Agenda and minutes

To approve as a correct record the minutes of the meeting of the Council held on 13 July 2016.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the Council meeting held on 13 July 2016 be approved and signed by the Mayor as a correct record.

Councillor Tullett declared an affected interest in item 7, Efficiency Plan 2016 – 2020 by virtue of being the Council’s representative on the South Hill Park Trust and withdrew from the meeting during consideration of this item.

The Mayor, Councillor Virgo declared an affected interest in item 7, Efficiency Plan 2016 – 2020 due to his role as a Trustee on the South Hill Park Trust and withdrew from the meeting during consideration of this item.

Challenge Club

The Mayor welcomed Peter Wilcox from the Challenge Club which had been awarded the Queen’s Award for voluntary service this year. He explained to those present that it was a social club for adults with learning difficulties based at Priestwood Youth and Community Centre. The weekly meetings were attended by 80 people with their carers and there was either a disco or a live band. He explained that the club was run by volunteers and it was important to keep the costs low which meant an entrance fee of only £1.50. He recognised that there were multiple social benefits to the club’s members.

Jeallott’s Hill Community Project

The Mayor invited David Putt, Project Manager to attend the Council meeting to update them on the progress of the project since being awarded the Queen’s Voluntary Award last year. He advised the meeting that the site continued to develop with projects such as the new Green Gym which supports people with mild and moderate mental health conditions and dementia and the new Little Muddy Boots sessions which aimed to reconnect under 5’s and their parents with nature. 

Green Deal Communities Project

The Mayor invited Hazel Hill, Sustainable Energy Officer to attend the Council meeting to celebrate the success of the project which had won the ‘Regional Large Scale Project’ award at the South East Energy Efficiency and Retrofit Awards. Hazel was also chosen as runner-up in the ‘Energy Efficiency Champion’ category. 

Councillor Mrs Temperton

Councillor Mrs Temperton encouraged her colleagues to participate in a scheme to collect food for the children in the Sangatte refugee camp in France.

Charity Meal

The Mayor had circulated flyers to all attendees to promote his charity Burns Night meal which would be taking place on 10 February 2017 at Stirrups Country House Hotel in aid of his nominated charity St. Sebastian’s Trust.

Thames Valley Police Chief Constable, Francis Habgood will be attending the meeting to deliver a presentation on the work of Thames Valley Police over the last year.

The Chief Constable, Francis Habgood, gave a presentation on significant policing issues across the borough and Police and Crime Commissioner, Anthony Stansfeld also attended to speak to Members about the PCC challenges for 2016-17 and beyond.

The Police and Crime Commissioner reported that there had nationally been a 25% turnout at the May elections. He stated that the £85 million funding cut was challenging to deal with and that there were opportunities to work with the local fire authorities.

The Chief Constable reiterated the force’s commitment was to working together to make the community safer and he recognised the significant role that neighbourhood policing had in building a more resilient community. The Chief Constable explained that the force was working on enabling residents to contact the police and an app would be launched in 2017.  He advised the meeting that though there had been small increases in crime levels for violence against another person these were not as significant as those nationally and burglary dwelling crime continued to be low.

The Chief Constable reported that the LPA merger had been successful and that operation Loquacious had resulted in 26 warrants. He was pleased to report that Bracknell Forest’s example of Partnership Problem Solving was used as an example of best practice for information sharing and shared intervention work. The Chief Constable advised the meeting that the mental health triage support practices that had been successful elsewhere were now introduced in Bracknell.

Superintendent Rob France, Local Policing Area commander and Chief Inspector David Gilbert, Deputy Local Policing Area commander also attended the meeting to respond to Councillor’s questions.

In response to a question regarding the harassment of young children the Local Policing Area commander stated that officers were working with schools to highlight the risks to individuals and noted that unfortunately the age group they needed to engage with was getting younger.

In response to a question regarding the merger of the command structure and lessons learnt the Chief Constable stated that there should be no recognisable change for the public especially as neighbourhood policing had not changed. They had entered into the merger by learning from other experience. He considered that they had been very fortunate to have two officers involved who understood the areas and knew the staff which lead to a very positive process.

In response to a question about speeding and unsociable driving in the area the Local Policing Area commander agreed that this had been identified as a significant local problem. He advised that they were investing resources to tackle this and were at the start of an operation in the borough to identify and deter the culprits.

In response to a question about how the progress of the mental health triage would be reported the Local Policing Area commander advised that the data collected would be shared with the Community Safety Partnership and the Health and Wellbeing Board.

In response to a question about whether more police activity could be reported through social media the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 19.

To receive the Leader’s report on the work of the Executive since the Council meeting held on 13 July 2016.

Council is asked to resolve a recommendation in respect of:

·         the Government’s offer of a four year settlement

·         the virements over £100k as outlined in Annexe E of Borough Treasurer’s Revenue Expenditure Outturn 2015/16 report to the Executive considered on 18 July 2016.

·         the Treasury Management Annual Report 2015/16 as outlined in Annexe B of Borough Treasurer’s Revenue Expenditure Outturn 2015/16 report to the Executive considered on 18 July 2016.

·         a supplementary capital approval of £3.3m in relation to the delivery of the Binfield Learning Village

The Leader of the Council, Councillor Bettison OBE, presented his report on the work of the Executive since that reported at the Council meeting on 13 July 2016. The Executive had met once on 18 July 2016.

The Leader highlighted the following matters that had been considered:

·         The Medium Term Financial Strategy had been agreed. Although this was not set in stone it was reflected in Efficiency Plan. The Executive recommended the four year settlement with Government. It was anticipated that the Revenue Support Grant would reduce from £11.3m to £1.7m but that it was likely to be worse without the agreement.

·         The Transformation programme was well underway to deliver Efficiency Plan and close the £23.5m budget gap.

·         Revenue & Capital Outturn 2015/16 was agreed and virements and Treasury Management Report were recommended to Council. It was noted that it was the 18^th consecutive year within budget.

·         A public consultation on future public access at Edgbarrow & Sandhurst Sports Centres had been agreed. There would be school access only until 5:30pm during term time but there were two management options for other access either

o   Leisure Services could deliver services with higher charges or

o   schools could manage community access with no ‘pay as you go’.

·         The RE3 Waste Strategy was endorsed with the key aim to increase recycling to meet 50% target.

·         The contract for the enabling works and main works contracts for Binfield Learning Village were agreed. A supplementary capital approval of £3.3m was recommended for inflation from 2014 prices. The contractor was on site and the school would be opening in September 2018.

·         The Youth Offending Service Inspection recognised the quality of work within the team to be excellent. Councillor Bettison asked that the team be thanked on behalf of the Council for their hard work.

·         Changes to commissioning and delivery of drug & alcohol services were agreed. This would move to commissioned service from direct delivery which would be a 15% efficiency savings  of £92k.

·         Since October 2015 it had been a local government responsibility to deliver Health Visiting. A 15 month contract had been awarded to coincide with end of the Public Health grant ring fence.

·         A new framework agreement had been approved for Supported Bus Passenger Transport which provided a structure to procure individual contracts.

·         The Council had agreed to be part of the voluntary dispersal scheme of unaccompanied asylum seeking children and were able to highlight the lack of local infrastructure and concern about potential extra costs. Provisionally two unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children would be supported by Bracknell Forest by the end of September to allow time to identify support infrastructure but this would be reviewed in October in light of other Councils’ support for scheme.

The agenda report contained recommendations that the Council was asked to resolve.

On the proposition of Councillor Heydon, Executive Member for Finance and Transformation, seconded by Councillor Allen it was

RESOLVED that

i)              the Government’s offer of a four year settlement be accepted

ii)             the virements over £100k  ...  view the full minutes text for item 20.

To consider and accept the Efficiency Plan 2016 – 2020 to be lodged with the Department for Communities and Local Government by 14 October 2016.

Having declared an interest being a members of the South Hill Park Board of Trustees, Councillors Tullett and Virgo withdrew from the meeting during

consideration of this item.

The Council considered the Borough Treasurer’s report on the proposed Efficiency Plan 2016 – 2020 which had been prepared in order to accept the Government’s offer of a four year funding settlement.

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

RESOLVED that the Efficiency Plan at Annex A of the agenda report be agreed.

To ratify the draft Food Law Enforcement Plan for 2016-17 in accordance with the Council’s Constitution.

The Council considered the report asking them to approve the Food Law Enforcement Plan 2016-17 in accordance with the Food Standards Agency framework agreement.  The plan addresses all matters relating to food hygiene, food standards and the sale of animal foodstuff.

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

RESOLVED that

i)              the supporting information in relation to the Food Law Enforcement Plan be noted; and

ii)             the Food Law Enforcement Plan for 2016-2017 (at Annex A of the agenda report) be ratified.

By Councillor Mrs Temperton to Councillor D Birch, Executive Member for Adult Services, Health and Housing:

The Glaucoma clinic has recently been moved from the Urgent Care Centre back to King Edward VII Hospital, Windsor. The Bracknell location of this clinic was greatly valued by our residents, as patients cannot drive when attending these appointments, even for a regular check-up, as drops are applied to dilate the pupils.

What influence does the Council have on the services provided at the Urgent Care Centre, Bracknell?

Councillor Mrs Temperton asked Councillor D Birch, Executive Member for Adult Services, Health and Housing the following published question:

The Glaucoma clinic has recently been moved from the Urgent Care Centre back to King Edward V11 Hospital, Windsor. The Bracknell location of this clinic was greatly valued by our residents, as patients cannot drive when attending these appointments, even for a regular check-up, as drops are applied to dilate the pupils.

What influence does the Council have on the services provided at the Urgent Care Centre, Bracknell?

In response Councillor Birch stated that the Council does not have any influence on the services provided because it is not responsible for the day to day delivery. He added that the service had been moved temporarily due to the reduction of hours of a consultant. Although he had been advised that it would be delivered again at the Urgent Care Centre he had not been given a date but he had impressed upon the Clinical Commissioning Group that the service should be reinstated as soon as possible.

In response to Councillor Mrs Temperton’s supplementary question on the role of the Health and Wellbeing Board and whether locally provided services would be safeguarded he stated that he was looking forward to a more assertive Health and Wellbeing Board which would be able to ensure that its partners communicated even temporary service changes. He explained that the Health and Wellbeing Board was a partnership between a number of organisations but the responsibility for commissioning remained with each partner.