Meeting documents

Venue: The Oculus AVDC Gatehouse Way

Contact: Claire Hawkes X7114 

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Items
No. Item

1.

Minutes pdf icon PDF 113 KB

To confirm the minutes of the meeting of the Council held on 22 November 2019.

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Minutes:

A minutes silence was held for County Councillor Chaudhary Ditta who had passed away in November.  The Chairman paid tribute to Mr Ditta and also read a letter written to the Council from his wife and children.

 

RESOLVED: The minutes of the meeting held on 22 November 2018 were AGREED as an accurate record and signed by the Chairman.

 

2.

Petitions

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Minutes:

The following petitions were handed to Ms R Shimmin, Chief Executive.

 

Mr J Chilver presented a petition on Thrift Farm regarding a campaign to stop the closure of Thrift Farm which was currently out for consultation.  The petition had 6789 signatures to date.

 

Mr W Whyte presented a petition on A421 improvements The petition was on behalf of residents in Thornborough and Nash and was for sign and road improvements on the A421.  The petition had 200 signatures to date. 

 

Mr D Dhillon presented a petition on behalf of the residents of Burnham regarding the need for a pelican crossing on Stomp Road.  The petition had 1100 signatures to date and was supported by a letter from the school and local MP.

 

3.

Communications pdf icon PDF 101 KB

a        To receive any apologies for absence

b        To receive any communications the Chairman wishes to present to the Council

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Minutes:

Apologies were received from Mr Bagge, Mr Bowles, Mr Harris, Mr Hayday, Mr A Hussain, Mrs Sullivan, Mrs Ward, Mr Williams, Ms R Farwell, Mr Colston, Mr Lawrence and Mrs Letheren. 

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

Chairman’s report: The Chairman welcomed two new councillors following recent by-elections, Mr I Rashid and Mr A Christensen.  The Chairman reported on events since the last Council meeting and highlighted in particular:

 

·         Recent bad weather had stopped the Chairman attending a number of events which included the Chinese New Year celebrations.

·         The Chairman looked forward to attending the Royal Garden Party at Buckingham Palace on 15 May.  Mrs Glover would be attending with County Councillors Mrs Cranmer, Mr Harriss and Mr Williams and 6 BCC staff who were nominated by their colleagues which included the County Council's oldest member of staff - a 90 year old School Crossing Patroller.

·         In December the Chairman had attended 3 Queen's Award for Enterprise events for Monodraught and Focusrite in High Wycombe and Trio Healthcare at Great Missenden.  The awards were presented to the Chief Executives of each of the companies by His Royal Highness the Duke of Kent.

·         The Chairman had also attended the opening of new premises for medical detection dogs.

 

The Chairman then introduced Mr P Irwin, County Councillor who addressed the Council and gave his experiences of the recent Time to Talk Day and the activities that had taken place and his own experience of mental health issues. 

 

The Chairman then paid tribute to two former county councillors, Maurice Oram and Dennis Green who had recently passed away.  Members stood for a minute silence

4.

Declarations of Interest

To disclose any Personal or Disclosable Pecuniary Interests

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Minutes:

There were none.

 

5.

Chief Financial Officers Strategic Report pdf icon PDF 192 KB

Council is asked to NOTE the Chief Finance Officer’s Statutory Report.

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Minutes:

Mr Ambrose, Director of Finance and Procurement and Chief Financial Officer presented his strategic report and outlined the following:

 

  • Mr Ambrose was required to report to Council on robustness of the estimates made for the purposes of the budget and the adequacy of the proposed financial reserves.
  • There had been detailed scrutiny of the proposed budgets as various points in the process including the budget scrutiny process carried out by the Finance, Performance and Resources Select Committee, which had resulted in a number of recommendations and changes made.
  • The risks were set out in the report which included future funding, demand pressures and care market sustainability.
  • Mr Ambrose stated there were reasonable assurances and that level of reserves was sufficient.

 

Recommendation:

Council were asked to NOTE the Chief Finance Officer’s Report.

6.

Medium Term Financial Plan pdf icon PDF 146 KB

Council is asked to:

 

1.     Approve the Revenue Budget for 2019/20 (and indicative budgets for the following three years) as set out in Appendices 1, 2 and 3 and a Net Budget Requirement of £356.310m in 2019/20;

2.     Approve a Council Tax Requirement of £293.124m and a Band D council tax, for County Council spending of £1,329.64 in 2019/20;

3.     Approve the Capital Programme as set out in Appendix 5;

4.     Note the Budget Scrutiny Report

5.     Note the Business Unit Plans.

6.     Note the response to the budget proposals from Bucks Business Group

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Mr D Watson, Chairman of Finance and Resources (FPR) Select Committee Chairman, addressed Members and reminded them of the recent robust scrutiny process the budget had undergone in January 2018. Mr Watson thanked his colleagues on the budget scrutiny committee for their hard work, colleagues in Democratic Services for their support and Cabinet Member, the Leader and senior officers who appeared before the committee.

 

Mr Watson highlighted the 10 recommendations in the report put forward by the FPR Select Committee and summarised them as:

 

  1. Additional monies to be added to the 2019-20 contingency budget, to supplement the current unitary reserve of £7.7m.
  2. An improved level of visibility in individual budget lines across all portfolios for future Budget Scrutiny Inquiries.
  3. That balance sheet and cash flow budgets would be prepared to support the capital, treasury investments, borrowing and revenue costs over the four year period.
  4. Concerns that issues driving the increase of Looked After Children would continue to grow over the coming years and therefore there was the possibility that the budgeted growth in demand would not be sufficient.
  5. A realistic figure to be included in the final Children’s Services budget for legal fees.
  6. The Health and Wellbeing contingency would need to be reviewed to ensure that it offset the key risk areas identified by the Committee.
  7. A minimum 5% per annum uplift to be applied to the Strategic Highways Maintenance capital budget line to take into account inflation, growth of the asset and impact of increased traffic on the highways.
  8. Additional funding for gully cleansing and weed management had been added into the budget as a result of Budget Scrutiny recommendations over the past two years needed to be maintained.
  9. A Street Lighting Survey should be undertaken to establish the location, ownership and condition of all columns in the County and recommended an additional £2m from the Capital budget to be added to fund an acceleration of Column Replacement works. The use of smart technology should also be investigated.
  10. Preparations for the new authority should include both the Unitary Opportunities and Future Budget Scrutiny recommendations.

 

Mr Watson stated that a lot of thought had been put into the preparation of the budget and that there was little choice but to increase council tax, the need for which was reflected in salary inflation projected to be 2%, the inexorable rise in demand in Children’s Services and Adult Social Care and cost inflation from outsourcing.

 

During the debate Members raised the following matters

 

  • Mr A Collingwood raised concerns related to the £123m spend on outsourcing with lack of clarity on where that money was being spent and that the money could be better spent on services such as short break respite provision.  Mr Watson stated that there had been requests for detailed breakdown of spend on outsourcing as budget of the budget scrutiny process. He also stated that respite savings required had been identified as part of the MTP process.
  • Julia Wassell raised the issue of predictability of costs in Children’s and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

7.

Treasury Management Strategy pdf icon PDF 126 KB

Council is asked to APPROVE the Treasury Management Strategy Statement.

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Mr J Chilver, Cabinet Member for Resources presented the report to Council to consider the Treasury Management Strategy 2019/20.  Mr Chilver highlighted the following points:

  • CIPFA required the Council to approve a treasury management strategy before the start of each financial year.
  • The only change was the increase in money market to facilitate council’s cash flow requirements.
  • The strategy had been reviewed by the Council’s Regulatory and Audit Committee.

 

Mr S Lambert raised concerns about the little detail in the strategy related to the impact of Brexit and wanted assurances that risks where being identified and managed.  Mr Chilver responded by stating that there was a risk monitoring process in place which included those related to Brexit.  Mr Chilver drew member’s attention to the Brexit update on their desks and the date of the next Buckinghamshire Brexit Summit.

 

Recommendation:

Council were asked to APPROVE the Treasury Management Strategy Statement.

 

RESOLVED: Council APPROVED the Treasury Management Strategy Statement.

8.

Capital and Investment Strategy pdf icon PDF 123 KB

Council is asked to APPROVE the Capital and Investment Strategy.

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Mr J Chilver, Cabinet Member for Resources presented the report to Council to consider the Capital and Investment Strategy.  Mr Chilver highlighted the following points:

 

  • The strategy was a statutory requirement in accordance with the CIPFA Prudential Code.
  • Ensure that Capital investment proposals were affordable prudent and sustainable.
  • Non-financial investments that related to the Council’s property portfolio.
  • The need to look at new ways to generate income, with financial return of property investments being one approach.
  • The Finance, Performance and Resources Select Committee had commented on the strategy and would have as an item later in the year.

 

Members raised and discussed the following points:

  • Mr Appleyard, Cabinet Member for Education and Skills supported the strategy and highlighted the result of the strategy over a number of years had led to positive results which included Aylesbury Vale academy being rated as a good school and the opening of the new school.  Mr Chilver welcomed the comments and celebrated the success of the school and the capital building programme.
  • Members raised issues relating to unitary including moving capital reserves from county to districts and the need to allow flexibility for parishes to manage assets within their local area going forward.  Mr Chilver stated that both of these areas would be a matter for the new authority once it had been legally formed.

 

Recommendation:

Council were asked to APPROVE the Capital and Investment Strategy.

 

RESOLVED: Council APPROVED the Capital and Investment Strategy.

9.

Proportionality Report pdf icon PDF 152 KB

Council is asked to confirm the political balance in the distribution of seats across Committees to accord with the rules on proportionality.

 

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Minutes:

This report set out the allocation of Committee seats in line with legal requirements on political proportionality.

 

Recommendation:

Council were asked to confirm the political balance in the distribution of seats across Committees to be as set out in the report, to accord with the rules on proportionality.

 

RESOLVED: Council AGREED the recommendation.

10.

Notices of Motion

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Minutes:

There were none.

 

11.

Cabinet Member Decisions Taken - Information Only pdf icon PDF 205 KB

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Minutes:

RESOLVED: The Council NOTED the report.

12.

Date of Next Meeting

The next meeting of Council will take place on 25 April 2019 at 09.30 at the Oculus, Aylesbury.

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Minutes:

25 April 2019.