To receive Mayor’s Announcements.

The Mayor paid tribute to a former Councillor, Christine Borgars, who had sadly died recently.  Christine had been a member of the Council between 1993 and 2006, representing Park Ward.  The Council stood in silence in her memory and as a mark of respect.

The Mayor to sign the Minutes of the proceedings of the Council Meeting held on 26 June 2018.

The Minutes of the meeting held on 26 June 2018 were confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Mayor.

Questions in accordance with Standing Order 9.

Questions in accordance with Standing Order 10.

Report by Chief Executive

In accordance with section 100B (4)(b) of the Local Government Act 1972, the Mayor agreed that this item of business should be considered as a matter of urgency, because at the time of the original despatch of the Council agenda on 8 October 2018 necessary work was still ongoing to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 29.

Report by Director of Environment & Neighbourhoods

Further to Minute 3 of the Licensing Applications Committee held on 25 September 2018, the Director of Environment and Neighbourhoods submitted a report seeking approval to revisions to the Licensing Policy and the Cumulative Impact Assessment in respect of the Town Centre.  The report stated that the Council, as the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 30.

Report by Director of Resources

The Director of Resources submitted a report on a review of the Council’s Contract Procedure Rules (CPRs).  The report set out proposed changes to the CPRs in order to update them and align them with best practice.  The proposed changes were set out in Appendix A to the draft report.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 31.

Report by Monitoring Officer

The Monitoring Officer submitted a report on the Minutes of the meeting of the Standards Committee of 28 June 2018, which were attached at Appendix A.

The report advised that Chapter 7 of the Localism Act 2011 had ended the statutory standards regime set up by the Local Government Act  ...  view the full minutes text for item 32.

Councillor Pearce to move:

This Council notes that nationally:

According to the IFS:

·                Funding per pupil has fallen 8% since 2010

·                Sixth form funding has been cut by 25%

·                Local authority support is down by 55%.

·                Between 2015 and 2017 the core schools budget up to the age of 16 fell by 4%

According to the Department for Education’s own figures, more than 2,000 children in England with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) have no education provision at all.

According to the NEU:

·                88% of schools are still facing real-terms budget cuts per pupil between 2015/16 and 2019/20.

·                For the average primary school this will be a loss of £52,546 per year

·                For the average secondary school this will be a loss of £178,321 per year

In Reading according to the Schools Cuts website:

·                43 of 43 Reading schools face cuts

·                Schools will have lost £4.9m between 2015-2020

·                This equates to a £281 loss per pupil

·                Average class sizes in Reading have increased

The School Teachers Review Body recent report into teachers’ pay recommended a 3.5% pay increase for ALL teachers. This has been ignored by the Government and will further increase the recruitment and retention crisis. It will also place further pressures on Schools budgets and the Education budget as no new funding has been identified from Government.

This Council resolves to write to the education minister Damian Hinds, along with Matt Rodda, MP for Reading East and the National Education Union to ask if he will rethink the plans to further reduce spending per pupil in this Parliament.

Pursuant to Notice, a motion was moved by Councillor Pearce and seconded by Councillor David Absolom and CARRIED:

Resolved -

This Council notes that nationally:

According to the IFS:

·                Funding per pupil has fallen 8% since 2010

·                Sixth form funding has been cut by 25%

·                Local authority support is down  ...  view the full minutes text for item 33.