Meeting documents

Following the County Council’s decision at its meeting on 21^st September 2017, a presentation of Certificates of Appointment will be made by the Lord Lieutenant to the Honorary Aldermen:

Mrs Margaret Aston

Mrs Avril Davies

Mrs Valerie Letheren

The Chairman confirmed the appointment of three Honorary Aldermen – Mrs Margaret Aston, Mrs Avril Davies and Mrs Valerie Letheren. The Lord Lieutenant presented Mrs Davies and Mrs Letheren with a commemorative certificate. It was noted that Mrs Aston had been unable to attend due to illness.

To confirm the minutes of the meeting of the Council held on 21^st September 2017.

The minutes of the meeting held on 21st September 2017 were agreed as a correct record.

Mr Collingwood presented a petition of 7417 signatures on behalf of Marlow residents and surrounding villages requesting that the proposals to introduce paid parking in the town should be withdrawn.

Mr Niknam Hussain presented a petition on behalf of Ashmead School in Aylesbury.  Parents were asking for assistance in ensuring safety on the approach to school by reinstating zigzags and other lining in the area.

Apologies for absence were received from Mr Bendyshe-Brown, Mrs Clarke OBE, Mr Dhillon, Mrs Macpherson, Mrs Sullivan, Mr Watson, Mrs Wight and Mr Ross MBE DL.

The Chairman welcomed Mrs Anita Cranmer, the new Member for Beaconsfield following a recent by-election. It was also reported that Mr Bendyshe-Brown had written to the Chairman to advise that he was receiving treatment and hoped to be back at meetings in the near future. He extended thanks to all Members and Officers for their support.

The Chairman reported on a number of recent visits – please see the full list appended to the minutes.

There were none.

Members of Bucks Youth Voice will give a presentation on the work of Youth Voice and feedback from their recent event held on 8^th November.

The Chairman welcomed Miss Grace Allen and Miss Eve Clayton of Bucks Youth Voice to the meeting.  Miss Allen and Miss Clayton gave a presentation on the work of the Bucks Youth Voice Steering Group and a recent event held in the Waterside Theatre, Aylesbury where 70 young people attended to share ideas and to question a panel of professionals, which included the Cabinet Member for Community Engagement and Public Health.

During the presentation and in response to subsequent Member questions the following main points were noted:

·         Bucks Youth Voice is an important mechanism for bringing together young people and professionals across Bucks and provides an opportunity for young people to have their voices heard.

·         At their event in November, seven workshops were held covering issues such as Safety, Mental Health and Resilience, Post 16 opportunities and Employability, Activities and Leisure, PSHE and Life Skills and Involvement in Decision Making.

·         Mental Health and Resilience was an issue of particular importance to young people who felt that support needed to be more readily available to them if they experienced difficulties and that there should be a variety of options in terms of the type of support that was offered. It was important that young people knew where to find help and what services were available.

·         It was also noted that young people felt discriminated against in the areas of employment, apprenticeships and housing.

·         Young people were happy to give their views, but would like to receive better feedback from professionals as to how their suggestions and opinions have influenced decision making or service delivery.

·         A steering group based in Wycombe would be meeting from December.  Wycombe District Council, in association with Wycombe Youth Action, was also establishing a Youth Council, where young people would be setting the agenda.

·         Mr N Brown, Cabinet Member for Community Engagement and Public Health reported that the Youth Voice event had been a valuable opportunity to liaise with young people, who engaged well and asked intelligent questions of the professionals panel.  He had already passed on their concerns around Mental Health to NHS colleagues when he attended a Health Summit event.

·         Mr P Irwin, Member for Waddesdon advised that he was keen to establish a youth club in Waddesdon and suggested that he might come to Waddesdon School to discuss with students what facilities and activities they might like to see there.

·         In response to a question about how best to engage with young people, Miss Allen and Miss Clayton said the Council should reach out via schools and also perhaps have a website where young people could give their views. They were encouraged that the Council wants to hear from young people.

·         In response to a question regarding encouraging girls into politics, Miss Clayton commented that she knew lots of her friends were interested in politics and were keen to get involved.  She believed that people of all genders, races and background should be encouraged to do so.

The Chairman thanked Miss Allen and Miss  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

To receive a presentation from Chief Constable Francis Habgood

The Chairman welcomed the Chief Constable Francis Habgood to the meeting. Apologies were noted from the Police and Crime Commissioner, Antony Stansfeld.

The Chief Constable gave a presentation which included a short video highlighting some of the achievements of Thames Valley Police (TVP) over the past year.  The following main points were made:

·         Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) had recently inspected TVP.  The inspection focussed on efficiency and understanding demand and TVP had been graded Outstanding, one of only two forces in the UK to achieve this. (Durham being the other)

·         Summer 2017 had been a tough period, with terrorist incidents in London and Manchester.  In the previous three years there had been 13 significant terror plots nationally, compared to 12 significant plots in seven months in 2017. This represented a step change. Police had responded well to the incidents in London, due to effective training and bravery of officers involved. In the aftermath of these incidents, communities were reassured by seeing armed officers on patrol.

·         TVP had also been dealing with significant crime incidents locally, with four murders in the first two weeks of June.  There had been an increase in both 999 and 101 calls – 999 calls continued to be higher than normal, although 101 calls had now reduced.

·         Nationally some recorded crimes were increasing, but overall crime was reducing.  There had been an increase in sex offences, burglaries and more complex crime. However TVP was in the bottom third of all forces for burglary and violent crime was also very low.

·         Budget pressures remained. TVP received a cash flat settlement of £390million per year from Government but with inflation and increased demand, difficult decisions had to be made.

·         Partnership working was going very well, for example, the Safe Hub in Aylesbury, where partners were working together to support individuals who placed a high demand on the Police and other services was seeing results.  The Early Help Panel also tried to break cycles of issues within families.

·         TVP were also working closely with Bucks Fire and Rescue service.  The Fire Service supported TVP in looking for missing persons and there were also plans to co-locate in some areas.

·         The Aylesbury Multi Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH) was now well-established and working well. Workload remained high, but staff morale was good and it was proving to be the most effective MASH in the Thames Valley.

·         Community working was also a priority for TVP. The Chief Constable was committed to neighbourhood policing and whilst numbers were down, problem solving teams could be drafted in to tackle more difficult issues in an area. Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) were important in supporting communities.

·         TVP were also doing lots of work on Hidden Harm, trying to encourage reporting of modern slavery and child sexual exploitation (CSE), as well as domestic violence.

In response to Members’ questions the following points were made:

·         In response to a question regarding historical cases of CSE, the Chief Constable commented that it was important to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

To Agree the Treasury Management Update report and the Prudential Indicators for 2017/18 to 2020/21.

The Deputy Cabinet Member for Resources, Mr G Williams, introduced the Treasury Management report.

In response to a Member’s question, the Deputy Cabinet Member explained that investments in commercial properties were yielding a 6.5% return and this was a good way for the Council to supplement its income.  A rigorous process was in place before any such investment was undertaken.

A Member asked if, in light of the economic position, the Council would always be able to negotiate a better deal on Lender Option Borrower Option (LOBOs) loans, rather than the Public Works Loan Board (PWLB). In response the Deputy Cabinet Member commented that LOBOs were fashionable 10 years ago and whilst a decision had been taken to try and manage these out of the blend of the Council’s debt, the Council would take advantage of rate offers in the short term. In a period of low interest rates the LOBOs had been effective, but PWLB would be the cheapest way of borrowing in future and the Council aimed to retire the LOBOs.

RESOLVED

Council agreed the Treasury Management Update report and the Prudential Indicators for 2017/18 to 2020/21.

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

The Select Committee Chairmen and Vice-Chairmen presented the reports.  Mr B Roberts, Chairman of the Health and Adult Social Care Committee reported that Members had recently visited Wycombe Hospital and he thanked Lesley, Carol and Rose who showed them round.

Mr D Carroll, Chairmen of the Transport, Environment and Communities Select Committee, thanked Mr S Lambert for agreeing to chair the Modern Slavery Inquiry and noted that the Committee would consider the Growth agenda at future meetings.

The Cabinet Member for Children Services thanked Members of the Children’s Social Care and Learning Select Committee for their recent visits to social care teams.

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.

A Leader of the Council

B Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Transportation

C Cabinet Member for Resources

D Cabinet Member for Community Engagement & Public Health

E.Cabinet Member for Planning & Environment

F Cabinet Member for Education & Skills

G Cabinet Member for Children’s Services

H Cabinet Member for Health & Wellbeing

Leader

In response to Members’ questions the following points were made:

·         The Leader was proud of Buckinghamshire’s pioneering businesses in fields such as life sciences, automotive engineering and creative industries.  He would be working closely with the Local Economic Partnership in developing an Industrial Strategy and was also looking forward to the Buckinghamshire Brexit Summit in December.

·         Members were reminded that a full review of the Council’s budget position was undertaken each quarter at Cabinet. In summary, the latest Cabinet report showed that the Children’s Services and Adult Social Care budgets would be overspent by £800k and £1.4m respectively, but this would be counterbalanced by an underspend on contingency, therefore an total underspend of £3m was anticipated at year end.

Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Transportation

The Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Transportation reminded Members that the annual appeal for gifts for Looked After Children was underway and any gifts donated by local residents or community groups could be handed in to the Buckinghamshire Suite for safekeeping.  It was noted that the Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the Council would also be taking a number of Looked After Children to the pantomime in both Aylesbury and Wycombe.

In response to Members’ questions the following points were made:

·         Members could take advantage of a Speed Awareness campaign tailored to their own divisions, which would be launched shortly.

·         It was agreed that the Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Transportation would ensure that Members would receive the programme for the next phase of work funded by the DfT Pothole scheme.  This programme would run up to 18^th December.

·          Members also requested a copy of the schedule of works for the next phase of road resurfacing, highlighting that it would be useful for discussions around next year’s programme to be held as early as possible.

·         Government was still committed to delivering East/West Rail.  Work on the western section was due to begin in 2018, with a completion date of 2023.

·         A number of Members were complimentary about recent resurfacing work which had been undertaken in their divisions.  However some Members raised issues with the quality of work.  The Cabinet Member commented that on the whole the quality of Transport for Buckinghamshire’s work had improved, but he would investigate individual issues on behalf of those Members who had concerns.

·         Two Members asked the Cabinet Member for assistance in resolving ongoing issues with faulty rising bollards in their divisions.  It was noted that a capital bid had been submitted in order to replace faulty bollards.

·         An road safety issue was raised regarding a risky junction on the A413 near Great Missenden. The Cabinet Member advised that he would ask the road safety team to investigate concerns and report back to him.

Cabinet Member for Resources

In response to Members’ questions the following points were made:

·         The Cabinet Member was congratulated on his recent Digital Champion award and was asked when he would be able to share future plans for digital transformation at the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 10.

The Chairman advised that a Motion to Council: Supporting Women Councillors had been received from Mr S Lambert and also an amendment to the Motion, proposed by Mr M Tett.

Mr S Lambert proposed the motion and made the following main points:

·         The Fawcett Society had undertaken cross party research with evidence from female councillors across the country with a view to answering the question ‘Does Local Government work for Women?’

·         A key theme of the report was how to get more women into politics – this required actions from political parties and also local authorities in promoting being a councillor to women and other minority groups.  It was noted that there had been a significant increase in the number of female MPs but this had not been reflected in local government.

·         In the private sector, research had demonstrated that more diverse teams perform more effectively and it was important that the Council should be representative of the population as a whole.

·         It was natural to make reasonable adjustments for people with disabilities and to encourage more women into politics it would be helpful to remove structural barriers, for example, paternity leave.

·         At Buckinghamshire County Council there was only one female Cabinet Member, no female Select Committee Chairmen and only one of the four Statutory Committees was chaired by a woman.

·         However the Council did have strong female role models in its senior management team and this motion was designed to enable women to achieve and believe that they can.

·         Whilst the Council may not particularly have a problem with sexism or sexual harassment, it was important to have clear policies in place to deal with this.

Mr Lambert concluded by commenting that this was an opportunity for the Council to lead the way in supporting women councillors.

The Chairman noted that Mr Tett, proposer of the amendment to the motion had waived his right to speak in favour of Lin Hazell, Cabinet Member for Health and Wellbeing. Lin Hazell made the following main points:

·         In the majority group, 37% of Members were female and this was 14% in the opposition group. Also over 10% of County Councillors were from a Black or Minority Ethnic background, therefore the Council was already diverse.

·         Lin Hazell had not come across anyone who had felt they were unable to stand as a councillor or who had felt blocked in any way by male colleagues. She did not believe that there was an issue in Bucks but the recommendations of the Fawcett Society report should be considered by political parties and also perhaps the Member Development Working Group.

The Chairman invited Members to debate the motion and the following main points were made:

·         The Leader commented that whilst the Fawcett Society report was very interesting, the original motion implied that we had an issue in Bucks, which he did not believe to be the case.  He did not agree with the idea of quotas to increase representation for women or any group. Finally as  ...  view the full minutes text for item 11.

The information was noted.

The information was noted.

Thursday 22^nd February 2018 at 9.30am in The Oculus, AVDC, Gatehouse Way, Aylesbury.

22^nd February 2018, 9.30am at The Oculus, Aylesbury.