Agenda and minutes

Venue: Council Chamber, Fourth Floor, Easthampstead House, Bracknell

Contact: Kirsty Hunt  01344 353108

Items
No. Item

33.

Minutes of Previous Meeting pdf icon PDF 177 KB

To approve as a correct record the minutes of the meeting of the Council held on 30 November 2016.

Minutes:

RESOLVED that the minutes of the Council meeting held on 30 November 2016 be

approved and signed by the Mayor as a correct record.

34.

Declarations of Interest

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.

Minutes:

The Mayor declared an affected interest in Agenda Item 5: Executive Report, recommendation 5.1.2 which related to South Hill Park, of which the Mayor was a trustee. The Mayor stated that he would leave the room for this part of the item.

 

Councillors D. Birch and Heydon declared a pecuniary interest in Agenda Item 5: Executive Report, in relation to the draft Capital Programme 2017/18 as Board Members of Downshire Homes Board.

35.

Mayor's Announcements pdf icon PDF 276 KB

Including a presentation from Julian Thomas, Master at Wellington College.

Minutes:

Wellington College

 

The Mayor welcomed Julian Thomas, Master at Wellington College to speak about his role at Wellington College.

 

The Master stated that it was an incredible time to be running a school, given the pace of change since the 1980’s, the Internet age and the growing number of jobs that had been taken over by automation (30%) all these things made education at this time an exciting prospect. However against this pace of change, stood education systems in the UK which had changed very little since Wellington College had been founded in 1859. The Master felt strongly that the over reliance on a system that focussed on exam and exam results did not inspire children to learn. This had been the basis of the Master’s decision last year to withdraw from league tables despite the Colleges’ good performance. This system based on examinations was originally designed for middle class, predominantly boys to equip them to run businesses. 

 

The Master stated that Wellington College aimed to provide their pupils with a skill set that would equip them to do a range of things as well as inspire them to learn. The video clip of the Master’s entrance to Speech day demonstrated this as this had been designed and produced by the pupils themselves.

 

The Master stated that social media often created pressure on children, leading children to believe they needed to craft a lifestyle to portray on social media. It was therefore important to develop an atmosphere that allowed children to be individuals and encouraged individuality and equipped them to be independent and resilient.

 

Finally, the Master stated that he wanted his school to be inclusive and not seen as elitist. Wellington College sponsored three academy schools and had opened seven international schools and was keen to foster cross sector collaboration. He was pleased to have worked with several Bracknell Forest head teachers and was keen to work with the Council also.

 

In response to Members’ queries, the Master made the following points:

 

·         The Master had been head hunted by Wellington College, following his involvement in turning round a failing school.

·         Political discourse was encouraged amongst pupils, although it could be difficult it was important that pupils could debate confidently.

·         The Master did not believe that standards of education were falling behind other parts of the world, he stated that children today generally worked harder, were assessed much more and felt greater pressure. He stated that children in the UK were good at taking exams however this did not mean that they were educated well.

·         Happiness lessons had been delivered at Wellington College and at the time they were introduced they were much derided. Going forward every school now delivered some kind of mental health and wellbeing learning to their pupils.

 

Gavin McMinn, Deputy Head Boy, Garth Hill College

 

The Mayor welcomed Gavin McMinn, Deputy Head Boy from Garth Hill College who was accompanied by Nick Huskinson, Assistant Principal to speak about young people and building the bridge of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 35.

36.

Executive Report pdf icon PDF 396 KB

To receive the Leader’s report on the work of the Executive since the Council meeting held on 30 November 2017.

 

Council is asked to resolve a recommendation in respect of:

  • the release of capital funding in 2016/17 from the 2017/18 Capital Programme to fund the investment at South Hill Park.

 

·         the Local Council Tax Discount Scheme and the Local Council Tax Discount Summary Scheme

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

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 30 November 2016.

The Executive had met once on 13 December 2016.

 

The Leader highlighted the following matters that had been considered:

·         Revenue and capital proposals had been agreed for consultation and the Local Government Finance settlement had been published in late December. Government figures assumed a 5% Council Tax increase and 900 new houses by April 2017. There would be a further review at the February meeting of the Executive.

·         £190k improvement work at South Hill Park was being recommended to Council.

·         Some work had been undertaken on a Local Council Tax Discount Scheme to support the most vulnerable in the Borough. The Leader reported that a great deal of work had gone into this scheme and he outlined the key elements of the scheme.

·         The Leader thanked Overview and Scrutiny Members for a very comprehensive and valuable piece of work on GP capacity. He reported that the Executive had fully endorsed two of the recommendations made and amended and accepted the third recommendation made.

·         The Leader reported that the Council Plan Overview Report showed that more than 90% of key actions were on track or completed.

 

Councillors Birch and Heydon declared an interest in the Capital Programme part of this item as Board Members of the Downshire Homes Board. 

 

In response to a query about the Local Council Tax Discount Scheme, the Executive Member for Adult Social Care, Health & Housing reported that a great deal of work had gone into developing this Scheme and the Scheme had been consulted upon. There was a hardship fund available for those in genuine difficulty. The Scheme would be reviewed on an annual basis and if it was discovered that disproportionate hardship was being caused, the Scheme could be adjusted.

 

The agenda report contained recommendations that the Council was asked to

resolve.

 

The Mayor declared an affected interest in Agenda Item 5: Executive Report, recommendation 5.1.2 which related to South Hill Park, of which the Mayor was a trustee. The Mayor left the room whilst this item was discussed.

 

On the proposition of Councillor Heydon, Executive Member for Transformation and Finance, seconded by Councillor McCracken, Executive Member for Culture,

Corporate Services and Public Protection, it was

 

RESOLVED that:

i)              £190,000 capital funding be released in 2016/17 from the 2017/18 Capital Programme to fund the investment required at South Hill Park

 

On the proposition of Councillor Birch, Executive Member for Adult Social Care, Health & Housing, seconded by Councillor McCracken, Executive Member for Culture, Corporate Services and Public Protection, it was RESOLVED that:

ii)             the Local Council Tax Discount Scheme and the Local Council Tax Discount Summary Scheme be adopted

iii)            the operation of the Local Council Tax Discount Scheme be delegated to the Director of Adult Social Care, Health & Housing

37.

Annual Pay Policy Statement pdf icon PDF 924 KB

To receive the Director of Corporate Services’ report on the Annual Pay Policy Statement.

Minutes:

The Council considered the Pay Policy Statement for 2017/18.

 

On the proposition of Councillor McLean, seconded by Councillor Allen, it was

 

RESOLVED that the Pay Policy Statement for 2017/18 be agreed.

38.

Membership of Committees and External Body Representation pdf icon PDF 209 KB

To receive the Director of Corporate Services’ report on the Membership of Committees and External Body Representation.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Council considered the report seeking the Council’s approval to the appointment

of Members to fill vacancies on committees.

 

On the proposition of Councillor Bettison OBE, Leader of the Council seconded by

Councillor Allen, it was

 

RESOLVED that the tabled recommendations be approved:

 

i)              to nominate Councillor Dr Hill as the Council’s representative for the Standing Conference for Archives and

 

ii)             to note that the Leader had appointed Councillor Mrs Ingham to the Bracknell Forest Access Group.

39.

Questions Submitted Under Council Procedure Rule 10

From Councillor Mrs Temperton to Councillor Barnard, Executive Member for Children, Young People and Learning:

A considerable number of children and young people in Bracknell Forest have the responsibility 24/7 for the care and well-being of their parent and siblings. Last year the Council's support for the identified Young Carers was taken 'in house'.

 

What support is now given and what has been the impact on the life chances and emotional well-being of these Young Carers ?

 

Minutes:

Councillor Mrs Temperton asked Councillor Dr Barnard, Executive Member for Children, Young People and Learning the following published question:

 

A considerable number of children and young people in Bracknell Forest have the responsibility 24/7 for the care and well-being of their parent and siblings. Last year the Council's support for the identified Young Carers was taken 'in house'.

 

What support is now given and what has been the impact on the life chances and emotional well-being of these Young Carers?

 

In response Councillor Dr Barnard stated that the original service for young carers was good but that a tailored and individualised support was seen to be needed and so the decision was taken to bring the service in house to provide this.

 

Currently 165 young carers had been identified and an action plan had been developed to support these young carers, it was noteworthy that not all young carers wanted the support of the local authority.

 

A Young Carer Group had been established. One of the main areas of work had been to ensure that young carers were school ready when they presented at school in the morning. This work had involved close working with schools and welfare teams.

 

Councillor Mrs Temperton stated that she would be keen to see a report on the impact of this work with reporting being included in quarterly service reports, to ensure that these young people were kept in the forefront on the Council’s concerns.

 

The Executive Member for Children, Young People & Learning stated that he would be happy to report on impact once this data had been gathered.

 

Contact Information

Democratic services

Email: committee@bracknell-forest.gov.uk