Agenda and minutes

To approve as a correct record the minutes of the meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Commission held on 25 September 2024.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on 29 August 2024 be approved as a correct record, and signed by the chair.

Responses to all of the queries and requests for information raised in the meeting had been received or formed part of the agenda.

Members are asked to declare any disclosable pecuniary or affected interests and the nature of that interest, including the existence and nature of the party whip, 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.  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.

There were no declarations of interest or party whip.

Any other items which, pursuant to Section 100B(4)(b) of the Local Government Act 1972, the Chair decides are urgent.

There were no items of urgent business.

No submissions from members of the public have been submitted in advance in accordance with the Council’s Public Participation Scheme for Overview and Scrutiny.

No submissions had been made by members of the public under the Council’s Public Participation Scheme for Overview and Scrutiny.

To receive a presentation, from Kristen Willis-Drewett, Assistant Director of Operations at South Central Ambulance NHS Foundation Trust, on the service provided by South Central Ambulance Service (SCAS), performance and the Care Quality Commission (CQC) improvement programme.

To enable members of the Commission to discuss and make recommendations on the work of SCAS it is recommended members also read the CQC inspection for South Central Ambulance NHS Foundation Trust 2022 which can be found at https://www.cqc.org.uk/provider/RYE

Kirsten Willis-Drewett, Assistant Director of Operations at South Central Ambulance NHS Foundation Trust, gave a presentation on the service provided by South Central Ambulance Service (SCAS).

A discussion took place, and the following answers were provided:

·       A six-week course was provided for overseas recruits, in addition to overseas training, and they would not work alone for the first year.

·       Mental health calls would normally be triaged as Category 2 or 3. If a healthcare professional or mental health practitioner booking an admission on scene it would be an NHCP call, which could take several hours to respond, as it would require bringing together a number of services. The 111 service had a good mental health triage service.

·       Approximately 15-20 fully working effective paramedics from overseas in the north/south node.

·       The service operated a mobile workforce model which meant ambulances were often despatched from a hospital, or mobilisation point, rather than ambulance station. This included use of a computer aided despatch service to despatch an ambulance which made it more efficient.

·       Seven ambulances and three response vehicles operated in Bracknell Forest at any one time. During busy periods ambulances could be deployed across the area, as necessary. There would be 26 ambulances, across 3 ambulance stations, in service at any one time.

·       For every one job the Fire Service carried out, the Ambulance Service carried out seven jobs, and the Police Service carried out four. It was considered the busiest of all the services due to the nature of the work.

·       Community space was less well utilised at the moment due to the service being so busy and ambulances often being deployed from hospitals.

·       Mandatory training took place each year, some face to face and some e-learning. Mental health was the focus of last year’s training. The aim was 95% compliancy and they had nearly reached that target.

·       Major incident exercises took place regularly with other emergency services.

·       A trauma risk management (peer based support service) was provided for staff. It was staffed by volunteers.

·       It was helpful for the ambulance service to receive early reports on any house building that would increase pressure on the ambulance services in different parts of the borough.

Two Executive Members of Bracknell Forest Council have been invited to give an account of performance within the Corporate Performance Overview Report (CPOR) related to their portfolios:

-        Councillor Purnell, Executive Member for Environment, Community & Housing (Deputy Leader and Vice Chair of the Executive)

-        Councillor Jefferies, Executive Member for Leisure, Culture, Public Protection & Democracy

Members of the Commission are asked to review the attached presentation and consider recommendations for the Executive.

The Executive Member for Leisure, Culture, Public Protection & Democracy, Councillor Jefferies, provided an update on current issues within his portfolio including the costings for the Warfield Community Hub; refurbishment of Bracknell Leisure Centre; the work of the Public Protection Partnership, a proposed extension to the cemetery which would provide 25 years’ worth of space and emergency planning. Councillor Jefferies also paid tribute to Councillor Bradburn, Chair of the Thames Valley Police and Crime Panel, who passed away recently.

A discussion took place around the following areas:

·       any potential for health and police services being provided within the Warfield Community Hub

·       a request to explore burial space for the Gurkha community

·       it was noted the completion of refurbishment works at the leisure centre had been completed but difficulties were still faced in getting parts for the swimming pool

·       the refurbishment of Coral Reef Pool was complete

·       the potential for net zero being applied to all new builds in the borough

·       whether there was provision for net zero hubs in libraries and community hubs (such as information, demonstrations, make and mend cafes)

·       concerns were expressed over parents misusing Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) sessions at South Hill Park as evidence of need was not required. It was also agreed Councillor Forster would provide contact details from the Gurkha community to Councillor Jefferies in order to explore if their needs could be accommodated as part of the proposed cemetery extension.

Following discussions it was agreed to ask the executive member to consider the following proposals and report back to the Commission:

·       That the Council liaises with South Hill Park to ensure evidence of SEND is provided for children attending special educational needs and disabilities sessions at Playworld, or the relaxed panto sessions.

·       That the Council locates net zero hubs in libraries and other community facilities.

·       That the Council considers providing facilities, such as toilets and cafes, within libraries when creating community hubs in the future.

·       That the Council liaises with Warfield Parish Council to request Thames Valley Police allocate a police hub in the new community hub.

·       That the Council explores potential healthcare provision at the Warfield Community Hub.

Overview and Scrutiny Panel Chairs to provide verbal updates on the work programme and highlight any proposed changes such as scope, scheduling or duration.

Each panel chair/vice panel chair in attendance provided a verbal update on work programme progress.

Health and Care Overview and Scrutiny Panel

·      The panel was looking at the implementation of recommendations from old reviews.

·      A public consultation had been launched into the rebuild on Royal Berkshire Hospital. Opportunities for participation and receiving updates were being discussed.

·      The chair and vice chair had met with Cllr Wright, executive member for Adults and Public Health for an update on the Health and Wellbeing Board meeting.  Updates included the fact childhood vaccine uptake of 95%, which meant herd immunity had been reached these diseases. The new respiratory syncytial virus vaccine was being rolled out. Dentistry was discussed by the board, but Bracknell specific figures were not available, so Councillor Wright had requested figures specific to Bracknell be provided next time.

·      Bracknell Forest Council representatives on the Joint Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee for Frimley Park Hospital had attended two meetings to date but no specific updates were provided recently. Commissioners voiced concern about the lack of progress due to a delay by the Government announcing which hospitals would now be built. Discussions centred on the lack of convalescence homes and accommodation for key workers. Minutes and future meeting dates were available via a link on the Bracknell website: https://www.bracknell-forest.gov.uk/council-and-democracy/overview-and-scrutiny/joint-health-overview-and-scrutiny-committee

Education, Skills and Growth Overview and Scrutiny Panel

·      The scope for the review into transition was being finalised and included reviewing support to pupils in the borough post 16 to make good and timely career choices.

·      The chair had meet with Cllr Bailey, executive member for Children and Young People on a regular basis to receive updates about the service.

·      The former tuition service would be renamed ‘Access to Education’ service and a team of four had been recruited.

Environment and Communities Overview and Scrutiny Panel

·      The panel was looking at the implementation of recommendations from old reviews.

·      The next scrutiny review would be into housing will include looking at housing providers, such as Abri.

·      The panel was asked to carry out a pre-decision scrutiny of the draft Local Transport Plan in advance of it being approved by the cabinet.

RESOLVED: that the Environment and Communities Overview and Scrutiny Panel review the draft Local Transport Plan before it is submitted to the cabinet for approval.