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You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You [silence] Chair, we are now home. Before we start the meeting, we will need to do a lecture of Chair as we've had apologies from attending in person from Councillor Tempeton and apologies from the Vice Chair Councillor Neill. So do we have any nominations for Chair of this meeting? Yes, Councillor Bailie, I nominate Councillor Jeffress. Thank you. Is that seconded? Yeah, Councillor Purnell, I'd like to second. Thank you. Are there any other nominations for Chair? No, also, no other nominations. We will put it to the vote. So all those in favour of Councillor Jeffress, Chair in this meeting, please, can you wait now? That's unanimous. Thank you. Thank you, Hannah. Welcome everyone to this hybrid meeting of the Executive. Please note that the meeting is being broadcast and recorded. For clarity, voting is only permitted by the members who are present in the room. Any member joining the meeting remotely are able to participate in the debate but are not able to vote. Agenda item 1, apologies for absence. Are there any apologies? Yes, I have apologies from Councillor Neill. Thank you. I can see the members of the committee who are in attendance and their names will be recorded in the minutes. Please can the clerk confirm if any members are joining remotely and if those members could confirm they attendance when Hannah calls your name. Thank you. I can see that Councillor Tamberton is attending online. Present. Thank you. Agenda item number 2, declarations of interest. The full text for declarations of interest is set out in the agenda. If any member has discloseable preliminary interest or an affected interest to declare, please indicate and I will come to you in turn. Thank you. There are no declarations but may I remind everyone that you can make a declaration at any point should it occur to you at a later point. If anyone declares a discloseable preliminary interest, we'll need to leave the meeting when we get to the relevant item. Agenda item 3, minutes from previous meeting. Our members happy to approve the minutes of the meeting held on 19 March 2024. Can I get a seconder? Chair, comes to the people of seconds. Are all members in favour of approving the minutes? Thank you. Agenda item number 4, urgent items of business. Are there any urgent items of business that anyone would wish to raise? No, no, no to 5. Agenda item 5, development of a new housing allocation policy. I'd like to invite Brian Daly, head of housing to present the item. Thank you, Chair. As members can see, this is the development of a new housing allocations policy, which was initially presented and agreed for a consultation of a draft policy in November 20, 2023. We went out to consultation as included in the report, which closed at the end of January 2024, which and received 318 responses. This also included a member workshop, stakeholder forums, internal and external partnership meetings. The majority of the proposals were received positive responses. The more confusing aspects of the existing policy, which were being consulted and being proposed to be changed, had more of a mixed response. We've gone through each of the options that are available within the context of the report there, and officers would recommend the adoption of the new policy to table offices to implement a new housing policy and due course. Thank you, Brian. At this point, I'd like to invite any questions from the Executive. Thank you. I would like, can I get a member to second the recommendations? Sorry, can I get a member to move the recommendations? Councillor Wright, I would like to move the recommendations. Thank you, Councillor Wright. Can I get a seconder, please? It, Councillor, for now, I'd like to second. Thank you. Would the mover like to speak to the recommendations? Thank you, Chair. Firstly, please, Mayor, thank all the officers and Councillors, staff that have been involved in planning this new policy. This should include a special mention to Brian Daly, who led on this change. The new housing allocation policy has been designed to ensure consistency and fairness for everyone. It's been formulated around the needs of Bracknell residents and meets the national guidelines and housing allocation. We were delighted that so many residents completed the consultation and that the results were largely favourable towards the changes we proposed. Over three-quarters of the 318 people that completed the survey online were housing register applicants. Overall, people agreed with what we proposed. We have listened to their concerns about exceptional cases. Any complex needs or circumstances will be individually considered under the new policy. We are excited that this policy has been delivered and we look forward to seeing thorough housing allocation across the borough. Thank you, Chair. Thank you, Councillor Wright. I would like to ask the seconder if you would like to speak to this. Thank you, Chair. I'm pleased to second these recommendations, which will no doubt improve the situation of those waiting in serious overcrowding conditions. We are waiting for a larger family home. It is reassuring that also included in this policy is a higher priority for those looking to downsize their home, making large properties available for the family's most in need. Thank you. Thank you, Councillor Panell. Would any other member like to speak to this motion? No. Would the mover like to sum up? Thank you, Chair, is that right? Thank you. Are they any against the recommendations? No. Okay. Oh, sorry. Are they all those in favour? Please can I ask you to raise your hand and vote? Thank you. No, I abstain. Thank you. Sorry. I'll get the hang of it, I promise. Moving on to agenda item number six, household support fund and financial hardship action plan. At this point, I'd like to invite Katie Flint, Policy and Performance Lead to present the item. Katie, do you want to introduce this item please? Absolutely. Good afternoon, everyone. So this is the paper for the household support fund and financial hardship action plan. This paper has two halves to it, firstly covering off the proposals for the use of the household support fund five. This specifically covers the period from the 1st of April through until end of September and is grant funding provided by the DWP. So you'll see that there are a series of options there set out within the paper. That will mean that we can get this grant funding to residents who are low income across the borough. But what you'll also see within the paper is a summary of the outcomes of the financial hardship action plan. This has been in place for the last 18 months and has. So the summary is set out within the plans, but we hope that you consider the recommendations around using the household support fund for the next six months. Thank you. Thank you Katie. I'd like to invite questions from the executive. Are there any questions? No. Okay. Sorry chair. Yes. Thank you Kate. Why are only six months and what is the process for extending that? And that's a great question. So the funding is provided directly from the DWP that enables us to deliver the recommendations within the report. So each of those different options are possible because of the grant funding received by the DWP. This is the fifth time that the department for work and pensions have provided that grant funding for the council. It's something they offer nationally to all councils and has been in place for the last few years. So very much the recommendations that you see in the paper are due to that funding that is available and depend on the department for work and pensions extending that funding beyond the grant period currently set out. Thank you. Thank you, Councillor, but well. Can I get an executive to move the recommendations? Thank you, Chair. Councillor Wright, I'd like to move the recommendations. Thank you. Can I get a seconder? Chair, I'd like a second. Thank you. Would the mover like to speak to the recommendations? Thank you, Chair. Again, a special mention should go to council staff, especially Granny Siggins and Sharon Warner and their team. When it looked like the household support funders going to be discontinued, they lobbied central government writing a letter illustrating the positive influence the previous funders had on local people here in Bracknell. They joined our leader of the Council, Mary Templeton, and the local government association as a collective voice from across the country, campaigning for the fund to be continued. Once the fund was secured, the officers worked in designing a program that ensures that those who are struggling in our borough get protection. The household support fund has been a lifeline to low-income households during the cost of living crisis. It keeps children fed during school holidays, people warm during cold spells, and gives people their dignity. As a council that is for everyone in the borough, we are glad to see that this fund is continuing. Thank you, Chair. Thank you. Would the seconder like to speak to the motion? Yeah, thank you, Chair. I'm happy to second these recommendations. The extension of this fund was by far the most welcome aspect of the parliamentary spoon budget, even if pressure from councils such as our own was required. This gives the most in need the extra help and support that they need simply to make ends meet. Thank you. Thank you, Councillor Penaude. Would any other member like to speak? No. Can I ask the mover to sum up? Would the mover like to sum up? Thank you, Chair. I don't have anything else to say. Thank you. All those in favour? For the recommendations, please can ask you to raise your hand. Thank you. Moving on, agenda item number 7, biodiversity action plan 2024 to 2029, consultation approval. I would like to invite Andrew Hunter, Executive Director, Place Planning and Regeneration to present the item. Thanks very much, Chair. So this is to present to the Executive, the draft, Brantnell Forest Biodiversity Action Plan, which will cover the period from 2024 to 2029. And it's asking you to go out for a four-week public consultation on the document. So Brantnell Forest and its residents have a commitment towards protecting and enhancing nature in the borough. And the draft plan builds on our previous biodiversity action plans, which we've had in place since 1997. The plan before you has been co-produced with input from key stakeholders who make up what we call the Brantnell Forest Nature Partnership. The first biodiversity action plan, as I mentioned, was published in 1997. And since then, we've been doing six yearly updates with the previous plan running from 2018 to 2023. The aim of this plan is to enhance the biodiversity of Brantnell Forest. And the draft plan contains 10 overarching objectives. And these objectives guide the plan and link through to measurable targets. So there's general themes within the plan, and these are target-based, and then there are specific habitat action plans contained. And those cover the important habitat types within Brantnell Forest, including grassland, woodland, rivers and wetlands, heathlands, farmland and urban areas. And we have targets set against each of those over this plan period. The consultation set out in section five of the document, but essentially we are looking to do a mainly online council response to this document because it has been well shared with partners and developed with partners. But there will be opportunities for people to contact us if they want to talk to us specifically about elements of the plan, and that's set out in 5/11. Just finally, I just want to draw the executives members. Draw the executives attention to 6.6, which just includes those people who've been involved in the co-production of the draft plan. So you will see that that's a wide variety of groups from across the borough. I'm happy to take any questions, Chair. Thank you. Any questions from the members? No. Can I get a mover? Chair, Councilor Gill, I'd like to move. Thank you. I'm happy to second. Would the mover like to speak? Thank you, Chair. Firstly, I would like to commend the work done, not just by officers, but as the Executive Director mentioned, all those involved in the initial feedback process. Our local environmental groups serve as an important conduit, providing critical information on what our borough needs, and I thank them for their efforts. It should go without saying that upholding the borough's biodiversity is a necessary goal, and inextricably linked with this borough's strategy on the climate change emergency. In grassland habitats, we have an important duty to protect harvest mice, bumblebees, ragged robins, amongst others. In woodland habitats, bull finches, bats and stag beetles, just to name a few. The variety of habitats, not just those mentioned, but also river in wetland, heathland, farmland and urban, often array of opportunities and challenges. And I believe this plan works well to chart our path forward. Should the Executive approve this plan for consultation, I would encourage all our residents and stakeholders to get involved in the process. The more feedback we have, the more we can perfect our efforts. Colleagues, I move recommendation 2.1 contained in the report. Thank you, Chair. Thank you, Councillor Gailby. As the seconder, I'd like to reserve my right to speak to this. However, I will also ask, would any other members like to speak to this? Okay. If no one's going to speak to this, all those in favour may I ask you to? Oh, sorry. Yes. Would the mover like to sum up? Thank you, Chair. I have nothing to add. Thank you. All those in favour, can I get you to raise your hand, please? Thank you. Agenda item number 8, Social Value Policy. I'd like to invite Alistair Little, Head of Corporate Procurement, to present this item. Thank you, Chair. And good afternoon, everyone. This proposal is to adopt both a new social value policy and the underlying local target matrix that we're using to support that policy. The matrix itself was developed through detail conversation with the Committee, Cohesion and Engagement Partnership and the Bracknell Forest Climate Change Summit. Though I would say it is an area that we acknowledged that due to time constraints, we weren't able to have the level of consultation we would have liked on this occasion. As you will have noted through the proposal, the matrix is intended to be a living document and will be reviewed on a regular basis. And the community consultation is an area that we intend to revisit and look to improve in future years as we revisit the matrix itself, as it is meant to be very much driven by community proposals in terms of what is included within it. Social value is an area which we would absolutely acknowledge we could improve as a local authority, and this new policy is intended to do that by providing consistency and guidance for officers in how they commission services and include social value within it. So I would ask that you approve both the policy itself and the underlying matrix to support that so we can move forward with the training implementation for officers. Thank you Mr. Little. Would any members like to ask any questions? Okay. Would a member like to move the recommendations? Yes Chair, Councillor Bibber would like to move the recommendations. Thank you, Councillor Bedwell. Would anybody like to second? Thank you, Chair. Councillor Wright, I'd like to second. Thank you, Councillor Wright. Can I ask the mover to speak to these recommendations, please? Yes, I'd love to, Chair. As Chair of the social value consultation group, I'm really happy to move the social value policy recommendations as set out in the presented report. The contracting group is a cross-party group who have worked well to fine-tune the social value matrix that will guide the authority to select contractors of choice. The new social value policy, the first for Brittany Forest Council, uses the local target methodology and is flexible enough to be adjusted to reflect the changing needs of the community. Please support this important recommendation and thank you once again to Alistair and his team for an excellent job. Thank you, Councillor Bedwell. Would the seconder like to speak? Thank you, Chair. To have social value at the heart of our work is something that we at the Council would expect. It's good to see this formalised and a robust policy that covers the Council's work with partners and providers. We're already seeing the benefits as a result of such a policy with some of our partners. For example, one of the main housing associations ensures that relevant contracts have the scope for training and apprenticeships. The introduction of this policy has been a democratic process and it will be good to see it properly in action. Thank you. Thank you. With the move, I'd like to sum up. Only to add that this is really, really important. It will allow us to select contractors that mean and share the same values as the authority. And I look forward to getting involved with that selection process in due course. Thank you, Councillor Wright and Councillor Bedwell. All those in favour may I ask you to raise your hand and vote, please. Thank you. I would like to declare the meeting closed. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Councillor. You