Agenda and draft minutes

To approve as a correct record the minutes of the meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Commission held on 14 November 2024.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting of the Commission held on 14 November 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 indications that members would be participating while under the 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 had been made by members of the public under the Council’s Public Participation Scheme for Overview and Scrutiny.

Council Plan Overview Report (CPOR) covering the second quarter of 2024/25 is attached.

Members of the Commission are asked to submit technical or detailed questions in advance of the meeting.

Susan Halliwell, Chief Executive presented highlights from the second quarter of the Council Plan Overview Report, which included:

·       A number of events taking place this quarter including a culture and community day and the celebration of the 75^th anniversary of Bracknell Forest as a new town.

·       100% of all schools in the borough rated either good or outstanding.

·       Bracknell Forest Leisure Centre spa had been upgraded.

·       The Council had been a part of the South East Fostering Regional Hub and Bracknell Forest Mokingbird Project launches which aimed to recruit and retain foster carers.

Challenges which remained were as follows:

·       Budget forecast was in a better position at the end of this quarter than when the CPOR was published, which initially projected a significant overspend. Management interventions had been integral to reducing the overspend but demand, and increased unit costs, would impact further on the budget.

·       There had been a significant increase in the number of requests for Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs).

·       Due to the social unrest nationally over the summer, additional activities took place to engage communities, aimed at fostering better social cohesion.

Having reviewed the report, the Commission did not make any recommendations to the Cabinet but did make the following observations:

Page 27, street lighting – work was being undertaken currently to understand what had caused an overspend in this area.

Page 30, car parking in Market Street – it was noted a request to the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) to remove the property from the listing had been denied and an appeal had been submitted, which included negotiations on the business rate.

Page 45, 2.3.1KR – it was queried if a refund could be sought from the street cleaning contractors as targets had not been met. It was agreed a written response would be circulated to Commissioners in response to this question.

To ask the Overview and Scrutiny Commission to approve appointments to labour group vacancies on the Education, Skills and Growth Overview and Scrutiny Panel and the Environment and Communities Overview and Scrutiny Panel in accordance with the wishes of the labour group

The Overview and Scrutiny Commission approved appointments to labour group vacancies on the Education, Skills and Growth Overview and Scrutiny Panel and the Environment and Communities Overview and Scrutiny Panel.

The Cabinet member for planning, transport and countryside, Councillor Gillbe, has been invited to give an account of performance within the Corporate Performance Overview Report (CPOR) related to this portfolio.

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

The Cabinet member for planning, transport and countryside, Councillor Gillbe, attended to give an account of performance within the Corporate Performance Overview Report (CPOR) related to his portfolio.

A discussion took place around the following areas:

·       Housing targets in the borough would be published by the Government shortly in a revised National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF).

·       It was confirmed a consultation was going to take place on the Tree Strategy quarterly review, due to begin in January 2025, which had been delayed by vacancies in the team.

·       An officer at Wokingham Borough Council had been commissioned to develop sustainability guidance notes.

·       There was no intention to update the Local Plan at this time.

·       The Local Transport Plan was currently out for consultation and hard copies were available in local libraries or online at: https://consult.bracknell-forest.gov.uk/kse/event/38197 It was particularly noted EV charging points may not be available for individual households at this time.

·       The Council continued to look at opportunities for unitary authorities in Berkshire to deliver infrastructure projects through the new Prosperity Board, which had a dedicated transport person on the board.

·       Concern was expressed about the number of enforcement officers in the borough, given issues raised with dangerous parking outside some schools, and the need to enforce planning restrictions. Councillor Gillbe confirmed the right number of enforcement officers were employed within the resources available.

·       A recruitment strategy was in place to increase the number of Building Control Officers, as there were a number of vacancies.

The following actions were agreed:

RESOLVED: that the Cabinet member for planning, transport and countryside be invited to a future meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Commission following the Government’s publication of the NPPF and housing targets.

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

Updates were provided by the following Overview and Scrutiny Panel chairs and the following points were noted:

Education, Skills and Growth Overview and Scrutiny Panel

The chair of the ES&G panel, Councillor Watts, updated the Commission that the Panel had carried out a number of witness sessions as part of the ‘transition from education to employment’ scrutiny review and formal recommendations were being considered. The final report would be shared with the Commission in February.

Health and Care Panel Overview and Scrutiny Panel

The chair of the H&C panel, Councillor Egglestone, informed Commissioners the Panel would next review the Mental Health review carried out by the previous administration. At the last Joint Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee: Frimley Park Hospital it had been noted contingency plans for the rebuild of the hospital were being worked up and plans considered for emphasising the community outreach part of the programme, including increasing beds and capacity for a High Care Unit. The Cabinet member for adults and public health would feedback to the chair of the panel on work ongoing with Pilgrim Hearts, the Primary Care Networks and the welfare team.

Meeting as the Crime and Disorder Committee, to receive a presentation on, and to consider: the performance of the Community Safety Partnership and the priorities in the Community Safety Plan for the coming year.

The Commission has invited the following guests to address the meeting:

·       Councillor Purnell, Cabinet member for environment, community and housing (deputy leader and vice chair of the Cabinet)

·       Susan Halliwell, Chair of the Community Safety Partnership

·       Superintendent Andrew Cranidge, Local Police Commander, Thames Valley Police

·       Alison O’Meara, Head of youth justice and community safety, Bracknell Forest Council

Members of the Commission are asked to submit technical or detailed questions in advance of the meeting.

The Overview and Scrutiny Commission sat as the Crime and Disorder Committee for the second part of the meeting.

An overview of the Community Safety Partnership’s priorities and data was provided by the Cabinet member for Environment, Community and Housing, Councillor Purnell, the Community Safety Partnership Chair, Susan Halliwell, Local Police Commander, Thames Valley, Superintendent Cranidge, Head of youth justice and community safety, Alison O’Meara.

The following issues were highlighted and responses to questions given:

·       The Council had recently endorsed the Community Safety Plan 2025-2028.

·       Rates of crimes and anti-social behaviour incidents was an improving picture in Bracknell Forest, being the 13^th lowest out of 63 unitary authorities in England.

·       An effective tasking team on drug offences was now in place and they were targeting street drug dealing. Capability over the last two years had been an issue due to the way new police officers were inducted in terms of the protected learning time.

·       There had been a reduction in anti-social behaviour and crimes in the town centre compared to last year.

·       Domestic abuse had increased slightly, and it was noted 50% of violence with injury had happened in a home where domestic abuse had taken place.

·       The current police team were reasonably young and new to the job. However, significant training was given when starting policing (10 weeks training with a more experienced officer) and ongoing learning was rigorous.

·       Knife-enabled crime had seen a 33% reduction which was thought to be down to better engagement with schools and early intervention. This excluded possession of a weapon statistics.

·       Domestic abuse outcome rate had seen a dip in April and it was unclear why this had happened. It was anticipated this number would improve and stabilise soon as it does change from month to month. Outcome rates are related to someone accused of an offense receiving a charge or a community order.

·       Sexual offence numbers were considered low, but over half had taken place in domestic abuse settings. Often this was down to historic offences being recorded.

·       Other sexual offences had seen an increase to 107. Mostly it was children sharing pictures of themselves or couples using coercive control by threatening to share images.

·       Bracknell was considered a safe place to live according to overall figures.

·       The first significant change to the structure of policing in Thames Valley in 13 years would take place from 7 May. 11 local police areas would move to five local command areas. The East of Berkshire model would include Slough, Bracknell and Windsor & Maidenhead and be led by Chief Superintendent Steve Raffield. The intention was to increase the number of community police officers too. There would be one, central command unit for domestic abuse which was considered to be a positive move.

·       Three key focus areas for the Community Safety Partnership in the current plan were reviewed annually. A new plan would be required from 2027.

·       Progress had been made against 35 actions in the Serious Violence Action Plan 2024-27 and 20  ...  view the full minutes text for item 42.