Decisions set out in the book have been made under delegated powers by the Chief Executive, Executive Directors or the Chief Finance Officer and Monitoring Officer, in consultation either with the relevant committee or Lead Councillor.

The Decision Book process has been altered to suspend the current Councillors’ call-in arrangements within the 10-day period after its publication and replace it with the ability during that period for three Councillors to request a retrospective review of the decision in writing to the Head of Legal and Democratic Services.

The decision book can be accessed on the Council’s website – www.reading.gov.uk/decisionbooks.

The officer reports accompanying the decisions are attached.

Contact: Richard Woodford Committee Services
Tel: 0118 937 2332
e-mail: richard.woodford@reading.gov.uk

This report sets out the decision to appoint Local Authority governors to Reading schools.

It is the decision of the Director of Education, in consultation with the Lead Councillor for Education that the proposals as set out in paragraph 4 be approved.

Decisions set out in the book have been made under delegated powers by the Chief Executive, Executive Directors or the Chief Finance Officer and Monitoring Officer, in consultation either with the relevant committee or Lead Councillor.

The Decision Book process has been altered to suspend the current Councillors’ call-in arrangements within the 10-day period after its publication and replace it with the ability during that period for three Councillors to request a retrospective review of the decision in writing to the Head of Legal and Democratic Services.

The decision book can be accessed on the Council’s website – www.reading.gov.uk/decisionbooks.

The officer reports accompanying the decisions are attached.

Contact: Richard Woodford Committee Services
Tel: 0118 937 2332
e-mail: richard.woodford@reading.gov.uk

In response to the Coronavirus, COVID-19 pandemic, the government announced there would be support for small businesses, and businesses in the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors, delivered through the Small Business Grant Fund and the Retail, Leisure and Hospitality Grant Fund respectively.

On 1st May, the Government announced that it is providing local authorities with additional funding to target those small businesses with high fixed property-related costs not eligible for the above grant schemes. The additional funding represents a 5% uplift on the £12.33b funding previously announced for the Small Business Grants Fund and the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Grants Fund, so up to £617m, is available nationally. The exact amount for each authority is still to be confirmed, but Reading’s share will be in the region of £1.4m.

The Government have set some broad national criteria for the funds but are allowing local authorities to determine their own local award schemes as they recognise that economic need will vary across the country, so want local authorities to exercise their local knowledge and discretion.

This report sets out the national guidance and proposed offer to Reading Businesses, taking into consideration demand, economic need and consistency with our neighbouring authorities.

It is the decision of the Chief Executive, in consultation with the Leader of the Council that a 2 tier Discretionary Grant Fund Scheme in respect of businesses meeting the following criteria is introduced:

- Small businesses in shared offices or other flexible work spaces
which do not have their own business rates assessment but have an estimated rateable value of £15,000 or less to align with the small business rates grant scheme. The assumed RV will be based on annual rent or mortgage payments due in the financial year. In addition, checks will be undertaken to ensure the business would be eligible for Small Business Rates Relief, had it had its own liability to pay business rates. The Small Business Rates Relief criteria will be used to determine eligibility.

- Bed & Breakfasts which pay Council Tax instead of business rates will be considered where there is an estimated maximum rateable value of £51,000 in line with the retail, hospitality and leisure grant scheme. The estimated RV will be based on annual rental or mortgage payments due in the financial year.

- Regular market traders who do not have their own business rates assessment, but with fixed locations in the borough and an estimated maximum rateable value of £51,000 in line with the retail, hospitality and leisure grant scheme. The assumed RV of £51,000 or less will be based on an annual rent or mortgage payment due in the financial year.

- Charitable businesses in receipt of Charitable Business Rates Relief, who would otherwise have been entitled to Small Business Rates Relief will require an assessment to ensure the business would be eligible for Small Business Rates Relief. The Small Business Rates Relief criteria will be used to determine eligibility.
That a two-tier payment approach is introduced as follows:

Tier One Payments– Significant loss of income due to Covid19, with an estimated rateable value of between £15,000 and £51,000 based on annual rent or mortgage payment.

Tier Two Payments- Significant loss of income due to Covid19, with an estimated rateable value of £15,000 or less based on equivalent annual rent or mortgage payment.

And that grants awarded from this fund will be capped at £10,000.

That the value of the grant awards. for both tiers will be determined by the number of eligible applications following closure of the application window. Tier 1 will be capped at £10,000, this is however dependant on eligible demand and therefore may decrease on a pro-rata basis once demand has been established, Tier 2 will be proportionately lower than Tier 1 and determined once eligible demand is understood.

That a 2-week application window will run from 1st June to 14th June inclusive.

That the Executive Director of Resources, in consultation with the Leader of the Council and the Lead Councillor for Corporate and Consumer Services, review the policy on 15 June 2020. The Council reserves the right to modify eligibility criteria, and funding thresholds, as a result.

Decisions set out in the book have been made under delegated powers by the Chief Executive, Executive Directors or the Chief Finance Officer and Monitoring Officer, in consultation either with the relevant committee or Lead Councillor.

The Decision Book process has been altered to suspend the current Councillors’ call-in arrangements within the 10-day period after its publication and replace it with the ability during that period for three Councillors to request a retrospective review of the decision in writing to the Head of Legal and Democratic Services.

The decision book can be accessed on the Council’s website – www.reading.gov.uk/decisionbooks.

The officer reports accompanying the decisions are attached.

Contact: Richard Woodford Committee Services
Tel: 0118 937 2332
e-mail: richard.woodford@reading.gov.uk

The Council is incurring significant additional costs and losing substantial income as a result of the Covid-19 emergency and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. The total net additional cost to the Council including Brighter Futures for Children (BFfC), as a result of Covid-19 up to 31 March 2021 is estimated at £15.598m. Staff costs account for a significant proportion of the Council’s overall budget costs. Making use of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme is a way of reducing these costs with a view to protecting jobs in the future. Any decision to furlough staff will consider likely service recovery timelines, current redeployment arrangements and be in consultation with Assistant Directors and the Trade Unions.

The purpose of this report is to provide information on the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme and the types of roles it could apply to at the Council and sets out the decision that has been taken that Council staff should be furloughed under the scheme in order to mitigate the significant pressure on the Council’s budget and protect jobs.

It is the decision of the Chief Executive, in consultation with the Leader of the Council, that staff are furloughed in the following areas/groups, subject to detailed discussions with the relevant Assistant Director(s) and Trade Unions, and with agreement of the staff concerned:

- Staff in Culture
- Other service areas where work has ceased or reduced significantly
as a result of coronavirus
- Employees who are shielding and unable to work from home
- Casual workers who are not required to work as a result of coronavirus
- Staff who are unable to work because of caring responsibilities as a
result of coronavirus, and who are also unable to work from home.

It has also been agreed that the Council ‘tops up’ the 80% of salary, up to a maximum of £2,500 a month, that the Council would receive for furloughed employees by 20%, ensuring that these employees continue to receive full pay, but that the Council does not top up the pay of casual workers as they have no contractual working hours or pay entitlement.

That the start date for furloughing staff is the date when staff were no longer required to work as a result of coronavirus, to be backdated no further than 1 March 2020.

This report sets out the decision for the award of a new ‘Measured Term Contract’ (MTC) for the provision of Electrical Repairs & Rewiring.

In addition, the report sets out the decision for the extension of the current MTC for Electrical Testing for a further 2 years in line with the contract conditions.

These contracts relate to the repair and maintenance of the Council’s Housing stock.

No volume of expenditure is guaranteed under these contracts as annual expenditure will depend on the actual level of work that is required to be sub-contracted during the year. However, based on expenditure records, typically the total expenditure on each contract is estimated to be circa £300,000 and £70,000 respectively per annum.

It is the decision of the Director of Economic Growth & Neighbourhood Services, in consultation with the Lead Councillor for Housing, to award a new Measured Term Contract (MTC) for Electrical Repairs and Rewiring for a period of 3 years from 1July 2020 till 30 June 2023 with a possible 2-year extension to Shield Electrical Services Ltd, using the JCT Measured Term Contract 2016.

It is the decision of the Director of Economic Growth & Neighbourhood Services, in consultation with the Lead Councillor for Housing, to extend the current contract with Pilon Ltd for Electrical Testing for a further term of 2 years from 1 April 2020 till 31 March 2022 as provided within the original contract.