Meeting documents

To confirm the minutes of the meeting of the Council held on 17 May 2018.

The minutes of the meeting held on 17 May 2018 were agreed as a correct record.

Mrs Ward presented a petition on behalf of residents of Oakfield, objecting to the proposed closure of access to the A41 at the Bedgrove junction. The petition was handed to the Chief Executive.

Minute’s Silence:

The Chairman opened Council with a minute’s silence to pay respect to three remarkable Buckinghamshire gentlemen who had sadly passed away; Lord Carrington, Lord Cottesloe and ex-County Councillor Frank Sweatman. 

Written Questions:

The Chairman advised Members that responses to written questions had been published online.

Chairman’s Report:

The Chairman reported on events since the last Council meeting, highlighting in particular:

• Since being appointed as Chairman of Council, she had attended or been represented at 33 events across the county and beyond over the last 69 days.
• One of the highlights was to lead a small party of County Councillors on a trip to Belgium where they visited several World War One battlefield sites and cemeteries, a trip funded at their own expense. The Chairman shared photos of the trip.
• The Chairman was honoured to be able to lay a wreath at both the Menin Gate and the Tyne Cot Memorial at a commemoration ceremony for former Buckinghamshire County Council Weights and Measures Officer Lance Corporal Arthur Ormerod who was killed in the battle of Menin Road on 20 September 1917.
• She had also hosted a number of events which included two receptions for volunteers who supported the work of the County Council, a small dinner party for her two charities and an Investiture Ceremony where recipients of the British Empire Medal were presented with their awards by the Lord-Lieutenant.
• On 18 July the Chairman and the Chief Executive hosted a special ceremony for 11 Council staff members ranging from a school caretaker to a reablement worker. They were presented with framed certificate to mark their 25 years’ service at the Council.

The Chairman thanked Members for their support with events, in particular, the Vice Chairman for attending the Royal Air Force High Wycombe procession Honours Awards ceremony last week.

There were no declarations of interest.

Mr J Chilver, Cabinet Member for Resources, presented the report.

RESOLVED

Council AGREED the Treasury Management Annual Report and Prudential Indicators for 2017/18.

Mr M Tett, Leader of the Council, presented the report and confirmed that it had been agreed by the cross-party Senior Appointments and Bucks Pay Award Committee.

RESOLVED

Council AGREED the Annual Pay Policy Statement.

To note the written report of Cabinet Members, and any written questions and 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 Community Engagement and Public Health

D Cabinet Member for Planning and Environment

E Cabinet Member for Resources

F Cabinet Member for Children’s Services

G Cabinet Member for Health and Wellbeing

H Cabinet Member for Education and Skills

Leader

The Leader provided updates on recent announcements made at the end of the Parliamentary session, these included:

• Government would be looking into the issue of reduced revenue funding to local councils. There would be a sum of money to mitigate the impact of this, although it was not yet clear what this would mean for the County Council. The Leader had asked the Director of Finance and Procurement to look into this further. 
• Government would be running a further pilot on business rates retention. The previous pilot enabled retention of 100% of business rate growth but this would now be reduced to 75%. The Leader hoped that the County and Districts would be able to successfully work together to achieve the best outcome for Buckinghamshire.
• Publication of the new National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF). The impact of this for Buckinghamshire as an area of high house prices was that the county had significantly increased housing targets. This would impact on the county in terms of housing growth and the associated infrastructure needs and councils could be penalised if developers did not complete houses that they had planning permission to build.

In response to Member questions, the Leader highlighted the following:

• The Leader continued to lobby Government to rationalise the variety of funding streams available to support growth and infrastructure, as this would assist local authorities with longer term financial planning.
• The County Council’s green belt policy was to protect and maintain green belt unless in extreme circumstances. The Leader would continue to maintain that protection. The new NPPF allowed councils to release green belt if there was no other option.
• There was no conclusion from Government on local government reorganisation and no information given on expected timings of this announcement.
• An announcement confirming the route of the Expressway was still pending. 
• In response to a question around the A4010 the Leader highlighted that England’s Economic Heartland  were required to consider the "major road network", which are major ‘A’ roads and bring forward proposals on how these will link with the Expressway. There could also be a requirement to then develop housing along the improved major road network.  
• In response to concerns about keeping roads moving with HS2 construction, the Leader confirmed that HS2 were not yet starting construction, but they were undertaking ground investigations. The only quasi construction works was adjacent to the M25 near Denham, which was to construct access roads and compounds. Ground investigation works along the A413 were underway currently but this would be temporary. There was a dedicated team of officers working hard to look at how the impacts of this would be mitigated.
• In terms of Brexit, the County Council had never taken a definitive stance on Brexit. Government wanted a negotiated withdrawal agreement and trade agreement, and if successful, there would be no need for stockpiling. However, Government were right to be cautious in working out contingency plans for a ‘no deal’ situation. The County Council was working closely with businesses and had  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

The Select Committee Chairman presented their reports.

Mr Watson, Chairman of the Finance, Performance and Resources Select Committee, highlighted that the Committee’s upcoming Inquiry would be led by himself.

Mr Dhillon, Chairman of the Children’s Select Committee, informed Members that he would be presenting the Committee’s Inquiry report and recommendations on reducing permanent exclusions from schools in Buckinghamshire, to Cabinet in September. He highlighted that this was a national issue.

Mr Dhillon thanked Mrs Hawkswood, Members of the Inquiry group, Service Officers, Head Teachers and all other contributors to the Inquiry for their help and support.

Mr Roberts, Chairman for the Health and Adult Social Care Select Committee highlighted that he had been contacted by interested press in relation to the Committee’s Childhood Obesity Inquiry, another national issue.

The following Member questions were asked:

• Ms Clarke asked what the council was doing about exclusions from the schools in Buckinghamshire. Mr Appleyard, Cabinet Member for Education said he would provide a short paper to all Members to update on this. 

ACTION: Mr APPLEYARD

• Ms Macpherson highlighted that there were concerns about the Children’s Mental Health Service and suggested that the relevant Select Committee consider this topic within their work programme. Mr Roberts confirmed that it was on the radar for the Health and Adult Social Care Select Committee and he would consider how and when to include this within their work programme.

Council NOTED the Select committee report.

There were no notices of motion.

Information was noted.

Information was noted.

The next meeting of Council will be on 20 September at 09:30 in the Oculus, Aylesbury. 

Thursday 20 September 2018 at 09:30am at the Oculus.