Agenda, decisions and minutes

To approve as a correct record the Minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 16 February 2017.

Councillor Hilary Cole introduced the meeting by explaining, with extreme sorrow, that Councillor Roger Croft had died on Friday 24 March 2017 from heart failure. This followed the serious accident that Councillor Croft was involved in whilst travelling in France on 9 February 2017 in which his wife, Mrs Zelda Croft, had died.

Councillor Cole reflected that Roger would be much missed as both a good friend and a respected colleague, and she gave thanks for the many messages and cards of condolence that had been received.

Finally, Councillor Cole commented that Roger’s vision for West Berkshire as Leader would not be lost and his good work would continue.

A one minute silence was then observed.

Councillor Lee Dillon added his reflections on his work with Councillor Croft on both Thatcham Town Council and West Berkshire Council. He recalled that Roger’s election to the Town Council helped to inspire him to develop as a Councillor.

Councillor Dillon also commented that while he and Roger did not always agree on matters relating to the work of both councils, they very often did. In particular, Councillor Dillon highlighted work on flood alleviation schemes in Thatcham as an area on which they shared a common interest and worked towards a shared goal.

Councillor Dillon advised that he met with Roger in a social capacity in January 2017 when they discussed West Berkshire Council issues and ways to progress areas of work where there was an agreed approach between the Conservative and Liberal Democrat groups. He very much hoped that this was an approach which could be continued.

Councillor Dillon concluded that Roger would also be sadly missed from the Liberal Democrat side of the Chamber.

The Minutes of the meeting held on 16 February 2017 were approved as a true and correct record and signed by the Acting Deputy Leader.

To remind Members of the need to record the existence and nature of any personal, disclosable pecuniary or other registrable interests in items on the agenda, in accordance with the Members’ Code of Conduct.

There were no declarations of interest received.

Members of the Executive to answer questions submitted by members of the public in accordance with the Executive Procedure Rules contained in the Council’s Constitution. (Note: There were no questions submitted relating to items not included on this Agenda.)

There were no public questions submitted.

Councillors or Members of the public may present any petition which they have received. These will normally be referred to the appropriate Committee without discussion.

There were no petitions presented to the Executive.

(CSP: All)

Purpose:

(1)  To report Quarter Three outturns for the Key Accountable Measures which monitor performance against the 2016/17 Council Performance Framework.

(2)  To provide assurance to Members that the objectives set out in the Council Strategy and other areas of significant activity are being managed effectively.

(3)  To present, by exception, those measures that are predicted to be ‘amber’ (behind schedule) or ‘red’ (not achievable) and provide information on any remedial action taken and the impact of that action.

(4)  To recommend changes to measures/targets as requested by services.

Resolved that:

(1)  Progress against the Council Strategy priorities for improvement be noted.

(2)  Those areas reporting as ‘amber’ or ‘red’ were reviewed to ensure that appropriate action was in place.

(3)  The following measure of volume:

·      No. of transactions through WBC website for ‘most requested tasks’

would be replaced with

·      Number of individual sessions (customer contacts) through our website.

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 Quarter Three outturns for the Key Accountable Measures which monitored performance against the 2016/17 Council Performance Framework. This report served to provide assurance to Members that the objectives set out in the Council Strategy and other areas of significance were being managed effectively. The report also presented, by exception, those measures/milestones that were predicted to be ‘amber’ (behind schedule) or ‘red’ (not achievable) and provided information on any remedial action taken and its impact. Finally, the report recommended a change to a measure of volume.

Councillor James Fredrickson introduced the item and drew Members’ attention to the single page performance scorecard that had been produced to front the report. The purpose of this was to aid transparency of the Council’s performance, in particular with residents, with the scorecard providing at a quick glance an assessment of performance against each Council Strategy priority, progress against Core Business and Corporate Programme activity, and performance of key Corporate Health measures.

Councillor Fredrickson added that the introduction of the scorecard would be publicised.

Councillor Marcus Franks highlighted ongoing activity which sought to help achieve the Council Strategy priority to help communities to help themselves. A new multi agency community resilience team would be commencing from 1 April 2017 in partnership with colleagues from Thames Valley Police; a Prospectus containing a list of services that Parish and Town Councils could take on would be published via a portal on 3 April 2017; and a Community Solutions Fund had been put in place in conjunction with Greenham Common Trust.

Councillor Franks also explained that the Emotional Health Academy had proved to be very successful with a 43% reduction in referrals to the Tier 3 Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) being achieved as a result of the Academy’s work.

Councillor Lynne Doherty took the opportunity to thank Officers for their efforts in consistently performing well throughout the year against the Core Business measure of ‘Protecting our children’.

Councillor Lee Dillon welcomed the new scorecard approach. In terms of the detail of the report, he noted that data was not available for some measures at the time the agenda was published. Councillor Dillon felt this was an area to improve upon. In particular, he referred to the Council Strategy priority to enable the completion of more affordable housing, data for which was unavailable for Q3 and was reporting as ‘red’. Councillor Dillon felt that it would be preferable to provide the most recent position in reports, with a caveat to explain that this was subject to an update.

Councillor Hilary Cole agreed with the need for the most up to date data to be provided and this would continue to be strived for moving forward.

She shared concerns around affordable housing performance and advised that the authority was looking to purchase accommodation to provide affordable housing. However, the development of affordable housing was very much in the hands of developers who had concerns over the viability  ...  view the full minutes text for item 121.

Members of the Executive to answer questions submitted by Councillors in accordance with the Executive Procedure Rules contained in the Council’s Constitution.

A full transcription of the Member question and answer session is available from the following link: Transcription of Q&As.

“How many children attend a school within their catchment area that is not their nearest school and so are therefore not eligible for free home to school transport?”

A question standing in the name of Councillor Mollie Lock in relation to eligibility for free home to school transport for children who attended a school within their catchment area that was not their nearest school was answered by the Portfolio Holder for Children and Young People.

“How many fraudulent claims for benefits have the Council identified in the last year and of those how many have been successfully prosecuted?”

A question standing in the name of Councillor Lee Dillon regarding how many fraudulent benefit claims the Council had identified in the last year and the number of successful prosecutions was answered by the Portfolio Holder for Corporate Services and External Affairs.

“How will the Council spend the additional Adult Social Care funding from the Chancellors recent budget?”

A question standing in the name of Councillor Lee Dillon asking how the Council would spend the additional Adult Social Care funding from the Chancellors recent budget was answered by the Acting Deputy Leader.

RECOMMENDATION: That members of the press and public be excluded from the meeting during consideration of the following items 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 Paragraphs 1 and 2 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.

(Paragraph 1 – information relating to an individual)

(Paragraph 2 - information identifying an individual)

(CSP: MEC)

Purpose:  To seek approval to make the “Strand Four” redundancy payments set out in this report associated with savings to deliver the 2017/18 Revenue Budget.

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 or could compromise the Council's position.

therefore it will be implemented immediately.

(Paragraph 1 – information relating to an individual)

(Paragraph 2 – information identifying an individual)

The Executive considered an exempt report (Agenda Item 9) which sought approval to make the “Strand Four” redundancy payments set out in this report associated with savings to deliver the 2017/18 Revenue Budget.

RESOLVED that the recommendations in the exempt report be agreed.

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

Other options considered: as outlined in the exempt report.