Agenda and minutes

To receive any apologies for absence.

An apology for absence was submitted from Councillor Emma Hobbs.

Pauline Helliar-Symons attended the meeting as a substitute.

To confirm the Minutes of the meeting held on 2 September 2020 and the Minutes of the extraordinary meetings held on 22 September 2020, 13 October 2020 and 28 October 2020.

The Minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 2 September 2020 and the Minutes of the extraordinary meetings held on 22 September 2020, 13 October 2020 and 28 October 2020 were confirmed as a correct record and would be signed by the Chairman at a later date.

To receive any declarations of interest.

A declaration of interest was submitted from Graham Howe, as he was the Deputy Executive Member for Children’s Services. Graham stated that he would take no part in the discussion or voting for any of the Children’s Services related budget items.

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 work of this committee.

Subject to meeting certain timescales, questions can relate to general issues concerned with the work of the Committee or an item which is 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.

To answer any Member questions.

There were no Member questions.

To consider growth and savings bids over £50k for the Children’s Services, Communities Insight and Change and Resources and Assets directorates.

The Committee considered a report, set out in agenda pages 33 to 68, which set out the revenue growth and saving bids for the Directorates encompassing Children’s Services; Communities, Insight & Change; and Resources & Assets.

John Kaiser (Executive Member for Finance and Housing), Ullakarin Clark (Executive Member for Children’s Services), Charlotte Haitham Taylor (Executive Member for Regeneration), Parry Batth (Executive Member for Environment and Leisure), Carol Cammiss (Director for Children’s Services), Graham Ebers (Deputy Chief Executive – Director for Resources & Assets), and Keeley Clements (Director for Communities, Insight & Change) attended the meeting to answer Member queries.

Ullakarin Clark stated that the figures presented to the Committee were only predictions, as due to the nature of Children’s Services a child with exceptional needs could come into the Borough at any time, and Wokingham Borough Council (WBC) were legally obliged to help. WBC had a statutory duty to help every child in the Borough who was in need of support, which made some financial predictions difficult. Ullakarin added that there were potential savings that could be realised within the Home to School Transport area, as a review had recently been carried out which officers were now working through.

During the ensuing discussions relating to Children’s Services, Members raised the following points and queries:

·           Where were Children’s Services on their journey to achieving a “Good” OFSTED rating? Executive Member and officer response – WBC wanted to achieve a “Good” OFSTED rating, not only to provide a better service for residents across the Borough, but also because it costed the service significantly more to try and improve things on a reactionary basis. There were a number of special items, which would not be reviewed on the evening, which set out one off spends which would aid the service to move towards the goal of the “Good” OFSTED rating. Overall, progress towards this achievement was progressing well.

·           Last year, there was a bid to help move more locum or agency staff towards being permanent, was this progressing? Officer response – This was a special item bid over three years, and progress was being made in line with expectations.

·           Had the impact of Covid-19 (C-19), being that job losses or mental health issues, of parents been considered when compiling next year’s projections? Officer response – 3 children were in the system who were not in place prior to C-19. Placement cost projections were based on a very stringent model, which was able to be based on factual information and inflationary costs of families within the Borough, or families known to be entering the Borough. It was not possible to accurately budget for those families with mental health issues, or those who may come into the Borough without prior notice, however this would be monitored through the “one front door” approach that WBC had developed with the voluntary sector.

·           What would happen if a child was required to be placed in an independent residential school? Officer response – If it was a school provision, the funding would  ...  view the full minutes text for item 54.

To consider the items scheduled for upcoming meetings

The Committee considered the upcoming meetings’ work programme, set out in agenda pages 69 to 70.

The Committee were advised that returning items including the burial grounds review, and the BAME Forum would look to be scheduled for either the January or March Committee meeting, whichever was more appropriate.

RESOLVED That:

1)     The upcoming meetings’ work programme be noted;

2)     Returning items including the burial grounds review, and the BAME Forum would look to be scheduled for either the January or March Committee meeting, whichever was more appropriate.