Minutes:
The Mayor provided Councillor Haitham Taylor with the opportunity to make a personal statement.
Charlotte Haitham Taylor:
Thank you for acquiescing to my request to make a personal statement to Council. Last week the Conservative Group met to discuss the issues that have been raised by some of our Members in recent weeks. This is not an unusual occurrence for any political group, but on this occasion certain Members wanted to challenge my position in order to promote their particular narrative. While the debate that ensued was not as long as the matters in question deserved, it was clear that on this occasion that I would not convince all of those present that I had the right approach, and when tested with a vote, the alternative narrative prevailed by a narrow margin. As a result the Conservative Group now has a new Leader and in due course this person, Councillor McGhee-Sumner, will need to be nominated for the leadership of Wokingham Borough Council. In the next few minutes I want to do three things; highlight the achievements under my leadership; put on record the key issues that concern me for this Council in the coming months; and thank those who have supported me since I became Leader in May 2017.
In the last 18 months I have achieved much more than I have at times felt was possible. I challenged some of the myths held by my Group especially that the Finance brief was insurmountably complex. Indeed, the more important achievement is that we are on course to deliver a balanced budget. So I am leaving a sound financial position for the next Leader, despite all of the unhelpful rumours to the contrary. Let me be clear, we are not the next Northamptonshire, as some would have it. We know the difference between the capital and the revenue spend for a start. We have furthermore launched a successful Investment Strategy, which is now bringing in income to support our bottom line and to fund vital Council services. Who could have dreamt that I would be part of a team that would bring back a bookshop into the Wokingham Town Centre? I will have many happy memories going there with my daughter.
My heart has sunk at the pain of the regeneration for the existing shopkeepers and business owners, who have suffered, and this I very much regret. I do believe that in the coming months, as each stage of the regeneration is complete, our vision to revive Wokingham Town Centre will be fully vindicated. Without our actions, the demise of the Market Square would have been inevitable and permanent.
Yes, we are still collecting the bins every week. We are winning the argument over the revenue support grant. We have opened new schools, sport centres, leisure centres, new parks, new playgrounds, and constructed many more affordable homes, many more than some would have expected.
My administration had sought to strengthen our top team of Officers, in particular we have a great line up of candidates to be interviewed on 5 December for the position of Chief Executive. In this, I believe we were right to hold out for a stronger field of candidates than we were able to compile last year, even though it meant continuing with a temporary Chief Executive for longer than I would have liked. Our Borough deserves the very best Head of Paid Service and I hope colleagues will take this opportunity to select someone with a fresh new energy that is needed to drive this Council forward, through the challenging years ahead.
But what of my concerns. As a key objective I have aimed to raise the levels of transparency in the decision making of this Council. It was disappointing that for some in my Group this has not been seen as a priority and for a few it still appears not to be. We need to distance ourselves from the old boy’s network style of the past and ensure that like all other public bodies we operate to the highest level of public accountability and probity. This is the “Me Too” age and it is no longer acceptable to turn a blind eye.
Strategically under previous leadership I felt that we plodded along a path of just muddling through. We sometimes lacked clarity in decision making and did not always benefit from the professional acumen of some of our most senior Officers or Executive Members. I have looked to establish a more long term view with a clear political vision of what Wokingham Borough should be as a Council under a Conservative administration. This has meant that some of my Executive has been challenged to work harder and give clearer leadership in their areas of responsibility. Tough decisions were needed in some cases and these were not always welcomed by all. Regardless, under the new Leader, we cannot slide back into the old ways. No political leadership, local or national, can duck out of the tough decisions any more.
As Leader I have worked hard to build healthy relationships with the Conservatives’ opposition too. I have tried to be more constructive, recognising that we are all here to serve our complete community. I brought a vision to the Council through the Borough Plan and everybody has been able to have a voice in shaping this. I took the vision out to as many residents as I could with roadshows, and now a future workshop is planned where we will be taking it out to our partners to collect their views and ideas. Even with the change of leadership, I hope this will still be achieved in the new year. The resultant Borough Plan will be aligned for the first time with the budget and the key performance indicators and this transparent model should be for us, a measure of our progress, and it should be open and transparent. Here again, I fear that there are some that do not share these aspirations.
The decision to go back for further consultation with the Local Plan Update was also controversial. However, I believe that our residents must contribute to the debate on where our Borough future homes will go. Unless Government housing building targets change after Brexit, we will have some tough decisions ahead and we cannot fudge them.
Improving governance is the one thing that I have started, but unlike in Mastermind, I will not get to finish. History will not be a kind judge to Leaders who turn a blind eye to plausible complaints and whistleblowing. It is my sincere hope, and in this respect, as in others, that this Council will not slip back.
Fear not Mr Mayor I am wrapping up soon and it is the very last line that you are waiting all to hear. Making the most of opportunities is what Conservatives have always been about, but not all of the answers to the questions can be found in this Chamber, and we have to realise that Wokingham Borough is not the best at everything. We need to be a learning council with a new and more inquisitive culture. We have to be open minded and be prepared to change our minds when the facts change. We the Members are not always the target demographic for our policies and sometimes we need to walk in other people’s shoes to see what they see. I am striving for politics where the majority understand and respect our aims, where the resident is at the heart of what we do, and where the citizen feels empowered not disenfranchised from their dealings with us.
I would like to thank the many residents who have got in touch with me since last week. I have been totally overwhelmed by their support and the response had been completely amazing. So thank you very much to everyone that got in touch. I also want to take this opportunity to express my sincere gratitude to those people who have supported me in my time as Leader. My incredibly supportive and very able Deputy, Pauline Jorgensen, thank you for everything you have done. I also want to say thank you to my Executive Members and my many fellow Conservative Members who have supported me. I also must say thank you to my Opposition Members across the Chamber for all of their help and support as well. I want to especially applaud those of you who have backed my vision of good governance and transparency when others have dismissed my concerns as unfounded or indeed exaggerated. I also wanted to offer my thanks to our talented team of Officers who have helped me with my role over the last 18 months’. I have been challenging, not always intentionally, and I have learnt that we have not always given you the political leadership that you deserve, but you have tried throughout to promote the best possible services to our residents with what you have been given.
I have had the privilege the lead this Council. I have made mistakes and learnt much about those around me and about myself in the course of my term. I have worked selfishly in pursuit of those things that matter to our residents and in that my successor will seek to follow me. I must humbly tender to this Council, and ask all of you to formally accept, my resignation as Leader with immediate effect.
Pauline Jorgensen, Deputy Leader:
I would like to thank Charlotte for all her work on behalf of the residents of Wokingham Borough. Being Leader is not an easy job as I have found out over the last couple of days, with the amount of emails. Charlotte has been tireless lobbying Government to improve both funding for Council services and local schools, championing our Looked After Children, driving forwards our local housing companies to deliver much needed affordable housing, and of course ensuring our residents get an excellent service from the Council.
I would really also like to thank Charlotte for her energy and dedication. I have really enjoyed working with her and admire her grit and determination and her passion for helping our most disadvantaged residents. I hope you will join me in wishing her well for the future.
Lindsay Ferris, Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group:
Charlotte and I have worked together on a number of issues, where in the past it was often not possible to get any sort of agreement. The issues where we have worked together this year includes lobbying our respective political parties with a jointly produced document covering the five year land supply, where some developers have been abusing the planning system; support for the recent new Highways Contract due to start on 1 April 2019; and even tonight we have a Motion on sprinklers in schools, which is supported across both Groups. I wish her well in whatever future role she plays in the Council.