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Items

No. Item

60. Minutes of Previous Meeting PDF 146 KB View the background to item 60. To approve as a correct record the minutes of the meeting of the Council held on 27 February 2013. Minutes: RESOLVED that the minutes of the Council meeting held on 27 February 2013 be approved and signed by the Mayor as a correct record.

61. Declarations of Interest View the background to item 61. Any Member with a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest or an Affected 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 Interest is not entered on the register of Members interests the Monitoring Officer must be notified of the interest within 28 days. Minutes: There were no declarations of interest.

62. Mayor's Announcements View the background to item 62. Minutes: Recycling of Town Centre Wooden Planters The Mayor invited the Executive Member for the Environment, Cllr Mrs Hayes to speak on this item. Mrs Hayes reported that there were a number of wooden planters in the town centre which were quite old and were likely to be discarded when the developers began work in this area as the Council had nowhere else to store or locate them. The Council’s contractor, Ringway had been looking into making some planters for The Pines Primary School as part of their Corporate Social Responsibility to engage in projects with the local community. Ringway and the Landscape team had agreed to carefully remove the old wooden planters from the town centre, to enable Ringway to re-use the best of the wood to make planters for the school. The Executive Member stated that this was an excellent means of recycling materials in the Borough and hoped to see more examples of this in the future. Award for the Healthy Voices Project The Leader, Councillor Bettison reported that the Nepali community shared a great affinity with the Borough, many of the Ghurkha community having served Queen and country through military service had chosen to settle in the Borough. ‘Healthy Voices’ was a three year project 75% funded by the European Integration Fund working with non EU adult members of the community teaching English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) and Skilled for Health classes covering topics on healthy eating, food safety, budgeting and physical activity and fitness. The project was now in its final year and was exclusively managed by Bracknell Forest Council. The project recently applied for an Adult Learners Week award, one of 300 projects to do so and reached the shortlist stage. Whilst not successful on this occasion for an award; the awarding body noted that to be shortlisted for this award was a massive achievement in itself and in acknowledgement of this, would be awarding Healthy Voices a Certificate of Achievement. The Leader stated that this was a tremendous achievement and recognised the endeavours of local people to integrate with the community and learn new skills. The Leader announced that on Saturday 29 June, all councillors were invited to attend an event where awards would be presented at the Owlsmoor Community Centre. The event would begin in the morning and conclude with a Nepali lunch. Royal Visit by the Duke of Edinburgh Councillor Birch reported that the visit by HRH the Duke of Edinburgh had been very successful and thoroughly enjoyed by all. The Duke of Edinburgh had received a tour of Sandhurst. He had met lots of the community including children and was very warmly received. He had shown great interest in the community and recognised the huge value of the local community. There had also been a Kukri Dance performed by members of the Ghurkha community, contributing to a very enjoyable day for those who attended. The Mayor asked that her thanks be taken back to all those who had ... view the full minutes text for item 62.

63. Executive Report PDF 70 KB View the background to item 63.

View the decision for item 63. To receive the Leader’s report on the work of the Executive since the Council meeting held on 27 February 2013. Additional documents: Leaders Presentation , item 63. PDF 46 KB PDF 46 KB Minutes: The Leader of the Council, Councillor Bettison, presented his report on the work of the Executive since that reported at the Council meeting on 27 February 2013. The Executive had met twice, on 12 March 2013 and 16 April 2013. The Leader highlighted the following matters that had been considered: The Executive had approved the introduction of a Local Crisis and Emergency Home Grant Scheme, the Department of Work and Pensions had allocated £211,096 to the Council to finance and administer both the schemes for 2013/14. The Scheme came into effect on 1 April 2013.

The Executive had worked in conjunction with Overview and Scrutiny (O&S) on Substance Misuse and had fully endorsed and implemented the recommendations made by the working group of the Adult Social Care, Health and Housing O&S Panel. The Leader was pleased to report that New Hope had opened on 5 April.

O&S had undertaken an extremely valuable and comprehensive review of the arrangements for the implementation of the Community Infrastructure Levy, the review would shape the approach that would be adopted by the Council. The Leader stated that the continued involvement of O&S was very much welcomed in the work of the Executive and he thanked his O&S colleagues for all their hard work.

Introduction of Civil Penalties in relation to changes of circumstances for benefit claims. The Leader reported that if approved by the Executive, a fixed penalty would only be applied if there was clear evidence that the claimant had negligently failed to tell the Council or had no reasonable excuse for not telling the Council where a change of circumstance had led to an overpayment of benefit. It was proposed that fixed penalties would be incurred for overpayment of benefits exceeding £150.

The Executive had approved the award of the contract for Phase 3 of the expansion of Crown Wood Primary School. The project formed part of the Council’s wider strategy to increase the capacity of the borough’s schools to meet statutory obligations.

The Executive had approved the award of the contract for the refurbishment work at Time Square and Easthampstead House, this work would lead towards reducing the Council’s buildings by two.

The Executive had approved the indicative Highway maintenance Works Programme for 2013/14. In addition to the £1.427m grant received from Central Government and the £228,000 from the Council’s Capital Programme, a further £259,000 had been allocated to the Council by the Government to help meet some of the costs associated with repairing the road damage caused by the severe weather experienced across the Country in recent years.

The Executive had approved minor variations to the areas covered by the Air Quality Management Area Orders, in order to comply with statutory obligations.

The Executive had received the Corporate Performance Overview Report for the third quarter of 2012/13, demonstrating that the Council continued to perform well overall.

The Executive had formally received the results of the Borough Council’s Resident’s Survey 2012. The Leader reported that ... view the full minutes text for item 63.

64. 2012/13 Annual Report of Overview and Scrutiny PDF 56 KB View the background to item 64. To inform Members of progress made in respect of the operation and development of overview and scrutiny in Bracknell Forest during 2012/13 and outline proposed future activities. Additional documents: OS Annual report 2012-13 , item 64. PDF 688 KB PDF 688 KB Minutes: The Council considered the Annual Report of Overview and Scrutiny which informed Members of progress made in respect of the operation and development of overview and scrutiny in Bracknell Forest during 2012/13 and outlined proposed future activities. Councillor Leake, Chairman of Overview and Scrutiny Commission, thanked the Leader for his comments around the work of Overview and Scrutiny. He stated that the foreword of the report principally focussed on the Overview element of Overview and Scrutiny as this was recognised as the more productive side of the work and reduced the need for scrutiny work. Councillor Leake thanked all members of the Overview and Scrutiny Panels and the Commission for all their hard work and commitment over the last year. He also thanked officers responsible for the scrutiny function as well as officers from across departments for their input over the year. Councillor Finnie, Chairman of Environment, Culture and Communities Overview and Scrutiny Panel added that it had been a productive year for the Panel and stated that the Panel’s area of work stretched across a wide cross section of the community. Councillor Virgo, Chairman of Health Overview and Scrutiny Panel stated that the Health and Social Care Act had come into force at the beginning of the year. In addition, the Urgent Care Centre was due to open in the new year at the Royal Berkshire Clinic at Brants Bridge. Panel members had worked alongside the Executive to provide a full response to the consultation work around this. One of the priorities for the Panel in the year ahead, would be to tackle the recommendations from the Francis Inquiry which related to the failures of the NHS Trust in mid Staffordshire. Councillor Mrs Birch, Chairman of Children, Young People and Learning Overview and Scrutiny Panel thanked members of her Panel for all their work. In particular the work carried out by the working group around School Governance had proved to be invaluable to the Borough’s schools. Councillor Turrell, Chairman of Adult Social Care and Housing Overview and Scrutiny Panel reported that the Panel had undertaken significant work around localisation of Council Tax support, making the Scheme relevant to local residents. In addition, Panel Members had worked hard on the Substance Misuse work. He thanked Panel Members for their work and officers in the Adult Social Care Department as well as overview and scrutiny officers. Councillor Leake concluded by stating that the annual report detailed the wide range of reviews that had been carried out over the last year. He reported that Appendix 1 of the report detailed the work programme for 2013/14. On the proposition of Councillor Leake, Chairman of Overview and Scrutiny Commission seconded by Councillor Angell it was RESOLVED that i) the 2012/13 Annual Report of the Overview and Scrutiny Commission be adopted; and ii) the commitment, role and value of the overview and scrutiny function be acknowledged and that non-executive Members continue to be supported in their role.

65. Member Development Annual Report 2012-13 PDF 53 KB View the background to item 65. To appraise all Members of the work and progress on Member Development during the year 2012-13. Additional documents: Member Development Annual Report 2012-13 , item 65. PDF 1 MB PDF 1 MB Minutes: The Council considered the Member Development Annual Report which appraised all Members of the work and progress on Member Development during the year 2012-13. The report informed Members of activities and their outcomes and outlined proposed future activities. Councillor Leake, Chairman of Member Development Charter Steering Group, presented the report to the Council and reported that 60% of Members had now participated in the 360 degree evaluation process which was commendable. He encouraged members to participate in the evaluation, if they had not already done so. On the proposition of Councillor Leake, Chairman of Member Development Charter Steering Group seconded by Councillor Allen it was RESOLVED that the Member Development Annual Report 2012 - 13 be noted.

66. Champions' Annual Report 2012-13 PDF 54 KB View the background to item 66. To appraise all Members of the work undertaken by the Council’s five Champions during the year 2012-13. Additional documents: Champions Annual Report 2012-13 , item 66. PDF 187 KB PDF 187 KB Minutes: The Council considered the Annual Report which detailed the work undertaken by the Council’s five Champions during the year 2012-13. The report informed Members of activities and their outcomes. Councillor Harrison reported that he was currently addressing three priorities as defined by residents, relating to train travel. These were; overcrowding on peak services, reports that the train connecting Bracknell to London Waterloo was slow and stopped at many stations and the rising cost of rail fares. He reported that there was little that local authorities could do to influence fare prices however they could influence the slowness of the train and overcrowding by working together with neighbouring local authorities. He stated that he would keep the Council abreast of progress in this area. In response to a question from Mrs Temperton, Councillor Harrison reported that he would investigate and report back as to whether vacant Eurostar platforms at Waterloo station could be used to improve the speed of train services. Councillor Wade reported that small businesses were struggling with finance in the tough economic climate but managing to remain upbeat. On the proposition of Councillor Finnie, Older People’s Champion seconded by Councillor Heydon it was RESOLVED that the Champions Annual Report 2012- 13 be noted.