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Royal Borough to take action to address serious financial challenges and set new priorities

 
Next week Cabinet will discuss the scale of the financial challenge facing the council. Two reports about the council’s current and future budget position will be discussed. These show a forecast overspend of almost £5m against this year’s budget, set in February – and over £10m over the next four years. These are worrying figures and underline the harsh reality of the council’s financial position.
 
It is essential that the council acts now, to put the council’s finances on a sustainable footing for the future.  Tough decisions will be needed to bring the budget into balance. The council will need to think boldly and innovatively about the way in which it delivers services, brings in income and supports economic growth. Without a balanced budget the council cannot continue to deliver services to our communities, or to make the investments needed to protect and enhance our borough.
 
The council continues to have the lowest council tax in the country, outside of London. This means that we have a lower level of income to fund our services. We have low levels of financial reserves and high levels of borrowing over previous years. Servicing this borrowing has become more costly due to increases in interest rates – and we are set to spend £10.8m in the next financial year on interest repayments – this represents over 10% of the budget the council has to spend on local services. We are seeing an increased number of adults requiring social care, and this is set to rise in future as our population ages. The 2021 Census showed that number of 70-74 year olds in the borough had increased by a third in ten years. We also need to build up staff capacity in key areas to enable us to undertake the changes we need to make – which further adds to budget pressures.
 
Whilst the Royal Borough faces particular challenges, local authorities across the country are struggling to balance their budgets. Inflation continues to run at very high levels and this increases the cost of delivering services and the council’s major contracts. Higher construction costs make it more expensive to maintain the borough’s physical infrastructure and to deliver new housing and infrastructure projects. Uncertainty about funding levels from central government are making it difficult to plan ahead with confidence.
 
Next week Cabinet will discuss these challenges and launch the budget process for 2024-25. The council is already working hard to close the budget gap for this year and taking action to address overspend in areas including adult social care and environmental services. We are also improving the way in which we manage contracts and procurement and looking at ways to get more value from our assets and from investment partnerships.
 
Over the next few months, we will be developing proposals to balance the budget for the future and to agree a new set of priorities for the borough. These will be brought to Full Council next February, where we will be agreeing our new Corporate Plan and Budget for 2024-25.
 
The council will work in partnership with our communities, businesses and voluntary and community organisations to address these challenges. We will be holding a series of discussion events over September and October, to shape our priorities and generate ideas for future ways of working. This will be followed by a wider public consultation in December. More information about how to join these conversations will be shared over the coming weeks.
 
Councillor Lynne Jones, deputy council leader and Cabinet member for finance, said: “As a new Cabinet, this is our first look at the council’s finances. We have been given our baseline, and we are clear that we will take the action needed to balance the budget and to put the council on a sustainable financial footing going forwards. This will be our top priority and is crucial to enable us to deliver for the people of the borough and to pursue our wider priorities.

“We recognise that we will need to take some tough decisions. We will need to be ambitious in transforming services to ensure they run effectively and efficiently, ensuring we get the best value from our contracts, and strengthening our focus with partners around prevention and early intervention to help support our most vulnerable and manage growing demand.

“We are taking forward a single business planning process to identify our priorities and plan our finances. By holding including early conversations with our residents, businesses and partners, we will work with our communities and this will help us to make more informed, transparent and strategic decisions.

“We face challenges due to historical low council tax, low reserves, and high borrowing. We will work to solve these challenges and, with the community, refocus on what’s important and needed locally.”

Royal Borough’s Cabinet to consider demolition of Broadway car park in Maidenhead
 
Cabinet will be asked to agree demolition of Maidenhead’s closed Broadway car park, to remove the safety risks posed by the failed structure, while reducing the potential for anti-social behaviour and town centre blight.
 
Since closing the multi-storey car park for safety reasons in December 2022, the Royal Borough has worked with contractors and specialists to fully assess the structure, and consider options and associated costs for next steps.
 
The resultant report by council officers, to be considered by Cabinet on Thursday 27 July, highlights the 1960s concrete structure is now beyond its economic life and in significant structural failure, due to water ingress eroding the reinforced steel.
 
The recommendation from officers is to secure a contractor to demolish the car park, thereby making the site safe, removing the public safety risks posed by the failed structure and limiting anti-social behaviour opportunities and town centre blight.
 
Broadway car park is within the wider footprint of the proposed Nicholsons Quarter redevelopment, which would involve the council re-providing a new multi-storey car park in this area. The report says demolition of the old car park would remove the uncertainty about its use and provide a decisive response to what will follow it.
 
If demolition is approved by Cabinet, levelling and clearance is estimated to take around a year, starting this autumn, supported by traffic management arrangements to minimise impact on the town centre during works. While this might seem a while, this time is needed for such a major project to safely demolish a large multi-storey building in a busy, built-up area.
 
The council will also be looking at options to create a temporary car park once it has been demolished.
 
Data in the report highlights that motorists have adapted their parking habits since December. Grove Road and Hines Meadow car parks have absorbed a significant amount of the short-stay and long-stay parking demand, with spaces being available for shoppers in Hines Meadow even at weekends
 
For the time being, ShopMobility can continue to operate from its temporary location within Nicholsons Shopping Centre, while the council liaises with People 2 Places and other stakeholders over plans to relocate to a more suitable alternative location.
 
Councillor Geoff Hill, Cabinet member for highways and transport, said: “Firstly, I would like to thank everyone for their ongoing patience during the technical assessments of Broadway and for continuing to play their part for Maidenhead town centre by shopping locally and supporting traders.
 
“Progressing to demolition is a matter for Cabinet to discuss and decide next week. As the relevant Cabinet member, I will be asking Cabinet members to follow the officer recommendation, in order to remove the public safety risks and uncertainty around this council asset, while reducing the potential for anti-social behaviour and further town centre blight.
 
“As the report highlights, Broadway is sadly a failed structure, beyond economic repair, and poses a public safety risk. This is not a situation anyone would’ve wanted, but public safety must always be our top priority.
 
“If we proceed to demolition, work will take place as swiftly as practically possible, supported by traffic management, to minimise disruption on the town centre, and I’d like to thank everyone in advance for their patience.
 
“Car parking is important to support the economic vitality of our town centres, and the council is considering a new strategic review of town centre parking across the borough to ensure we have the right car parking offer.”
 

As another school year draws to a close in the UK, the team at Partners For Change Ethiopia has some very exciting news to share. Together we have raised over £20,000 and funded the breakfast club at Basso Primary School in Ethiopia and small business training for the mums and carers. This is incredible because it will change the lives and futures of 80 of the most disadvantaged children and their families in Debre Birhan.

Over the last 10 years, our awesome Junior Ambassadors have raised an impressive amount of money for three schools in Ethiopia, but our campaigns have never just been about fundraising - they're about reciprocal learning, global friendship and inspiring love and hope. We are a very small charity, but we are making a big impact on the ground.

The trustees would like to thank all of the schools, which have supported us this year - Holy Trinity School in Cookham, St Mary's School in Maidenhead, Holyport College, The William Hogarth School in Chiswick and Chiswick Community School. We would also like to thank Seema Sareen Goyal for so generously sponsoring our Ambassadors’ t-shirts over the years.

From September, we'll be starting to fundraise for a fourth school in Ethiopia. Would you like to get involved? Yes?! Do email me: sarah_parfitt@mail.com. Thank you all so much. “Little by little, a little becomes a lot.

New solar panels at Braywick Nature Centre create green energy and help raise awareness of renewable technology
 
Solar panels have been installed at Braywick Nature Centre to create clean and renewable energy and help educate visitors about their use.
 
The panels were installed after the Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead launched and also registered last year with the borough-wide group purchasing scheme Solar Together, along with 1,200 residents and businesses.
 
Along with the solar panels, a battery unit has been installed to store energy for use in the evenings. The new infrastructure will also be a teaching tool for groups who visit the centre.
 
The Solar Together scheme has reopened for applications this year, with the Royal Borough joining forces with neighbouring unitary authorities to group bid for cheaper installation of solar panels for all.
 
Residents and businesses (with permission from the property owner to install panels) can also join to benefit from clean and renewable energy, while becoming more energy-independent, reducing their energy bills and carbon footprint.
 
The applications are grouped together, and iChoosr pre-vet installation companies who then bid to carry out the work through a reverse auction.
 
The four simple steps to join the scheme are:
Householders and businesses register online to become part of the group for free and without obligation. The more registrations, the better the deal should be
Pre-vetted solar installers bid for the work in a reverse ‘auction’. With many potential installers, the most competitive offers win the auction
After the auction, registered households and businesses are emailed a personal recommendation, including the costs and specifications for their property for a complete solar panel installation
If the recommendation is accepted, the installation details are confirmed via a technical survey, then a date can be set for the installation.
 
Councillor Karen Davies, Cabinet member for climate change and biodiversity, said: “Last year we took advantage of the Solar Together Scheme and the panels have recently been fitted to Braywick Nature Centre.
 
“The centre will be able to use clean renewable energy to run on a day-to-day basis, and any leftover can be stored in the battery which should reduce overall costs.
“The same scheme is also looking to get the best deal for residents and businesses who want to, and are financially able to, future-proof their energy source through solar panels.”
 
The partnership is cost-neutral for the Royal Borough and has been adopted as part of sustainability commitments to give residents and businesses the opportunity to create greener energy.
 
There is dedicated Solar Together assistance for residents to discuss their options. Either email berkshire@solartogether.co.uk or call 0800 092 0332 between 8am and 5pm, Monday to Friday.

https://www.rbwm.gov.uk/home/environment-and-waste/energy-and-sustainability/solar-together-purchasing-scheme-solar-panels

Objection from Network Rail.

Marlow High Street will see film crews from 8am to 8pm on Friday, July 21.

Residents will still be able to use the High Street and can park on West Street, Dean Street, Pound Lane or Institute Road.

It has not been confirmed what the filming is for but our best guess is for the TV adaptation of the murder-mystery novel series 'The Marlow Murder Club'.

The TV show began filming across the town on May 5 and the production said it will be filming for two months.

The show is being produced by Monumental Television in association with ITV Studios, and is set to air in two two-hour segments on UKTV's Drama channel in 2024.

'The Marlow Murder Club' and its sequel 'Death Comes to Marlow' were written by Robert Thorogood, a Marlow-based novelist and screenwriter who also created the BBC series Death in Paradise.

The TV production will film at sites across Marlow over the next two months, including at Marlow Mill, Station Road, St Peter Street, the Chequers and Court Gardens House.

Controversial plans for a housing development including up to 330 homes and a new primary school in North Maidenhead could be approved by the council next week.

Plans for up to 330 new homes and a primary school at Spencer's Farm will be discussed by the council on Wednesday evening.

Marlow High Street will be shut off from 8am to 8pm on Friday, July 21, for filming to take place.

Drivers also won’t be able to drive or park down the High Street. Alternatively, you can park on West Street, Dean Street, Pound Lane or Institute Road.

It has not been confirmed what the filming is for but our best guess is for the TV adaptation of the murder-mystery novel series 'The Marlow Murder Club'.

The TV show began filming across the town on May 5 and the production said it will be filming for two months.

Reply from the Government

Government responded:

The rail industry must modernise to provide the service passengers deserve, moving staff from behind the ticket office screens. Train operators are consulting passengers on the proposed changes.

There has been a significant shift in the way passengers purchase tickets, with just one in every ten transactions taking place at a ticket office in 2022/23, down from one in three a decade earlier. 99% of all transactions made at ticket offices last year could be made at TVMs or online.

Together with the rail industry, we want to improve and modernise the experience for passengers by moving staff out from behind the ticket office screens to provide more help and advice in customer-focused roles. We have been clear that no currently staffed station will become unstaffed as a result of this reform.

These reforms will bring our stations in tune with what customers expect from other, modern and responsive services, including supermarkets and banks, where customer assistants help with information, support and making digital transactions on the shop floor. To propose any changes to the opening hours of a station ticket office, or to propose its closure, train operating companies must follow the longstanding process set out in the Ticketing and Settlement Agreement (TSA).

Train operators must consult on any proposed changes, advertising them at the relevant stations and inviting members of the public who wish to comment on the proposal to write to the relevant passenger body (Transport Focus or London TravelWatch) within a 21-day public consultation period.

Under the Ticketing and Settlement Agreement, when proposing major changes to ticket office opening hours (including closures) operators are required to take into account the adequacy of the proposed alternatives in relation to the needs of passengers who are disabled, and to include this in the notice of the proposal sent to other operators and passenger groups. We would also expect operators to consider other equality-related needs, and to make this clear in their consultation.

Department for Transport

Click this link to view the response online:

https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/636542?reveal_response=yes

The Petitions Committee will take a look at this petition and its response. They can press the government for action and gather evidence. If this petition reaches 100,000 signatures, the Committee will consider it for a debate.

The Committee is made up of 11 MPs, from political parties in government and in opposition. It is entirely independent of the Government. Find out more about the Committee: https://petition.parliament.uk/help#petitions-committee

Thanks,
The Petitions team
UK Government and Parliament

From Manuel Derlo

For those who might have missed the fliers around the village, please email me to find out more - momentum is slowly building to get this off the ground!
Please share with anyone you know who might be interested too 😊
cookhamphilosophy@gmail.com