Agenda and minutes

Any Member with a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest or an Affected 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 Interest is not entered on the register of Members interests the Monitoring Officer must be notified of the interest within 28 days.

There were no Disclosable Pecuniary Interests or Affected interests declared, however the following interests were declared by Members.

Councillors Mrs Birch, Brunel-Walker, Davison, Finch, Gbadebo, Heydon, McCracken, Mrs McCracken, Mrs Pile, Mrs Temperton and Turrell declared interests in the Executive Report: Phase 2 Parks and Open Spaces Quality Improvements in respect of Bracknell Town Council, as councillors of Bracknell Town Council.

Councillors Harrison, McLean and Leake declared an interest in the Executive Report: Phase 2 Parks and Open Spaces Quality Improvements in respect of Binfield Parish Council, as councillors or closely related to councillors of Binfield Parish Council.

Councillors Mrs Birch, Turrell and Ms Wilson declared interests in the Executive Report: 2013/15 Capital Programme, as governors of schools within the Borough.

Councillor Gbadebo declared an interest in the Executive Report: 2013/15 Capital Programme, as a Board member of Bracknell and Wokingham College and declared that he would be withdrawing for the entirety of this agenda item.    

To approve as a correct record the minutes of the two meetings of the Council held on 18 September 2013.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the two Council meetings held on 18 September 2013 be approved and signed by the Mayor as a correct record.

Point of clarification:

Minute 26: Presentation from Chief Constable, Thames Valley Police

Mrs Temperton expressed concern that the Police and Crime Commissioner had stated that the precept would be kept below 2.5%; she had understood that it would be kept below 2%. Councillor McCracken agreed to provide clarification of this point to Mrs Temperton.

Executive Member for Environment

Councillor Mrs Hayes congratulated the Council’s Sustainable Energy Officer, Hazel Hill, for being awarded the Carbon Action Network Lifetime Achievement Award for her work in home energy efficiency since 1999.

Councillor Mrs Hayes stated that Hazel had made exceptional progress in reducing the number of thermally inefficient homes in the borough from 3,320 in January 2012 to 2,415 by March 2013, a reduction of 27%. The latest Department for Energy & Climate Change fuel poverty statistics showed Bracknell Forest second only to the City of London, nationally, with 5.8% in fuel poverty compared to 13.1% for Berkshire and 10.1% for South East England.

Hazel had been voted Home Energy Conservation Association Officer of the Year on three separate occasions and earlier this year she also received a Green Apple Award for her work concerning the environment.

The Mayor congratulated Hazel on achieving this prestigious award and thanked her on behalf of the Council for all her work.

Councillor Mrs Hayes also encouraged members to visit the Jealott’s Hill Community Landshare site which had recently been awarded a RHS national award for the work that had been undertaken there.

Executive Member for Children, Young People & Learning

Councillor Dr Barnard congratulated Louise Foster, Laura Jenkinson and Laura Knowles for achieving the gold Duke of Edinburgh award. The young people had put in four years of work to achieve the award, completing a four day expedition as well as learning new skills and undertaking community work. 33 young people had also achieved a silver Duke of Edinburgh award. Councillor Dr Barnard stated that this was a fantastic way to engage young people and had worked well particularly with young people from the borough’s pupil referral unit. He was also pleased that the Council had been reawarded their license to administer the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme.

Councillor Dr Barnard reported that he had participated in National Takeover Day on 22 November 2013 which involved being shadowed by a member of the borough’s Youth Council. He stated that the young people he met on the day were a credit to all young people in the borough and he thoroughly enjoyed the day. The Mayor and other members also agreed that it had been an enjoyable day and it had been a pleasure to meet the young people. The Mayor thanked all those that had arranged the day.

Executive Member for Adult Social Care, Health & Housing

Councillor Birch reported that a whole range of activities had been arranged for Self Care Week from free zumba classes to yoga, guided walks and health and wellbeing talks and workshops. He thanked David Rossiter, Joint Commissioning Officer for his work in putting together the week of activities.

Councillor Birch reported that the Council’s In-reach team had been put forward for a national award to become the social work team of the year. There were 49 finalists nationally and the winner would be judged by professionals. It was a very prestigious award and to have  ...  view the full minutes text for item 32.

To receive the Leader’s report on the work of the Executive since the Council meeting held on 17 July 2013.

Council is asked to resolve recommendations in respect of:

• 2013/15 Capital Programme – Impact of the Department of Education’s Funding Announcement

• Youth Justice Strategic Plan 2013-16

• Phase 2 Parks and Open Spaces Quality Improvements (Bracknell Town Council)

• Phase 2 Parks and Open Spaces Quality Improvements (Binfield Parish Council)

Councillor Bettison, presented his report on the work of the Executive since that reported at the Council meeting on 17 July 2013. The Executive had met twice on 15 October 2013 and 12 November 2013.

The Leader highlighted the following matters that had been considered in each portfolio area:

·         Transformation and Finance

• Commitment budget for 2014-15 and 2016-17 had been agreed
• Significant budget challenges lay ahead given the potential funding gap of between £15- 19m in 2016-17.

·         Education Capital Programme, £7.86m had been awarded following successful competitive bids for Targeted Basic Needs grants.

·         Key projects were listed in the report including the temporary expansion of Garth Hill College.

·         Bulk Print Strategy, a new shared service with Wokingham

·         Children, Young People & Learning 

• The Youth Justice Strategic Plan 2013-16 was being recommended for approval by Council
• The Local Safeguarding Children’s Board Annual Report had been received
• The Annual Review of Children, Young People Plan had been agreed
• Child Poverty strategy had been updated
• All recommendations from the Overview and Scrutiny review around school governance had been agreed.

·         Culture & Corporate Services

• Customer Contact/Channel Strategy projects were progressing. The Council’s website had been rated 4* by SOCITM and was now among the top 20 Council websites. The website was used by 46% of residents, the highest percentage in England.
• A mobile version of the website now launched
• Social media pilots were now complete and embedded
• A digital inclusion project was underway
• Parks and Open Spaces Improvements: Section 106 contributions recommended to Council for Mill Park and Calfridus Way (with Bracknell Town Council) and Binfield Cricket Club (with Binfield Parish Council).

·         Planning and Transport

• New Street Works Permit Scheme would increase the Council’s control over street works
• Framework agreement for buses approved

·         Environment

• Utilities Category Management (Procurement) Strategy agreed
• Quelm Park roundabout land appropriation for planning use

·                     The Peer Challenge Action Plan had now been subsumed within internal ‘Good to Great’ programme.

·                     Corporate performance was on track.

·                     The Complaints Annual Report showed that the Council had the lowest number of Ombudsman complaints in Berkshire.

·                     All the recommendations arising from the Overview and Scrutiny delegated authority review had been agreed.

Councillor Mrs Temperton asked if the cost in terms of officer time was known to prepare bids for government funding. The Leader agreed to provide a written response, however was confident that not a great deal of additional officer time was taken up by this as evidence of need and plans were already in place and so would just need to be referenced into bids.

Councillor Ms Brown asked if traffic and parking issues would be considered carefully following the expansion of Garth Hill College. The Executive Member for Children, Young People & Learning stated that any Highway or Planning issues would always be taken into account when expanding any school. 

Councillor Mrs Pile asked about the funding of the Learning Village project. The Executive Member for Children, Young People & Learning stated that the preparatory work for this project would go ahead and was  ...  view the full minutes text for item 33.

To consider the position regarding the overall allocation of seats on committees following the formation of a third political group on the Council and to approve changes to committee and external body membership following the death of Councillor Mrs Ballin and the appointment of Councillor Turrell to the Executive.

The Council considered the position regarding the overall allocation of seats on committees following the formation of a third political group on the Council and considered changes to committee and external body membership following the death of Councillor Mrs Ballin and the appointment of Councillor Turrell to the Executive.

On the proposition of Councillor Bettison, Leader of the Council seconded by Councillor Birch, Deputy Leader it was

RESOLVED that;

i)                    the establishment of ordinary committees, their size and allocation of seats to political groups, as set out in paragraph 6.1 of the report in the agenda papers be agreed,

ii)                   the establishment of the Overview and Scrutiny Commission and the Standards Committee, their size and allocation of seats to political groups be agreed and a local variation to the proportionality rules be agreed, as set out in paragraphs 6.5, 6.6, 6.8 and 6.9 of the report in the agenda papers,

iii)                 the changes to the membership of committees as set out in the revised Appendix A be agreed,

iv)                 the changes to appointments to external organisations as set out in the revised Appendix A be agreed

v)                  The Council noted the Leader’s appointments as set out in paragraph 8 of the report in the agenda papers.

To approve a revised Planning Protocol for Members. 

The Council was asked to approve a revised Planning Protocol for Members.

On the proposition of Councillor Turrell, Executive Member for Planning and Transport seconded by Councillor Finnie, it was

RESOLVED that the draft Planning Protocol for Members shown as Annexe A in the agenda papers be adopted in substitution for the existing Protocol.

To approve the Governance and Audit Committee’s recommendation to adopt a Protocol to regulate filming and recording of public meetings by members of the public.

The Council was asked to approve the Governance and Audit Committee’s recommendations to adopt a Protocol to regulate filming and recording of public meetings by members of the public.

On the proposition of Councillor Ward, Executive Member for Transformation and Finance seconded by Councillor McCracken, Executive Member for Culture, Corporate Services and Public Protection, it was

RESOLVED that the draft Protocol appended to the agenda papers be approved for adoption.

To approve the proposed Schedule of Meetings 2014/15.

The Council was asked to approve the proposed Schedule of Meetings 2014-15.

On the proposition of Councillor McCracken, Executive Member for Culture, Corporate Services and Public Protection seconded by Councillor Leake, it was

RESOLVED that the schedule of meetings 2014-15 as set out in the annex of the agenda papers be approved.

By Councillor Mrs Temperton to Councillor Brunel-Walker, Executive Member for Economic Development and Regeneration

When the phoenix of Bracknell Town Centre starts to rise from the ashes,many site workers, hopefully local workers, will need somewhere to park. If a parking permit scheme is introduced, this will ensure such parking is away from residential areas. Charles Square car park is seriously underused at the moment.

Will the Council consider providing free parking or a voucher scheme to the New Centre site workers to encourage them to make use of the Charles Square Car Park?

(i) Councillor Mrs Temperton asked Councillor Brunel-Walker, Executive Member for Economic Development and Regeneration the following published question:

When the phoenix of Bracknell Town Centre starts to rise from the ashes, many site workers, hopefully local workers will need somewhere to park. If a parking permit scheme is introduced, this will ensure such parking is away from residential areas. Charles Square car park is seriously underused at the moment

.

Will the Council consider providing free parking or a voucher scheme to the New Centre site workers to encourage them to make use of the Charles Square Car Park?

In response Councillor Brunel-Walker stated he was grateful for this question and that the question identified issues that the Council was aware of and had been working on for some considerable time. It would not be viable to offer free parking to site workers given that businesses and staff currently paid to park in the town centre. It would be the responsibility of the developers to ensure that their staff were able to access the site appropriately. A substantial discount was already offered on season tickets for parking in the town centre and the technology in these car parks offered flexible arrangements.

Consultation around a residents parking scheme had already been undertaken and such a scheme would be designed to protect residents. It was envisaged that the greatest pressure on parking would be during the refit of the new town centre, however given all the arrangements and measures that were in place, he felt confident that any disruption to residents would be kept to a minimum.

Councillor Mrs Temperton asked a supplementary question: She stated that the car park season ticket scheme did not seem to be working very well as the Charles Square car park was often empty, what could be done to remedy this?

Councillor Brunel-Walker stated that he would investigate this with officers and provide Councillor Mrs Temperton with a response.             

Before closing the meeting, the Mayor welcomed Councillor Turrell to the Executive as Executive Member for Planning and Transport.