Meeting documents

The retiring Chairman, Mr Zahir Mohammed, expressed his thanks for the support he had received over the past year from Members, officers (particularly Joe Bradshaw) and from his wife Atifa.

Mr Mohammed reported on his year in office, highlighting the 125 anniversary of the creation of Buckinghamshire County Council and the commemoration of the start of the Great War. Council heard that the year had provided the retiring Chairman with the opportunity to explore more about the County and to see the excellent work undertaken by volunteers, in schools, the judiciary & by the armed forces.  Mr Mohammed particularly praised the cutting edge research being carried out by medical detection dogs in Buckinghamshire.

The retiring Chairman asked for nominees for Chairman for the ensuing year. Mr William Chapple was nominated by Mrs Margaret Aston and seconded by Mr Roger Reed.

RESOLVED

That Mr William Chapple be elected as Chairman of the Council for the ensuing year.

Mr Chapple read and signed the Declaration and Acceptance of Office.  The new Chairman paid tribute to the work of Mr Zahir Mohammed during his term of office and presented a commemorative book and past Chairman’s badge.

MR CHAPPLE IN THE CHAIR

The Chairman invited nominations for the position of Vice Chairman.  Mrs Valerie Letheren was nominated by Mrs Wendy Mallen and seconded by Mrs Netta Glover.

RESOLVED

That Mrs Valerie Letheren be elected Vice Chairman of the Council for the ensuing year.

Mrs Letheren read and signed the Declaration and Acceptance of Office.

To confirm the Minutes of the County Council meeting held on Thursday 16 April 2015.

The Minutes of the meeting held on 16 April 2015 were agreed as a correct record.

The Chairman welcomed Mrs Francesca Skelton, High Sheriff of Buckinghamshire, to the meeting.

Mr Brian Adams presented a petition on behalf of the residents of Wiseman Close, Aylesbury in relation to incomplete work on roads and footpaths undertaken by Persimmon Homes.  The Chief Executive agreed to liaise with Aylesbury Vale District Council in relation to associated District Council matters.

The Chairman informed Council of the recent illness of Mr Ditta and passed on his best wishes on behalf of the Council.

A minute’s silence was held for the death of Sir Peter Fry, who had been a County Councillor representing High Wycombe West from 1961-67. 

There were no declarations of interest.

County Council is asked to NOTE the Leader’s Executive Appointments to Cabinet for the municipal year 2015/16. These appointments will be presented by the Leader at the meeting.

The Leader announced appointments to Cabinet as follows:

The Leader also announced appointments to Deputy Cabinet Member positions:

To agree appointments to Council Committees and Substitutions for the year 2015/16. Copies of the Appendices will be presented in hardcopy and electronically at the meeting.

Council considered the report on Appointments to Council Committees and Substitutions.

RESOLVED

1.    Agreement of the appointments to Council Committees as set out in Appendix 1 in line with the proposals put forward by each of the political group leaders for the year municipal 2015/16 year.

2.    Agreement of the substitute members as listed in Appendix 2.

3.    Agreement to delegate to the Monitoring Officer powers to vary the membership of a Committee by appointing substitute members on a permanent or causal basis upon the written nomination of a Group Leader. These appointments would be made from within the membership listed in Appendix 2.

To consider and agree the annual report from the Chief Executive on Select Committee remits.

Council considered the annual report of the Chief Executive on the Select Committee Structure. 

RESOLVED

Council agreed the proposed structure for Select Committees (as set out in Appendix 1) for the municipal year 2015/16 in order to discharge the Council’s statutory overview and scrutiny functions.

The following Notice of Motion was proposed by the Leader, Mr Martin Tett

"This County Council resolves to release £3 million from General Fund Reserves to implement a 'plane and patch' programme for the county's roads. This will be specifically targeted towards our unclassified roads, particularly those in rural areas. Planning for this programme will begin immediately with implementation to commence as soon as possible in 2015/16".

Mr Tett informed Council of the investment being made by the Council on the maintenance of the County’s roads (£25m this year) but recognised that in rural areas additional investment was needed for unclassified roads, which although important for residents, might not otherwise be part of the Council’s improvement programme.

Mr Tett advised that if passed, the Notice of Motion would enable patching and repair of approximately 300 sections of road across the County.  The Council was assured that the authority’s reserves would remain above the 5% historic level of reserves.

Mrs Angela Macpherson seconded the Motion.

The Motion was debated and welcomed by Council, with the following issues raised:

·         The importance of ensuring the quality of work undertaken, full costings and planning

·         The need to ensure proportionality of allocation

·         The significant number of concerns raised by rural residents regarding the state of local roads

·         The need to ensure the adequacy of roads being used by the Women’s Cycling Tour of Britain in June

·         The funding challenges faced by the Council in other key areas, particularly people-focussed, and the need to ensure the Council takes a balanced view of demands

·         The similar issues in urban areas

The Cabinet Member for Transportation acknowledged Members’ concerns and assured the Council that plans would be carefully drawn up in consultation with local Members.  The work would be started during this financial year.  In relation to quality concerns, Mr Shaw informed Council that improvements were being made but that this needed to be sustained. 

Mrs Macpherson stressed the issues raised and reiterated the need for a robust quality monitoring plan to ensure effective and efficient use of public money.

Mr Tett concluded the debate by acknowledging the pressures on funding and the importance of spending taxpayers resources wisely to deliver value for money.

The Motion was unanimously carried.

RESOLVED

That £3 million is released from General Fund Reserves to implement a 'plane and patch' programme for the county's roads. This will be specifically targeted towards our unclassified roads, particularly those in rural areas. Planning for this programme will begin immediately with implementation to commence as soon as possible in 2015/16.