Meeting documents

Apologies for absence were received from Jim Booth (Chief Executive, Thames Valley Police Authority), John Cartwright (Leader of Aylesbury Vale District Council) and Rita Lally (Chairman of Adult Commissioners).

Members noted that Peter Loose, Head of Service, Commissioning and Business Improvement, Adult Social Care, was attending as a substitute for Rita Lally for the duration of the meeting.

There were no declarations of interest.

The Minutes of the meeting held on 16 September 2008 were agreed and signed as a correct record.

·        Summary of Economic Development Strategy – Alex Pratt OBE, Chair, Bucks Economic and Learning Partnership

·        Effects of economic downturn

§   Update on Public Sector Perspective – Ed Macalister-Smith, Chief Executive, Buckinghamshire PCT

§   Update on Voluntary Sector Perspective – James Plenderleith, Citizens Advice Bureau

§   Effects of economic downturn – BSPIG Report attached

·        Review of Sustainable Community Strategies – update on emerging consultation responses

Workshop session focussing on setting strategic priorities. Workshop session to be facilitated by Chief Executives.

Decision to be taken – agree priorities for action

Summary of Economic Development Strategy

Alex Pratt OBE gave a presentation and made the following points:

·         BELP (Bucks Economic and Learning Partnership) was seeking to present Buckinghamshire in a professional way. Assets (such as employment land) needed to be unlocked to enable this to happen.

·         A National Enterprise Academy had opened the previous day, which would be based in Aylesbury. It would bring together students aged 16-18 years who were interested in enterprise.

·         It was critically important that ways were found of avoiding unnecessary failures in the business community.

·         There was a current drought in liquidity and this was leading to a large number of job losses. BELP was working to provide some hard data on the current financial situation, to enable robust opinions to be formed.

Update on Public Sector Perspective

Ed Macalister-Smith, Chief Executive of Buckinghamshire PCT, then spoke about the effects of the economic downturn on the public sector, and specifically on the Primary Care Trust (PCT). Ed Macalister-Smith said the following:

·         There was currently an underlying financial deficit of approximately £15m (on a total spend of £600m per year). The deficit was not related to the national economic downturn. The PCT in Buckinghamshire had a low level of financial allocation (c.18% lower than the national average).

·         Over the next two years the PCT would only receive approximately £4m extra in central funding, after netting off inflation and mandatory requirements. The PCT would therefore need to find 5% headroom in the annual £600m, which would be challenging. The aim was to move into the top decile of productivity nationally.

·         Buckinghamshire had 30% more GPs than the national average based on weighted population.

·         The PCT wanted to contribute more strongly to the BSP Board and also wanted to be more visible in the Economy and Environment workstream. The PCT could for instance be a strong source of employment for younger people, and spent most of its £600m into the Buckinghamshire economy.

·         The PCT was a commissioning organisation, and the principle way of balancing its books was to reduce work flow. This was potentially a huge challenge for the relationship between the PCT and the residents of Buckinghamshire.

·         All organisations needed to work together to ensure that there were no ‘gaps’ in services into which vulnerable people could ‘fall.’

Update on Voluntary Sector Perspective

James Plenderleith, Chairman of the Consortium of Bucks Citizens’ Advice Bureaus (CABs), told the Board the following:

·         There were four Citizens’ Advice Bureaus (CABs) in Buckinghamshire.

·         The Bureaus were moving towards a more effective business model for delivering free advice to Buckinghamshire residents.

·         CABs employed approximately 230 people across the county, 36 of whom were paid advisors.  There were 142 volunteers who each did a minimum of 7 hours work per week. There were also 45 trustees.

·         CABs in Buckinghamshire had total funding of £774 000 per year. Just under ? of this funding was from local authorities. CABs did not receive any Government funding.  CABs welcomed service level agreements for any funding they received.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

·        LAA Refresh

Jackie Fisk, Policy Officer, referred the Board to the update Report on the BSP Implementation Group. There would be further reports in due course regarding the LAA Pooled Fund.

Noted:

The Board noted the progress of the LAA at the 6 month point.

The Board noted the BSP Implementation Group decisions on the allocation of the LAA Pooled Fund.

David Walker and Rob Hathaway, Audit Commission

The Chairman welcomed Robert Hathaway and David Walker from the Audit Commission, who took members through a short presentation (attached).

The current inspection processes (including the Comprehensive Performance Assessment) would be consolidated from 2009 and replaced by the Comprehensive Area Assessment (CAA). The CAA would look at collective responsibility and joint working rather than the work of individual organisations. The Audit Commission would carry out the inspections, and it was noted that the Audit Commission was independent of the Government Office for the South East.

Partnership working would be vital for success in the CAA.

A member asked if the CAA would generate additional funding for Buckinghamshire. Rob Hathaway said that the CAA was designed to be a stimulus for improvement, and would not generate resources (unless performance was unacceptably low).

A member asked if the CAA would require current resources to become even more stretched. Rob Hathaway said that the Audit Commission would seek to work with organisations, and would base the work on existing performance management systems.

Mike Colston, Chairman of Healthy Communities Partnership and Jane O’Grady, Director of Public Health

Mike Colston, Chairman of the Healthy Communities Partnership, and Jane O’Grady, Director of Public Health, spoke to the Board about the Healthy Communities Strategy.

The Healthy Communities Partnership drew together and monitored the work of partner agencies and then reported these to the BSP Board.

BSP Board members had previously commented on the draft Healthy Communities Strategy, and the comments had been incorporated in the Strategy. The Strategy had then gone to the Local Strategic Partnerships and published on the web.

A member referred to the amended Strategy and the request by Youth Action for representation on the HCP. Jane O’Grady said that the request was being considered.

The Healthy Communities Strategy would take into account the economic downturn and some workstreams, e.g. on welfare benefits and child poverty, would help to support people during the downturn.

Agreed:

The BSP Board endorsed the amended strategy and would recommend it to their individual organisations or partnerships for adoption.

Michael Hunt (Encompass) said that he was the BSP Board representative on the Rural Forum for the South-East, which was working to raise the profile of rural affairs.

Michael Hunt said that an update would be sent out with the Minutes (attached) and that there were papers available which BRAG (Buckinghamshire Rural Affairs Group) had prepared.

31 March 2009, 2:30pm to 4:30pm, Silverstone

7 July 2009, 2:30pm to 4:30pm, Lane End Conference Centre

31 March 2009, 2:30pm to 4:30pm, Silverstone Circuit, Northamptonshire, NN12 8TN
7 July 2009, 2:30pm to 4:30pm, Lane End Conference Centre

Jackie Fisk, Policy Officer, asked members for any suggestions regarding the agenda for the next meeting. It had been suggested that the focus be on the Environment.