Agenda item

To review the proposed 2036 Vision document which is currently out to public consultation.

(Councillor Emma Webster declared a personal interest in Agenda Item 9 by virtue of the fact that she was the West Berkshire Council representative for both the Thames Valley Police and Crime Panel and the Royal Berkshire Fire Authority. As her interest was personal and not prejudicial she was permitted to take part in the debate).

The Commission considered a report (Agenda Item 9) concerning the Vision 2036. The aim was to present the 2036 Vision document and to ask the Commission to note that it was currently out for public consultation.

Gabrielle Mancini introduced herself as the new Economic Development Officer at West Berkshire Council. The West Berkshire Vision document provided a broad statement of intent that would be monitored by the Health and Wellbeing Board (HWBB), providing a partnership approach to its delivery. The document looked at what was possible in West Berkshire and asked partners to sign up to aspirations for the district. The document had been out for consultation for three weeks and this would continue until the end of October 2018. So far there had been a good level of comment received. Gabrielle Mancini encouraged Members to disseminate the document to their parishes. The plan was to submit the final draft of the document to the HWBB in January 2019 and Full Council in March 2019 for sign off.

Councillor Lee Dillon referred to details of the HWBB on the website and had noted that the membership of the Board was listed however it neglected to detail the name of each member represented. Therefore it might not be apparent to members of the public that the HWBB was the best body to monitor the document. Gabrielle Mancini stated that she would feed Councillor Dillon’s comments back, as this could be easily rectified.

Gabrielle Mancini added that the document was the first of its kind to be overseen by the HWBB, as in the past similar documents had been ratified by Council without input from partners. Councillor Dillon also did not feel from reading the document that it was clear why the HWBB was overseeing it. Gabrielle Mancini stated that once the Board had signed up to the document, detail could be provided on who each of the partners were. The HWBB was a group consisting of a wide variety of stakeholders that went beyond health.

Nick Carter added that the HWBB had become the primary strategic partnership for West Berkshire and was similar in nature to the former Local Strategic Partnership (LSP). Nick Carter suggested that a paragraph be added to the inside cover of the document to explain the role of the HWBB.

Councillor Dillon noted that there were some typographical errors to correct within the draft. He also referred to the ‘Where we are now’ page regarding the 10,000 homes built between 2000 and 2018 and noted that this did not follow the same pattern in relation to the time period it covered.

Councillor Dillon felt that no-one could really disagree with the objectives and aspirations of the report however, he felt that the document was aspiring to be where the district had been three years ago before the vast amount of cuts had been implemented.

Councillor Emma Webster referred to page six where it quoted West Berkshire had the ‘Best residential care in England’ and queried what evidence underpinned this quote. Councillor Webster felt that this was a bold statement considering the issues there had been with Birchwood Care Home. Gabrielle Mancini stated that this was based on research that had been undertaken by the BBC, which had identified that 97% of the care provided was either good or outstanding in the district. Councillor Webster felt that the source should be added to the quote.

Councillor Webster queried the quote on page six that West Berkshire was ‘one of the best places to be a woman’. Gabrielle Mancini stated that this had been taken from a statistical study carried out by the Guardian. Councillor Webster felt that this needed to be more specific.

Councillor Webster commented that some of the photos used throughout the document were not a true representation of the district. Gabrielle Mancini stated that the intention would be to go on a tour of West Berkshire and take some new photos. This would be done once there had been sign up to the document.

It was noted that the Portfolio Holder, Councillor Rick Jones had sent his apologies for the meeting and Councillor Webster stated what she would be happy to forward any comments from Members onto him for consideration.

Councillor Laszlo Zverko referred to there being no financial implications highlighted and hoped that this would prove to be the case. 

RESOLVED that:

·         Organisation details be added to the HWBB membership page on the website and a description of the role of the HWBB be added to the inside cover of the Vision 2036 document.

·         The Commission noted the Vision 2036 document that was out for consultation until the end of October 2018.