Meeting documents

Apologies were received from Martin Tett, Malcolm Godwin and Chris Williams.

There were no declarations of interest.

of the meeting held on 28 October 2008 to be confirmed as a correct record

The minutes of the meeting held on the 28^th October 2008 were confirmed as a correct record.

Rebecca Carley

The Chairman welcomed Rebecca Carley, Locality Services Manager to the Committee. Rebecca Carley introduced herself to the Members and confirmed that Steve Orchard had now retired.

Rebecca Carley took the Committee through her report, noting in particular the Parish Consultation launch, which, she hoped would proceed in May and that training would be offered in May and June with further dates for training courses offered if required.

Rebecca Carley then referred to item 4 of the report "Purchasing Offer" to Parishes, and advised Members that the parishes would be able to benefit from purchasing from suppliers at County Council rates. However she did advise that there will be items that parishes will be able to buy more cheaply.  A Member asked at which level were the purchasing offer was being made and was advised that it was to individual parish councils.

A Member, in reference to item 20 of the report, advised the Committee that they had recently attended a workshop at a Local Area Forum (LAF) which had well attended, and had provided useful information.  The Member advised the PCSO and the Area Co-ordinator had attended the meeting and that a wide ranging discussion had taken place. A representative from Buckinghamshire Community Action advised the Committee that the example given by the Member reinforces the message that the LAFs are being well received and that each LAF is different.   The Chairman agreed with the Members comments, and gave the Committee a brief historical overview of the evolution of the LAF, noting that community was the key factor  

A Member referred to item 9 of the report and advised the Committee that there should be a commonality of terms used across the county.  The Member recommended that LAF should be established as the term to be used, that it was important for there to be one common purpose. 

The Chairman responded by referring to the year long pilot that had happened in Wycombe.  He advised that any decision in relation to terminology would be a corporate decision and that currently there was a rolling programme. The council would need to wait and see what the position was before resolving the issue of terminology. 

A representative from South Buckinghamshire Association of Local Councils (SBALC) advised the Committee that the parishes in the district felt  that,  that the LAFs were going ahead without parish consent.  The Chairman responded by saying, that whilst the County Council held the money and the budget, the County Council wanted it to be a full partnership with the parishes. It was important to get people signed up and agreed to the LAFs, in order to devolve the budget down to the communities. 

The representative from SBALC responded by saying that parishes doubted that money would be devolved to communities via LAFs. They felt that executive powers were being exercised with no elected mandate. Parishes in South Bucks supported making South Bucks District Council the LAF.  They felt that the County Council did not take this seriously,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

Report from Malcolm Godwin

A Member advised the Committee that they had been approached by a shopkeeper who was on the brink of giving up on their shop, due to the new commercial rates, which the Member advised had been subject to a tremendous hike.  The Member asked if there was anything the Committee could do, as they recalled that in the past the Committee had the discretion to make concessions where there was significant hardship.  

The Chairman responded by saying that there had been a 5% increase in the business rate, but that the government had recently reduced this figure to 2%.  The Chairman then advised that if, in the absence of Malcolm Goodwin, the Members had any questions for him, these would be fed back to him and Malcolm would prepare a written response.

 Members discussed the issue of the loss of rural amenities, such as shops and post offices.  A Member advised the Committee that a local pub in their area operated on a part time basis as a post office, but noted that this sort of enterprise needed support.  A representative for the Chiltern area advised that Committee that whilst shop closures were sad, Tesco were providing a bus to take people shopping and that individuals could also order via the internet.  During economic downturns it was normal for businesses to close.   A Member responded by saying that the elderly were limited in using the services suggested due to them not being able to carry the shopping, and that the County Council should do should all that it could to promote local services, such as saving local post offices. 

Marcus Rodgers advised the Committee about a Leader Project. He advised that the County Council had been given five million pounds over a five year period to distribute monies to rural areas, and that if the money is not distributed the County Council will loose the funds. A Member advised the Committee that it wasn’t just about local shops for local people; it’s about supporting the community in rural areas.  Members requested further information on the Leader Project.

                                                Action Michelle Thurston/Kelly Sutherland

A Member asked about the appointment of a Liaison Officer.   Rebecca Carley advised there was no appointment yet that but the County Council remains focused on doing what it can to get closer to parishes.

A Member asked if there was any further update on satellite navigation issues and was advised that BCC were still pressing the Department of Transport to take action. 

Proposed date - Thursday 22 October 2009 at 2.30pm in Mezzanine Room 3

Thursday  22^nd October 2009 at 2.30pm in Mezzanine Room 3