Meeting documents

To confirm the minutes of the meeting of the Council held on 22 September 2016

The minutes of the meeting held on 22^nd September 2016 were agreed as a correct record.

There were none.

Apologies were received from Mr C Etholen, Mr P Hardy, Mr M Phillips, Mr D Schofield, Mr A Stevens, Miss K Wood and Mrs M Soames DL.

Apologies were also received from Mr T Boyd, Managing Director of the Communities and Adult Social Care Business Unit.  The Chairman reported that Mr Boyd would be retiring from Buckinghamshire County Council after 14 years and Members congratulated him on his outstanding work.

The Chairman reported on events attended since the last Council meeting – a full list is attached at Appendix 1.

There were none.

To receive a report from Ms Aarushi Bahl and Mr Dru Marshall, Members of the UK Youth Parliament

Ms Aarushi Bahl, Member of the UK Youth Parliament was welcomed to the meeting.  Ms Bahl explained as a 17 years old in Sixth Form, she was the Youth Parliament representative for young people in South Bucks.  Ms Bahl informed Members that she had visited the County Council on 18^th November for Youth Takeover Day and had met with Mrs Margaret Aston and Mr David Watson.

Ms Bahl reported that she had recently attended the Houses of Parliament, where the Youth Parliament met to agree the focus of their campaigns for the coming year.  Following a debate in Parliament, Ms Bahl explained that the UK Youth Parliament had chosen ‘Vote 16’ and ‘A Curriculum to Prepare Us for Life’, as their campaign issues.

Ms Bahl highlighted that Youth Voice in Buckinghamshire was open to any young person and that previous debates had included issues such as disability, skills for life and bullying.  Council was told that a bullying panel made up of children, parents and Councillors was held which then led to bullying workshops for parents and children being run by the Safeguarding Board.  Ms Bahl emphasised that Youth Voice was focused on bringing about action.  Ms Bahl thanked Members for their support and advised that there would be a Cyber Safety and Social Media event held in Wycombe on 18^th January 2017.

In response to questions from Members, Ms Bahl made the following points were noted:

·         Ms Bahl had been excited to visit the Houses of Parliament and felt honoured to have debated there. It was important to encourage young people to get involved in politics and political education should form part of the Curriculum for Life. 

·         The UK Youth Parliament was campaigning for Vote 16 as they believed that young people should be able to participate in elections.  This had been trialled successfully in Scotland for the Scottish Independence Referendum.  Ms Bahl believed that Education was key and it was important for politics to be interesting and relevant.

Ms Bahl was thanked for attending the meeting and Members congratulated her on the confident way she had addressed them and answered their questions.

To receive presentations from PCC Anthony Stansfeld and Chief Constable Francis Habgood

Mr Anthony Stansfeld, Thames Valley Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) and Chief Constable Francis Habgood were welcomed to the meeting.  The PCC began by presenting an overview of issues for PCCs and the wider area.  The following main points were noted:

·         The second PCC elections held on 5^th May 2016 had a larger turnout and resulted in a number of changes.  Conservative PCCs increased from 15 to 20, Labour increased from 12 to 15, Independents decreased from 11 to 3 and Plaid Cymru won all the rural areas in Wales. 

·         Following the European Referendum, the political team in Central Government had changed. Amber Rudd was now Home Secretary, supported by Brandon Lewis as the Police Minister.

·         Police budgets had been significantly cut. The Funding Formula was still being reviewed and the PCC hoped that this might lead to a fairer distribution of the national budget.  Currently Thames Valley Police received £159 per head of population, compared to £200 per head in Manchester and £185 in Birmingham.  Thames Valley was only slightly smaller in terms of population yet covered a wider geographical area and faced similar issues in its larger urban centres.

·         The PCC advocated a transformation of Special Capabilities as smaller forces struggled to deal with homicide, counter terrorism and serious organised crime activities etc.  The PCC was a member of a Board considering how Special Capabilities could be better organised in future.

·         Fire and Rescue services could now fall under the remit of the PCC.  Mr Stansfeld expressed the view that while he was in no hurry to take over the areas three Fire Authorities, he would move to combine them as it made sense financially and operationally.

·         A new five year plan had been developed by the PCC and his staff which had been out for consultation and would be considered by the Thames Valley Police and Crime Panel in the New Year.

The Chief Constable gave a presentation on the Thames Valley Police commitments which had been launched in the Summer and local policing priorities and the following main points were noted:

·         With public services shrinking, it was vital to work closely with the public to promote community resilience and personal responsibility, giving people the skills to take care of themselves within their community.

·         The Police remained an emergency service and would respond in an emergency or would liaise with Fire and Ambulance colleagues or other law enforcement agencies to ensure the most appropriate response.

·         The Chief Constable emphasised his commitment to neighbourhood policing, advising that each community would have a named contact for their area.  In addition, the Police would work with partners in multi-agency problem solving.

·         The Chief Constable was committed to recruiting good quality people who reflect the diversity of their community and equipping them with technology to enable communication on the move.  The majority of enquiries for the police still come via the telephone, either 999 or 111, but online contact opportunities were being developed.

·         There had been an increase in  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

To consider the report and recommendations in relation to the appointment of the Returning Officer for the County Council elections in 2017.

The Chief Executive introduced this item and asked Council to agree the appointment of the Returning Officer.

RESOLVED

The Council AGREED to:

1.    Appoint Mrs Gillian Quinton as Returning Officer with immediate effect, and

2.    To indemnify and keep indemnified the Returning Officer against all costs, expenses, actions, charges, claims, damages, proceedings, and other liabilities sustained in or about the proper execution of their office or otherwise in relation thereto (provided that this indemnity shall not affect the liability of the Returning Officer for the consequence of any criminal action or act of wilful default on their part).

To consider the report and recommendation relating to the Council’s future external audit arrangements

Mr D Martin, Chairman of the Regulatory and Audit Committee introduced the item, highlighting the key points of the report.

RESOLVED

The Council AGREED to accept the offer from Public Sector Audit Appointments to carry out the procurement of external audit arrangements on behalf of Buckinghamshire County Council from 2018/19 onwards.

To agree the report and recommendations

Mr D Watson, Deputy Cabinet Member for Resources introduced the report.

RESOLVED

The Council AGREED:

1.    The Treasury Management Update Report and the Prudential Indicators for 2016/17 to 2019/20.

2.    A change to the authorised boundary for external debt within Prudential Indicator 3.2 from £250m to £275m in 2016/17.

3.    A change to the MRP policy from a reducing balance basis to a straight line basis over 50 years from 1 April 2016.

To receive updates from the Select Committee Chairmen on the work of the Committees

The Select Committee Chairmen presented their reports to Council.

Mr B Chapple, Chairman of the Finance, Performance and Resources Select Committee advised that Budget Scrutiny would take place in the Large Dining Room, Judges Lodgings in the New Year and members of the public would be invited to tweet in their questions.  At their September meeting, the Committee had received an interesting report on the new Apprenticeship Levy which he recommended to other Members. The slides could be viewed on the 1^st November agenda papers.

Mr B Roberts, Chairman of the Health and Adult Social Care Select Committee reported that NHS funding was the focus of their agenda and thanked Mrs L Wheaton, Committee and Governance Adviser for all her work in support of the Committee.  In response to Members’ questions about the NHS Sustainability and Transformation Plan (STP), Mr Roberts explained that he shared concerns about the level of savings being discussed but it was not possible to comment on the plan until it had been published.  Mr Roberts informed Council that NHS colleagues had been invited to the Committee’s 24^th January meeting to discuss the STP in more detail.

Mr D Dhillon, Chairman of the Children’s Social Care and Learning Select Committee thanked Members for their work on the Voice of the Child Inquiry which would be presented to Cabinet shortly.  Mr Dhillon advised that an update on Narrowing the Gap would be considered at the Committee’s December meeting.

Mr D Carroll, Chairman of the Transport, Environment and Communities Select Committee thanked Mrs K Sutherland, Committee and Governance Adviser for her work in supporting the Committee since April 2015.  He reported that two key issues would be discussed at the Committee’s January 2017 meeting, namely proposals for the future of the library service and Growth in Buckinghamshire.

To note the written report of Cabinet Members, and any written questions & responses received.

To receive any additional verbal updates from Cabinet Members on their reports, as well as provide an opportunity for any oral questions from Members.

11a.    Leader of the Council

11b.    Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Health & Wellbeing

11c.     Cabinet Member for Resources

11d.    Cabinet Member for Transportation

11e.    Cabinet Member for Planning & Environment

11f.     Cabinet Member for Community Engagement & Public Health

11g.    Cabinet Member for Children’s Services

11h.    Cabinet Member for Education & Skills

11a. Leader

Mr M Tett highlighted four items from the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement:

·         £1billion for Broadband - As some areas of the County remained without Broadband, Mr Tett was investigating how this additional funding would be allocated.

·         The large allocation for housing included some funding for housing infrastructure.  Mr Tett had asked officers to identify schemes combining both housing and infrastructure.

·         £100million had been allocated for East/West Rail.  Mr Tett welcomed this, but believed that more money would be needed and ideally he would like to see the project completed before the mid-2020s. 

·         Mr Tett also welcomed the news that £27million would be invested in feasibility and design work for an East/West Expressway to improve road links between Oxford and Cambridge.

In response to Members’ questions and comments, Mr Tett made the following points:

·         County Council staff were thanked for attending meetings with Parish Councils to explain the detail of the Modernising Local Government proposals.

·         Cabinet received quarterly updates on the Council’s budget position and holding contingencies to cover risks was a normal budgeting procedure.  Currently it was envisaged that the overspend in Children’s Services could be covered by those contingencies.

·         Mr Tett shared concerns about the impact of HS2 construction traffic on congestion in and around Aylesbury.  Officers were trying to predict the impact of HGV and worker movements. The County Council would approve routing and had identified key junctions which would require improvements to promote free traffic flow.  Mr Tett had raised the issue of traffic congestion in the House of Commons and the House of Lords but the County Council had limited control over it.

·         Mr Tett continued to lobby Government on the need to increase the Adult Social Care budget.

·         The issue of establishing a Town Council for High Wycombe needed to be addressed with Wycombe District Council.

·         Although the Prime Minister had reviewed the decision to build a new power station at Hinckley Point, the Government was unlikely to reverse its decision on HS2 when the Bill had almost reached the Royal Assent stage.  Mr Tett had been steadfast in his opposition to the project over the past seven years but his focus now was on securing mitigation.

11b. Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Health and Wellbeing

Mr M Appleyard made the following responses to Members’ questions:

·         The Council had a dedicated Prevention team, particularly focussing on social isolation and loneliness.  Members were asked to support the officers in their areas in making contact with community groups such as the Women’s Institute, Lunch Clubs etc. who could assist.

·         In response to a comment about the Government allocating money for new Grammar schools, but no additional funds for Adult Social Care, Mr Appleyard advised that he would not take money from the Education or Children’s budgets, but was looking at delivering services differently in order to achieve a balanced budget.  This year the Health and Wellbeing portfolio should achieve a balanced budget and next year a small underspend was forecast.

11c. Resources

Mr J Chilver,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 11.

There were none.

Thursday 16^th February 2017 at 9.30am

Thursday 16^th February 2017 at 9.30am at The Oculus, Aylesbury.