Agenda, decisions and minutes

To approve as a correct record the Minutes of the meeting of the Executive held on 26 May 2016.

The Minutes of the meeting held on 26 May 2016 were approved as a true and correct record and signed by the Deputy Leader.

To remind Members of the need to record the existence and nature of any Personal, Disclosable Pecuniary or other interests in items on the agenda, in accordance with the Members’ Code of Conduct.

There were no declarations of interest received.

There were no public questions submitted.

Councillor Alan Macro presented a petition, on behalf of Ms Lisa Cox, containing 628 signatures requesting that West Berkshire Council reverse its decision to not pay the re3 subsidy payment which would mean that West Berkshire residents could no longer use the Smallmead Household Waste Recycling Centre. Petitioners felt it unfair that residents on the outside edges of West Berkshire should be made to travel a further 30 miles to dispose of waste and there was concern that a steep increase in fly tipping could result.

The petition was referred to Officers in Culture and Environmental Protection, and Finance for a response.

(Post meeting note: the decision to withdraw from the re3 waste partnership was taken at the Special Council meeting held on 24 March 2016 as part of setting the Council’s 2016/17 budget. The Council’s Constitution did not permit decisions made within the previous six months to be returned to and therefore the petition could not be considered until that six month time period had elapsed, i.e. the end of September 2016).

(CSP: MEC, MEC1)

Purpose: To inform Members of the provisional financial outturn of the Council for 2015/16.

Resolved that the provisional financial outturn of the Council for 2015-16 and the budget movements processed in year be noted.

This decision is not subject to call in as:

·      Report is to note only

therefore it will be implemented immediately.

The Executive considered a report (Agenda Item 6) concerning the provisional financial outturn for the Council in respect of the 2015-16 financial year, subject to the final result of the closedown and External Audit process.

Councillor Graham Jones introduced the report and explained that total capital expenditure in 2015-16 was £38.5m, with an under spend of £6.7m against the revised budget of £45.2m. The budget was revised during the course of the year to take account of funds brought forward from 2014-15, additional grant and section 106 funding allocated to schemes during the year and funds re-profiled into 2016-17, and these changes had been explained in the quarterly budget monitoring reports provided to the Executive. The Capital Strategy Group had recommended that £6.6m of the overall underspend should be carried forward to enable schemes already underway to be completed and/or to meet future capital commitments. 

The total revenue expenditure in 2015-16 was £125m, with a provisional year end overspend of £115k or 0.09% of net budget which would lead to a reduction in the General Fund. Councillor Jones felt this was a considerable achievement when considering the financial pressures felt during 2015-16 and Officers were thanked for their efforts in achieving this outturn. Investment had also been made into Children and Family Services during 2015-16 in response to the Ofsted Inspection. This investment was helping to achieve positive results.

Councillor Jones explained that at Quarter Three, the forecast Year End position for the Council was an overspend of £625k, but through a deliberate slowing of non-essential expenditure across services, the corporate position had been reduced to the Year End provisional overspend of £115k.

Councillor Jones then reported that increasing demand across social care budgets during 2015-16 had put the Council’s resources under considerable strain. This budget pressure included the burden of meeting the requirements of the Care Act. Councillor Jones explained that efforts continued to engage Central Government on the issue of appropriate funding to implement the requirements of the Care Act.

It was also noted that the Council had made significant investment into identified pressure points as part of the 2016-17 budget process. 

Councillor Hilary Cole agreed that the 2015/16 budget had been well managed in what were difficult financial times and staff should be congratulated. Social care staff had done particularly well when considering increasing levels of demand.

Councillor Alan Macro queried whether it was the expectation that budget overspends were likely to continue in Children and Family Services. Councillor Lynne Doherty responded by advising that this was not the expectation. She added that while social care services were demand led, the number of Looked After Children and children subject to a Child Protection Plan had reduced post the production of the Council’s Ofsted Improvement Plan.

Councillor Macro then referred to the underspend reported for the Environment Directorate and queried whether this was contributed to by the mild winter experienced. Councillor Jones agreed that a written response would be provided on this point from the Portfolio Holder for  ...  view the full minutes text for item 14.

Purpose: To make a decision about how to develop the Household Waste Recycling Centres (HWRCs) and how to control waste flow.

Resolved that:

·         new measures would be introduced to control access to the Council’s Household Waste Recycling Centre (HWRC) services; including a resident permit scheme and a booking system for residents using commercial type vehicles.

·         the extension of the Padworth HWRC service would be explored with the Council’s Waste Management Contractor.

This decision is not subject to call in as:

·      a delay in implementing the decision would cause the Council serious financial implications.

therefore it will be implemented immediately.

The Executive considered a report (Agenda Item 7) which sought approval for proposals to mitigate against the effects of the end of the cross border arrangement by Hampshire County Council for their residents to use West Berkshire Council’s Household Waste Recycling Centre (HWRC) service, and the decision to cease the arrangement with the re3 partnership (which consisted of Bracknell Forest, Reading and Wokingham Councils) which enabled West Berkshire residents to use the Smallmead HWRC.

Councillor Marcus Franks explained that from 1 April 2016, Hampshire County Council, having given notice, ended their financial contributions to allow Hampshire’s residents access to the Padworth and Newtown Road HWRCs. Currently Hampshire residents were still using West Berkshire’s HWRCs.

To mitigate against the loss of income from Hampshire County Council, it was proposed that access to the West Berkshire HWRC sites be controlled by the implementation of a resident permit scheme and restricting access to commercial vehicles.

At the Special Council Meeting on 24 March 2016 the Council decided to end the arrangement with re3 and cease the Council’s contribution of £460,000 at a time when significant savings had to be found. Therefore, three months notice had been given to re3 which would end the agreement on the 30 June 2016. re3 had responded by introducing controls to stop residents from West Berkshire using their facility from the 1 July 2016. The disposal of waste by West Berkshire residents at this facility would need to be managed through the Council’s waste services.

Councillor Franks pointed out that significant efforts had been made with the re3 waste partnership with a view to reducing costs and avoiding this situation prior to this decision being made in March 2016.

To mitigate against the impact on residents, following the decision by the re3 partnership to close access to West Berkshire residents, it was proposed that the possibility of extending the service at the Padworth HWRC should be explored with the Council’s Waste Management contractor (Veolia).

Councillor Franks urged those residents who had utilised the Smallmead HWRC to date to make use of the Padworth HWRC for recyclable waste, the Newtown Road HWRC for both recyclable and non-recyclable waste, as well as utilising roadside recycling and bulky waste collections.

Councillor Franks then made reference to the petition submitted earlier in the meeting which requested that the Council reverse its decision to not pay the re3 subsidy payment, thereby allowing continued access to the Smallmead HWRC. Councillor Franks gave the view that it would be difficult to reverse this decision as the financial saving had been incorporated in the 2016/17 budget and if the decision was reversed, then an alternative saving would need to be found from elsewhere within the Council’s budget.

Concern was also raised in the petition of a potential steep increase in fly tipping. Councillor Franks stated that the Council would be vigilant on the offence of fly tipping and would prosecute offenders. However, he expected that residents would continue to dispose of their waste responsibly.

Councillor Alan  ...  view the full minutes text for item 15.

A full transcription of the public and Member question and answer sessions are available from the following link: Transcription of Q&As.

“Following the launch of the community energy-switching scheme, can you clarify how the scheme operates and the benefit this has brought to those that have signed up?”

A question standing in the name of Councillor Richard Somner on the subject of the launch of the community energy-switching scheme was answered by the Portfolio Holder for Communities and Public Protection.

“What is the estimated proportion of non West Berkshire residents using the Council’s waste and recycling centres?”

A question standing in the name of Councillor Alan Macro on the subject of the proportion of non West Berkshire residents using the Council’s waste and recycling centres was answered by the Portfolio Holder for Communities and Public Protection.

“What is the Council doing to ensure that traffic signs are clearly visible?”

A question standing in the name of Councillor Alan Macro on the subject of the visibility of traffic signs was answered by the Deputy Leader of the Council on behalf of the Portfolio Holder for Transport and Emergency Planning.

“As planning enforcement is important to protecting local residents, is the Portfolio Holder confident that the Council has adequate enforcement resources?”

A question standing in the name of Councillor Alan Macro on the subject of the adequacy of the Council’s planning enforcement resource was answered by the Portfolio Holder for Economic Development and Planning.

RECOMMENDATION: That members of the press and public be excluded from the meeting during consideration of the following item as it is likely that there would be disclosure of exempt information of the description contained in the paragraphs of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972 specified in brackets in the heading of each item. Rule 8.10.4 of the Constitution refers.

RESOLVED that members of the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the under-mentioned item of business on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as contained in Paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972, as amended by the Local Government (Access to Information)(Variation) Order 2006. Rule 8.10.4 of the Constitution also refers.

Purpose: to agree the recommendations as set out in the exempt report.

Resolved that the recommendations in the exempt report be agreed.

This decision is not subject to call in as:

·      a delay in implementing the decision would cause the Council serious financial implications.

therefore it will be implemented immediately.

(Paragraph 3 – information relating to financial/business affairs of particular person)

The Executive considered an exempt report (Agenda Item 10) concerning the budget and service issues in relation to the Household Waste Recycling Centre Service.

RESOLVED that the recommendations in the exempt report be agreed.

Reason for the decision: as detailed in the exempt report.

Other options considered: as detailed in the exempt report.