To receive any statements by the Leader of the Council and Executive Members.
In accordance with Procedure Rule 4.2.23 the total time allocated to this item shall not exceed 20 minutes, and no Member shall speak for more than 5 minutes.
Minutes:
Leader of the Council, Councillor Stephen Conway:
As this is the last Council meeting of the municipal year, I think it is an appropriate moment for me to publicly thank the Chief Executive, the Chief Finance Officer, their CLT colleagues, and all officers of the Council for their hard work and commitment to the Borough. I would like to extend those thanks to my Executive colleagues and all councillors, regardless of party.
We can look back on a period of considerable achievement especially when viewed in the context of the financial challenges faced by the Council. Let me highlight a few examples. We have worked with our partners to produce the first draft of the Community Vision which will shape the Council’s Strategy and the new Council Plan. We have forged a new strategic partnership with the University of Reading which will bring considerable benefits to the people and the businesses of the Borough, not least in helping us with our Climate Emergency Action Plan, our Economic Development Strategy and our employment training and skills agenda. We have led the way in the formation of the Berkshire Prosperity Board, which will enable us to bid for external funding for key infrastructure projects, with greater chance of success, and give us a stronger voice in national decision making. We have developed a much greater sense of corporate ownership of challenges to help reduce the pressure on Adult Social Care and housing budgets, for instance, we are converting some of our own estate to accommodation for young people in danger of homelessness and care leavers. We have pursued a policy of prevention, early intervention, and investing now to save later. A good example is our purchase of a new care home which increases provision in the Borough, and will help control future costs for the Council. Another is our successful bid for funding to build two new SEND schools in the south of the Borough, which will help to reduce the Council’s home to school transport bill, in years to come. We have secured White Ribbon accreditation. Our partnership in TLIP has won national recognition.
We are including bold new policies on environmental sustainability and energy conservation in our emerging Local Plan, and we are also in that emerging Local Plan, aiming to designate many protected green spaces and areas of landscape value. We have approved the planting of a Covid Memorial Wood in Barkham. We have secured after much time and effort, a contract with SSEN, to connect our new Barkham Solar Farm to the Grid in 2026, which will help to decarbonise the Grid, and produce a healthy income for the Council, which it can use on services for our residents.
We can all, officers and councillors, take pride in these and many other achievements since May 2023. Thank you Madam Mayor.
Executive Member for Children’s Services Councillor Prue Bray:
I have two items for this. The first is to tell you that the Council had a focused visit from Ofsted a few weeks ago, looking at our services for children in need and children with a child protection plan. Our focused visit does not result in Ofsted making a judgement, but they produce a letter with their views on what they found. The letter arising from their visit was published on the Ofsted website yesterday. I am absolutely delighted to be able to tell you that it was very complimentary indeed about our services, and it really hardly could have been any better. You can read it for yourselves, there is a link in the Children’s Services Overview and Scrutiny Committee agenda, but you can find it quite easily by googling ‘Ofsted Wokingham.’ This outcome is a tribute to the hard work of officers who have been determined to drive continuous improvement, and I would like to congratulate them, and thank everyone involved, both at the Council and among our partners.
That takes me to the second item. This is Helen Watson’s last Council meeting as she will be leaving in mid April after two years as our interim Director of Children’s Services. Our new permanent director Emma Cockerell will be joining us shortly before Helen goes. I would like to sincerely thank Helen for everything that she has done for the Council, and for the Borough’s children. She has led improvement in every aspect of Children’s Services, in very challenging financial circumstances, and is leaving behind a legacy of a solid, capable team, who will continue the transformation of the service. I am so grateful for the support that Helen has given me over the past two years, and I think that it is very fitting that at this, her last Council meeting, I have been able to announce the positive outcome of the Ofsted focused visit, which underlines the contribution that Helen has made as DCS. So, on behalf of the whole Council, thank you Helen and very best wishes for the future.
Executive Member for Planning and the Local Plan, Councillor Lindsay Ferris:
This will be my last speech on this. I want to mention the various infrastructure achievements since I took over the role in May 2022. These include saving Rook’s Nest Farm from 270 houses and replacing this with a Covid Memorial Wood, an additional area of woodland as part of the neighbouring SANG, and the site for two much needed SEND schools.
When we took over in 2022 the residents of Arborfield Green had been left with none of the promised facilities, despite over 1,000 homes having been built. Since that time, and with support from the planning officers and the developers, Crest and Cala Homes, we now have the commercial centre having gained planning approval last October, the community centre has been agreed and is in the process of being internally designed to support various local bodies, in fact the Leader of the Council, and I, visited it today. It is being designed and supported for local bodies. Plus, we have the Sainsbury’s supermarket fully approved with work about to start. I also wanted to include the Arborfield Sports Pavilion, but I hoped it would be going to the April Planning Committee, but it looks more likely to be May.
In the Thames Science Park, in addition to Shinfield Studios and the British Museum, we now have the National History Museum coming to this important scientific site, with a distinct possibility of another nationally important facility to follow. The long awaited new Twyford Library is close to being open.
More recently, the Council with the help of Homes England, who have provided £29.6million to support the South Wokingham distributor road, and greater flexibility for the various developers involved, the Southern SDL originally planned in 2011 and included in the current Local Plan, which runs until 2026, to provide 1,800 homes, will now be moving forwards in 2024. In particular the developers will now be providing the new primary school, community facilities and the allotments, which were originally to be paid for and provided by Wokingham Borough Council. Thank you.
Executive Member Business and Economic Development, Councillor David Cornish:
I hope Members do not think me too parochial if the subject of my first statement as an Executive Member is the impact of the reconstruction of California Crossroads on the local businesses. Having lived in Finchampstead for almost exactly 40 years I have a very deep affection for these businesses and like all other residents, am deeply concerned about the impact upon them. It is regrettable that this was not given greater consideration when this project was planned and signed off in 2018. There are lessons to be learnt about how such projects are managed in future, but to coin a phrase ‘we are where we are.’ We know that this a difficult time for all businesses in the area, and council officers are doing everything possible to help them with the temporary disruption. Project managers are meeting them daily to update them, and for the first time the Council has also used its own communications channels to offer support. Actions in place include maintaining business access and providing signage to show how to get to businesses, meeting with them daily to discuss deliveries and to plan work around them, making sure teams working on site use the local businesses every day, using wider communications including social media posts to encourage residents and others to support their local shops and businesses. However, and quite understandably, there are requests that we try and do more. If local government was funded better, it might be possible to consider financial support for these businesses, but it is not, and so we cannot, and we never have in the past. Most recently Wokingham Town Centre businesses were not compensated during the disruption caused by Market Place improvement works in 2017 and 2018.
Despite the emotions generated in Finchampstead we do have to be fair to all businesses across the Borough and to all of our taxpayers. The best option for business at the moment suffering a loss in trade due to the roadworks is to seek relief by applying to the National Valuers Office Agency for a possible reduction in their rateable value. The Council Leader has written to the VOA supporting local businesses wishing to claim. Beyond this the Executive has requested the senior officers of the Council to examine every possible avenue, however unlikely, by which we may be able to offer more support. We may not succeed but we will spare no effort in trying.
There is a consensus that California Crossroads badly needs improving and have been neglected for too long. The condition of the road and overall quality of the footpaths would have meant investment in the junction would have been needed soon anyway. The works taking place include the replacement and upgrade of the infrastructure, such as drainage systems and gulleys, which would always have caused major upheaval. This work will transform an unloved and car dominated junction into a village centre that works for everybody, and of course is all funded by developers and not local taxpayers. This in the end will bring a new life to the area and more trade for the local businesses, but there is a gap to fill over the next several months, and we hope that all councillors and all other voices will do everything possible to resist the temptation to feed negativity by highlighting challenges, and instead support the local businesses by painting a positive picture about the future.
Executive Member Health and Wellbeing and Adult Services, Councillor David Hare:
I just want to say about the Adult Social Care mock review that was a great success. Despite being an authority in the bottom half of spend per user Wokingham had a very positive mock review. A few headlines that I have picked out. Residents of Wokingham are served well with high quality Adult Social Care Services. The overwhelming message the reviewers heard from the staff that they met, was how proud and happy they were to work in Wokingham. They felt supported within their teams and by their immediate managers and senior leadership team. Something very dear to my heart, and we have heard about it at the last Council meeting, is to recognise nationally that coproduction is a key area of focus for CQC. Many councils are struggling to demonstrate involvement and coproduction. In Wokingham the Peer Team heard of some excellent pieces of authentic and strong coproduction. We are going the right way. I know that there is always more to do, but this review was very positive, and will be shared with O&S in the new municipal year. The learning from it is already in practice, so that we can make our Adult Social Care better and better.
Executive Member for Active Travel, Transport and Highways, Councillor Paul Fishwick:
I have got a few things to talk about. Road maintenance is my first one. A month ago, the Department for Transport published some statistics on the national road condition data, and Wokingham Borough was in the top quartile for the best roads. However, there was an alarming trend that the average was in decline, indicating the continued underfunding by this Conservative government. This week the annual local roads maintenance survey report was published which backed up the data reported by the government’s Transport Department, with an estimated £16.8billion backlog in road maintenance. This is an increase of £2.1billion in just one year and shows the lack of proper funding of road maintenance by this Conservative government, and no strategy for going forward, except to tinker around the edges whilst the road condition declines further.
My second point is about Winnersh Park and Ride. In November last year I announced that Winnersh Park and Ride would operate on Saturdays on a 20 minute frequency until at least mid April 2024. I am pleased to announce that the service will now be extended to operate on Saturdays until at least September 2024.
Electric vehicle charge points, I am pleased to announce that Wokingham Borough Council, has been awarded a further £264,000 of government funding to install on-street charge points in residential areas where there is little or no off-street parking available. The charge points will add to the 38 across 18 locations that we installed last year.
My final point is about traffic signals. I am also pleased to announce that we have been successful in our bid to the Traffic Signal Obsolescence Grant, where we have been awarded £528,000 to upgrade traffic signal systems, replacing unreliable and obsolete equipment to improve reliability. Thank you.