Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Councillor Marlow.

In accordance with the Members’ Code of Conduct, Members are requested to declare any interests orally at the start of the meeting and again immediately before consideration of the matter. Members are reminded to specify the agenda item number to which it refers and whether the interest is of a personal or prejudicial nature.

Members are also reminded of the requirements of Section 106 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992 that they should declare and not vote on specified matters if they are two months or more in arrears with their Council Tax payments.

There were no declarations of interest on this occasion.

To consider and approve the Minutes of the meeting held on 15 November 2012.

The minutes of the meeting held on 15 November 2012 were approved as a correct record.

Representations by members of the public were dealt with under the appropriate item on the agenda.

Lord True proposed and Councillor Samuel seconded that the order of business be rearranged to consider Item 17 –Twickenham Town Centre Street Scene and Highways Proposals as the first substantive item on the agenda.

There were no matters raised by Executive Members on this occasion.

There were no matters raised by non-Executive members on this occasion.

There were no matters referred to the Executive for reconsideration on this occasion.

There were no reports from Overview and Scrutiny Committees on this occasion.

Cabinet is asked to approve the next steps in the establishment of a joint shared

children’s service, Achieving for Children, with the Royal Borough of Kingston upon

Thames.

Cabinet received a report of the Leader of the Council and Cabinet Members for Education, Youth and Children’s Services and Schools which outlined the establishment of joint shared children’s service, Achieving for Children, with the Royal Borough of Kingston Upon Thames.

Councillor Hodgins noted that the report had been the subject of extensive discussions at the Education and Children’s Services Overview and Scrutiny Committee and the proposed way forward noted to be innovative.

Resolved: That Cabinet:

1. Agree to the appointment of Nick Whitfield, Director of Education, Children’s Services and Culture as Joint Director and Chief Executive of Achieving for Children (AfC) subject to the approval of the Remuneration Committee.
2. Agree that appointments  to the shared management team be made from within the existing two management teams and note the delegation to the Director (at Council on 27/11/2012) to make those appointments
3. Agree that the organisational model for AfC is initially a Councils’ owned company
4. Note that further reports, where decisions are required, will be submitted to Cabinet.

Cabinet to note the transition to the new payroll system and service and approve

£ 678,000 to be made available from the Invest to Save and the Project Development Funds.

Cabinet received a report of the Cabinet Member for Performance which sought approval to migrate payroll provision into an existing payroll system and service already established between the Royal Borough of Kingston Upon Thames and London Boroughs of Sutton and Merton from April 2013 or soon after.

Resolved:

1. That Cabinet notes the transition to the new payroll system and service and approves £678,000 to be made available from the Invest to Save and Project Development Funds.

This report outlines a proposition for a local referendum and resident engagement on

the expansion proposals for Heathrow.

Cabinet considered a report of the Leader of the Council which outlined proposals for a local referendum and resident engagement on the expansion proposals for Heathrow.

The Leader of the Council addressed Members regarding the content of the report. He noted that he was in discussions with a number of Leaders from other London Boroughs to work collaboratively regarding the timing of the consultation and designated polling date. He sought approval to finalise the polling date following consultation with other Boroughs.

Resolved: That Cabinet:

1. Agrees the proposals for a local referendum on the expansion of Heathrow as outlined in paragraphs 3.8 to 3.12
2. Approves the programme of consultation and publicity.
3. Delegates to the Leader of the Council approval to set the final polling date for the consultation following discussion with other London Boroughs wishing to carry out a similar activity.

Cabinet to consider the results of the Council’s first annual Residents’ Survey carried

out between September and October 2012.

Cabinet received a report of the Strategic Cabinet Member for Community, Business and Culture. The report presented the results of the Council’s first annual Residents’ Survey.

Councillor Fleming noted that the results of the survey had been positive overall, in particular the percentage of residents who trusted the Council. Work was underway to tackle the outstanding issues highlighted via the Survey.

Resolved: That Cabinet

1. Notes the results of the first annual Residents Survey

Cabinet to consider the Tourism Strategy which sets out a clear strategic direction for

the borough’s support for the visitor economy, outlining headline principles and

objectives that strengthen the relationship between tourism and the local economy

particularly the vitality of town centres and high streets.

Cabinet received a report of the Cabinet Member for Community, Business and Culture which set out the strategic direction for the borough’s support for the visitor economy and outlined headline principles and objectives that strengthen the relationship between tourism and the local economy, in particular the vitality of town centres and high streets.

Resolved: That Cabinet:

1. Endorses the approach to supporting tourism as outlined in the strategy.

This report updates Cabinet on developments relating to the Council Tax Support

Scheme (CTSS) and on progress in establishing a Local Assistance Scheme to

replace the Community Care Grants and Crisis Loans currently administered by the

Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).

Cabinet received a report of the Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Finance and Resources which provided an update on developments relating to the Council Tax Support Scheme (CTSS) and on progress in establishing a Local Assistance Scheme to replace Community Care Grants and Crisis Loans currently administered by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP.)

Resolved: That Cabinet:

1. Note the Transitional Grant Scheme and the Council’s intention to comply with the scheme and receive grant funding of £246,925
2. Note that as a result of the scheme being introduced, the final decisions in respect of the CTSS would be taken at January Cabinet.
3. Note that the proposals follow a ten week consultation process and no further consultation is therefore proposed.
4. Agree to introduce a replacement scheme for Community Care Grant and Crisis Loans
5. Note and comment upon the draft scheme as set out in Appendix D
6. Agree that further formal public consultation is inappropriate in this instance and to continue to consult with local partner organisations.

This report advises Cabinet of a notification which has been received for a Supplementary Fixed Costs Levy from West London Waste Authority (WLWA) at £553,000.

Cabinet considered a report of the Strategic Member for Environment and Planning, Parks and Highways which advised Cabinet of the notification which had been received from the West London Waste Authority (WLWA) for a supplementary fixed costs levy.

Resolved: That Cabinet:

1. Instruct the Directors of Environment and Finance and Corporate Services to write formally to the WLWA expressing the dissatisfaction, surprise and concern of the Cabinet that the issuing of the Supplementary Levy had been necessary.
2. Endorse the work that is underway via the Chief Executives and Directors of the WLWA’s Member Authorities to support the WLWA in markedly improving financial and governance based processes and policies.
3. Endorse the work that is underway through Richmond’s Director and Assistant Director of Environment to check and help improve processes that the WLWA are following for the procurement work that is being undertaken for a major new waste disposal contract for the region and its Member Authorities.
4. To nevertheless formally receive the request for the Levy and with reluctance release the additional funds (£553,000) to WLWA, noting the impact on the current budget of the Council as described at paragraphs 3.5 and 4 of the report.

To provide an update to Cabinet on the Council’s performance in the second quarter of 2012/13 in relation to key performance indicators, programmes and projects reported against Corporate Priorities.

Cabinet considered a report of the Cabinet Member for Performance which provided an update on the Council’s performance in the second quarter of 2012/13 in relation to key performance indicators, programmes and projects reported against Corporate Priorities.

Resolved: That Cabinet:

1. Notes progress in the achievement of Corporate Priorities through the monitoring of key performance indicators and the delivery of projects and programmes.
2. Notes the exceptions detailed in Section 1 and considers them to be adequate to deal with the exceptions as detailed.

This report deals with the two matters that the November 2012 Cabinet asked to be

brought back after further officer work. These being the further work with Transport

for London (TfL) regarding the proposed movement of the bus stops from King Street and the related revisions to bus movements and a revised Equalities Impact Needs Assessment (EINA) adjusted in particular to suit the TfL position on the bus stops.

Cabinet considered a report of the Cabinet Member for Highways and Streetscene which dealt with two matters which the November 2012 Cabinet requested to be brought back for decision after further work by officers. The first of these being the additional work with Transport for London (TfL) regarding the proposed movement of bus stops from King Street and the related revisions to bus movements and the second a revised Equalities Impact Needs Assessment (EINA) adjusted in particular to suit the TfL position on the bus stops.

Cabinet noted that a written submission had been received from Richmond AID which expressed concern regarding the specific adverse impact of moving bus stops from King Street and the subsequent impact on interchange points. This submission was supported in writing by the Equality Stakeholders Scrutiny Group.

Councillor Elloy addressed Members. He sought assurances that the final proposals would be submitted to the Environment, Sustainability and Community Overview and Scrutiny Committee for further consideration and that approval from TfL had been confirmed. He raised a number of questions regarding interchange points and cycle routes and enquired whether further public consultation would be undertaken given the ongoing refinements to the detail of the scheme. He was advised by Lord True that this would not be the case.

Mr Paul Chadwick, Director of Environment addressed Members of the Cabinet to confirm that in principle approval had been obtained from TfL to move the bus stops from King Street which would, subject to the scheme being approved by the Cabinet see the 281 and 267 services re-routed down Aragon Road. Detailed work was being undertaken regarding interchange points to ensure both the highway and bus stops had appropriate capacity to manage the traffic and increased footfall at certain stops.

Dialogue had continued with Richmond AID with a view to mitigating any specific adverse impacts on particular groups as far as possible. He noted that whilst the specific adverse impact affected a small number of journeys to specific shops, the overall improvements proposed by the scheme would be of wider benefit to Twickenham and improve the accessibility of many journeys within the Town Centre. Where bus stops would be relocated and journeys between stops would increase or cross over road junctions, crossings would be improved to include resurfacing and regrading and have countdown facilities.

Mr Chadwick explained that the EINA had been expanded since the November meeting of Cabinet to fully include the specific adverse impact on specific journeys proposed by the scheme and the proposed mitigating factors.

Mr Andrew Darvill, Assistant Director of Environment reported that discussions had been ongoing since the Cabinet meeting on 15 November 2012 with local cycling groups and as a result, no further representations had been received by Cabinet. He highlighted requests resulting from these discussions which included improved signage both in and around the town centre to help and guide cyclists and the possibility of creating a cycling route along Holly Road as an alternative to the main roads.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 321.