Meeting documents

Apologies as above.

To declare any personal or prejudicial interests

There were no declarations of interest.

To confirm the notes of the meeting held on Thursday 29 September 2011.

The action notes of the meeting held on Thursday 29 September 2011 were agreed as a correct record.

The Chairman read out an email from Transport for Buckinghamshire with regards to the relinquishing of highway rights of the churchyard in Buckingham which is dependant upon a positive outcome to a consultation process.  The Chairman asked LAF Members if they would be willing to earmark part of the priorities budget monies to fund a possible consultation.

A Member asked whether there are funds available in the budget for this if they were to agree to it.  Mark Grindall, Localities Manager, responded by saying that there is some money available but funding would not be agreed before extensive research had been undertaken and a report presented to the LAF.  He went on to say that the Chairman was just asking for feedback tonight from Members and that no money would be allocated.

The Chairman asked Members for their views of which 8 Members were in favour of earmarking some funds, 7 Members were against the idea and there were 4 abstentions.

This meeting will focus on the Buckingham Hospital priority.  Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust has been invited to attend the meeting to update Members on the "Better Healthcare for Bucks" proposals.

Rachael Corser, Associate Director of Nursing, Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust and Richard Mills, Director of Strategy, NHS Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Cluster will be attending the meeting.

The local priorities champions will update Members on progress of the other priorities.

The foreground priorities for the Buckingham LAF are as follows:

• Evening bus services and access to leisure facilities to be improved (awaiting a champion)
• Improved support for carers (champion: Margo Parfitt/ Mike Smith)
• Flood Mitigation (champion: Terry Cavender/Pearl Lewis)
• Address Buckingham Hospital service reduction (John Riches)
• Promote Local Shopping facilities where they exist (Roger Landells)
• Insufficient Public Transport in Rural areas (Mike Smith/Stephen Townsend).

Flood Mitigation

Terry Cavender reported that £5,000 had been allocated to the "Flood Mitigation" priority at the last meeting but this will not be spent in this financial year so he asked for the money to be put back into the budget to be spent on other priorities.

The Member for Padbury said that residents were pleased to have been awarded funding to help with flooding problems at the bottom of the village.

Promoting Local Shopping facilities

Roger Landells, the local champion for this priority, explained that he is still in the information gathering phase and he said he would re-circulate the information he needs from each parish as he has not received many responses to date.

Action: Roger Landells

Improved Support for Carers

Stephen Townsend provided an update on the "Improved support for carers" priority.  He said that funds allocated by the LAF will be used to undertake research (£5,000).  Further funding is being sought for use in promoting the website and raising the profile of carers (a total of £7,500).  Mark explained that he needs to meet with Adult Social Care to see what they are providing and if further funding from the LAF is required, then he would prepare a full report for Members to consider.

Action: Mark Grindall

Stephen went on to ask the representatives from the Hospital Trust for further information on the £400 million Government funding for carers.  He thought it was going to be published as part of the PCT’s published reports in October 2011.  Richard Mills, Director of Strategy, NHS Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Cluster, responded by saying that it has not been published yet.  The funding is not ring-fenced and it has to be looked at within the context of all priorities.  The Government would like to see the money used to support carers but it is not additional funding.  There has been a lot of national debate around this issue.

Buckingham Hospital Service Reduction

John Riches is the local champion for the above local priority and has invited representatives from Health organisations to attend the LAF meeting.  The Chairman introduced Rachael Corser, Associate Director of Nursing, Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust, Richard Mills, Director of Strategy, NHS Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Cluster and Lee Jones, Assistant Director of Communications, Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust.

Mr Mills started by explaining that there is a commitment to keep services at Buckingham Hospital and there is an appreciation that certain local health services are required.  A number of changes are taking place and Mr Mills outlined two main changes.

• Bucks Healthcare Trust is operating local integrated Community Services  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

There will be a 20 minute period for public questions.  Members of the public are encouraged to submit their questions in advance of the meeting to facilitate a full answer on the day of the meeting.  Questions sent in advance will be dealt with first and verbal questions after.

Martin Howes, a member of the public and a member of Bucks Fire and Rescue, said that he attended a meeting yesterday at which they were told that the control centre is going to be moved to Cambridgeshire.  He raised concerns in relation to how the decision was made as he felt some of the discussions had been held in private.

The Chairman suggested that any concerns relating to decisions made by Bucks Fire and Rescue should be directed to them.  He went on to say that after the last LAF meeting, he wrote to the Chief Fire Officer, on behalf of the LAF, to express concerns over the consultation document.

Terry Cavender told Members that the Government has published a consultation document relating to Fire Authorities being subjected to scrutiny in the future.  He said he would circulate further information after the meeting.

Action: Terry Cavender

None received

There were no petitions.

Ann-Marie Davies and Simon Dudley will provide Members with an update.  The TfB report is attached including information on the bus consultation which has now ended.

Simon Dudley took Members through the TfB report, including the agreed schemes for the delegated budget in 2011/12.  He went on to advise Members to log into the Service Information Centre which provides a wealth of information, including the progress being made by the snow gritters.  He said that a recent competition at local schools has resulted in the gritters being given names, such as Snowdrop, Snow Angel and Margritt.

A Member commented that Councillor David Rowlands was to provide an update on the 20mph following the decision from the Department of Transport in October.  In David’s absence, this has been deferred to a future meeting.

Action: David Rowlands

The Member for Akeley said that they were unaware of a Vehicle Activated Sign in Akeley and asked Simon to look into this and let the local residents know.

Action: Simon Dudley

The Member for Padbury thanked Simon for the 30mph signs which have now been put in the village of Padbury.  He went on to say that he would contact Simon after the meeting regarding Main Street in Padbury as the residents are unhappy about the fact that there is no footpath and speeding is a real problem.

Action: Padbury Parish Council

A Member commented that 30mph signs are needed in Maids Moreton near the rugby club.  Simon explained that there is no need for repeat signage if there are traffic lights nearby.

The Member for Nash explained that there are number if missing drain covers in their area.  Simon said that they have received a number of reports of missing drain covers which have been reported to the police.  Orders have been raised to replace them and the replacements will be bolted down in an attempt to reduce theft.

The Chairman thanked Simon for his update.

An update on police activity in the local area will be provided at the meeting.

The Chairman welcomed Inspector Emma Garside.  She started by explaining that the new 101 non-emergency Police number is now live.  Agreement has now been sought to change the neighbourhood boundaries to be co-terminus with the LAF areas.  The IT changes to support this process have been delayed and it is not now possible to meet the April 2012 so the implementation date for changing the boundaries has now been stated as October 2012.

The consultation relating to the front counters at police stations is still on-going but is due to end in February.  This relates to the Old Gaol station in Buckingham.  Inspector Garside explained that she has challenged the suggestion to reduce the opening times to 3 days a week.  The suggestion now is to open 5 days a week but to slightly change the opening times from 9.30-2pm to 10-2pm.  She went on to say that she would have liked to see the Old Gaol open on Saturdays as well and asked for parishes to support this by becoming involved in the consultation process.

Inspector Garside reported the following crime rates for the area.

• In Buckingham Town, serious acquisitive crime is down 41% but criminal damage to vehicles and buildings has increased.   Crime rates, overall, are down by 17%.
• In Buckingham North, serious acquisitive crime is down by 26% and crime, overall is down by 31%.

PCSO Denise Grayburn has moved to the Waddesdon area so Inspector Garside said that she would be looking for a replacement for this area.  The police are working closely with the University with regards to anti-social behaviour around Nelson Street.  There was a serious arson in relation to a farm building on the A422 but no-one has been caught yet in relation to this crime.

Speeding is still a priority in the area and an HGV operation has been taking place in Buckingham Town.  Someone is currently on bail following a drugs raid which resulted in around £1,000 worth of a class B drugs being ceased.  There have been a number of traffic accidents as a result of icy mornings and Inspector Garside advised people not to leave their keys in the car ignition whilst de-frosting their windscreens and she also advised people not to leave their Christmas presents on display.

Inspector Garside concluded her update by telling Members that 3 PCSOs have received a Commendation relating to the way they handled the arson attack as they were the first on the scene.  Inspector Garside said that the Commendations were very well deserved.  The Chairman asked for the congratulations from the LAF to be passed onto the PCSOs.

The Chairman thanked Inspector Garside for her very useful update.

Ann Kiceluk, Lead Officer from Aylesbury Vale District Council, introduced her colleague, Andy Wilkins to talk through the changes to refuse and recycling at AVDC during 2012.

The Officer gave a presentation on the proposed changes to waste refuse and recycling within Aylesbury Vale (presentation attached to minutes).

The Officer highlighted the following points:

• The collections are to be re-organised from a 5 day to a 4 day week. This will free up one day a week where training could be delivered or used to catch up on collections following bad weather etc. It was commented that this will deliver £500k of savings per year.
• The change in the system can take more material including a food waste collection.
• There will also be the option to subscribe to a new garden waste service at a cost of £36 per year, with a suspended service for two months a year.
• If an assisted collection is required alternative arrangements are possible.
• It is estimated 60-70% of waste will be diverted from landfill.
• Additional black bags will no longer be collected.

He went on to say that there have been very few complaints from the pilot areas in Buckingham and Winslow.

During discussion, Members asked the following questions and made the following observations.

• A Member felt that it was a great step forward and asked whether more information could be provided on what should go into the blue bins – perhaps stickers on the bins.  The Member went on to say that they did not like the idea of residents now being asked to pay £36 per year for the brown bin service.  Andy Wilkins responded by saying that the communication pack provides details on what can go into each bin.  He said that he appreciates the costs associated with the brown bin but it is relatively cheap by comparison.  The reality is that AVDC cannot afford to provide the service at no cost.
• AVDC has one of the worst levels of recycling and there is a need to drive the recycling figures up.
• A Member mentioned the texting service which you can sign-up to via AVDC’s website and this provides an instant update.

Tingewick Parish Council emailed a question in advance of the meeting in relation to bin collection in the area.  Andy Wilkins responded by saying that the team leader is aware of this and he will look into it further after the meeting.

Action: Andy Wilkins

Information item only.

Members were asked to note the update on the new contract to improve household waste recycling centres in Buckinghamshire.

Mr Morrison from Hogshaw Parish Council asked to update Members on the Energy from Waste issue.

At this point, the Chairman left the room as he declared an interest in this issue as he is Chairman of Development Control Committee at Bucks County Council.

Mr Morrison explained that the next few weeks are going to be very important.  He said that there have been some fantastic letters from parishes who are opposed to the plans.  The deadline for responding to the planning application is 16 December although late representations will be considered.  He urged parish councils who have not made a representation to do so and he said that there are experts on hand to guide parishes through the process.  Whilst the Development Control Committee meeting date has not been confirmed, a provisional date of 24 January has been mentioned.  Mr Morrison said that individual parishes can attend this meeting as it is a public meeting.

The next meeting will take place on Thursday 29 March 2012.

Future meetings in 2012

Thursday 28 June

Thursday 27 September

Thursday 13 December

If any parish or town council is able to host one of the above meetings, please could they let Liz Wheaton know either by email (ewheaton@buckscc.gov.uk) or by calling 01296 383856.

The next meeting will take place on Thursday 29 March 2012.  Venue to be agreed.

Future dates:

Thursday 28 June

Thursday 27 September

Thursday 13 December.