements for new school places arising out of the proposed housing up to 2034 from the emerging Local Plan.

RESOLVED that:

1.    the School Places Plan 2018-23 attached as Appendix A of the Director of Children, Young People and Learnings report be approved.

2.    the School Capacity Strategy 2018-23 set out in the Director of Children, Young People and Learnings report be approved.

3.    the potential impact on school place requirements arising from the proposed level of housing growth set out in the Draft  Local Plan covering the period up to 2034 is noted.

To consider the principle and practicalities of introduction of a local lottery for Bracknell Forest, which would be aimed at providing funding to support local voluntary organisations.

RESOLVED that:

1.    the creation of a local lottery for Bracknell Forest is supported, with the core purpose of raising funds for local charities, voluntary organisations and good causes in the Borough, independently of the Council’s support for the third sector;

2.    that the initial set up costs of just under £4k are approved and funded from the current year’s remaining Corporate Contingency and that the on-going £698 annual license fees are assigned from on-going lottery income streams;

3.    a Working Group is established, chaired by the Chairman of Overview and Scrutiny and involving the Executive Member for Transformation and finance and three other Members nominated by the Leader, to engage with Gatherwell, the external lottery management company behind many local authority supported lotteries, including Aylesbury Vale and Portsmouth and with local voluntary sector organisations on arrangements for their involvement in the lottery;

4.    a launch event is hosted at a cost of up to £2,000 (funded from the current year’s contingency) to promote the lottery and help secure additional first draw prizes and to market the lottery using existing Council communication channels including Forest Views to ensure on-going awareness and promotion to drive ticket sales and to promote the lottery amongst good causes;

5.    two council officers (the Borough Treasurer and Head of Performance and Partnerships) are nominated to be the license holders for the lottery should this be required;

6.    a further report is received prior to the lottery going live that will propose a policy and process for agreeing which types of voluntary groups can put themselves forward for lottery support and for the allocation of the good causes central pot, following consultation with voluntary groups, based on findings of the Working Group.

To propose changes to the relationship between the Council and the Berkshire Shared Public Health Team and to establish a dedicated Director of Public Health post for Bracknell Forest.

RESOLVED that:

1.    a new post of Director of Public Health reporting to the Director, Adult Social Care, Health & Housing is created.

2.    participation in key elements of the Berkshire Shared Public Health Team on a reduced basis to reflect the appointment of a local Director of Public Health is continued.

3.    The Council continue to act as host for the Berkshire Shared Public Health Team, reimbursed by the other five Berkshire Councils.

To consider the following motion:

That pursuant to Regulation 4 of the Local Authorities (Executive Arrangements) (Access to Information) Regulations 2012  and having regard to the public interest, members of the public and press be excluded from the meeting for the consideration of item 10 which involves the likely disclosure of exempt information under the following category of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972:

(3)        Information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information).

NB:      No representations were received in response to the 28 day notice of a private meeting.

RESOLVED that pursuant to Regulation 21 of the Local Authorities (Executive Arrangements) (Access to Information) Regulations 2000, members of the public and press be excluded from the meeting for the consideration of item 10 of the agenda (item 59 in the minutes) which involves the likely disclosure of exempt information under the following category of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972:

(3)        Information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority).

To seek approval of the Procurement Plan for the tendering of the internal audit services and to seek authority for the contract to be awarded by the Director of Resources.

RESOLVED that:

1.    the Procurement Plan at Annex 1 of the Borough Treasurers report for internal audit services is approved.

2.    the delegation of the award of the contract to Director of Resources is approved.