News Bulletin - June 2013

At their meeting on Monday (17 June) Cabinet chose Cambridge Education (Mott MacDonald) following a recommendation from council officers.

The decision follows a detailed procurement process which included formal tenders and evaluation by heads of affected services, head teacher representatives from primary, secondary and special schools and finance and HR experts.

The services affected include:

• early years and children’s centres
• admissions
• special educational needs
• governor support
• educational psychology
• school transport
• school catering
• attendance
• school improvement

A former council housing officer was, last week, jailed after being caught illegally subletting a council property. Izein Emmanuel Atafo, 48 of Lovell Road, Southall, received his sentence at Reading Crown Court on Friday 14 June 2013 after pleading guilty at an earlier hearing in January. He has been jailed for two years and 10 months.

Mr Atafo pleaded guilty to two offences:

• Fraud by abuse of his position as a housing officer employed by Slough Borough Council between 3 August 2010 and 19 May 2012
• Making or supplying an article for use in fraud between 2 August 2010 and 28 September 2010, namely mutual exchange documents and a copy of a passport taken from confidential housing records.

An investigation was launched after a tip-off that a council flat in Paget Road, Langley was being sublet illegally.

Cabinet, on 17th June, approved a borough-wide public consultation on a new housing allocation scheme that would see preference given to applicants who have lived in Slough for five years or more, are in employment, education or training, and who actively participate in community projects. With a huge need for additional housing in the borough and more than 7,300 households currently on the waiting list, demand far outstrips supply.

People with good tenancy and rent-payment records will also see extra recognition under the scheme, while those with a history of anti-social behaviour or poor financial management would have to show they have changed their ways before being considered for a council home.

Under the new scheme, successful applicants would be offered a choice of housing in three areas and the opportunity to say where they would prefer to go based on where they work, go to school or have family connections. They will then be given one offer of accommodation.

A multi-million pound project to build a supported housing complex for homeless people at the derelict petrol station in Chalvey Road East has been scrapped. YMCA pulled out from the project because of uncertainties over future council contracts for the complex. YMCA Chief Executive, Colin Young, told Slough Observer on 14th June 2013, “It’s a real shame considering there is such a huge housing requirement in Slough. At a time when we are crying out for social housing it is a shame in Slough we have to turn this down and not build”.

In 2010, the council used a £40k government grant to fund a six-month project to repatriate Eastern European squatters living in squalor at the site.

5. Langley Road SchemeControversial experimental road

A meeting of the council's cabinet on Monday at Chalvey Community Centre discussed recommendations from the overview and scrutiny meeting on June 4.

The scheme was introduced in April around the Harrow Market roundabout area in Langley Road after it was identified as the worst area for accidents involving vulnerable road users in the borough. This involved the implementation of a 20mph zone as well as the narrowing of the entrance to the roundabout, which has led to a build-up of traffic in the village. The cabinet decided the scheme would stay in place for the original six-month period with adjustments to the roundabout layout to improve its performance, improvements to crossing points in Station Road and to keep the 20mph zoneas planned (despite requests from households to scrap the experimental scheme).

Cabinet, on 17th June, approved a three-month public consultation beginning in August, which, if agreed, will be the first major consultation on waste and recycling services in the borough since 2007.

Residents will be asked for their views on collection services, garden waste and composting and possible future recycling schemes, and the results will help develop the council’s 15-year waste strategy. Slough Borough Council wants to reduce the amount of waste generated and sent to landfill and has set itself the target of recycling 60 percent of its waste by 2028. It also wants to encourage more people to compost at home or sign up to the garden waste collection service.

7. Berkshire City Deal

SBC is considering membership to The City Deal bid which should provide an opportunity for Slough with the other Berkshire unitaries to improve the infrastructure of the county area and promote economic growth. Should it be successful, a governance structure will need to be put in place to oversee the programme of work. The specific aspects of the Deal will also need to be developed over the summer to ensure that the needs of all the unitaries are adequately reflected.