1. The New Mayor of Slough
The new Mayor of Slough was elected at Slough Borough Council's annual meeting. Cllr Balvinder Bains took over the reigns from Cllr Chrissy Small at The Centre, in Farnham Road on 18th May and began his tenure as Mayor with immediate affect. The Conservative Group abstained from the vote, with the exception of Cllr Strutton who voted against the elected Mayor. The Upton ward councillor served as deputy mayor under Cllr Small and sat on the neighbourhood and community services scrutiny panel and licensing committee. Cllr Shafiq Chaudhry, who represents the Central ward, was elected deputy mayor, with his role as commissioner for performance and accountability given to Cllr Mohammed Sharif, of the Chalvey ward. Cllr Balvinder Bains is being investigated by employer Heathrow Airport after allegations he visited India and the USA for holidays and has been continuing his duties as councillor while signed off sick with stress. He is also under investigation by SBC Standards for breaching the Member Code of Conduct by failing to declare that he was working.
2. New Roles for Conservative Group
The roles were decided at the annual general meeting of the Slough Conservative Group at St Martins Place, in Bath Road, Slough, on Monday 13th May. Cllr Anna Wright, continues as group leader, will look after neighbourhoods, community and leisure and Cllr Wayne Strutton, deputy leader, will take on health and wellbeing, environment and open spaces. Cllr Dexter Smith will look after finance and strategy, Cllr Diana Coad unemployment, social and economic inclusion and Cllr Frank Abe education and children.
3. Conservative Appointments to Cabinet 2013/14
Licensing Committee – Cllr Wright
Planning Committee – Cllr Smith
Employment & Appeals Committee – Cllr Coad
Overview & Scrutiny Committee – Vice Chair Smith
Audit and Risk Committee – Cllr Abe
Standards Advisory Committee – Cllr Strutton
4. Shamed Councillors
On 10th May, The Observer ranked each of the town's councillors on their council meeting attendance. The two worst offenders attended just 28% and 33% of their scheduled meetings. Four councillors turned up for all their meetings. Cllr Amrit Sandhu, Langley St Mary’s ward, is the worst performing of the town's 41 councillors.
5. Landlords without EPCs targeted by trading standardsLandlords who break the law by not getting an official energy efficiency rating for their property are being targeted as part of a pilot project by Slough trading standards. Anyone who rents out or markets a property for sale should have an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) issued by an authorised energy assessor. An EPC gives a property an energy efficiency rating from A (good) to G (poor) and is aimed at providing important information for potential tenants or buyers on how much the home will cost to run. EPCs must be registered at www.epcregister.com and landlords need to show the documentation to anyone who moves in. As part of the project, which began this month and runs until the end of July, trading standards officers will be visiting local estate and letting agents and contacting private landlords to ensure all premises are compliant with the necessary EPC legislation. Landlords will have seven days to provide a valid EPC if they don’t already have one. Failure to do so could result in a fixed penalty notice of £200.
6. Increase in Hackney Carriage Fares
On 29th May 2013, the Licensing Committee agreed an increase in Hackney carriage fares. The 40p increase in the first rate of tariff (up from £3 to £3.40 from 6am to 10pm) was requested by the Slough Taxi Federation. Eight Committee members voted for, two against and one abstained.
7. Former tip gets local nature reserve status
The wildlife area of Slough’s historic Herschel Park has been formally declared a local nature reserve. The declaration, signed by Slough Borough Council on 27 March after extensive consultation with Natural England, comes three decades after the council first began to transform it from a tip into a place of natural beauty to be enjoyed by wildlife and residents alike. The land was formerly a dumping ground for green waste, but in 1983 the council decided to incorporate it into Herschel Park.
8. Council keeps an ear out for noisy neighboursSlough Borough Council’s neighbourhood enforcement team has launched a series of summertime ‘noise patrols’ across the borough on Friday 24 May. The launch, timed to coincide with this year’s Noise Action Week (20-25 May), will see officers carrying out evening and late-night patrols in residential areas throughout the summer months, dealing with noise before it becomes a nuisance and issuing noise abatement notices if necessary. Breaching an abatement notice is a criminal offence and can result in prosecution or the seizure of noise-making equipment.
9. Carol Thatcher Thank You Card
On 17th May, the Conservative Group received a thank you card (click below) from Carol Thatcher for the Group’s condolences and message of support for the Iron Lady.