The Leader of Council made the following statement.
Minutes:
The Leader of Council made the following statement:
I have led the Borough and spoken about Covid over the last two years. I would never have believed that we would have emerged from Covid to a potentially greater tragedy.
I am sure I speak for the Council and indeed the whole Borough, when I express shock, sorrow and anger for Russia’s antagonistic and gratuitous assault on Ukraine.
The war in Ukraine is tragic. It is bringing and will bring more destruction, maiming and loss of life. The queue of refugees now approximately 1.7 million is the greatest movement of people since the second world war in Europe. It is a catastrophe.
Freedom needs to be dearly protected. And what is freedom? It is the power to live as one wishes, and that is now what is now being challenged. Ukraine is a sovereign and democratic nation pursuing self-determination. Ukrainians must be able to live their lives as they chose.
The Ukrainian flag has been flown over Shute End to underline the whole Council’s and I believe the whole Borough’s support for the Ukrainian people in this their hour of need. It will stay there until there is some resolution which may be some time. This is a moment when the tectonic plates have moved and will almost certainly not go back to where they were. The human and economic cost will be huge and long lasting.
As Councils we will deal with the ramifications of this war. This will include responding to refugees and displaced persons, issues relating to energy, the cost of living and cyber security.
We must now recognise that this is now our concern, seek to manage those things within our control and encourage Her Majesty’s Government to the maximum within its own control.
I have set up an Officer
architecture (Gold, Silver and Bronze) across the Council to
consider planning what can and should be done. We will be thinking
about a range of eventualities and planning for them. This will be
managed in the same way as we did Covid – regular meetings to
respond to the challenges, as they arise and to be
concurrent with Government guidance and national policy. I will
reinstate the Leaders’ meetings, and Councillor bulletins as
appropriate.
I know that there is a frustration to do something and to do it now. Rest assured that demands will be placed on us. We are only at the beginning of a very long process. We will be facing huge challenges. We must meet them organised and planned. We will work with our voluntary sector partners, our health partners and our community safety partners, and we will do this whilst not neglecting our residents’ current needs.
We have a Ukrainian community, which we are reaching out to. We must ensure that we are doing all that we can for them. We are currently offering facilities for the collection and distribution of aid to Ukraine and will support local agencies who offer a similar service.
We have also a Russian community within the Borough, who should not be penalised for Vladimir Putin. We do not have an argument with the Russian people but with the Russian Government, its dictator and his acolytes. We need to make this clear in anything we do and say.
We may well see certain commodities rise substantially in price particularly energy, some foodstuffs, and mined materials. This will hit certain sectors of our community particularly hard, particularly after Covid.
I have written to the Prime Minister expressing my support for his six-point plan, which is to:
· mobilise an international humanitarian coalition. We must all work together to establish an immediate cease-fire and allow civilians safe passage, food and medical supplies.
· do more to help Ukraine to defend itself. More and more nations are willing to provide defensive equipment. We must act quickly to coordinate our efforts to support the government of Ukraine.
· maximise the economic pressure on Putin’s regime. Going further on economic sanctions, going after the oligarchs including Mr. Putin himself and wean off the Russian oil and gas that bankroll Mr. Putin’s war machine.
· no matter how long it takes, prevent any creeping normalisation of what Russia does in Ukraine. We cannot allow the Kremlin to bite off chunks of an independent country and inflict immense human suffering and then creep back into the fold.
· be open to diplomacy and de-escalation, provided that the government of Ukraine has full agency in any potential settlement.
· act now to strengthen Euro-Atlantic security. This includes not only bolstering NATO’s eastern flank but also supporting non-NATO European countries that are potentially at risk of Russian aggression, such as Moldova, Georgia and the nations of the western Balkans. And those that participate or enable Russian aggression, such as Belarus, will be subject to maximum sanctions.
As events unfold, we must welcome those seeking sanctuary here in whatever numbers eventually arise. We are a great Borough and we have great residents and we shall have to rise to the challenge as the numbers may be greater than anything we have ever experienced before. This is against a background of the aftermath of Covid and a huge pressure on our housing.
The Ukrainian refugees will need housing, schools, jobs, financial help and assistance in integrating into society. In short, they will need all the help the Council and Government can give.
We are required to divest ourselves of all Russian and Belarus contracts and investments. In practice, we have none directly with the Council, or at least so I believe. The pension fund has an immaterial exposure to investments with Russia and Belarus and their economies and has been instructed as we have to divest themselves of any exposure that they may have.
While some rules around Covid have now been relaxed and we are getting underway with living with Covid, the virus is still circulating so we should continue practicing some of the safety measures to ensure that we are protecting ourselves and those around us.
While there is no longer a legal requirement to self-isolate, you are still advised to stay at home and avoid contact with other people if you test positive.
Following the shift in tone from central Government, we are working towards a future where we learn to live with Covid as an endemic disease. We anticipate a shift in policy and guidance at the end of the month. With that ahead of us, on Friday the ONS survey reminded us that 1 in 30 people living in England currently have Covid, so we must keep in mind that the current guidance continues to encourage people to get a PCR test when they have Covid symptoms and isolate where appropriate.
Our ongoing Covid endemic response will include supporting the vaccination programme, continuing our work with high risk settings, and communication for individual risk management as well as working to minimise impact of endemic Covid on vulnerable individuals and communities. We will be working within even tighter financial means as the majority of the Government’s resource for the Covid response is ending this month. In line with Government guidance our self-isolation calls and contact tracing ended last week and the WBC rapid covid testing service will come to a close at the end of the month.
Our vaccination clinic running on a Friday, Saturday and Sunday at Wokingham Central Library continues to offer 1st, 2nd and booster doses of the vaccine to all residents over the age of 12. Importantly we are reaching residents who have not previously come forward for the Covid vaccine. Please can I encourage all of you to spread the word about this vaccination offer with residents within your wards and engage in vaccination conversations where residents have questions. We are also working with our health colleagues on the vaccination programme for 5 to 11 year olds and on delivery of the Spring booster programme within the Borough. So the message is please, please, please get everybody to use this facility and get vaccinated.
We remain mindful that different people in our communities are entering this period of transition with different perspectives. We need to continue to work together, to be patient and understanding within our communities, so that we can move forward and begin to recover from the pandemic together.
If I now move to school places, the overall picture for National Offer Day in Wokingham is consistent with last year, despite there being a large increase in the number of young people in the Borough applying for secondary school places.
To put this into the local context, in 2022 93.76%, that is approximately 94%, of pupils received an offer from their preferred list and 76.21% received their first preference. In 2021, it was lower at 93.51% receiving a preferred offer and 71.12% their top choice.
The Council was expecting an increase in applications this year and worked with schools across the Borough to increase the number of places available. We successfully negotiated with Piggott, Emmbrook and St Crispin’s to increase the total number of secondary school places available in the Borough by 176.
Despite this success, there is still currently a shortfall in places within Wokingham Borough. The Council is continuing work to address this and expects to have additional places added within the Borough in the coming weeks. My colleague, Graham, will talk about this more in the coming meeting.
School place planning is a complex process, particularly in areas where most of the schools are already over-subscribed. The Council recognises how important it is to get it right and is not only working with local schools on current and future expansion plans but also recognises the need to allocate additional resources to the school place planning process going forward.
The hoped-for return to public transport has not occurred and the patronage of buses is well down on pre pandemic levels. Despite the announcement of a continuation of some form of Government restart grant, some services will be degraded though we are working hard to ensure that they are not discontinued. The message on buses is really that we have to use them or we will lose them.
I would like to remind Members that within our Constitution are the Nolan Principles. We are required to show Honesty, Leadership, Openness, Accountability, Objectivity, Integrity and Selflessness. There is ample opportunity for all Members, town and parish councils and residents to question a decision or proposal; this can be simply by giving me, the Executive Member, Chief Executive or a director a call. This administration is here for one purpose alone and that is to serve the residents. By being open and transparent hopefully if we have got it wrong it will come to light and we can get it right.
The recent debate over the Laurel Park has regrettably shown us wanting. There is ample evidence that the proposal to site a 3G pitch at Laurel Park was in the public domain in and before March 2021, when it was advertised in the Executive Forward Plan. Preliminary discussions were held with Earley Town Council in December 2020. There were no member or public questions on this proposal until February 2022, when residents en masse questioned Council. It was never raised in Overview and Scrutiny nor whilst the budget was being scrutinised. The Executive’s proposal to include it in the budget proposals, and explore and consult subject to planning, was not called in. Indeed, there is ample evidence that Earley Town Council were enthusiastic till recently. Whilst the minutes are sparse, I understand that conversations were being held to improve the pavilion to accommodate this in September 2021.