Agenda, decisions and minutes

To approve as a correct record the Minutes of the meeting of the Executive held on 5 September 2019.

The Minutes of the meeting held on 5 September 2019 were approved as a true and correct record and signed by the 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.

Councillor Adrian Abbs declared an interest in Agenda Item 7(e) (his question relating to the Sandleford development) by virtue of the fact that he was Ward Member for the area, but reported that, as his interest was a personal or an other registrable interest, but not a disclosable pecuniary interest, he determined to remain to take part in the debate.

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

“Has the A339 road junction for new access into London Road Industrial Estate been constructed with a sustainable drainage system?”

A question standing in the name of Mr Alan Pearce on the subject of whether the A339 road junction for the new access into the London Road Industrial Estate had been constructed with a sustainable drainage system, was answered by the Portfolio Holder for Transport and Countryside.

“Can the Council please confirm that they will provide written confirmation regarding the availability of a Step 5 ground in Newbury to ensure that NCFG’s application to enter an Under 23 team and an Academy U18 team into the Hellenic Football League (which is Step 5 league) for next season (2020/2021) is successful?”

A question standing in the name of Mr Paul Morgan on the subject of the availability of a Step 5 ground in Newbury was answered by the Portfolio Holder for Public Health and Community Wellbeing.

“Is the Council aware that Newbury Ladies FC is currently in a promotion position in the Southern Region Womens Football League and that if promotion is achieved to the FA Womens National League they would have to play outside Newbury as Faraday Road Community Football Ground has been closed by the Council and no other pitch is available that meets the appropriate ground grading requirements?”

A question standing in the name of Mr Jack Harkness on the subject of playing facilities for Newbury Ladies FC, should they achieve promotion to the FA Women’s National League, was answered by the Portfolio Holder for Public Health and Community Wellbeing.

“Can the Council advise what it is doing to address the chronic shortage of children’s football training venues in Newbury?”

A question standing in the name of Mr Jason Braidwood on the subject of children’s football training venues in Newbury was answered by the Portfolio Holder for Public Health and Wellbeing.

“How can the Council expect us to believe it is serious about it’s Health and Wellbeing Strategy (2017-2020) and specifically the declared Aim and Objective to "Support residents to be more physically active, achieve a healthy weight and eat a healthy diet”, when it unnecessarily closed the Community Football Ground a year ago?”

A question standing in the name of Mr Lee McDougall on the subject of how the Council was meeting the aim and objective in the Health and Wellbeing Strategy in relation to supporting residents to be more physically active, achieve a healthy weight and eat a healthy diet was answered by the Portfolio Holder for Public Health and Wellbeing.

“When and in what detail will the assessment of the effects of a no deal Brexit be shared with local residents and businesses, headlines of which were apparently leaked from a confidential Council briefing?”

A question standing in the name of Dr Julie Wintrup on the subject of when and in what detail would the assessment of the effects of a no deal Brexit be shared with local residents and businesses was answered by the Leader of the Council.

“Does the Council know how many families and individuals are living in West Berkshire who are considered to have No Recourse to Public Funds?”

A question standing in the name of Dr Julie Wintrup on the subject of how many families and individuals were living in West Berkshire who were considered to have No Recourse to Public Funds was answered by the Portfolio Holder for Finance.

“What is the Council’s policy on free school meals entitlement of children from families that have No Recourse to Public Funds?”

A question standing in the name of Dr Julie Wintrup on the subject of the Council’s policy on free school meals entitlement of children from families that had No Recourse to Public Funds was answered by the Portfolio Holder for Children, Education and Young People.

“Can the Executive describe how and when it will reverse the 97% cuts in Youth Services since 2010, and re-establish or preferably exceed its 2010 funding level to meet the urgent need of young people for support?”

A question standing in the name of Ms Caroline Ffrench Blake on the subject of how and when the Council would reverse the 97% cuts in Youth Services since 2010, and re-establish or preferably exceed its 2010 funding level to meet the urgent need of young people for support was answered by the Portfolio Holder for Children, Education and Young People.

There were no petitions presented to the Executive.

(CSP: All)

Purpose:  To report quarter one outturns for the core business measures which monitor performance against the 2019/20 Council Performance Framework.

Resolved that:

·         Progress against the core business measures be noted.

·         Those areas reported as ‘amber’ or ‘red’ (detailed in Appendix F) had been reviewed to ensure that appropriate actions were in place and were making a difference, in particular for the measure relating to:

·         The timeliness of reviews of clients with ASC long term service – this had been referred to the Overview and Scrutiny Management Commission by the Executive at Q4.

·         The decrease in demand in Q1 in Children and Family Services be noted.

·         The increase in demand and its subsequent impact on performance and financial commitment in Adult Social Care be noted, in particular on the Locality Teams.

This decision is eligible to be ‘called-in’.  However, if the decision has not been ‘called-in’ by 5.00pm on 24 October 2019, then it will be implemented.

The Executive considered a report (Agenda Item 6) concerning quarter one outturns for the core business measures which monitored performance against the 2019/20 Council Performance Framework. The report sought to provide assurance that the core business areas set out in the Council Strategy 2019-2023 were being managed effectively and presented, by exception, those measures which were predicted to be ‘amber’ (behind schedule) or ‘red’ (not achievable) at the end of the quarter, and provided information on remedial action taken and the impact of that action.

Councillor Howard Woollaston commended the report to the Executive. While the Council would by no means be complacent, performance was in a good place and much was owed to officers for their continued hard work.

Quarter one results showed that performance levels were in line to achieve the end of year targets for the majority of the measures of the core business areas. An analysis of the measures RAG rated Amber or Red, showed that actions had been implemented to improve performance, which in one of the two cases was just below the target set – average number of days taken to make a full decision on changes in a benefit claimants circumstances.

The area of underperformance concerning the timeliness of reviews of clients with an Adult Social Care long term service (LTS) had already been referred by the Executive at Q4 for more in depth scrutiny by the Overview and Scrutiny Management Commission (OSMC).

Councillor Woollaston highlighted that there had been a decrease in demand in Q1 in Children and Family Services; and an increase in demand in Adult Social Care services which had a particular impact on the Locality Teams.

Issues encountered with major ICT projects had been or were in the process of being resolved.

Councillor Graham Bridgman highlighted points relating to Adult Social Care. He welcomed the good performance reported regarding reablement/ rehabilitation following discharge of clients from hospital. Excellent performance had also been maintained for the timeliness in conducting financial assessments despite the number and complexity of financial assessments and reviews increasing.

Councillor Bridgman next made reference to adult safeguarding enquiries. The number of enquiries opened, whilst below the previous two quarters, was still 10.6% higher than the same quarter last year. Councillor Bridgman clarified that these enquiries related to externally run services and did not relate to the Council’s own services. The Council held safeguarding responsibility for all its residents in receipt of social care services including from external providers. The practice followed by the Council on receiving a report was to hold a safeguarding enquiry for each individual client rather than the external establishment concerned which was the practice employed in other areas.

There had been a particular increase in reports relating to two external providers and it had therefore been necessary to open safeguarding enquiries.

Councillor Bridgman very much welcomed the fact that people were reporting their concerns.

As already explained, reviews of people with a LTS was reported ‘red’. Councillor Bridgman acknowledged that the numbers provided  ...  view the full minutes text for item 50.

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

“What is the Executive Member planning to do to make this council more responsive to requests for speed limit changes from councillors and members of the public?”

A question standing in the name of Councillor Alan Macro on the subject of the Council being more responsive to requests for speed limit changes from Councillors and members of the public was answered by the Portfolio Holder for Transport and Countryside.

“Will the council’s draft environment (carbon neutral by 2030) strategy be shared at the conference on Monday 28 October?”

A question standing in the name of Councillor Carolyne Culver on the subject of whether the Council’s draft Environment Strategy would be shared at the conference on Monday 28 October was answered by the Portfolio Holder for Environment.

“How will the council determine the questions asked in its online public consultation about the environment strategy?”

A question standing in the name of Councillor Carolyne Culver on the subject of how the Council would determine the questions asked in its online public consultation about the Environment Strategy was answered by the Portfolio Holder for Environment.

“How will the council ensure that the draft environment strategy and public consultation are widely publicised to stakeholders and the public?”

A question standing in the name of Councillor Carolyne Culver on the subject of how the Council would ensure that the draft Environment Strategy and public consultation would be widely publicised to stakeholders and the public was answered by the Portfolio Holder for Environment.

“How much council resource, in terms of officer hours, has been spent on the Sandleford development applications to date?”

A question standing in the name of Councillor Adrian Abbs on the subject of how much Council resource, in terms of officer hours, had been spent on the Sandleford development applications to date was answered by the Portfolio Holder for Economic Development and Planning.

“Due to a lack of response from officers, can the Executive confirm how much of the £750k invest to save money has been spent to date?”

A question standing in the name of Councillor Adrian Abbs on the subject of how much of the £750k invest to save money had been spent to date was answered by the Portfolio Holder for Finance.

“Given the slow progress in getting the new Environment Strategy completed, does the Executive agree that the EAG needs to meet more frequently?”

A question standing in the name of Councillor Adrian Abbs on the subject of whether the Environment Advisory Group needed to meet more frequently in order to get the new Environment Strategy completed was answered by the Portfolio Holder for Environment.

“What is this Council planning to do to ameliorate the extra traffic congestion and resulting pollution likely to be caused on the roads leading to the Thatcham level crossing by the extra passenger train services to be introduced in December?”

A question standing in the name of Councillor Alan Macro on the subject of what the Council was planning to do to ameliorate the extra traffic congestion and resulting pollution likely to be caused on the roads leading to the Thatcham level crossing by the extra passenger train services to be introduced in December was answered by the Portfolio Holder for Transport and Countryside.

“What negotiations have taken place between this Council and the railway companies to request that the extra passenger train services to be introduced in December should call additionally at Thatcham and Theale?”

A question standing in the name of Councillor Alan Macro asking what negotiations had taken place between the Council and the railway companies to request that the extra passenger train services to be introduced in December should call additionally at Thatcham and Theale was answered by the Portfolio Holder for Transport and Countryside.