Transcript

Good evening. The meeting is now live and is being broadcasted and recorded. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the Deputy Mayor of the Borough of Bratton Forest Councillor Jenny Penfold. Good evening everyone and welcome to this meeting of the Council. I'm waving the requirement in the Council procedural rules requiring Councillors to stand when addressing the meeting. So please remain seated. The meeting is being broadcast and recorded. If there are any technical issues please bear with us. I have the Chief Executive and the Borough solicitor alongside me to advise on any procedural matters if required. I now declare the meeting open. Are there any apologies for absence? I have received apologies from the Mayor, Councillor Ejaz and Councillors Karim, Robertson and Mackenzie Boyle. Do we have any other apologies? Please raise your hand and I will come to you in turn. Madam Deputy Mayor, I have a point of order to raise. Sorry. What is your point of order? Thank you. Sorry to have to raise this one in public but the timing of this meeting and the rearrangement of this meeting and of other meetings have been raised with the Leader of the Council and the Chief Executive in private and our concerns have been ignored. I'm doing this in public. The date of this full Council has been moved at a very short notice and as a result it now clashes with the pre-arranged Annual Parish Meeting of Crowthorn Parish Council, therefore disenfranchising two members of this Council, Councillor Robinson, Councillor Mackenzie Boyle, who have to be at that unfortunately. The previous Council budget meeting was also moved an hour earlier at short notice making attendance very difficult for Councillors who work for a living and have to travel. This is demonstrating a pattern of contempt for the other roles that Councillors play in our community and for our colleagues in our parishes. This Council is undermining the conditions which allow a diversity of people from a wide range of backgrounds to participate in our democratic process and it's failing in its duty to promote equality. May I ask that the Council authorities actually do something to address this concern. Thank you. It is noted and the officers will address it after the meeting. Thank you. Right. Apologies. I'll be in the room. Thank you. Thank you. Any more? No. So are there any Councillors joining remotely? Councillors joining remotely please turn on your microphone and state that you are present when I call your name. Anyone who does not respond will be recorded as giving their apologies. I believe we have one Councillor online, Councillor Mossam. Yeah. Thank you. Have I missed anybody else that's online? That's it. Take it to me. Right. Right. Agenda item two is to recommend the approval as a correct record of the minutes of the Council meeting held on 10th of July 2024 and the special council meeting held on the 21st of February 2024. I'm happy to move the approval of the minutes. Before I ask Councillor Tempritt to second the motion please can you indicate if you have any issue with the accuracy? On the minutes of the special meeting, the budget meeting, in my talk I mentioned that Blackwater Valley Trust had given 20,000 pounds to the charity and it's turned out, they missed out the M on the figure so it's turned out to be 2P in the minutes. Could that be corrected please? It's noted, I'm sure it will be corrected. Thank you. Any more? No, there is, in that case, can I ask Councillor Tempritt to second the? I second them, Madam Mayor. Right. Thank you Councillor Tempritt and there. As nobody has agreed there was an issue with them. Agenda item three, declarations of interest. The full text for declarations of interest is set out on the agenda papers as item three. Does any Councillor have a discloseable pecuniary interest or an affected interest to declare the nature of the interest? My chief executive, does anyone join in remotely indicate they have an interest? No, they've not. Thank you. Before we move to the next item on the agenda, I would like to advise the Councillor as I have received notice that Councillor Kristoff, Ebellet and Smith are withdrawing their motion set out at agenda item 11. Councillor Ebellet and Councillor Smith, can you confirm this please? A conference, Madam Deputy Mayor. Thank you. We now come to agenda item four, which are the mayor's announcements. It's been a fairly quiet month for mayor's activities. The list of things I've attended this month are on screen, at least some of them, ones on the screen and on another screen. Black and forest regularly welcomes new citizens living in the area within the citizenship ceremony. It's a very short but very happy ceremony, which makes people very proud. These four ceremonies, this is the last but one, show you how many cultures people come from. I think there's 27 in these four meetings and there's one or two more countries in the last meeting. It's wonderful to see how many talents and fresh cultures that the new citizens bring. The next slide please. We also had two very successful fundraising events for the mayor's charity, with Berkshire Women's Aid. These were set in motion by Councillor Nahid at Ijaz and very well supported by Councillors and Councillors staff. Thank you. It was good to see Councillors, town Councillors, Councillors from various parties, shaking the collection buckets on a very chilly wind tunnel outside Waterstance. Thank you for all volunteers. The other event I attended, presentation of for community service, didn't actually involve any groups from battle, but it was an enjoyable ceremony. Thank you. Right. We now come to the report of the Executive at Agenda item five. Would Councillor Tempotent like to present the Executive report? The Executive of held two meetings since January council on the 23rd of January, 2024 and the 6th of February. We go on. Sorry. The Council Strategy and Climate Change, establishment of the Berkshire Prosperity Board, a joint committee which shares common economic goals, to enable all six Berkshire Councils to collaborate on exciting economic development opportunities. The first official board is due to take place in May, following the decision-making process for all six Councils to establish the board. Each Council will lead on one of the six themes. Platinum Forest Council will lead on climate change and assist on affordable housing theme. There will be three recommendations and the Executive recommends to the Council that the establishment of a fully constitutional joint committee to be known as the Berkshire Prosperity Board for May the 24th is approved to deliver a Berkshire-wide vision for inclusive green and sustainable economic prosperity. The proposed constitution for the joint committee is set out in the Executive Director for Place Planning and Regenerations Report, Appendix A, functions procedure rules for a joint committee, Appendix B, responsibilities of the accountable body and Appendix C governance structure is approved. Subject to the monitoring office have been authorised to make minor amendments to the functions and procedure rules in conjunction with the participating authorities. The Chief Executive will be delegated to reach a legally binding agreement between the member authorities, setting out the supporting arrangements and responsibilities between the authorities, particularly between the lead authority known as the accountable body and the other member authorities, and go through the relevant democratic process if required. The Executive noted the performance of the Council from July to September 2023 which was highlighted in the overview report. This includes recommendations made by overview and scrutiny. At the end of the quarter 15 actions were complete, 67 actions were rated as green, 21 actions were amber, 1 action was red. For quarter 2 there were 47 indicators presented, progressed against key performing indicators across the Council was positive, 32 indicators were green, zero indicators were amber, three indicators were red, 12 indicators have no target and are for monitoring only. The Bracknell Forest Economic Strategy 24/34, an action plan, was approved following an informative consultation. The strategy will be delivered with residents, employers, businesses, skills and training providers and through working with neighbouring local authorities and government agencies. The Executive also endorsed the repositioning of the Bracknell Forest Economic and Skills Development Partnership to the Bracknell Forest Economic Partnership. Children, young people and learning. The proposed youth service strategy 24/27 has been created following comprehensive data analysis, consultation and feedback. It supports the Council's priority to ensure engaged and healthy communities. The Executive approved the draft strategy and the final consultation plan will be agreed with Executive Member for children, young people and learning. The Executive noted the invitation for Councillors to join a dedicated session to feedback on the draft strategy. The final strategy and its action plan will be brought back for execution for the Executive approval following the consultation and the consultation has now been completed and there are 111 responses from young people and 47 responses from community, family or professional. The Executive agreed to the recommendations including entering a partnership agreement with 20 local authorities for the procurement plan for the Children's Residential Framework

1. Southampton City Council will be the lead authority for the procurement of a new framework for Children's Residential Provision, a four-year contract followed by a two and a two-year contract starting in October 24. The anticipated total expenditure by the Council through the South Central Children's Residential Framework will be between 3.5 and 4 million pound per year. Give an estimated total expenditure for the initial four-year term of 16 million. This will help us meet our strategy duty to safeguard and protect the welfare of looked after children. It will enable us to commission a wide range of placements and high quality accommodation to meet the needs of our children and young people. This is critical in helping them achieve their independence and ambitions. Ratnall Forest prefers to use its own foster carers where possible for our looked after children. However, where a child has particularly complex needs, which cannot be met by foster carers, a residential placement must be required. As a small unitary, being part of a framework with other local authorities, increases the Council's influence in the highly challenging residential market. Finance and business change, design and construction multidisciplinary consultancy services contract. The Council requires an experience consultancy organisation to provide a range of specialist property and construction functions. This will enable teams within the Council to use the approved supplier for consultancy when in-house teams cannot provide support or do not have the necessary expertise. The Executive approved the Strategic Procurement Plan to tend to for a design and construction multidisciplinary consultancy services contract. Approval of this Strategic Procurement Plan authorised to propose contract term for up to ten years. The initial period being five years with a further three plus two years based on key performance indicators. The contract value is up to 12 million for the ten year contract to be procured from a single provider. Thank you. Are there any questions? Councillor BORNELL. Thank you very much and it's good to see so much good work going on with children and people in learning. However, I have a question about gender item 11 on the Executive this evening which was the Send Written Statement of Action Implementation Update. Please could I have your thoughts on item 5.1.5 which I'm really pleased to hear welcomed the increased strategic engagement with families as being a lot better and that's great to hear. But it did note that outcomes at family level are still too slow. Is this because we're still struggling to recruit the people to do it? Because, you know, my understanding is there's lots of really good work going on but I think, you know, we need to understand if there are problems. And secondly, 5.1.6 says there's better working with schools. Is this something that's shared by all schools because I'm certainly aware that in a number of our schools they still have concerns possibly again based on the fact that we are struggling as health are to recruit everybody in this area. Thank you. Councillor interjecting. The second part was that in 5.1.6 it says that it's noted there's better working with schools. I am aware that some schools still feel there are difficulties and I'm wondering if this is linked to the fact that, like health, we are struggling to find people because everybody's working hard but I think we need to be absolutely open if we are like other struggling to feel vacancies and that, you know, to make sure that our staff feels supported in this. We are recruiting and it has got better. There are still some gaps but there are more people applying and it has got better. I asked the executive which was held immediately before this council meeting and they are hoping that there will be full people. It will all be occupied and all the vacancies will be filled in July. That was on that basis as well. So they are coming forward more and they are being recruited with the schools. I think this is a continuing ongoing program especially with safety of our I feel that we need to keep on talking to the schools and reassuring them that there will be the capacity there. Are there any more questions? Are there any questions from anyone online? Madam Deputy Mayor, there are no more questions but I see we do have a member that has- Sorry, sorry. Madam Deputy Mayor, there are no questions online but I do see that we have a Councillor that's attended. Councillor Karym has joined online. Sorry. Thank you, Councillor. I'm just about to- We now come to the recommendation on page 29 of the agenda report relating to the establishment of a joint committee the Berkshire Pausperity Board. Councillor Tempeton, would you like to move this recommendation? I would indeed, I think this is a superb move and I am very proud to recommend this recommendation. Is that seconded? Madam Deputy Councillor, Mayor, Councillor pause it while seconded. Now we'll move to debate. Please raise your hand if you wish to speak. You may only speak once during the debate for no longer than five minutes. Councillors in the room will be invited to speak first and Councillors online at the end of the debate before we move on to the vote. Do we have any on-wishing to speak? Councillor CASSIDY, would you like to speak to the motion? I will indeed thank you. This is a really good opportunity, exciting opportunity for all the six unity authorities to work together to develop a joint committee and share common goals across a functional economic area will provide barge authorities with exciting new opportunities of collaboration and economic development. Providing more flexibility and influence than the single council would have on its own. Helping local authority speak with one voice to secure more funding from government and other agencies and sources to help get key projects and initiatives off the ground. There will be six work in streams, health and inequalities, employment and skills, sector development, which is the business economic strategy, climate change and net zero, strategic infrastructure and social, accessible and affordable housing. Each of the councils will take up one of those and be supported by another. Together the government seems to want to talk to bigger councils often with an elected mayor. We are not having an elected mayor but the six of us working together can actually speak with one voice on the things where we work for this economic development and hopefully obtain more money in which we can spread through Berkshire and therefore benefit from it with every single unitary authority that's working together. So I move this recommendation. Councillor BIDirell, do you wish to speak now or reserve? Deputy Mayor, I'd like to reserve. Any councillor like to speak? No. Would you like to sum up? I'd just confirm there's nobody online that would like to speak. I think I'll just move the recommendation. Thank you. Councillor interjecting. Sorry, the recommendation is set out on screen. The Democratic Service Officer will count our votes so please make sure your hand is clearly raised. Only those in the room can vote. Can all those present in the Chamber indicate by raising their hand if you support the recommendation? Sorry. Any against all abstentions? Without waiting, I can confirm the vote is carried. Thank you. We now come to item six, which is adoption of the local plan. Does any councillor have a question of the executive member, Councillor Gilby? Councillor Vergough. Thank you very much. Can I ask a question? Members welcome that there is a requirement by developers for a 10% biodiversity gain on developed land. However, could you reassure members that offices will enforce vociferously this regulation to ensure the land has a 10% gain before the development is completed? Thank you, Councillor Vergough. What I can say is this is part of a national regulation and so therefore as part of that, we will of course be doing our utmost to enforce what is coming up from national level, but I can give him that assurance. Thank you. Thank you, Madam Deputy Mayor. My question is, Councillor, the new local plan relies more heavily on planning by condition. What measures have been taken to ensure that there is sufficient enforcement provision capacity? Thank you, Councillor GORE. As that falls outside of the direct provisions of the local plan, you'll understand that I'll have to do some chasing with officers, but I'm quite content to get back to you with an answer. But I could assure you that the officers will be on the case. Thank you. Are there any more questions? All right. Thank you. If there's no more questions, Councillor Gilby, would you like to move the recommendations? Yes, thank you, Madam Deputy Mayor. I'd like to move the recommendations at 2.1 to 2.5 of pages 35 and 36 of the agenda. Is that seconded? Thank you, Councillor interjecting. Happy to second that. Thank you. Now we'll move to the debate. Please raise your hand if you wish to speak. You may speak once during the debate for no longer than five minutes. Councillors in the room will be invited to speak first. Councillor Gilby will have the right of reply at the end of the debate before we move to the vote. Councillor Gilby, would you like to speak to the motion? Thank you, Madam Deputy Mayor. Members, this is a plan long in the making. Work started nine years ago over two administrations and I firstly want to pay tribute to my predecessor, Chris Tull, who is with us today, who served as Executive Member until 2023 and I also want to extend my thanks to all the officers at Bratton Forest Council who work so diligently on a process which I'm sure at times felt never-ending. That we have reached this stage as a testament to the involvement of all stakeholders, including the residents of Arbara through several consultations. The local plan has been through extensive evidence and data gathering and scrutiny from the Government appointed planning and specterate. It is quite obvious that, had this administration been in power from the start of those nine years, the local plan no doubt would look different. But as a responsible administration, the Executive took the decision that we need a local plan so as to establish certitude in this borough's house building strategy. This has therefore become a bipartisan document worked on by both this Labor and the previous Conservative administrations and I believe that tells housing providers that they can be sure of the opportunities available in Arbara in pursuit of our common house building goals. Members, there is much to commend in this plan. A full 10% increase in the requirement of affordable houses, up-to-date climate change policies and having a plan allows us to guard against unwanted development schemes on unallocated sites. Should members agree to the recommendations for adoption, the local plan would become our most up-to-date planning document, guiding Councillors as they work to preserve the very best of Bratnell Forest, preserving our green spaces whilst also offering opportunities for more of our community to have a home in the borough they love. Finally, at the risk of embarrassing him, I want to pay tribute to Max Baker, Assistant Director for Planning, who has helped shepherd this local plan through all its stages of development these past nine years and who will be retiring at the end of this month. I think we can all forgive Max a long break after this. Thank you, Max, and I know all members present will wish you well. The hard work of implementing the new plan starts now, with all planning applications now to be judged against the policies in this plan. I know that officers are already working on this implementation which will include training for Councillors, developers and other partners who are regularly involved in planning matters. Members, I commend the local plan before us and move the recommendations contained in the report. Thank you. Councillor Barnard, would you like to speak or reserve? I will reserve, thank you. Right. Does any Councillor wish to speak? Councillor Collins. Thank you, Madam Deputy Mayor. The Bratnell Forest Local Plan, as Councillor GILBEE has said, has been a long time in the making and we would like to thank everyone involved in the process, especially officers for their hard work and dedication throughout. The benefits of an adopted local plan are quite clear. It will enable us to defend against speculative planning applications which can result in piecemeal development and costly appeals. We are all aware of development sites which have resulted from speculative applications and are probably also aware of unallocated sites for which planning applications are likely to come forward in the future if no plan is in place. The new plan has been the subject of main modifications and we have particularly welcomed the removal of the proposed garden village in the Greenbelt in Gelitz Hill. This proposal was considered not to meet the exceptional circumstances required by the NPPF and would have had a harmful impact on the Greenbelt. It was also deeply unpopular with many of our residents. In view of recent hedrow destruction such as at the Skylark's development in Warfield, I believe we will need to strengthen our protection of trees and hedgerows. Once the plan is adopted, we will welcome the opportunity to review the policies within it, especially those relating to sustainability, climate change, biodiversity and of course our trees and hedges. This is in light of the council's recent climate and biodiversity emergency declaration. We also need to enable the views of existing residents to be better heard within the planning process. The Green Group does not believe the council can discard the local plan and start again, as well as incurring significant cost that which would have already been spent and with the possibility of another local plan that would be not significantly different to the plan before us now, discarding it would allow more speculative planning applications to be submitted whilst another local plan is being developed. For these reasons, Madam Deputy Mayor, the Green Group will be supporting the adoption of the Bracknell Forest local plan. Thank you. Councillor Smith, please. Thank you Madam Deputy Mayor. I would first like to acknowledge the significant efforts of our hard-working planning officers in the production of this plan. A new local plan is one of the most significant and substantial items of policy a local authority is responsible for producing, shaping the future growth of the borough for the next 15 years and the final document presented to Council this evening is a testament to the efforts of all of those who have contributed to it over those many years of development. It is inevitable, I think, with our planning documents of this magnitude that some elements of the plan will prove controversial and particularly, I think, in relation to these site allocations. Planning is about change and change is rarely universally popular. In the case of future developments, the net impact of the changes envisioned by this plan are undoubtedly positive and beneficial to our community as a whole, generating the new homes Bracknell Forest residents need. The new plan ensures that these homes will be more sustainable than ever before and will include 35 per cent affordable homes across all new major developments. We are a growing population and unless we build the homes that reality entails now, we will discover too late that our children and their children after them simply will not have access to suitable, affordable places to live in the future. However, it is unavoidable that there will be some for whom the impact of new development is undesirable. This plan does not shy away from facing up to difficult choices and compromises where they are necessary and I acknowledge in particular the concerns of residents in Crowthorn who will see new proposed developments at the Beaufort Park site, reducing the strategic gap between Bracknell and Crowthorn, with very real worries about the erosion of Crowthorn's identity as a village distinct from its larger neighbour. Nonetheless, I feel it is important to recognise that this council has an obligation under national planning policy to identify land sufficient to meet projected housing need, calculated in line with a standardised national assessment approach. The need is substantial with over 10,000 new homes required within the plan period. That is roughly a 20% increase in homes in the borough by 2037. The challenges for Bracknell for us are particularly compounded by the large areas of the borough which are not available for development due to a combination of green belt status and the Thames based and heaves special protection area. Against this backdrop, we must acknowledge the necessity of difficult and at times locally unpopular site allocations. Where this is the case, these are evidence led with officers having conducted comprehensive strategic land assessments to inform these decisions over many years. It is important to note that if we don't allocate sufficient sites, others will do it for us. Due to unfortunate delays in getting the plan to this point, Bracknell for us is currently unable to demonstrate sufficient site allocations to meet housing need over the next five years. Where authorities cannot demonstrate a five-year housing land supply, the national planning policy kicks in with the so-called tilted balance, taking these decisions out of our hands and giving developers carte blanche to build upon unallocated sites almost at will. We already have a number of developments within the borough which were not planned. They were not desired by the council and indeed some of which have been refused by our own officers or the planning committee but were subsequently approved by planning inspectors on appeal as a consequence of this situation. I am a third proponent of plan led development. It is for this reason more than any other that I believe is vital we approve this plan today in its proposed format. Further revisions to the plan would require re-consultation and resubmissions to central government examiners, likely delaying adoption by another year or more during which time the tilted balance would expose us to further speculative and unplanned development applications which would not best serve our community. I will therefore be supporting the plan this evening along with Liberal Democrat colleagues. However, I do believe it is important to note that whilst this plan is the product of years of joint work and collaboration between planning officers and elected councillors, the makeup of this chamber was fundamentally and radically changed last May. For the majority of current members, the plan was already at such a late stage of development by the time we were elected last year that we have had virtually no input to the process. Whilst we will be the council who therefore vote to adopt this plan, it is fundamentally a product of our predecessors and many of us will share frustrations with aspects of the plan we would prefer to have been able to change if given the opportunity. This is not to suggest that there are major issues of the plan as proposed or to criticise the efforts of our planning officers, but rather to focus our attention on what should come next. With the plan hopefully adopted this evening, I hope that will free up capacity to progress work on the next phase of planning policy development. I have always raised with the executive member of various areas, I believe future planning policy should address and I hope therefore that he hears us when we convey the urgent need to work with members across the chamber to inform and prioritise future planning policy development. Thank you. Can I raise a question or point of order? So during the speech we have just heard, specific reference was made to the Beaufort Park site by someone who will have an active role in the planning committee on Thursday. My inference was that by drawing attention to that, I would hope that there was no suggestion of any pre-determination of that application in any comments the council made. Could this be addressed, please? Thank you for your question. The point is well made, however, that in terms of the contents of the speech from Council Smith that in itself is not pre-determination. That's from a legal point of view, he's entitled to mention or refer to the Beaufort Park application. There may be an element of predisposition, but that in itself is not unlawful. Thank you very much. Appreciate the clarification. Thank you, Madam Mayor. Can I just make the point? I'm very pleased, like most members, in this room, that we have a local plan and I'd like to thank, like Councillor Smith just said, officers for this very long work which they've done. But I would ask that the planning officers work alongside Thameswater engineers to make sure that the sewage capacity and land drainage arrangements and infrastructure is adequate before any large planning applications are approved. This will protect our residents from overspills and dangerous pollution. Thank you. Thank you, Madam Deputy Mayor. As one of the few remaining members who started in the beginning with the local plan process, it's been an interesting, challenging and very often frustrating journey. There's been a huge amount of effort involved over the years, and I remember well the long meetings, furious debates and grinding at unrelenting effort involved to bring the plan to where we are today. The local plan is not perfect, but it has been widely consulted upon, and it's absolutely necessary to ensure that the ever-increasing level of speculative development remains in check with the solid plan and policies to take us through to 2037. The local plan before us tonight seeks to focus on planning approval via conditions, and it's imperative, therefore, for our local plan to succeed. Our current hard-working enforcement team is strengthened to cope with what will undoubtedly be an ever-increasing workload in the years to come. Over the years, there have been many contributors to the plan, and I personally want to highlight both the current members and officers and, additionally, those members and officers who are no longer in post. Their effort and dedication over the years has seen the plan safely arrive at the point of adoption tonight. I also want to thank the many residents who contributed to shaping the local plan via the consultation process, and, in particular, the leading members of the Save Jellets Hill team and the Nuttown Protection Society who work diligently and tirelessly to provide a strong case for the exclusion of LP7 from the plan, ensuring the voices of thousands of residents were represented in a professional, committed and persistent manner at the very highest level. Thank you. Thank you. Councillor Eberle. Tina Eberle, sorry. Thank you, madam Deputy Mayor. I would like to comment on the abduction of the Bregnall Forest Local Plan and why I'm actually intending to abstain from voting for against it. I contemplated voting against. However, as this local plan should have been voted on by the previous Council prior to the election in May 2023, I decided that to abstain. I'm aware that the current administration inherited this plan and that working on a new plan would mean great additional cost to the Bregnall Forest Borough Council, money which this borough hasn't to spare, plus it would leave this Council with less control over the developed areas. Hence, I choose not to vote to highlight the concerns of many croissant residents with the regards to the Beaufort Park development in the Bregnall Forest Local Plan despite it not being part of Croissant, but it will impact the village. With designating Beaufort Park a development it appears not all aspects laid out in the Bregnall Forest Local Plan 0.3, 0.3, 4.2, 4.3, 4.9, 4.10, sub points B, D, F, H and I have been regarded fully comprehensively. First, the reduction of the informally agreed strategic green gap between Croissant Village and Bregnall Town Centre will be voted under 0.6.41 stating that the development would extend the settlement of Bregnall. Consequently, the strategic gap will be reduced to a sliver of its original size. This will impact the distinctive character and cultural inheritance of Croissant Village as Beaufort Park appears to be very much cut off from Bregnall Town and that she more connected to Croissant Village. Therefore, Croissant Village will come under more pressure and lose its greener border to Bregnall Town. Secondly, Croissant residents are already facing high impacts from traffic disruptions with every roadblock that takes place or cheap availability is an other critical issue. These points have, according to the plan, be considered. However, looking at the expansion Croissant Village must already cope with the TLR side. Now, Beaufort Park, a huge development with further 1494 houses being built which increased the village by approximately already 1/3 and two additional developments per point 514 on the side of the old Broadmoor Hospital and Darby Field. Certainly, Beaufort Park is offering many affordable homes on paper, like questions. Are these homes truly affordable for the people who need them as the development is part of Brad Holland's community. Based on the location, type of housing, mainly street bedrooms, the development appears to target more affluent middle-class families with possibly two incomes as pricing will be reflecting the value of the houses and the greener location. Most likely, the price bond will exclude key workers, single-parent families and first-time buyers even with the 80% affordable label. Plus, it appears to lack the social infrastructure, for example, for single parents as well as for less mobile and elderly people. So, does it truly promote social and affordable housing beyond the paper? Last but not least, per point 5.6, the development does not help to preserving the borough's valued natural and historic environment and adapting to climate change. Why has Beaufort Park, a green first side, per point 5.10 and 6.39 being selected by the previous and current administration to be included in the local plan? It is a mature natural area, including predominantly conferious and broad-leaved woodland, including woodland plantations and the areas of grassland and eastland, which will simply be lost by building over it. Their hope was high amongst croissant residents that with the new council pledging to be as carbon neutral as possible by 2030 that Beaufort Park would be instead be preserved for its nature. The remaining sliver of the land will not replace all the trees lost for the coming generations' level, planting of new ones elsewhere soon either. Unless we start to act, we will be a pregnant woman without forest very soon. In summary, I would like to urge this council to assess a more visionary and even border-green approach for the next plan by creating more sustainable and even more social communities for various housing needs instead of more or less faceless housing estates which add pressures to its neighbours for Nilsil. Thank you Madam Deputy Mayor. Thank you, Councillor McLane. Thank you Madam Deputy Mayor. It may not come as a surprise to members who have been in the Council Chamber before the last election, but Councillor Barnard and I have been fighting over development in War Fields since 2006. We have opposed inappropriate development, we have opposed infilling and we have stood up for local residents about protecting the semi-rural nature of War Field which I believe we as the elected representatives for that ward are there to do. When this local plan first came to the Council in the last administration, I did not abstain because the elements of it that I did not like. I took the moral courage and moral high ground and opposed it because I believed that with the inclusion of what is known as LP7, which in layman's terms, is the development at Jellitz Hill was wrong. I did not sit on the sidelines, I voted against it and that required a certain degree of courage because of course as a Conservative Councillor I was opposing my own Conservative Council but it was the right thing to do and that was justified by the inspectors who happily agreed that it was an inappropriate development. But that was the only reason I opposed the local plan at that stage because it included Jellitz Hill. Is this plan perfect? No it isn't. No plan will ever be perfect but as other members have said we desperately need to have a local plan so that's why I will be supporting it. And Councillor Gore has already made reference to the hard work that people on this Council, in this Council and outside this Council have put in to getting where we are particularly those people with whom Councillor and I worked and others in relation to LP7. But as Councillor Gore has also said, the key to making this local plan work will be enforcement, making sure developers understand the fact that we will enforce the policies and the regulations that we put on developments in this borough far too often developers have played fast and loose with developments destroying hedgerows, cutting down trees and not being challenged and not being held to account. We have biodiversity embedded within this plan. We need to make sure the Council protects Bracknell Forest from developers who feel they can ride a coach and horses through our regulations because there will be no enforcement. So I will be looking to see how this Council and this Administration works with developers in a positive, constructive way but those who decide not to play by the rules face the full consequences of this Council and the law. But as LP7 has been removed, I will be supporting the local plan tonight. Thank you. Thank you, Councillor. Anybody else in the room? Is Councillor SRI's executive other any request from those? Sorry. Thank you, Madam Deputy Mayor. I just wanted to congratulate Councillor Vergo for bringing recommendation three of the Environment and Community Panel of the Oberlin Scrutman Commission to the attention of the full Council and of course a fully supported recommendation. Thank you. From those joining remotely. No, they're in a request. Sorry. Would you like to speak? Thank you very much, Madam Deputy Mayor. This is a really important night for Bracknell Forest Council because it hopefully will bring into play a new local plan which has been said quite often this evening will mean that we're in plan led development. Plan led development means that I hope that all Councillors in their statutory role on the Planning Committee as local ward members working with residents can make sure that in all applications that come forward for these allocated sites it is plan led and it serves well the communities of today, the residents of today and the residents communities tomorrow. This colleagues is not carp launch for developers to do what they like to do and to just basically develop in the way they want to. Bracknell has been said already is littered with the history of half kept promises development that has not been completed properly. We have here a plan led development plan. There are lots of policies and of course with those policies can come supplementary planning guidance and I'm excited to look forward to work with members here to deliver on this. But we have to remember that across this borough there are sites where local residents will have concerns and it falls to us to make sure that their voices heard and even if we can't stop development in some areas we can make sure that it works. This brings me to one of the problems that we have in Bracknell Forest. We're a very small borough and that's why Councillors, I absolutely agree with what you said the chances are not be standing some of the comments this evening that the broad shape of the plan because of the constraints of the local protection area, the concerns and constraints that we have around some of the other land issues where actually we can build the green belt means that there are actually very few places you can look to build housing. That's difficult and actually as Councillor McLean has said already this evening as a long-term Councillor for North Bracknell I have seen with devastating effect wave after wave of development. I welcome those residents to North Bracknell because I live on a new estate that was built in the 1990s there are generations of residents in Bracknell Forest that have benefited from that. I was fortunate to be able to access housing when I came here that meant I could put my roots down here and I think we're going to see applications coming forward that have affordable housing and crucially affordable housing that is suitable for the location and I think it's very disrespectful to actually suggest that you can't build affordable family housing. That's one of the key tenants of this plan, 35 per cent affordable housing. That's ambitious and that took a lot to work on. I want to pay tribute to Councillor Torrell and other members of the Executive who actually took this plan forward supported by Andrew Hunter, Max Baker and others and also to this Administration for taking it forward. But we have to be very very clear that there are things that we need to work on hard and again Councillor Collins you referenced them. I am appalled by the destruction of the hedgerows and trees on the new Skylark site. It seems to me complete nonsense that when you actually build a new housing development the first thing is you rip out the biodiversity because nobody will persuade me that when you pull down a mature hedge even if it's not a great quality and you replace it with whips that suddenly that's going to become a good hedge time. So I would hope that in this plan-led approach we can make absolutely certain on that front that we retain what we can, we incorporate it and if that means developers have to work that little bit harder let's make them work harder. I also find it quite difficult sometimes when people try to classify different sorts of trees. We've got the pine school partly because it's surrounded by pines. It might be that pine trees are sort of in a sort of a glade type setting. It might be that in some parts of the bar of their cash crops but fundamentally that's biodiversity, that's trees and we need to protect it. So I urge you if you have any sort of questions about this come and see what's going on in North Bratton at the moment just off Harvest Ride, see what's happened. Badgers actually need places to forage as well as woodland to live in and you know we've got residents that last someone that said we had it. So I think just a couple of other things to say I heard the comments about the strategic gap between growth and that. We wanted that to happen. Councillor Tinebelly, it wasn't the administration that stopped that it was the inspector that said we couldn't have it. That's been made clear at policy discussion. After policy discussion I fundamentally disagree. I think there's a huge amount more that should be done to sustain development but in conclusion it will depend very much on our involvement as members working with officers. It will depend very much on our involvement to make sure that we get those supplementary planning guidance ready to make sure this plan lives because it has to work for all residents of Bratton or Forest and to those people that will be directly affected by new development we have to do absolutely everything we can to make sure that as far as possible it works because that is the real test. That's the really exciting thing about this local plan. We can make it work for Bratton or Forest. Thank you, Councillor Barnard. Councillor GILBIT, would you sum up, please? Thank you, Madame Deputy Mayor. I'd first start by picking up a point made by Councillor Smith. He's quite right that when this process started after the 2015 local elections, 41 or 42 Councillors were of one party. Quite clearly this is a radically different make-up there are now four parties involved of varying compositions and no doubt if we'd started the process over the end result would look very different. But as has been laboured, I think many times by Councillors here in this Chamber to rip it up and start again was not a realistic option. To leave us open to problems with a five-year land supply that comes from not having a local plan in place would leave us open to unwanted developments in inappropriate areas. So consequently, the executive made the very clear decision that there was no realist alternative but to continue this process. But I will echo, I think the point that's been rightly made around this Council Chamber tonight. The proof is in the implementation and I want to work very closely with Councillors, residents, officers, all stakeholders across our borough to ensure that the provisions, the actions mandated by this plan are as carried out effectively and efficiently as possible and look forward to that ongoing conversation and indeed expanding on this work because the work doesn't just stop with this local plan in place. There are additional policy requirements that we can continue to make us an administration and we will do and look forward to that open conversation with everyone here in front of me today. Thank you. Thank you, Councillor Gilb. The recommendation is now set out on the screen. The Democratic Services Officer will count the votes, so please make sure your hand is clearly raised. Only those in the room can vote. Can all those present in the Chamber indicate by raising your hand if you support the recommendation? Any against? Any abstentions? Thank you. Thank you. That is carried. We now come to item 7. We have one abstention. Sorry, Councillor Blake, could you tell me one? Yes, sorry. Madame Deputy Mayor, I would like to request that my personal vote which was an abstention be recorded in the minutes. Right, yes, we can do that. Thank you, Madame Mayor. Right, so we come to item 7, pay policy statement. Does any Councillor have a question of the Employment Committee Chair, Councillor Pickering? No? Right, there are no questions. Chief Executive, are there any questions from those joining remotely? No, I can't say any questions. Thank you. If there are no further questions, Councillor Pickering, would you like to move the recommendations? Thank you, Madame Deputy Mayor. I would like to move the recommendations at 2.1 on page 45 of the agenda. Is that seconded? Councillor Watts, I second that, Madame Mayor. Thank you. Now we move to... Thank you. Sorry. If there's no further questions, would you like... Sorry, you've done that bit. Now we'll move to the debate. Please raise your hand if you wish to speak. You may speak once during the debate for no longer than five minutes. Councillors in the room will be invited to speak first. Councillor Pickering, you will have the right to reply at the end of the debate before we move to the vote. Councillor Pickering, would you speak to the motion? Yes, thank you. The Council are required to publish an annual pay statement which confirms how the Council will apply the pay arrangements for all staff for the year. These pay arrangements are based on the national terms and conditions of service for the local government employees. Changes from the 2023 to 2024 statement and the pay details have been uplifted to account for the April 23 pay award. The pay statement has been considered at the local joint Council and was agreed with the trade unions. It has subsequently been agreed at the employment committee on 7 February 2024. Before the pay statement can be introduced and published, the Council is required to agree the statement prior to publication. Can I refer on to recommendation in the cover report at 2.1 that Council review and agree the pay policy statement for 24-25. Thank you. Thank you. Councillor Watch, would you like to speak or reserve? I reserve, Adam. Thank you. Sorry. I recommend a, sorry, does any Council in the room wish to speak? No. Do you think the executive already requests to speak from those online? No, they are not. Right. Councillor What? Do you wish to speak? No, thank you, Madam Mayor. Councillor Pickering, would you like to sum up? Only to move the recommendations. Right. The recommendation is set out on screen. The Democratic Services Office that will count our votes, so please make sure your hand is clearly raised. Only those in the room can vote. Can all those present in the Chamber indicate by raising your hand if you support the recommendations? Right. Any against? Any abstentions? Right. Thank you. That is carried. We now come to the establishment of a joint health overview and scrutiny committee. Does any question, any Council have a question of the overview and scrutiny committee chair? Councillor Pickering. Councillor Barnard. Thank you. Councillor Pickering, can I ask that this matter was discussed at the overview and scrutiny commission? Can I ask your confirmation that members of this committee has been put together in terms of political proportionality and in line with the Constitution of this Council? Yes. Thank you very much. Can I further ask the question if that was to be varied, what implications would that have for other committees? If we are going to change the make up of the representation. Yes. If we decide that we wish to change the representation on this committee, what does that do for political proportionality on other committees? As one opposition group, we have to abide by that. Would it require effectively rewriting the Constitution elsewhere to accommodate the whims and foibles of others in this Chamber as regards to representation? I don't think so. I don't think we are going to change the representation on this committee. Can I therefore, through you, beg the indulgence of asking, Sanjay, his view on that, please? I'm reliably informed by the Assistant Director of Democratic Services that it wouldn't have an effect on other committees. Thank you. Thank you. Further questions? Are there any questions chief executive from those online? Right. If there were no further questions, would you like to move the recommendations? Yes, I'd like to move recommendations at 2.1, 2.3 on page 77 of the agenda. Is that seconded? Caroline Eggleston, second. Now we'll move to the debate. Please raise your hand if you wish to speak. You must speak once during the debate for no longer than five minutes. Councillors in the room will be invited to speak first. Councillor Pickering will have the right of reply at the end of the debate before we move on. Councillor Pickering, would you like to speak to the motion? Yes, thank you, Deputy Madam Mayor. The relocation of Frimley Park Hospital to a site which fully accommodates the needs of its 800,000 patients is of urgent importance. Over and scrutiny commission, we heard from hospital representatives about the state of the current hospital with millions being spent each year to prop it up. We also heard about the early stages of plans that they already have for the relocation which will take place by 2030 and the criteria for this new site. Together with Surrey and Hampshire, Bracknell will form a joint hospital overview and scrutiny committee, Jay Hosk, whose purpose will be to analyse and contribute to the plans for the relocation. Our representatives, Councillor Eggleston and Councillor Virgo, were nominated by the overview and scrutiny committee and will be a powerful and well informed voice for Bracknell in this process. While 17% of Frimley Park patients are from Bracknell, over 70% of Bracknell residents use Frimley. So it's vital that we make sure that the people here can continue to access what will be a state of the art super hospital as well as the potential impact of the move on other hospitals nearby. The time scales are really tight to find, build and move such a major service so the sooner the Jay Hosk can be formally established the better. I encourage all members here to support this motion and support our Jay Hosk representatives in the coming months. Thank you. Councillor Eggleston, do you wish to speak or reserve? Reserve, Deputy Mayor, thank you. Thank you. Does any Councillor wish to speak? Councillor Eberle, I see you have your hand up. Yes, thank you, Madame Deputy Mayor. I would like to propose an amendment to this motion. Is that seconded? Councillor Smith, I will second the amendment which I believe the Democratic Services officers have a copy of the text which they're putting on screen now. I was about to say these text should be coming on the screen. Right. Councillor Eberle and Councillor Smith, before I asked Councillors Pickering and Eggleston whether they accept the amendment, would you like to speak to it? Councillor Eberle? Yes, Madame Deputy Mayor, I would like to speak. Councillor CUMMANS. Okay. Thank you for your attention. In the overview and scrutiny commission meeting on February 29th, the commissioners were provided with an update on the replacement for Frimley Park Hospital necessitated by the recent RAAC, this is reinforced autoclaved area to concrete crisis in combination with the spatial constraints to the current site. About 65% of Frimley Park Hospital are affected by RAAC and as material has reached its predicted end of life, safe operation of Frimley Park Hospital requires an unsustainable amount of ongoing maintenance. The Department of Health and Social Care has set a deadline for replacement hospital to be operational in 2030, just six years away from now. Frimley Health Trust has concluded replacing the hospital at its current site while keeping the hospital operational is not practical. The move of one of the major sources of clinical care has huge potential impact on residents, in particular, Bracken Forest residents who already struggle with accessibility of the current site. Frimley Health Trust recognized its impact by undertaking public engagement between November 24th, 2023 and the 7th of January 2024 to understand the demands from residents and staff on the location of a new hospital. While Frimley Health Trust suggests that the public engagement was representative of the users, we, the Liberal Democrat, are concerned about the reported fact that 94% of respondents to the online survey described themselves as white. And a quarter were employed to firmly help trust. From memory, the presentation by Frimley Health Trust in Open View and Scooten Commission meeting on February 29th suggested further that more than two-thirds of the respondents were female. The skewed survey population raises concerns whether the survey actually captured a representative sample of the residents demands, despite the efforts made by the research agency tasked by Frimley Health Trust. We, the Liberal Democrats, believe that transparency needs to underpin the engagement of all elected representatives with the general public and therefore propose a following amendment to item number eight, which you see on the screen right now. I'm not reading it out to save some time. We believe that this process will be helpful to inform black and forest council representatives on the JOSC about the priorities of our residents and, in turn, contribute to fair outcome of the Frimley Park Hospital replacement program. Thank you very much. Sorry, Councillor Smith, do you want to add to that? Thank you. Yes, I will speak now. Simply to reiterate, Councillor Aburlay's point that this is a massive decision that will have enormous ramifications for residents of Bracknell. We have, for far too long in Bracknell Forest, been the poorest siblings of nearby towns in terms of health care. We're about as far as you can get from a major hospital unit in the south of England, where we sit right now. And particularly for residents who may rely, for instance, on public transport, the location of hospitals right now means that they have quite difficult journeys and, obviously, in a condition that you might be relying upon those services, potentially quite traumatic journeys if relying upon public transport. Health care provision is ultimately not the council's responsibility, but we do have a role here in representing our residents and their views and their needs via this new committee. If our appointees to this committee are genuinely going to represent our community, there needs to be a mechanism for them to hear directly from residents, and currently there is not within the council on this matter. So this motion simply seeks to secure such a mechanism. By requiring our representatives to this committee to regularly report back to and engage with residents on this very important issue in a public forum. So I, therefore, hope that members will support the amendment this evening. Thank you. Sorry. Thank you, Councillor Smith. Councillors Pickering in Eggleston, are you minding to accept the amendment as shown on the screen? Yes. Thank you. The motion with additional recommendations now becomes the substantive motion. Does any other Councillor wish to speak? Councillor BOURNOLD. Councillor interjecting. Councillor interjecting. Sorry, Councillor BOURNOLD. Thank you, Madam Deputy Mayor. I just wanted to say that the maternity wing at Fermi Park is very important. I know very few bracknell parents who haven't used it to have their babies, and I feel that if we don't have representatives at all, we'll have no voice at all. We won't be able to convey the need for firstly maintaining the distance or maybe moving it closer like next door would be great. But maintaining the quality or improving but making sure that the quality does not reduce at all, because we obviously have a great use for it. So I'm absolutely for this. Thank you very much. Thank you, Councillor BOURNOLD. Thank you very much. I think recommendation 2.4 is helpful in as much as I think it sets out what I would expect and hope that my colleagues on this committee would do. I think we need to be very, very careful that we can't compel people to respond, and it might be that what we need to do is to find mechanisms within our community as members to encourage those whose voice has not been fully represented to find ways of engaging. For example, it's a recent meeting in the Napoleon community. It's very clear that some very direct works necessary to actually engage and get their trust and understanding, and clearly, as with other groups in bracknell forests, I think there's something like 74 languages spoken in this borough now. It's really key and important that we find ways of getting their voice. I wouldn't want 2.4 to be seen negatively because I was really impressed, and I think colleagues were, by the extent to which, in a very compressed time scale, friendly have actually gone out to seek the views of people, to engage and to really try and explore and explain that it's just physically and feasibly not possible to rebuild on the site. We've just discussed our own local plan. Land is something that isn't in huge abundance in Berkshire for this sort of development. So, yeah, it would be great if we could hear from possibly the representatives this evening on how they wish to take this forward, but maybe my naivety, my assumption was they would do this, and as all members, we can have a role. It might also be worth recognizing that although we don't have a direct responsibility for health provision, as has been said, we do have community leadership roles, and it might be that as this program goes on, that we find ways of winding the consultations that we do with residents and other issues to get this, and I believe that the transport consultation that's been going on in the moment, the transport plan consultation could actually contribute to this as well, because increasing use and accessibility by public transport is important, and what I think really excites me is the fact that Frumely has great ambitions to do what it does now better in better facilities, including single rooms, whilst at the same, which will require a larger workforce, whilst at the same time looking to actually promote areas of excellence in our community, and I think, you know, all credit where credit's due to them, that, you know, to deliver something of this scale by 20, 30, 6 years from now is a huge undertaking, but I think they conveyed us at the Scrutiny Committee that there was a confidence and a confidence there that we wish to support, and I think this committee of members going across the affected local authorities will make a very positive difference, thank you. Thank you, Councillor Barnard. Councillor FURGO. Thank you, Madam Mayor. I'd just like to endorse that, really. I think Councillor Eggleston and myself are very capable, actually, of seeking as many views as we possibly can, and we do this in our daily work. It's very difficult sometimes for communities to stand up and say what they want, particularly those from other countries, I think, but I think we can both achieve that in different ways using our own contacts. So I'd like to reassure the Liberals, colleagues, that we will do our utmost best to represent every person in this borough when it comes to a new hospital because we all want the best we can. Thank you, Madam Mayor. Thank you, Councillor Vergough. I have every faith in that, two representatives will do a really good job on this. It is 442, but I think those two will actually make sure that we are the voice of Brantnell Forest residents are heard, but I would also like, I think this I support 2-4, because I think it's a way this Council has always tried now to involve the residents in the work of the Council, and this way we will be keeping them up to date as well, because it won't just be one meeting, but there will be other things going on, and people need to be kept informed about what is happening. They need to be kept informed of the decisions that—I mean, it won't be this group that make the decisions, but it will be the group that's actually finding out what is happening. We need all of us—the Councillors will be kept informed, presumably, but the residents should also be kept informed, because it's a huge part of your life to have a hospital you can go to. Thank you, Councillor Tempeton. Councillor Ekelston, would you like to speak now? Yes, I just wanted to really echo Deputy Mayor what's already been said. We will be the voice representing around the table myself and Councillor Vergough, but we will be taking with us the questions of the Councillors and of the residents, that's who we represent, and that's who we will be feeding back to. Thank you. I forgot to ask if there were any questions from people online, sorry. Are there any questions? If exactly, do nobody wishes to—nobody's got that hand up there. Thank you. The recommendation is set out on the screen. The Democratic Services Officer, sorry, Councillor Pickling, I forgot to ask you to sum up. Would you like to sum up? Very briefly, I welcome the amendment, welcome the opportunity as the Leader set out for our J-Horse representatives to engage further with the community on this relocation. So thank you very much. The Democratic Office will now count the votes of the record for or against the recommendations set out on the screen. Please make sure your hand is clearly raised, only those in the room can vote. Can all those present in the chamber indicate by raising their hands if you support them? Right. Any against? It's unanimous. So that is carried. Thank you. We now move on to agenda item nine, submissions under the public scheme of public participation. A statement has been received by a Brattnell Forest resident, who has wished to remain, has been received from a Brattnell Forest resident, who has wished to remain anonymous as they are not attending the meeting tonight. I will read out the statement on their behalf, which has also been included in the agenda. I don't think there is anyone more angry about chronic underfunding of SENS services than parents of disabled children. I also think great disservices done to parents when it is implied that we don't understand the scale of the challenge for statutory services we do. However, the problems that the council face in terms of provision for SENS come down to much more than money. The local government ombudsman cases and frequent news stories show that poor or misinformed attitudes are not isolated incidents to Brattnell isolated to Brattnell. The September 2023 council send written statement of action implementation update, which reports iterative improvements, dash dash at pace, does not reflect opinion of families. In November 2023, the Brattnell parent care reform stated we know that the majority of us are not seeing the changes on the ground. We know improvements made at council level have not started to have the impact we would have hoped for this at this point. Our parents of children with severely emotional based school avoidance are still being threatened with prosecution. We can never say we are a fair place for children with significant mental health needs. While the LAI continues with arbitrary policies, preventing the use of bespoke education packages for children in extreme need, we cannot say we have a needs-based system. While we have harsh behaviour policies in schools which humiliate and discriminate against disabled children, we can never claim it equality. Send case office at times should not be wasted preparing to fight tribunal cases that they will not win. The LAI should find better use of its time and resources than arguing with or finding parents while already struggling. Furthermore, it is not uncommon for some of the solutions parents ask for to cost less than highly specialised school placements that children will require if accommodations are not made at an early stage. Believe the parents the first time round. Nothing will change until everything changes. While Brattnell's send services are being overhauled, I urge the council, along with the schools, to radically review school behaviour policies, approaches to attendance and education, otherwise and alternative provision pathways. The evidence for a new model is mounting. What side of history will Brattnell Council be on? Now, the constitution allows for councillors to ask factual questions of the person making each submission. But as the person is not in attendance, this is unable to happen. There is no provision within the constitution to allow for questioning of any other councillor or officer in relation to the submission. The constitution states that the meeting will decide on the most appropriate course of action, which will be either to note the submission, or to request an officer report to a subsequent meeting of the executive or appropriate committee or subcommittee on the issue raised. The constitution does not allow for any discussion or debate on this submission. Unless any member wishes to request a report, then the submission will be noted. I wish to request that a report be sent to the overview and scrutiny commission as part of Councillor Bailie's regular update. The reason I request this, it takes great courage to make a submission that is so personal to this Council, and I think it would do them the respect of at least incorporating that in the regular reporting as there has been agreed on a quarterly basis, so I don't quite know, constituting how that sits, but since I have the opportunity to request a report, I would like to do so. Thank you. Councillor Bailie. Yes, Madam Deputy Mayor, I would like to move a recommendation to request a report. May I do that now? Yeah. I'm happy to second that. I support what Councillor Barnard has said. If you take this extraordinarily seriously, I've met the parenting question. There is definitely, as we all know, a need for genuine dialogue and collaboration between all stakeholders involved, including parents, local authorities, policy makers, and service providers. Not all points raised in the statement are the responsibility of the Council and sit with other stakeholders, such as schools and health services. However, it is acknowledged that through a holistic approach that considers and tackles underlying issues, meaningful improvements can be made in the provision of SEND. I would therefore like to recommend an officer report on our progress against our SEND improvement journey be provided to executive alongside the regularly quoted written statement of action update report. Thank you. Right. Could you move a motion to that effect? And that has been seconded. Oh. I was about to ask Councillor DUNF to say it'll be a bit fine. Forgive me, but I think as I actually proposed that we do this in the first place, I'm more than happy to second Councillor Baily. I know that doesn't fall the Shakespearean script that we have, but actually I'll be getting it myself. Let us just carry on with this. As per constitution, there's no debate so we move to the vote. The recommendation is set out on the screen. The Democratic Services Office that will count your votes. So please make sure your hand is clearly raised. Only those in the room can vote. Can all those in the Chamber please vote indicate by raising your hand to support the motion. Recommendation, sorry. Only against is unanimous so that is carried. Right. The next item on the agenda, item 10, is a question submitted under the Council Procedure Rule 10. We have received notice of a question submitted which is set out at item 10 in the beginning of your agenda and will be displayed on the screen. The response from the Executive Member has been published as a supplementary to the agenda. Both the question and the response will be taken as read. Right. The question will have opportunities you ask one supplementary question which should arise directly from the question or the reply provided and be succinct. Thank you, Madam Deputy Mayor, yes I do have a supplementary. I'm aware of residents facing struggles in accessing NHS dental services particularly for children and very specifically in terms of our provision for children who send and have similar needs who require very specialist dental services. I'd just like to ask the Executive Member if she would potentially be able to expand on her answer specifically in relation to that demographic. Thank you. Councillor MURPHY. Can you please respond? Thank you. I'd like to thank Councillor Smith for the question and also thank him as she clap the Deputy Director of Public Health for the answer. She was able to provide, because I was away from work trip. If I'd been here I'd have also added that I've created a resource for Councillors to refer to if they have residents who are struggling to find an NHS dentist and I'm happy to share that with any Councillor who would find it useful. Not only will we discuss access to NHS dentists for all residents at the next Health and Well-being Board meeting but we will also ask for an update in the area of children's special educational needs where we are aware already that there is this service and there is an increase in capacity. So thank you very much for the question. Thank you, Councillor Right. We now come to the last item on the agenda, item 11, motion submitted under Council Procedure 11. Councillors Everland Smith have withdrawn this motion in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 13.8. Thank you. Thank you everyone for attending this evening. I now declare the meeting closed. Please would you remain quiet and... [BLANK_AUDIO]