The Place Overview and Scrutiny Panel discussed their work programme for the year at their meeting on 12 June 2024. The Panel agreed to a recommendation from Councillor Gurch Singh, seconded by Councillor Clive Baskerville, that they would meet to scrutinise the Berkshire Nature Recovery Strategy before it was discussed by the Cabinet. The Panel also agreed that they would invite the RBWM Property Company to a meeting to discuss their work and finances.

Work Programme

The most significant discussion at the meeting was about the Panel's work programme for the coming year (Work Programme).

Councillor Jodie Grove explained to the panel that she wanted to work with the Youth Council on an audit of young people's services in the Borough.

It had been proposed that an audit could be completed looking at what was currently available across the borough and where there were gaps. Things like grants and external funding could then be used to target areas identified.

Councillor Clive Baskerville asked to add a review of the Council's car parking strategy to the work programme. Councillor Leo Walters wanted to discuss the Council's Planning Service Improvement Plan. Andrew Durrant, Executive Director of Place, said that:

this was part of the place transformation work and covered the council’s planning team. The wider corporate transformation programme would be picked up at the Corporate Overview and Scrutiny Panel so it could be useful to link in with the discussions here.

Councillor Gurch Singh raised a number of points relating to the work programme. First he wanted to add a discussion of the Berkshire Nature Recovery Strategy to the work programme, to be heard before the Cabinet considered the strategy. He also wanted to discuss the recent decision by the Cabinet to sell Reform Road, where the Council's depot is based. Councillor Singh asked:

it would be useful to understand the timescales and the process around this asset disposal.

Councillor Singh also said that he wanted to invite The RBWM Property Company to a meeting of the Panel.

Councillor G Singh suggested that the RBWM Property Company should be invited to a Panel meeting to understand if the taxpayer was getting value for money along with the remit of the property company and an explanation on the departure of directors from the company.

Mark Beeley, Principal Democratic Services Officer, said that the Panel could discuss holding a meeting in July to scrutinise these and other items with the Executive Director of Place. He explained that CIPFA were currently undertaking a review of the Property Company.

CIPFA were currently conducting an independent review of the property company but the review would not be completed until later in the summer. The review would also consider how the council handled its corporate assets along with aligning property development with the housing needs of the borough.

Councillor Baskerville said that he was pleased to see the Council's Empty Property Strategy on the work programme.

The Chair said that the Panel would have to be mindful of how long they spent discussing each item on their work programme, and that they should use the risk matrix to decide which items to prioritise. He also said that they might need to schedule an extra meeting between September and January to discuss all of the items.

Election of Chair and Vice Chair

Councillor Gary Reeves was elected as Chair, and Councillor Jodie Grove as Vice Chair, of the Panel for 2024/25.