Annual Report 2016-17

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ContentsForeword - Leader of the Council 4Introduction - Interim Chief Executive 5Progress against outcomes 6 Outcome 1 6 Outcome 2 9 Outcome 3 15 Outcome 4 21 Outcome 5 24Budget 26Balanced scorecard 28

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Foreword - Leader of the Council This Annual Report summarises keyachievements during 2016-17 and howwe are ‘growing a place of opportunityand ambition.’

We have refreshed the Five Year Plan forthe council and set out our priorityoutcomes which are about puttingpeople first.

We continue to feel the squeeze ofgovernment austerity cuts to localgovernment services and it is moreimportant than ever that we are focusedon the right priorities.

We have a sound financial strategy inplace that means we are able togenerate income to the council to helppay for frontline services and protect themost vulnerable in our community.

We are also working with our partners inthe public sector, with businesses andwith the voluntary and communitysector to join up what we do to improvethe lives of people in Slough.

Perhaps our greatest strength as a placeis our communities and I am proud tolead a council which represents peoplefrom a very diverse range ofbackgrounds who get on well together.

Our economy remains strong and theopportunities presented by majorinfrastructure developments such asHeathrow and Crossrail means we areattractive as a place for business toinvest. We will continue to use theseopportunities to generate benefits forlocal people - whether through theprovision of jobs, training orapprenticeships; or generating incometo provide improvements in localservices.

In this Annual Report you will be able tosee through a series of case studies andkey statistics the evidence of theprogress already made against the FiveYear Plan.

Our success is down to the hard workand commitment of our workforce and Ithank them for the service they provideevery day to Slough.

Councillor Sohail Munawar

Introduction - Interim Chief Executiveare doing to deliver the outcomes andmake the plan happen. There areexamples in the Annual Report settingout how we are doing this.

Our staff are focused on putting peoplefirst - whether residents, customers,service users, businesses, clients,contractors or partners. It is ourcommunities that make Slough and it isour responsibility as a council tocontinually check what we are doing andhow we are doing it so that we can beconfident we are adding value.

My consistent message to staff is that weare one team at Slough Borough Council.Our focus is on the people of Slough anddoing everything we can to continue tomake it an even better place. We havelaunched a new set of values andbehaviours for the council which we willuse to drive the way we work and howwe recruit, manage and develop ourstaff.

I am proud of our achievements andwould echo the Leader’s words andexpress my thanks to the staff for theirprofessionalism and dedication.

Roger Parkin

The purpose of the Five Year Plan is to setthe direction for the council and the keyoutcomes against which our resourceswill be allocated.

Since the introduction of the first FiveYear Plan in early 2015 we have seenmany changes. We refresh the plan everyyear to keep it live and ensure it is not adocument that sits on a shelf gatheringdust.

The Annual Report is important becauseit captures evidence of the progress wehave made in the past year.

This year we have worked with theLeader and his cabinet to refresh theoutcomes to have a clear focus onputting people first.

I am pleased to be able to introduce thisreport and proud of the successes ourstaff have worked so hard to deliver.

As government cuts show no signs ofeasing we need to constantly check ourways of working and how we aremaking the best use of our resources toprovide value for money and the servicesthat people need.

In the Five Year Plan we have set out thechanging role of the council and what we

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Progress against outcomes

Children with Special Education Needs andDisabilities (SEND) continue to achieve well inSlough schools with the majority of childrenattending good and better schools.

Slough has converted 575 of its statementedpupils to Education Health and Care planswhich represents 45 per cent of the overallcohort. Improved recruitment to permanentSEN officer roles and lead Head of Service SENDrole will over the next six months help toachieve improvements to the timeframe fortransferring all statements to Education Healthand Care Plans.

This year also saw the successful transfer ofeducation services back to the council and theappointment of a substantive Director ofChildren’s Services for the first time in threeyears.

The running of education support services andchildren’s centres, together with the earlyyear’s service, was transferred back to thecouncil in October 2016. Cambridge Education(CE) had been running these services sinceSeptember 2015, under a direction from theDepartment for Education (DfE).

Our education outcomes for Slough’s childrenare consistently in line or above nationalaverages. In particular within 2016 72 per centof pupils at the end of KS4 achieved a goodpass (A*-C) in English and maths, 9 per centabove the national average. At KS2, 55 per centof pupils achieved the expected standard inreading, writing and maths, 2 per cent abovethe national average.

Our Early Years Foundation Stage Profileresults are in line with national averages. Thepercentage of children under five registeredwith children’s centres increased to 84 percent. The achievement gap has narrowedsignificantly over the year, for example withchildren on free school meals. Outcomes forchildren from disadvantaged backgrounds arebetter than the national average.

Ofsted have rated all of our nurseries andchildren’s centres as ‘good’ or better. 93 percent of Private, Voluntary or Independent (PVI)settings with an inspection judgement weredeemed to be good or outstanding and 97 percent of childminders.

Outcome 1Our children and young people will have the best start in life and opportunities to give them positive lives

However, the DfE recognised a better workingrelationship between the council and SloughChildren’s Services Trust and agreed we couldwork out the best way to manage theseservices in future. By bringing services back in-house, there are new opportunities for thecouncil to work with the Trust and otherstakeholders to review the best long-termoptions for the services in partnership withother stakeholders, such as schools.

All children were offered a school place onoffer day with 96 per cent getting one of theirtop three preferences at reception and 94 percent at secondary. This year 931 more pupilswere provided with a school place. Every yearSlough caters for extra pupils due topopulation growth. Slough’s birth numbersrose by 48 per cent between 2001 and 2012,although we have seen a few years of reducingnumbers more recently. Inward migration toSlough has also accounted for some extra pupilnumbers.

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The council’s cabinet has approved capitalinvestment for school buildingimprovements of £18.75m as part of itsambitious school places strategy and iscreating new primary school places andimproved learning spaces for school children inSlough.

The schools being expanded include ClaycotsPrimary (Town Hall site), St Mary’s CE Primaryand James Elliman Academy. The schoolsworked with the council to provide fouradditional reception classes for September2015 and 2016 intakes.

The council, in partnership with Slough UrbanRenewal (SUR), has been working with theschools to ensure the redevelopment plans notonly create new school places, but also provideenhanced learning environments withimproved teaching spaces, dining halls andlibraries. In total, the three projects will create840 new primary school places.

In July, the Mayor of Slough officially openedthe new Baylis Court Nursery School. To meetthe increasing demand for nursery places inthe area, the council worked in partnershipwith the school, and agreed to demolish theold dilapidated nursery building on Oatlands

The Slough Children’s Services Trust arecontinuing to make strong progress inimproving services provided to support themost vulnerable children and young people inthe borough. The council and Trust workedtogether to develop a joint action plan foraddressing the findings of the Ofstedinspection and to develop good andoutstanding services for vulnerable children,young people and families - this plan wasendorsed by Ofsted in June/July 2016.

The Trust, in partnership with the council andother agencies in the borough, has takensignificant steps over the past 12 months to putin place the foundations of a good children’ssocial care service provision.

Significant inroads have been made inestablishing a permanent workforce within theTrust with specific focus on front line staff. Thepercentage of agency workers across the Trusthas fallen from 33 per cent to 17 per cent as ofApril 2017, with further inroads expected.

Drive to build a new two storey nursery in itsplace. The new building includes a centralpiazza as the main social interaction area of thenursery with open planned classrooms. Thenew nursery cost £1.6 million and wascompleted by building contractor GilmartinsLimited.

Slough Youth Parliament (SYP)representatives attended a reception at theHouses of Parliament for the second yearrunning to collect an award for the Make YourMark campaign. Make Your Mark is the largestyouth consultation in the UK and last autumnyoung people were asked to choose from 10topics they considered important, includingmaking public transport cheaper, votes at 16and tackling racism. SYP promoted the ballot inschools and communities around the borough,resulting in the participation of more than7,000 young people. The award was presentedin January for obtaining a 67 per cent turnoutin 2016’s Make Your Mark ballot. Sloughachieved the highest percentage turnout forthe South East region and the second highest inthe country.

Over the latter half of 2016, the Trustintroduced a new model of social workpractice, transforming the way that social careservices are provided in the borough with theaim of ensuring that children, young peopleand families experience a more complete andresponsive service. The ‘Safe, Secure,Successful’ model moves the service away fromconventional teams into small ‘hubs’ made upof professionals from different disciplines whowork directly with children and families.

In February 2016, it was confirmed that theTrust had been successful in its InnovationFund bid, enabling the transformation of thestaffing model by introducing ‘enhanced hubs’,a more dynamic way of delivering early helpand support to children in need, introducing apractice model including Signs of Safety and anew domestic abuse assessment response. £1.4million total funding was received including£200,000 for evaluation.

To date, Ofsted have made three monitoringvisits to Slough under their ‘Monitoring and re-inspection of local authority children’s servicesjudged inadequate’ framework. The visitsnoted progress in key areas includingoutcomes for children, with specific areasidentified for further improvement.

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The Trust monitors Key PerformanceIndicators which show clear improvingperformance in the following areas:• KPI 4: We have seen consistently strong performance by the Trust in

reducing the percentage of children subject to a child protectionplan for two years or more.

• KPI 6: Progressively improving performance in the timeliness of ourdecision making around referrals.

• KPI 9: There has been a significant reduction in the percentage of contactsthat have lead to a referral, which can be linked to a growingeffectiveness of the MASH and Early Intervention Service.

• KPI 16: Our performance in the timeliness of holding Initial Child ProtectionConferences remains well ahead of our statistical neighbours andthe England average, and this has been sustained throughout2016/17 despite increased numbers in the Child Protection processat the start of the year.

• KPI 18: There has been improved performance in limiting the percentage oflooked after children with three or more placements in the last year.moving us closer to our target as well as our statistical neighboursand the England average.

• KPI 22: The percentage of children who have participated in their CLAreview has improved over the year amplifying the voice of the child.

• KPI 26: There has been sustained improved performance through 2016/17culminating in 79.6 per cent of eligible children with a pathway plan.

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Outcome 2Our people will become healthier and will manage their own health, care and support needs

Public HealthWe have continued to provide essentialservices to protect and improve the health ofSlough residents, including the health visitingand school nursing services, sexual healthservices and smoking cessation (where wecontinue to perform above England and theSouth East in quit rates).

The new CardioWellness4Slough service startedin January 2017. This service is a one-stop shopfor healthy lifestyle information, advice andreferral. Between January and April, the servicereached over 450 Slough residents (of which 50per cent were residents of deprived wards inSlough). Nearly 40 per cent of those engagedreceived an NHS health check. Eat4Healthstarted under CardioWellness4Slough and sofar 75 people have attended courses. Thisservice is being expanded to provide moreplaces in 2017/18. A further 2,305 healthchecks were carried out through generalpractice, a small increase on the previous year.

The falls prevention programme Fallsfree4lifehas been rolled out following a successful pilot.From September to March the servicecompleted 301 falls risk assessments. The teamhold classes to improve people’s balance andincrease their levels of physical activity levels,which both reduce the risk of falls andimproves their self well being. As well asrunning classes in local community centres theteam work in partnership with Upton hospitalfalls clinic to cover falls risk and support peoplewho are either at risk or have had a fall toimprove their balance and reduce future risk.Fallsfree4life also work with the fire service andSBC adult social care to identify people at risk.

We have undertaken specific activities toimprove children’s health including Let’s GetGoing which ran across four sites with 55people attending and the Brushing for Lifeprogramme which promoted oral health tochildren. Both of these activities will beexpanded during the next year.

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A key aspect of the council’s approach tohealthy living is encouraging people to bemore physically active. Our Leisure Strategy istherefore focused on improving local facilitiesavailable to people. One of the most exciting ofthese is the work to demolish The Centre onFarnham Road in readiness for a brand newstate of the art leisure centre. Work to demolishThe Centre has already begun and will bereplaced with a new leisure centre containing:

• 25m, eight lane swimming pool and 15m by10m teaching pool

• sauna, steam room and treatment rooms

• four court sports hall, 135 station gym andthree exercise studios

• café.

The work is being undertaken by Slough UrbanRenewal (SUR), a partnership between thecouncil and Morgan Sindall Investments Ltd,which is driving regeneration across the townincluding in leisure, housing, community andschool buildings.

In February, work started on the Slough IceArena site in Montem Lane which is beingcompletely refurbished and extended. Whencomplete, the new Ice Arena will include: a newice rink; new changing rooms and toilets; newspectator seating; a café; climbing wall and clipand climb feature; gym and extensivelandscaping to the Bath Road. While the icearena has closed, a temporary ice rink has beenprovided and is being run by Silver BladesSlough.

Elsewhere, phase one of Arbour Park wascompleted in August 2016, which includedadding a FIFA approved 3G pitch (one of thehighest spec football pitches in the country),stands for spectators and completing theground floor with changing rooms, a bar andkitchen. Slough Town Football Club played theirfirst home game on the new pitch, drawing thebiggest crowds in their league. Pupils from StJoseph’s use the pitch at Arbour Park regularly,along with smaller clubs and communitygroups across the town.

These initiatives are part of the council’sambitious leisure plans to get more people,more active, more often.

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Adult social careTo ensure adult social care services in Sloughare fit for purpose and can meet increasingdemand, big changes are being made to howcare and support for vulnerable residents isdelivered.

Over the past year the adult social care teamhas been trialling new approaches andpreparing staff to roll out a new model of socialcare delivery in Slough. These new ways ofworking recognise the strengths of localpeople and organisations - such as their skills,knowledge, experience, passions andachievements - rather than focusing solely ontheir needs and what is lacking in their lives.The aim is to help people improve theirresilience, interdependence with each otherand wellbeing by focusing on what can bedone by working collectively as citizens,communities and as professionals.

Highlights from adult social care:

• 1,761 new cases opened

• 4,863 client assessments and 325 carerassessments completed

• 1,580 referrals made into the reablement/intermediate care/OT equipment service

• 986 safeguarding concerns received; 358safeguarding investigations held

• 422 service users and carers were supportedto engage their own care and supportthrough a direct payment - a 10 per centincrease over the previous year.

The council’s Careline service received around35,000 calls in the past year - a telecare servicewhich uses technology to help people live moreindependently and safely. It includes personalalarms and activity and inactivity sensordevices which send an alert to a responsecentre or nominated carer who can takeappropriate action to make sure the persongets help quickly if there is a problem.

Case studyDirect payments AK is a 27 year old young woman who lived in the YMCA in Chalvey (she hassince moved into a more disability appropriate accommodation with the supportof SBC). She has Crohn’s disease which results in chronic fatigue, anxiety anddepression, dizziness and intense pain.

She received a care assessment in July 2016. AK had expressed interest in a directpayment arrangement as she had this in the past and felt it was best suited tomeet her fluctuating needs. While a direct payment was being set up shecontinued to receive care. She was allowed the flexibility to use the care packageto meet her needs, after which AK felt empowered and in control. Enham Trustare assisting in the process of setting up a personal assistant who can meet theneeds of AK and also provide her the flexibility, choice and control over the typeand quality of care that she will be receiving in the long term. This example ofperson centred practice shows how direct payment are used to best effect.

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The council won an award for ‘Transformationthrough Support Services’ at the 2017Improvement and Efficiency Social EnterpriseAwards. The annual awards showcase some ofthe most innovative projects in the publicsector. SBC won the award for the overallapproach to adult social care commissioningand procurement and the judges specificallyhighlighted:

• The innovative value chain basedprocurement model used to re-commissionthe drug and alcohol treatment services.

• The SPACE contract - bringing voluntary andcommunity organisations together inpartnership to provide a coordinated serviceto residents.

• Hope House - the creation of a supportedaccommodation recovery service for peoplewith medium to high mental health needs.

• Improving contract management within thedirectorate and saving more than £1millionon the council's grouped schools PFI contract.

The Drug and Alcohol Action Team (DAAT) hasover the last year reduced the cost of theservice, by procuring a new service at a lowercost; stimulating innovation and ensuring thatthe new service could relocate to new premiseson termination of the existing contract. Lastyear 189 people left structured treatment drugor alcohol free. The adult social carecommissioning team won ‘ProcurementInnovation of the Year’ at the national GOExcellence in Public Procurement Awards inMarch. The award recognised the work todevelop an innovative procurement model toreconfigure the council’s drug and alcoholtreatment service and deliver a challengingsavings target, while continuing to deliver FiveYear Plan outcomes relating to social care,public health and community safety.

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Case study Dawn experienced depression and suffered mental health problems followingthe ending of her relationship with her husband. She initially went to her GP whostarted her on medication which helped but only did so much.

Dawn attended stress control workshops run by Talking Therapies. She wasfurther supported by the Link Group where she met other people.

Dawn was diagnosed with bi-polar disorder and went on to join the WAVEproject through the volunteer centre in Slough. This was the start of her journeyback to work. She began volunteering as a teaching assistant within the WAVEproject mentoring others going through the course and progressed to avolunteer position with the Age Concern resource centre. Dawn is about tograduate from the Recovery College Peer Mentor Project at Slough CommunityMental Health Team to become a peer mentor where she will be supportingother clients to reach their recovery goals.

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Case studyLearning disability supported living Miss A is 29 years old and has cerebral palsy, a learning disability, spasticquadriplegia and her left side is particularly weak. She requires support toperform most tasks on a daily basis and uses a wheelchair and hoist to mobilisesafely. She used to live at home with her mother but expressed the wish to moveout of the family home and into supported living accommodation close to home,in Slough.

Miss A has full support with personal care tasks but is encouraged to completesome aspects on her own. In the past she was dependant on her mother but shenow has the confidence and ability to do some things for herself. Miss A sees hermother on a daily basis and enjoys going on holidays together.

Miss A is able to make decisions regarding her own care and she is content withher current lifestyle. She no longer attends day services and is actively looking atcollege courses and for a part-time job. In the meantime, she is able to accesscommunity services. Miss A is content living independently and is happy thatshe is able to express her wishes and views. In addition, this has given her theconfidence to think about her future and to make plans as to how she would liketo progress further in life.

Slough Fest - World MentalHealth DayMore than 400 people from the localcommunity attended ‘Slough Fest’, acelebration of World Mental Health Day on 10October. There were performances by serviceusers, carers and mental health staff duringthe day. There was a play written by a serviceuser, an art display by Alexander Sadlo, whohas dementia, and poetry, live music by choirsand the ‘Big Sing’ which included the audience.A lot of people also took part in the energeticBhangra dance workshop, led by SBC’sorganisational development officer KushamNijhar on behalf of Apna Virsa.

Slough Mental Health ServicesRecovery College: snapshot ofoutcomes922 Students referred/enrolled

121 Courses delivered

64 Students accessed personal budgets

199 Students referred/self referredemployment service

51 Job outcomes

28 Trained volunteer peer mentors

25 Clients who have been referred for peersupport

Learning Disability Services -promoting independent living The service has over the last year successfullysupported an increasing number of people tolive independently in their homes andredesigned our local day services offer forpeople with a more community focusedapproach.

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Retained our Green Flags for parksIn July it was announced that three of our parkshad retained their Green Flag status,recognising them as among the premier parksin the country. Salt Hill Park, Herschel Park, andPippins Park have all won the prestigious GreenFlag Award, which recognises the UK’s bestparks and green spaces.

A Green Flag flying overhead is a sign to thepublic that a park boasts the highest standardsof management, is well maintained to be safe,welcoming and clean. It also recognises thecommunity’s involvement in the managementof the park and how well the council appliesbest environmental practice to itsmanagement. It was the seventh year in a rowthat Pippins Park has been awarded a GreenFlag, the sixth for Salt Hill Park and the fifth forHerschel Park. We have planted 100 trees and1,550 shrubs and herbaceous plants spreadthrough Godolphin, Granville, Salt Hill, andHerschel parks.

Outcome 3Slough will be an attractive place where people choose to live, work and visit Case study

Baylis Parkrestoration We have facilitated partnershipworking for the restoration ofBaylis Park. The council hascompleted restoration of the pondand rose garden in Baylis Park andis continuing to work with localcommunity group SNAP to deliverfurther improvements. The overallaim is to increase visitorenjoyment and safety.

Improvements have included theinstallation of a mosaic art piecedesigned by local schools and theinstallation of three state of theart CCTV cameras. The highdefinition day/night camerasprovide high quality images whichare monitored and recorded bySlough’s 24/7 CCTV control centreand are part of our commitmentto improve safety and wellbeingin the borough.

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Slough Community Wetlands ProjectWe have launched a five year project toimprove local rivers through communityengagement which will also improvecleanliness and alleviate flooding. This hasalready attracted £310K from partners. The firstproject has been Temple Wood where severalwork parties cleaned up the stream, clearedvegetation, dug dragonfly pools and pulledHimalayan balsam. We are also working withlocal schools to engage children and have putin a S.U.D’s pond in St Mary’s Junior School.

Libraries came back homeLibrary services came back into the council on 1 July 2016. They had been transferred out in2011 to be managed by an arms lengthcompany of Essex County Council. The return oflibrary services enables us to control outcomes,delivery and resources. Some key statisticsrelated to the libraries service are set outbelow:

• 579,834 visits to Slough’s libraries last year

• 212,579 visits to The Curve (from opening inSeptember 2016 to March 2017)

• 518,066 books and other items borrowed byover 20,000 borrowers

• 293,857 children’s material borrowed

• 10,246 new people signed up as newmembers

• The Curve signed up 2,212 new members inthe first two months of opening

• Cippenham library visited 3,073schoolchildren in June at school assemblies totell them about the Summer ReadingChallenge

• the Challenge was Big Friendly Read, linkedto Roald Dahl’s 100th anniversary and 4,082children and young people signed up to takepart

• 87 young volunteers spent 1,845 hourssupporting the Summer Reading Challengeacross all libraries

• 49,434 children and families attended 2,352events across all sites including music andstory sessions, half term and holidayactivities

• of these, 518 events happened in The Curve.

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Increased cycle training inschoolsThe council expanded its Bikeability cycletraining programme for schools, after beinggranted £128,000 from the Department forTransport. In addition to continuing the currentBikeability road skills cycle training programmein primary and secondary schools, the funding,which runs until March 2020, will enable thecouncil to provide additional programmesincluding basic bike maintenance classes forchildren, road skills cycle training for parentsand teachers and a series of led rides alongpre-determined, low traffic/traffic free routes.The council’s Bikeability cycle trainingprogramme is provided by Spokes CyclingInstructors and Cycle Experience Ltd.

Electric taxis and vehiclesSlough Borough Council was successful in itsbid for ‘Ultra Low Emission Taxi Infrastructure’to the Office of Low Emission Vehicles (EV) andwas awarded £157,500 capital grant on 30March 2017, which will help to promote EV useacross the borough and improve air quality.This funding will match ‘capital’ funded by thecouncil and is to be used over two years.

The key outputs of the project are to:

• install seven electric vehicle ‘rapid chargers’in the town centre and close to railway hubsof Burnham, Slough and Langley to serve allEV car users but with specific focus on taxisand private hire vehicles

• modify the taxi licensing standards tosupport uptake of electric taxis and privatehire cars over the next eight years to 2025until the entire fleet is electric/hybridelectric. Short term target in Five Year Plan is100 electric/hybrid taxis and hire car vehiclesby 2020

• operate a dedicated app booking system fortaxis and private hire cars to use to booktheir EV charging

• work with major EV manufacturers topromote EV uptake within the taxi/privatehire trade (through finance leasing and otherattractive packages).

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Food hygiene visits and adviceto businessesThe council's food and safety team launched acommercial service to provide tailored foodhygiene advice to local businesses in February.The team offers bespoke business advice tohelp businesses save money and get it right thefirst time. Tailored packages range frombusiness start up advice, to pre-inspectionvisits, and support in achieving a top FoodHygiene Rating Scheme score of five.

We take a robust approach to enforcementwhere businesses fail to heed advice and putcustomers at risk. Examples of this includeordering a Slough restaurant owner to pay£3,750 after pleading guilty to a series of foodsafety and hygiene offences; and a pizzarestaurant was closed by the council withimmediate effect in February due to an activeinfestation of mice.

A Safer Town and Safer SloughPartnershipThe Safer Slough partnership has beenstrengthened by a new delivery structure toenable us to react more swiftly and effectivelyto local concerns such as safety in our parks.

We have appointed a full time child sexualexploitation and trafficking coordinator tofocus our partnership work in this area acrossthe town. Our work to raise awareness hasbeen recognised nationally. We have developedour approach to domestic violence and violenceagainst women and girls, strengthening ourpartnership working to more effectively protectvictims and their families.

Case studyParks and open spaces The Safer Slough Partnership formed a Task and Finish Group to look at reducingviolent crime in parks and improving people’s perception of safety. The fireservice, police, parks, voluntary sector, youth services and community safetyand park users contributed to the problem solving group focusing on Salt HillPark with an overview on all the other spaces.

As part of a public reassurance campaign, police stepped up their presence inSalt Hill Park on foot, on bikes and on horses. Mobile CCTV cameras were fittedand the fire service made random visits to the park during unsocial hours, usingtheir high powered lights to scan the areas near the A4. Meanwhile, we tweetedand talked about what we were doing in the park at every opportunity. Theparks team worked to remove high hedging, dense foliage and improve thephysical appearance of Salt Hill Park. Green gyms have been introduced andregular inspections of parks took place to ensure maintenance standards.

To further promote increased use of parks the ‘Love Slough’s Parks’ campaignwas launched, encouraging residents to become involved in schemes such as‘friends of’ groups and activities in the evening including poetry in the park.

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• an anti-social neighbour who left rottingvehicles strewn around a residential streetwas fined more than £2,000 for his poorbehaviour.

New Public Space Protection OrderWe have been working with our partners toagree plans for a new Public Space ProtectionOrder (PSPO) for Slough, which can be used toregulate activities in particular public placesthat have a detrimental effect on the localcommunity. We looked at data from police,ambulance, A&E, fire service and the counciland have identified nine areas across theborough where we intend to introduce the newPSPO.

Following feedback from residents to an initialconsultation, the revised terms of the proposedOrder would prohibit a number of activities inall the restricted areas including continuing todrink alcohol or consume intoxicatingsubstances when required to stop doing so bya Police Officer or Police Community SupportOfficer. The council ran a further publicconsultation which started in July 2017.

ASB investigations andprosecutions There have been a series of successfulprosecutions in the past year including:

• a Langley rubbish clearance company wasfined £90 and ordered to pay £300 in courtcosts for failing to check for a valid wastecarrier’s licence. The rubbish was foundburnt and dumped in a Colnbrook field

• a private landlord who failed to ensure hisproperty was well maintained and safe forhis tenants to live in was fined £11,620 after acouncil prosecution

• a benefit fraudster caught out when shebought her council house with undeclaredsavings was ordered to pay back more than£80,000. She was caught after, despiteclaiming benefits for more than 13 years. Shetried to buy her council house under theRight to Buy scheme using up to £36,000 ofsavings she hadn’t previously declared

• a man who mistreated his dogs was jailedfor 20 weeks and banned from keepinganimals for life

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A cohesive communityA new Slough women’s forum was set up inMay 2016 to identify and address issues thatmatter to women in the local community. Theforum held a personal safety session in Auguston how to stay safe, recognise risks and dealwith situations that could cause harm. Furthersessions are planned in response to highdemand. In November, the forum held a twohour interactive training session for women onpositive parenting skills.

Case studyTaxi safeguarding scheme In a bid to help stamp out any potential child sexual exploitation, the councilteamed up with 850 taxi drivers this year. All currently licensed drivers, newapplicants and private hire operators were required to attend free mandatorytraining. The training gave them the skills they need to help identify victims ofchild sexual exploitation and vulnerable adults and what to do if they suspect apassenger is a victim of abuse.

The results show more than 72 per cent of drivers who went on the training feelthey have very good knowledge on identifying victims and what to do and 91percent said they now felt confident or very confident about putting their newskills into action.

The scheme has been nominated for an award from NWG - the UK network of13,000 practitioners tackling child sexual exploitation and trafficking - andawarded the Berkshire Environmental Health Managers award for the training.Now the team is moving on to encourage drivers to use a new app to identifypeople who may be victims of human slavery or trafficking.

As part of the Prevent programme, the HomeOffice has funded two projects - Evolving YouthLeadership and Women’s Voices Matter. Theyouth programme has thirty young peopleaged 15 to 18 years who are becoming moreconfident and resilient; the women’s projectengages and empowers women to have avoice in their communities.

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Sales for the Wexham Green development areplanned to start in summer 2017.

Another SUR project is Lydia Court, adevelopment of 11 new council homes, beingbuilt on the site of the old Eschle Court, EllimanAvenue. The development is named after LydiaSimmons OBE, 78, a former Mayor of Sloughwho was the first black lady Mayor in thecountry.

There are one, two and three bedroomapartments and Lydia Court also includes aground floor three bedroom apartment built towheelchair standards, with its own front dooraccess, dedicated parking and garden area.Lydia Court is part of the council’s drive toprovide more council homes for residents onthe housing waiting list. Residents areexpected to move in to Lydia Court thissummer.

In partnership with SUR the council hascompleted the Milestone development onLedgers Road, with 73 high quality one andtwo bedroom apartments, two and threebedroom houses and includes 23 new councilhomes provided at affordable rents forresidents on modest or low incomes.

The Housing Strategy will act as the deliverymechanism to achieve the aims and objectivesof this outcome in the Five Year Plan. TheHousing Strategy is also designed to contributetowards all the other outcomes. It has beendeveloped in tandem with Slough’s JointWellbeing Strategy priorities as the linksbetween wellbeing and good quality housinghave been clearly established. The HousingStrategy also sets out the council’s ambition toregenerate neighbourhoods, improve thequality of housing and contribute to the supplyof new homes in Slough as part of the LocalPlan.

Work has started on 104 new homes inWexham Green - the latest housingdevelopment by Slough Urban Renewal (SUR),the joint venture between the council andMorgan Sindall Investments Ltd. The SUR isbringing new family-sized housing to the siteof the former Wexham Nursery on WexhamLane.

Named Wexham Green, the homes are beingbuilt by Lovell and include two, three and fourbedroom detached and semi detached houses.The high-specification homes will be both forprivate sale and affordable rent and there isHelp to Buy available across the development.

Outcome 4Our residents will have access to good quality homes

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Help to Buy is available across the scheme toassist those keen to take their first step ontothe housing ladder.

The council has established two subsidiaryhousing companies - James Elliman Homesand Herschel Homes to provideaccommodation for Slough residents. These willbe an exemplar of the high qualitymanagement of rented homes and provideadditional affordable homes for a range ofgroups, including homeless households, keyworkers such as teachers and young peopleleaving care.

A new Repairs, Maintenance and Investment(RMI) contract was commissioned to improvethis key service for council tenants andleaseholders and provide training and jobopportunities for local people. Over £100m willbe invested in repairing and improving councilhousing over the next 10 years.

The first new emergency housing facility to beprovided by the council for more than 40 yearsopened in January. The council recently boughttwo neighbouring houses in Langley andconverted them into a 12 double bedroomfacility with two kitchens, a large garden andoutside storage area for bikes and buggies.

The property, which includes an adapted unitto meet the needs of people with impairedmobility, is intended to be a stop gap forhouseholds who are waiting for more suitablepermanent accommodation. The only othercouncil-owned temporary housing facility, inCippenham, contains 29 flats, meaning thecouncil regularly has to rely on using expensiveprivate rental properties or bed and breakfastaccommodation to house families in need.

Like all councils in the south east of EnglandSlough is having to accommodate somehomeless households in temporaryaccommodation. However, unlike most thecouncil has ceased placing families withchildren in bed and breakfast hotels as theseare unsuitable for the families and veryexpensive. Instead a higher quality ofaccommodation is now provided.

Leaving homes empty is a waste of housingresources when so many people in theborough need housing or are homeless and intemporary accommodation. In 2016/17 thecouncil took legal action to bring seven homesback into use that had been kept empty forlong periods by their private owners.

Case studyFaye Through no fault of her own, Faye was made homeless along with her threechildren aged, eight years, 19 months and one month old. Her private landlordwas selling his property and Faye simply had nowhere to go.

Though Faye wanted to stay in Slough, she agreed to be housed in temporaryaccommodation in Bracknell but, on advice, signed up to the council’sHome=Work Club which helps homeless households back into work.Unfortunately the upheaval had taken its toll on the family and Faye slipped intorent arrears. The rent arrears team were on hand to help and after continuedsupport through the Home=Work Club, Faye found work in Bracknell.

In March Faye moved into her new home in Slough and as her employer was soimpressed she was moved to the local Slough branch so she could stayemployed.

Faye said: “This was a difficult period in my life and I don’t know what I wouldhave done without the council’s help. I am very grateful in particular to thetemporary housing team and the rent arrears team for all the work they put into help me.”

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A night shelter offering Slough’s roughsleepers a safe place to stay was open for 94nights before closing in April. Run by theLondon and Slough Run in conjunction with thecouncil, the shelter provided warmth, safety,meals and advice and support for roughsleepers across the borough. Around 47different people used the shelter for at leastone night with the average being 14 people pernight. Users included people who had beenrough sleeping for some time to those whosuddenly found themselves homeless and inneed. Thanks to the support, advice and helpoffered by the shelter, the council and otherservices, at least 20 of the guests now have ahome with at least 11 finding work.

Case studyUse it or lose itHomes are at a premium in Slough, but despite this, some properties in theborough are left to wrack and ruin, becoming steadily more derelict andattracting anti-social behaviour.

In November, cabinet took the decision that enough was enough and approveda policy of ‘use it or lose it’ on private empty and run down homes in theborough; giving the council permission to compulsory purchase derelictproperties and bring them back into use.

In April three properties were targeted, in Bath Road, Dawes Moor Close andWarwick Avenue.

Councillor Zaffar Ajaib, cabinet member for urban renewal, said: “In an area likeSlough where housing is at a premium and more homes are desperatelyneeded, there is no reasonable excuse for homes to be left to rot. We promisedwe would get these properties back into use, back to being the homes theydeserve to be for local families and this is the next step.”

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Opening of The CurveSlough’s flagship new library and culturalcentre, The Curve, opened to the public on 2September with a two-day festival withactivities taking place in The Curve, along theHigh Street and in the Town Square. The£22million building houses a new centrallibrary, community learning rooms, theregistrar services including a wedding room, a280-seater performance and multi-use space,café and garden area.

In the first week of opening the library issuedmore than 7,000 books to local residents,compared to 11,000 for the whole month ofJuly. The library saw 522 new members join,more than 1,000 use public computers and 150people enrol in community learning courses.

The Curve has hosted scores of exciting eventssince it first opened its doors, including authorvisits, storytelling sessions, poetry readings, artexhibitions, comedy nights, film showings, 3Dprinting workshops and our first ChristmasPanto!

As well as the speech by Mr Pipe, the investorday featured presentations and panel debatesby:

• Slough Urban Renewal - the 50:50 jointventure between the council and MorganSindall Investments Ltd

• U+I - owners and developers of Brunel Place

• Landid - owners and developers of ThePorter Building

• CBRE - commercial property consultants

• Catalyst Capital - new asset managers ofQueensmere Observatory shopping

• Slough Borough Council interim chiefexecutive, Roger Parkin and Paul Stimpsonfrom planning policy.

Held first property investor daySlough is an excellent place to invest and vitalto West London - the town’s first property andinvestor day showed.

The day, run as a partnership between thecouncil and UK Property Forums on 1December, attracted developers, investors andbusinesses from across the region includingJules Pipe CBE, deputy mayor of London forplanning. Speaking at the event at The Curve,Mr Pipe said: “We (in Slough) are on the growthcorridor of London, particularly Crossrail andbeyond its boundaries so we really want towork with Slough to achieve your growthambitions and help each other to achieve ourambitions.”

The event demonstrated our close economicties to London, particularly with the expansionof Heathrow Airport and improved transportinfrastructure including Crossrail.

Outcome 5Slough will attract, retain and grow businesses and investment to provide jobs and opportunities for our residents

Purchased TVU siteSlough Borough Council is now the owner of amajor development site in the heart of Sloughwhich will net the town £550million ofinvestment.

The former Thames Valley University (TVU) site,on the corner of Bath Road and Stoke Road inthe centre of Slough is now set to betransformed with new homes, new offices,shops and leisure facilities. This massiveregeneration project is expected to bring:

• more than 1,400 homes

• 45,000 square feet of retail and leisure space

• 250,000 square feet of office space.

The investment from the council will trigger thelargest single local authority regenerationproject seen outside of London.

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Copthorne roundabout reducedjourney timeThe Copthorne roundabout - the junction ofTuns Lane with Church Street and CippenhamLane - has been converted to a so-calledhamburger roundabout, where the maincarriageway goes straight through the middleof the junction.

The roundabout has new ‘intelligent’ trafficlights that sense traffic jams and adjusts thesequencing of lights accordingly. Sinceopening, we have seen a considerableimprovement in traffic flow on the A355. Thisroute is now much more reliable for motoriststravelling both into and out of Slough, resultingin greatly reduced journey times.

Replaced LEDsThe new LED streetlights are proving verypopular. The two year programme which isreplacing all the old yellow sodium streetlampswith white LED lights is already ahead ofschedule - with more than 7,500 of 11,000lights already having been replaced.

Now the council is looking at new places wherestreet lights could be useful - including areascurrently unlit or where new lights would be ofbenefit.

Local Plan As part of our work to develop the council’snew Local Plan we carried out a statutoryconsultation on Issues and Options in early2017. Paper copies of the main documents, asummary leaflet and magazine were availableat The Curve, Landmark Place and locallibraries, or on request. We also opened aFacebook page, promoted the consultation onTwitter and Streetlife, held a public consultationat The Curve and presented at a number ofother public meetings. The council receivedover 500 responses, the planning elements ofwhich will be used to inform the emergingLocal Plan. The new Local Plan will be used tomake decisions about planning applicationsand development projects over the next 20years. This includes decisions about newhomes, the economy and town centre,transport, design and the environment.

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BudgetBy the end of 2016/17 we delivered a small underspend and set a balanced budget for 2017/18. Thiswas achieved with no reductions to front line services.

The council’s base budget for 2016/17 stood at £103.73m. The sources of income available to thecouncil are set out in the chart below.

Council income sources

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Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS)The MTFS seeks to set out the background tothe council’s current financial position, andestimate its future financial position, andhighlight some of the key strands to deliver abalanced position over the period of the MTFS.

Given the scale of the ongoing reductions incentral government spend, the council has, andwill increasingly need to, deliver public servicesin a more joined up, effective and efficientmanner. Maintaining the current levels anddelivery of existing services is unlikely to be anoption to the council in the future.

The council is well prepared to meet thefinancial challenges of the coming years. It hasa history of ensuring a balanced budget isdelivered, as well as over recent yearsincreasing general reserves to a sustainablelevel to meet the future financial challenges.The council has successfully delivered anumber of change projects in recent years,with a number of the council’s services beingdelivered by private sector partners. At thesame time, the council has maintainedinvestment in its infrastructure through theapproval of capital budgets to deliver a varietyof programmes. The Capital Strategy goingforward will be even more focused ondelivering revenue savings through theeffective use of infrastructure investment.

The relative importance of council tax andretained business rates will grow over theperiod of the MTFS from 75 per cent to almost100 per cent of the council’s income. Thecouncil will by the end of the MTFS be muchless reliant upon government funding.

To reflect this, the council has made retainingexisting businesses and attracting newbusinesses, as well as ensuring a strong supplyof housing two of the key outcomes within thenew Five Year Plan.

2017/18 is set to be another difficult yearfinancially for the council, with a continuedreduction in government funding, as well as anincreased demand for council services. Thecouncil has managed to, wherever possible;protect council services whilst ensuring thatthere is sufficient budget for the next financialyear to deliver its key outcomes.

There remain difficult years ahead for thecouncil due to the financial pressures that itfaces, but the budget for 2017/18 ensures thatthe council’s finances are based on solidfootings for the future.

No. 2016-17 Funding 2017-18

1 48.69 Council tax 52.48

2 30.00 Retained business rates 30.30

3 18.48 Revenue support grant 13.18

4 1.37 Education services grant 0.26

5 3.64 New homes bonus 3.20

6 0.84 Other non-ring fenced grants 1.36

7 0.84 Collection fund -0.30

8 103.73 Total budgeted income 100.48

9 106.58 Prior year baseline (adj.) 103.73

10 2.30 Base budget changes 2.70

11 5.75 Directorate pressures 2.90

12 0.33 Revenue impact of capital investment 0.33

13 -1.10 Other adjustments 3.23

14 -10.13 Savings identified -12.41

15 103.73 Net expenditure 100.48

Balanced scorecard: latest available dataFive Year Plan outcome Performance measure Outcome Actions

1

Our children and youngpeople will have the beststart in life andopportunities to give thempositive lives

Increase percentage pupils achieving a goodlevel of development across the Early YearsFoundation Stage

Increased to 69.1 per cent The council will continue to work with individual schools and families to provide atargeted system of educational support, challenge, and assistance.

Reduce prevalence of childhood with excessweight at start and end of primary school

⌧ Childhood prevalence ofexcess weight increasedlocally

The council, working with schools and families and the NHS, will continue tocontribute to efforts to increase physical activity and support healthy diets e.g.through the installation of Green Gym equipment in parks.

Safeguarding measure (from CorporateParenting Plan)

Introduced agreed measurerelating to number of childrensubject to a child protectionplan

The council will continue to lead efforts with all partners to ensure families areenabled and supported to provide their children with safe and healthy lives, whilstthe Children’s Trust will step in on behalf of the council to ensure children areprotected where needed.

Reduce levels of those not in education,employment or training (NEETs)

? Latest data not yet released bynational government

The council will continue work with local schools, colleges and businesses to ensurea range of education, employment and training opportunities are available for allour young people.

2

Our people will becomehealthier and will managetheir own health, care andsupport needs

Increase number of people starting a smokingcessation course/percentage of those whosuccessfully quit smoking

Slough saw a higher rate oftake up AND a better successrate of certified quitters.

Slough continues to perform above the region and England in terms of numbers ofpeople who set a quit date and go on to quit for four weeks and longer; this servicewill be reviewed and improved further.

Increase number of adults managing their careand support via a direct payment

Increased by 53 per cent We have implemented a new system of pre-payment cards which will make directpayments easier to manage and use, are contracting with Enham Trust to provide apersonal assistant matching and employment support service, and have issuedguidance to staff to support and seek direct payments as the default position whenproviding services.

Increase the uptake of health checks ⌧ Rate of taking up healthchecks among Sloughresidents is lower than seenelsewhere

The council will work with the local Clinical Commissioning Group to increase theoffer of health checks to targeted individuals alongside the introduction earlier thisyear of a new cardiowellness service.

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Five Year Plan outcome Performance measure Outcome Actions

3

Slough will be anattractive place wherepeople choose to live, workand visit

Increase levels of street cleanliness ? Pending data finalisation Street cleansing services are being reviewed and a new contractor will be appointedduring 2017/18, with clear expectations of delivery.

Reduce crime rates per 1,000 population ⌧ Crime rates increased slightly,though less than comparatorareas.

Whilst the rate of ‘all crime’ in Slough during Q4 increased slightly (by 1.4 per cent),this was significantly less than the 3.8 per cent increase seen nationally and the 3.3per cent increase seen amongst our Most Similar Group (MSG). Police and councilservices will continue to work in partnership and share both intelligence andresources to closely monitor and direct delivery to reduce crime.

4

Our residents will haveaccess to good qualityhomes

Increase in number of dwellings 521 net completions of newhomes

Planning services continue to work with private developers to maximise thepotential of developments across Slough; there are already 1,251 new dwellingsunder construction and planning permission has been granted for a further 2,344.

Increase number of affordable homes 190 affordable homesdelivered in 2015/16 and 16 in2016/17

The council continues to work with private partners to ensure affordable homes areincluded in development plans; there are a further 135 new build dwellingsplanned.

Increase number of planning applicationsapproved

? Pending data finalisation The council will continue to encourage businesses and residents to make suitableplanning applications for house building and home improvements, whilstmaintaining standards for those applications.

Outcome Groups have been set up to drive progress on delivering our priorities, and we will be rigorously monitoring performance in the year ahead to ensure success.

Five Year Plan outcome Performance measure Outcome Actions

5

Slough will attract, retainand grow businesses andinvestment to provide jobsand opportunities for ourresidents

Increase business rate collection/increase inbusiness rate base

In-year collection rateincreased to 97.45 per cent

The collection rate at the end of March 2017 was above target for the year, and wewill continue efforts in the future to ensure easy payment methods are availableand that late payments are targeted.

Reduce unemployment rate Slough’s position reduced to1.4 per cent

The council and partners will continue efforts to increase employment opportunitiesand improve skills locally to secure further reductions in unemployment.

Reduce journey time ⌧ Department for Transportestimates of bus punctualityfell to 80 per cent

The council will continue to implement traffic management schemes to decreasecongestion and increase use of dedicated bus lanes, including highwaysimprovements and use of smart technology such as ‘intelligent’ traffic light systems.

Enabling Increase council tax in year collection rate Increased to 96.79 per cent The collection rate increased to 96.79 per cent; we will continue efforts in the futureto ensure easy payment methods are available and that late or non-payments aretargeted.

Increase proportion of council tax payments bydirect debit

Increased to 57.4 per cent At March 2017 the percentage of accounts paying by direct debit had increased to57.4 per cent; efforts will continue to encourage more council tax payers to switchto this payment method.

Increase proportion of residents signed up forself service

By year end, almost 17 per centof households had signed up

Self service gives council tax and business rates account holders, benefit applicantsand landlords the ability to access certain information digitally at their convenienceinstead of needing to telephone or come into council offices.

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www.slough.gov.ukDesigned and printed by Slough Borough Council | CO-6360/10-07-17

Annual report 2016-17