Agenda, decisions and minutes

To receive any apologies for absence

There were no apologies for absence received.

To receive any declarations of interest

There were no declarations of interest received.

To receive a statement from the Leader of Council

The Leader of Council made the following statement:

The cases of Covid are going up in Wokingham in line with our neighbouring Boroughs across Berkshire and in line with the national figures. Our current case rate is 831.9 per 100,000, that was for the week 9-16 March.  These cases need to be interpreted with caution, as they are dependent upon testing behaviour, the true case number and the rate of covid is likely to be significantly higher. There is no doubt that there has been a sharp rise in cases that continues. This is likely to be fuelled by a number of elements:

• The spread of the new subvariant of Omicron (BA.2) which is more transmissible than the original Omicron strain.
• Changes in behaviour as we move towards April. There is likely to be less testing, less isolation, less mask wearing and consequently significantly more transmission.
• The waning of the pre-Xmas booster (still effective against serious illness but waning in terms of contracting Covid) and
• The return of schools post half term, primary school children remain unvaccinated.

There has also been a rise in hospital admissions with Covid locally (accounting for both with and because of Covid admissions) but no increased admissions to critical care.

The Spring Booster campaign is upon us and I am pleased to say that our local vaccine centre in Wokingham Central Library is open weekly on a Friday, Saturday and Sunday and will be delivering vaccines to all those eligible, so please take advantage of that.  We are also working with health colleagues to launch the 5-11 year old vaccination programme in the first week of April, also accessible at the Wokingham Library clinic.  All residents who are eligible can walk up to the library and receive their vaccine at a time convenient to them. 

Covid has, understandably, taken a back seat in the national headlines over recent weeks but we must remember that the virus is still circulating at high and growing numbers. We need to continue to work together, to be understanding of those who live alongside us, and to take actions to minimise transmission and protect vulnerable residents, by staying at home if you are unwell, testing if you have symptoms, wearing masks in crowded spaces and ventilating indoor spaces.

“In the truest sense, freedom cannot be bestowed; it must be achieved.” Since Ronald Reagan,  Margaret Thatcher and the fall of the Berlin wall in 1989, we in the West have taken freedom and peace for granted.

This has directly led to the Uighurs, Hong Kong, Georgia, Syria, Chechnya and many, many, more.

This appeasement was the cause of the Crimean invasion in 2014 and the war in the Donbass.  President Putin was sure that the West would do nothing. This inactivity has led to the invasion of Ukraine.  Again, Biden and Scholz assured him they would do nothing.

This appeasement has also led to China manufacturing in slave conditions for the West and Russia providing the oil and gas. Our short-term  ...  view the full minutes text for item 123.

To answer any public questions

A period of 30 minutes will be allowed for members of the public to ask questions submitted under notice.

The Council welcomes questions from members of the public about the items on this agenda only.

Subject to meeting certain timescales, questions can relate to the items which are on the Agenda for this meeting.  For full details of the procedure for submitting questions please contact the Democratic Services Section on the numbers given below or go to www.wokingham.gov.uk/publicquestions

There were no public questions submitted.

To answer any Member questions

A period of 20 minutes will be allowed for Members to ask questions submitted under Notice relating to the items on this agenda only.

Any questions not dealt with within the allotted time will be dealt with in a written reply

In accordance with the agreed procedure the Chairman invited Members to submit questions to the appropriate Members

Question

I welcome a 'Public Space Protection Order' (PSPO) which it would appear is designed to cover 'all land owned, maintained or managed by the Council and any other place to which the public has access as of right or by virtue of express or implied permission'.  The Borough has suffered significant nuisance from vehicles and people engaged in car cruising activities not just in Council owned properties such as the Carnival Pool Car Park etc, as their activities include many other areas such as the new Observer Way in Arborfield and Hogwood Industrial Park car park in Finchampstead and their surrounding areas.

Recorded examples include drag racing on the public highway, their roundabouts, local residential roads accompanied by loud music from the vehicles, noise and pollution.

Many residents in the vicinity of areas such as these also have suffered the same problems where lives are at risk and nuisance of noise and pollution destroy their rights to peace and tranquillity.

My question is what actions are being taken to protect them?

Answer

The Council is aware of these incidents which have occurred in various locations in recent years and our Community Safety Unit is working with Thames Valley Police to tackle it and will use a combination of our powers to address such anti-social behaviour.

The persons responsible for the noise and nuisance caused to residents by antisocial driving are the persons who organise car meetings and the drivers and owners of the vehicles.  When offenders are identified, there are various legal measures which can be taken against them.  The police have issued warnings under section 59 of the Police Reform Act 2002 for “Vehicles used in a manner causing alarm, distress or annoyance”.  If a section 59 warning is ignored, or if the car is uninsured, the police can seize the vehicle, and they have used this power more than once in recent months.

The Council has issued Community Protection Warnings.  If this is ignored, a notice can be served which if breached would lead to a fixed penalty notice of up to £100 or a prosecution in court.  The PSPO will strengthen this, by making it an offence to take a car to one of these events and drive it in an anti-social manner.  The Council’s new ASB team will provide a staff resource to tackle ASB issues like this from two weeks’ time.  Although the Council’s officers will not have the same powers as police officers, they will be authorised to gather evidence about vehicles and drivers and in appropriate cases issue financial penalties.

That authority be delegated to the Director of Children’s Services, in consultation with the Director of Resources and Assets and the Lead Member for Children’s Services, to negotiate and enter into an agreement with the Bohunt Education Trust for a joint project to create a new sixth form at the Bohunt School Wokingham.

That the delegated authority and agreement are subject to the following conditions:

1. the expansion and change of age range is approved by the Secretary of State;

2. in the period of the 5 years after the approval of this option the school delivers a flexible package of additional school places to include: an additional 30 Y7 places in September 2022; up to an additional 30 Y7 places if needed when acceptance offers are known (including to independent schools); additional Y8 and Y9 places to meet increasing demand through in-year applications, especially for girls;

3. that SEND provision is strengthened over time to ensure appropriate 11-18 education pathways for Bohunt pupils with SEND;

4. that the final agreement includes key parts of the business case presented to the council in February 2022, including undertakings related to the management of admissions to the sixth form;

5. agreed conditions in a funding agreement that shall include matters such as cost sharing, funding profiles, timetable, risk, overspends, procurement strategy;

6. that Bohunt Educational Trust contributes at least £2million to the scheme;

7. that £1.5m is vired from the Basic Needs Capital Programme in 22/23 which will be vired back from the Post 16 Capital Programme in future years; and

8. any other conditions that the Director of Resources or Director of Children’s Service deems necessary as set down in a funding contract between Bohunt and the Council.

The Executive considered a report setting out options for the provision of post-16 education in the Borough.

During his introduction the Executive Member for Children’s Services highlighted the issues relating to sixth form provision in the Borough and particularly in the South and also the fact that when Bohunt opened it was envisaged that it would have a sixth form. At that time Bohunt instead used its total admission numbers to accommodate 11-16 year olds only.  Councillor Howe confirmed that whilst considering the proposal consideration had been given to the implications for other schools if Bohunt were to add a sixth form.  It was noted that a sixth form at Bohunt was strongly supported by the local community.

Councillor Howe informed the meeting that neither Bohunt or Oakbank, the two most southerly secondary schools in the Borough had sixth forms.  Data showed that last year all but 14 of Bohunt’s leavers went to Farnborough College and the remaining 14 had gone to other sixth forms in the Borough.  Most of the housing growth in recent years had been in the south of the Borough and it was therefore natural that parents would want their children educated within the Borough. Providing a sixth form at Bohunt would also aid the green agenda and keep those pupils within the local community.   In addition in the last year the Council had received unprecedented numbers of in-year applications and all of these pupils would of course end up requiring some form of post-16 provision. 

Councillor Howe went into detail about the discussions that had been held with the Bohunt Educational Trust regarding their proposal which included not just academic provision for sixth formers, but agreement had been gained that Bohunt would provide an appropriate level of SEND provision for 11-18 year olds, which was not something they currently provided.  This would mean that children with educational healthcare plans could be accommodated at Bohunt, freeing up spaces in other schools.

The meeting was advised of the pressure for places in all year groups and the fact that Bohunt had agreed to a flexible package of additional places to include from this September 30 Year 7 places and would make provision for another 30 Year 7 places if the demand required it.  Additional Year 8 and Year 9 places would also be provided to meet the increasing and as yet unknown demand.  This would also alleviate placements in other areas of the Borough too.

It was confirmed that consultation had been carried out with the Borough Educational Partnership, which was made up of Headteachers from across the Borough. 

Councillor Howe also confirmed that the total cost of the provision was estimated at £5.7m, of which the Bohunt Trust would make a contribution of £2m.  The remaining £3.7m was already accounted for in the Medium Term Financial Plan.

Councillor Howe gave his thanks to the Officers for preparing the report within such a short timescale, Bohunt Educational Trust for their engagement and collaboration and the other Headteachers,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 126.

That the Director for Place and Growth be authorised to:

1)                   commence a public consultation about a proposed Public Spaces Protection Order, and

2)                   consider the results of the consultation, and

3)                    bring forward to the Executive a further report if it is considered appropriate, in the light of consultation, to proceed with the implementation of the Public Spaces Protection Order.

The Executive considered a report relating to the commencement of a public consultation on a proposal to introduce a Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO).

The Executive Member for Neighbourhood and Communities advised that the reason for the consultation on a proposed PSPO was due to concerns from residents whose lives had been blighted by the car meets which were being held in Council car parks and public spaces and the irresponsible driving that was occurring within the Borough.  Currently action was taken against such perpetrators in conjunction with Thames Valley Police. 

Councillor Soane confirmed that the consultation would commence after the elections in May and if positive results were obtained a further report would come back to the Executive with a proposal to proceed with the implementation of a PSPO.  Having a PSPO in place would mean that Council Officers or the Police could issue on the spot fixed penalty notices resulting in a £100 fine.  Legal action could also be taken for repeat offenders where fines could be imposed of up to £1000 and/or confiscation of their vehicle. 

Councillor Kaiser queried whether the Officers would have adequate training on the process of issuing fines?  Councillor Soane confirmed that the Officers carrying out these duties, although new to the Council, had previous experience in such matters and they would also receive additional training.  It was proposed that they would also be issued with body cams which would ensure that accurate accounts could be given and provide Officers and the perpetrators with additional protection.

In response to a query relating to any right of appeal available against a fine Councillor Soane confirmed that this would be through a magistrate’s court and if a person was found in breach of the law the fine could exceed £100.

RESOLVED That the Director for Place and Growth be authorised to:

1)                   commence a public consultation about a proposed Public Spaces Protection Order, and

2)                   consider the results of the consultation, and

3)                    bring forward to the Executive a further report if it is considered appropriate, in the light of consultation, to proceed with the implementation of the Public Spaces Protection Order.