Agenda and draft minutes

Prior to asking for apologies, the Chairman welcomed Councillors David Moore and Steven Roy to their first full Council meeting following the by-elections held on 22 February 2024 for the Farnham Common & Burnham Beeches Ward and the Hazlemere Ward.  A particular welcome was also extended to Louise Harrison, the Chief Fire Officer of the Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes Fire and Rescue Service and to Lisa Marie Williams, the new Service Director for Law and Governance who had recently started with the Council.

Apologies were received from Councillors K Bates, N Brown, Q Chaudry, M Collins, R Gaster, P Griffin, D Hayday, O Hayday, G Hollis, S James, P Kelly, J MacBean, N Naylor, J Rush, P Strachan, L Sullivan, N Thomas and A Wood.  Apologies were also received from Countess Howe, his Majesty’s Lord Lieutenant of Buckinghamshire and Kurshida Mirza BEM, High Sheriff of Buckinghamshire.

Tribute was paid to former Councillors David Anthony, Graham Moore and Barbara Russel who had recently passed away.  The Chairman recorded sincere condolences to their families on their sad losses, and shared some of their achievements including:

David Anthony had served as a South Bucks District Council Councillor from 2011 to 2020 representing the Farnham Royal Ward, then as a Buckinghamshire Council Councillor from 2020 to 2023 representing the Farnham Common & Burnham Beeches Ward.  During his time at SBDC David served as Chairman of the Resources PAG and Chairman of the Audit & Standards Committee.  At Buckinghamshire Council he had served on the Audit & Governance Committee, the South Bucks Area Planning Committee, and the Finance & Resources Select Committee. David had stepped down from the Council last year due to his ill health.

Graham Moore had served as an AVDC District Councillor representing the Gatehouse Ward from 2015 to 2020, then as a Buckinghamshire Council Councillor from 2020 to 2021.  During his time at AVDC Graham had served as Vice Chairman of the General Purposes Committee.

Barbara Russel had served as an AVDC District Councillor representing the Aylesbury Central Ward and then the Aylesbury Central & Walton Wards from 2011 to 2020, then as a Buckinghamshire Council Councillor from 2020 to 2021.  During her time at AVDC Barbara had served on the Licensing Committee. Barbara had also been an Aylesbury Town Councillor from 2011 to 2021 and served as Aylesbury Town Mayor during 2016-17.

Members observed a minute’s silence in memory of David Anthony, Graham Moore and Barbara Russel.

RESOLVED –

That the Minutes of the Council meeting held on 21 February 2024 be approved as a correct record.

Councillors A Macpherson (Board Member, Fairhive Housing), D Carroll (Board Member, Red Kite Board), A Osibogun (Board Member, Fairhive Housing) and T Dixon (Aylesbury Homeless Action Group) declared a personal interest in agenda item number 8 (Buckinghamshire Housing Strategy 2024 to 2029).

Since the last Council meeting, the Chairman and Vice Chairman of the Council had attended a number of events including the declaration ceremony for Kurshida Mirza BEM, the new High Sheriff of Buckinghamshire (Councillor P Turner, the Mayor of High Wycombe, also attended the ceremony), the Mayor of Marlow’s Civic Celebration, opening the South Buckinghamshire Thames Valley Police Commendation Ceremony, a Coronation tree planting ceremony, and the Mayor of Milton Keynes Awards Ceremony.  They had also attended graduation ceremonies, school concerts, citizenship ceremonies, Kings Awards for Enterprise and for Voluntary Service, Ambers Fashion Show, Buckinghamshire Scouts Annual Scouting dinner, and the Bishop of Buckingham’s Memorial Service.

There were none.

Louise Harrison, the Chief Fire Officer and Chief Executive of Bucks and Milton Keynes Fire and Rescue Service was in attendance to present to Members on the work of the Fire and Rescue Service. Ms Harrison was introduced by Councillor Rouse, Chairman of the Bucks Milton Keynes Fire Authority (BMKFA), who provided some context to the presentation.  In particular, he made mention of the great impact the Chief Fire Officer had made in her first few months in the role.  The Fire Authority had set two main priorities for the service in the last 12 to 18 months. Firstly, to ensure there were enough firefighters to serve the communities of Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes effectively.  Secondly, to ensure that there were the financial resources to support the transformation that the service needed to undertake.  The Authority had built up its reserves to fund that transformation, whilst also reducing its debt, and it was now one of the Authorities with the lowest debt in the country.

The presentation also touched on a number of other key points such as funding challenges, staffing and equipment, performance, the Community Risk Management Plan and the review by his Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services.

Thanks were expressed by Members for the hard work of the Fire and Rescue Service and its staff for all that they did to protect and keep the public safe.  In response to questions, Councillors were provided with information as follows:

(i)                 That hopefully positive news on the future of the Fire and Rescue search team would be announced soon.

(ii)               That a report on the gender pay gap had been published recently, as well as information on the ethnicity pay gap.  Information was also provided on actions being taken to address the pay gaps.

(iii)              On preparedness for extreme weather events including having 3 wildfire units.  The Authority continually undertook training to be as prepared as possible and was investing in skills and equipment needed to respond to events such as flooding.

(iv)              That the Authority was in a good position to support transformation and investment that was needed going forward.

(v)                On the work that was being done on safeguarding and to protect vulnerable people.

(vi)              On the work being done by the Authority to promote and address diversity.

(vii)            On the preparedness of the Service for any incidents relating to HS2 works.

(viii)          On the current financial position of the Authority, which included the allocation of a significant transformation reserve, reducing levels of debt, and driving efficiencies through the organisation.

The Chairman expressed thanks to the Chief Fire Officer for her presentation and responding to Members’ questions. The Chief Fire Officer thanked Members for their continued support for the work of the Fire and Rescue Service and her staff.

The Leader of the Council introduced a draft of the refreshed corporate plan that was attached at Appendix 1 to the Council report.  The plan included an appendix setting out the current Corporate Key Performance Indicators that were used to monitor the Council’s performance and outcomes in delivering the priorities outlined in the plan.  The plan was intended to cover the period until 2025, in accordance with the current Council term.

The Leader stated that the Corporate Plan reflected the priorities of the majority group on the Council, reflecting the manifesto they had stood for election on in 2021, and showed the determination of the majority group to deliver on those priorities on behalf of the residents of the county.

The Leader also stated that, as in previous years, a light-touch review of the Corporate Plan had been undertaken to reflect key developments since the drafting of the current plan, which was adopted by the Council in February 2020, in particular the impact of acute financial inflation as well as increases in the demand for key services.

In response to queries, Members were informed:

•                    information on the key priorities and key performance indicators used to monitor performance against the 4 Corporate Plan priorities were at Appendix 1 to the Corporate Plan.

•                    the Council was always willing to engage with colleagues in Town and Parish Councils.  Members were welcome to contact the Cabinet Member for Communities if they had any queries relating to the Town and Parish Charter.

•                    the Leader believed that the priorities in the Corporate Plan were absolutely the right ones.  The Plan also included details of the current budget which showed how the existing priorities were aligned to Council finances.

•                    the Plan recognised and was responsive to the cost of living and other pressures being experienced by local residents.  Mention was made of the Council’s Helping Hands programme which reached out to many residents across the county, and assistance provided to voluntary and community groups, to food banks, and in helping deliver financial support to residents.

•                    a Leader decision had recently been taken to approve the Buckinghamshire Physical Activity Strategy 2024-2029.

•                    the Corporate Plan set out the main vision for the Council.  Beneath the key priorities were detailed plans, action plans and detailed individual strategies that were regularly worked on and actioned by Cabinet Members on behalf of residents.

At the conclusion of the debate a requisite number of Members present then requested that a recorded vote be held.

Following a recorded vote, the motion was declared to be CARRIED.  Voting was as follows:

FOR (94): Councillors Adoh, Alam, Ashman, Ayub, Bagge, Barnes, Barrett, Baum, Birchley, Blamires, Bond, Bowles, Bracken, Brazier, Broadbent, Broom, Butcher, Caffrey, Carington, Carroll, B Chapple OBE, S Chapple, J Chhokar, S Chhokar, Chilver, L Clarke OBE, Collingwood, Cornell, Cranmer, Culverhouse, Darby, Dhillon, Dormer, Etholen, Fealey, Flys, Gaster, Gomm, Goss, Hall, M Harker OBE, G Harris, C Harriss, Heap, Hogg, A Hussain, Maz Hussain, Mahboob Hussain OBE  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

The Cabinet Member for Homelessness and Regulatory Services introduced the first County wide Housing Strategy for Buckinghamshire.  The Strategy outlined the Council’s collaborative approach with partners across the county and had been devised for the five-year period 2024 to 2029. Its vision was ‘A strong housing offer that provides affordable, accessible, sustainable and suitable choices at all life stages.’

The report set out the three strategic priorities for the housing strategy that were:

Priority One – Understanding the housing needs of our diverse population.

Priority Two – Better Homes: good quality, sustainable and matched to need.

Priority Three – New Homes: affordable, accessible and appropriate.

The housing strategy was a major place strategy for Buckinghamshire. It set out the Council’s priorities for housing as they related to delivering the Council’s statutory duties, increasing the level of affordable housing, and ensuring suitable housing conditions. It was the Council’s role as the housing authority to set the strategic direction for Buckinghamshire.

The Cabinet Member explained about the development of the Strategy and on the public and stakeholder consultations that had been conducted.  He expressed gratitude to all those who had participated, especially the public, in the consultation exercises.

The Cabinet Member also explained that the responses to the consultation exercises indicated that there was broad agreement of the vision, the three priorities, and the critical success factors.  Changes to the Housing Strategy arising from the consultation exercises (detailed in Appendix 2) had been incorporated in the final version that was at Appendix 5 to the Council report.

During debate some Members commented that they were supportive of the strategy, although it was stated that the Council should be cautious of taking control of social housing.  The target set to deliver 500 new, affordable homes per year was also supported, although the Council should strive to exceed this target, if possible.

In response to queries, Members were informed:

(i)                 a study on the financial and other risks to the Council in becoming a Housing Authority was being undertaken and would come forward in due course.

(ii)               the Strategy would look to deliver more than 500 new, affordable homes per year, if possible.

(iii)              on the Housing Allocations policy, that was based on the legacy District Council areas and would be reviewed in due course.

(iv)              the Strategy also covered issues such as priorities on empty homes and bringing forward an Older Persons Strategy.

(v)                About the work being done by Officers to prevent homelessness.

(vi)              the Council needed to also look at social rent (50% of market rate) and not just affordable rent which was 80% of market rent and not affordable for many people.  This was part of a wider issue of dealing with housing affordability in Buckinghamshire.

RESOLVED –

(1)               That the responses to the consultation exercises be NOTED.

(2)               That the Buckinghamshire Housing Strategy 2024-29 be ADOPTED.

Members considered the Annual reports authored by each of the 6 Chairmen of the Select Committees which reflected on the work and the outcomes achieved over the past year. The reports detailed and examined the role and the key areas of work undertaken by each of the Select Committees together with its future programmes of work. The information was provided at Appendix 1 to the Council report. The six Select Committees the Council operated were Children’s and Education, Communities and Localism, Finance and Resources, Growth, Infrastructure and Housing, Health and Adult Social Care and Transport, Environment and Climate Change.  In addition to reviewing key areas of work at each of their meetings, Committees responded to consultations, questioned external partners, and held a number of inquiries and rapid reviews to help drive improvements.

Councillor B Chapple OBE, Chairman of the Transport, Environment and Climate Change Select Committee presented the report and highlighted a number of pieces of scrutiny work undertaken over the last year, including:

-                      the Health and Adult Social Care Select Committee had conducted a rapid review into the dementia “journey” investigating services and the support available for people with dementia and their carers in Bucks.  18 recommendations had been put forward to Cabinet and Health partners to drive further improvements to meet a growing demand.

-                      the Children’s and Education Select Committee had presented a review of Pathways for Children with SEND to Cabinet in September, with a number of recommendations to improve access to information for parents, which had been incorporated into the wider SEND Improvement Plan.

-                      as always, the Finance and Resources Select Committee had undertaken a detailed review of the draft budget in January.  It was noted that it was increasingly more difficult for the Council to produce a balanced budget and the scrutiny exercise was valuable in ensuring that the final budget agreed at Council was as robust as possible.

-                      the Transport, Environment and Climate Change Select Committee (SC), chaired by Councillor B Chapple, had undertaken a Rapid Review into Streetworks and Statutory Undertakers last Summer.  The SC met with several utility companies, including water and broadband providers and put forward 10 recommendations to Cabinet, with a view to decreasing disruption on the highways network when essential work had to be carried out.

·       a Joint Review had been carried out by the Growth, Infrastructure and Housing Select Committee with the Health and Adult Social Care Select Committee called Planning for Future Primary Healthcare in Buckinghamshire.  The funding and development of new GP facilities was a very complex area and this report would be presented to Cabinet in May 2024 making some important recommendations to improve the joint working between the Council and the ICB.

Councillor B Chapple mentioned the crucial role of the Select Committees in holding Cabinet to account and investigating the outcomes of different Council policies and strategies, as well as playing an important role in scrutinising partners and outside organisations such as Health, the Police, the Environment Agency, HS2  ...  view the full minutes text for item 10.

Members received reports from Cabinet Members. There was an opportunity for members to ask questions of individual Cabinet Members about matters and issues affecting their portfolios.

Leader of the Council, Councillor Martin Tett

The Leader received questions on the devolution deal, the Eastern Link Road, and the South-East Link Road.  Members were informed that a level 3 devolution deal, which would require an elected Mayor, was not a priority for Buckinghamshire, and would remove power from the Council Members and their residents.  The high cost of the South-East Link Road was acknowledged which was attributed to the complexity of crossing the Chiltern line and building two large roundabouts.  It was not possible to disclose the commercial matters of the Eastern Link road in public.  Members were also informed that the South-East link road was a necessary project to relieve congestion and support growth in Aylesbury, and that the Eastern Link Road would be funded by a combination of Government grants and developer contributions.

Cabinet Member for Culture and Leisure, Councillor Clive Harriss

The Cabinet Member received questions on the skatepark in Buckingham and the access to swimming for children with special needs.  He agreed that the skatepark showed the benefit of providing outdoor facilities for the residents, and to work with a local Member on a major event in the New Year.  Members were updated on the provision of leisure facilities for children with special needs and access to swimming, including that the Cabinet Member’s report mentioned the work done to make toilet access for all groups and inclusiveness at the heart of everything.

Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Health and Wellbeing, Councillor Angela Macpherson

The Cabinet Member received questions on the Healthy Ageing strategy and the impact of digital inclusion.  Members were informed that Equality Impact Assessments were undertaken on most of the work that came through Cabinet.  The importance of providing alternative, non-digital options for older people who were not online was acknowledged.  The Healthy Ageing Strategy aimed to enable more choice, flexibility and cost reduction for older people through digital progress, but also to ensure that there was an inclusive aspect to it.

The Cabinet Member acknowledged the issue of the time and complexity of the forms for home adaptations and explained that the Council was working on harmonising the process and making it more efficient.  This included the work being done on housing needs assessment and cross-portfolio collaboration to provide more suitable housing for older people.

Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Transport, Councillor Steve Broadbent

The Cabinet Member for Transport received questions on the road network, the devolution deal and the Street Trading Policy.  Members were informed that the South-East Link Road was a particularly complex and expensive project due to the need to cross the Chiltern line and build two large roundabouts, and that these factors did not apply in the same way to the Eastern Link Road.

A Member was asked to write to the Cabinet Member if they had any specific  ...  view the full minutes text for item 11.

The Chairman informed Members that a motion had been submitted to the meeting relating to the Council’s Taxi Licensing Policy / White Ribbon recognition.

The motion was proposed by Councillor Robin Stuchbury and seconded by Councillor Andrea Baughan, as follows –

“1. This Council notes that:

(a)                 Buckinghamshire Council is a local authority which recognises White Ribbon. This status shows our commitment to the White Ribbon campaign to protect and support women and girls from abusive and violent behaviour by men and boys. In gaining this accreditation we, the Council, sought to spread the support to all departments and sections of our Council and beyond, into our community.

(b)                Buckinghamshire council currently licenses approximately 3,300 drivers to provide Private Hire and Hackney Carriage services.

(c)                 Buckinghamshire Council operates a proactive stance regarding compliance and safety auditing. While some drivers licensed by other Councils do operate within Buckinghamshire Council’s area, BC officers are only able to take enforcement action if authorised by the corresponding council to do so. MOUs are in place with two of the 12 neighbouring authorities allowing BC Officers to carry out vehicle compliance checks in their areas.

(d)                At present all Buckinghamshire Council drivers are fit and proper persons, (meeting the required local standards as set out within our policy) and undertake safeguarding training to ensure they have a better understanding of the abuse suffered by children and vulnerable adults prior to obtaining their licence. Whilst remaining within the statutory licensing procedures, at present this training which includes undertaking CSE safeguarding and disability awareness training every 3 years together with recognising the signs of abuse and how to report concerns, it does not fully address the issues raised by White Ribbon.

(e)                 Nationally, there are a high proportion of complaints from women in regards to inappropriate behaviour or language by drivers towards female passengers.

(f)                  Other councils such as Newcastle and Wrexham are already promoting White Ribbon to taxi operators, door security, bar staff and other licenced facilities.

2. This Council therefore resolves to:

(i)          Ensure that all new applicants and taxi license holders understand that verbal, physical and emotional abuse is not tolerated.

(ii)         Encourage all those experiencing abuse to report this to the Police.

(iii)        Ask Officers to make appropriate arrangements (in consultation with relevant portfolio holder and committee chair) to revise the Council’s Taxi Licensing Policy to include education about domestic abuse into existing safeguarding and equality training for drivers and maintain a register of those who complete the training.

(iv)        Invite all those licenced by Buckinghamshire Council to become White Ribbon ambassadors and display the White Ribbon, and

(v)         encourage Operators to promote White Ribbon with their drivers, regardless of the origin of their licence.

Councillor Stuchbury briefing explained the rationale of the motion, after which Councillor Baughan (seconder) spoke in favour of the motion.

An amendment to the motion, proposed by Councillor Winn and seconded by Councillor Nabeela, had been submitted and circulated to all Members prior to the meeting in  ...  view the full minutes text for item 12.

The written responses to questions from Members, published as a supplement to the agenda, were noted.

A list of decisions taken by the Leader since the last Full Council meeting on 21 February 2024 were received and noted.

Wednesday 15 May 2024 at 4pm (Annual Council meeting)

4pm, Wednesday 15 May 2024 (Annual Council meeting)