Meeting documents

RESOLVED

That Mr David Carroll be elected as Chairman of the Transport, Environment and Communities Select Committee for the ensuing year.

RESOLVED

That Mrs Jean Teesdale be appointed as Vice-Chairman of the Transport, Environment and Communities Select Committee for the ensuing year.

Apologies were received from Mr Tim Butcher and Mr Brian Roberts. Members noted that Mr Brian Roberts and Mrs Angela Macpherson had been recently appointed to the Committee.

To disclose any personal or disclosable pecuniary interests.

There were none.

Of the meeting held on 19^th April 2016, to be confirmed as a correct record.

The minutes of the meeting held on 19th April 2016 were confirmed as a correct record.

This is an opportunity for members of the public to put a question or raise an issue of concern, related to Environment, Transport and Locality Services.   Where possible, the relevant organisation to which the question/issue is directed will be present to give a verbal response.  Members of the public will be invited to speak for up to four minutes on their issue.  A maximum of 30 minutes is set aside for the Public Questions slot in total (including responses and any Committee discussion). This may be extended with the Chairman’s discretion. 

For full guidance on Public Questions, including how to register a request to speak during this slot, please follow this link:

http://www.buckscc.gov.uk/about-your-council/scrutiny/getting-involved/

There were none.

For the Chairman of the Committee to provide an update to the Committee on recent scrutiny related activity.

The Chairman thanked members for their work on the Economic Development Inquiry.  The Committee also thanked the Committee and Governance Adviser for her work. Members discussed a number of issues which had arisen during the Inquiry and other related issues which could be investigated further, such as affordable housing.

The Leader of the Council will provide the Committee with an update on HS2 and the mitigation that has been secured to date.

Contributors:

Mr Martin Tett, Leader of the Council

Mrs Jackie Copcutt, Lead Project Officer, TEE

The Chairman welcomed Mr Martin Tett, Leader of the Council and Mrs Jackie Copcutt, Lead Project Officer to the meeting.  The Leader and Mrs Copcutt presented an update to the Committee on the Council’s opposition to High Speed 2 (HS2) the proposed London to Birmingham rail link, which would cross Buckinghamshire.  During the presentation and in answer to subsequent Members’ questions the following main points were noted:

·         Buckinghamshire County Council (BCC) had been opposed to the HS2 proposal for many years on both economic and environmental grounds and more recently had been focussing on a mitigation strategy. 

·         The House of Commons had been petitioned for mitigation and the team was now preparing a further petition to the House of Lords.  BCC had worked closely with district councils and other organisations, such as the Chilterns Conservation Board and the National Trust, during the petitioning process.

·         The negotiations with HS2 were successful, securing over £60million worth of mitigation measures. Some aspects were not wholly successful, for example, the Chiltern tunnel was not the full length requested in order to offer more protection to Wendover, but there was a further opportunity to secure further concessions through the House of Lords.

·         Communities along the line had attended MPs site visits and it was important that the public continued to voice their concerns.

·         Concerns about traffic congestion during construction were widespread and as part of the mitigation package, it was agreed that 71 road junctions would be assessed and if HS2 construction traffic would impact adversely on safety or capacity, then HS2 would fund any mitigation measures.

·         There were also concerns about the intersection of HS2 and East/West rail in North Bucks, as there appeared to be a lack of co-ordination between the two projects.

·         Mr Tett was asked if the mitigation monies were sufficient and in particular, the £1.4million for the Iver relief road.  In response he commented that there would never be enough money.  In Iver, the team believed the funding was sufficient to carry out the required traffic modelling, but the challenge had been engaging a consultant to deliver the work, who was not already contracted to HS2. 

·         It was acknowledged that £1.4million was insufficient to construct a relief road for Iver, but the situation there was already very complex before HS2, due to its proximity to Heathrow and the M40/M4 corridor. Therefore HS2 was only required to make a contribution towards a solution for Iver and options were being considered carefully.

·         Mr Tett reported that he was campaigning for local employment opportunities.  The petition to the House of Lords was calling for a commitment to use local workers and the local supply chain and an apprenticeships offer for Buckinghamshire.

·         Environmental impact remained a key concern, although an extended Chilterns Tunnel had been agreed to Little Missenden and £3million had been secured for the Colne Valley.

·         Cabinet would be making a decision as to whether to apply for Qualifying Authority status in July. 

·         The Leader thanked partners in the district  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

An overview of the issue of Modern Slavery, the Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner’s Strategic Plan and the Council’s statutory responsibilities in this area.

Contributors:

Mr Martin Phillips, Cabinet Member for Community Engagement and Public Health

Mrs Martha Edwards, Community Safety Co-ordinator, BCC

Ms Victoria Butler, Intelligence Development Officer – Modern Slavery, Thames Valley Police

The Chairman welcomed Mr Martin Phillips, Cabinet Member for Community Engagement and Public Health, Mrs Martha Edwards, Community Safety Co-ordinator and Ms Victoria Butler, Intelligence Development Officer- Modern Slavery, Thames Valley Police to the meeting.  Mrs Edwards gave Members an overview of the issue of Modern Slavery and BCC’s duties in this area.

During the presentation and in answer to subsequent questions from Members, the following main points were noted:

·         Modern slavery was a hidden crime. In 2013, there were an estimated 10-13,000 cases in the UK.

·         The 2015 Modern Slavery Act introduced an Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner and placed a duty on local authorities to inform the Secretary of State of any possible victims of modern slavery.

·         The modern slavery issue linked with BCC’s commitment to protect the vulnerable, as set out in the Strategic Plan and with Safeguarding and the Health and Wellbeing Strategy. It was also a priority in the Safer Bucks Plan (the Community Safety Agreement for Buckinghamshire.)

·         During 2015, a Joint Protocol was developed between the Safer and Stronger Bucks Partnership Board (SSBPB), the Health and Wellbeing Board, Safeguarding Boards, the Adult and Children JET panels and the Corporate Parenting Panel.  This set out how the boards would work together and defined governance arrangements for crossover issues, such as modern slavery. It was agreed that SSBPB would take responsibility for strategic oversight of modern slavery in Buckinghamshire.  It was agreed that a copy of the joint protocol would be shared with the Committee.

Action: Community Safety Co-ordinator

·         The SSBPB had commissioned research to identify the potential number of victims in Bucks, consider what was known about offenders, victims and places, and consider multi-agency responses to the subject.

·         This would help to inform a Delivery Plan which was currently being drafted and would be presented to the SSBPB in October 2016.

·         There was a need to raise public awareness and to train frontline staff to identify possible signs of modern slavery, in order to help identify victims.  Sometimes individuals did not view themselves as victims.  A Member suggested briefing County Councillors and attending Local Area Forum meetings to highlight the issue.

·         A Member asked how the Police could protect victims if they decided to support the prosecution process.  Ms Butler explained that the National Referral Mechanism (NRM) was a way of identifying victims and removing them from the situation. It was entirely focussed on protecting and supporting victims by offering safe accommodation, counselling, access to education and benefits and advice on immigration if relevant.  Only then would the Police commence an investigation. In a recent case in Bedfordshire, 28 men were removed from a site and 15 supported the prosecution.

·         The Thames Valley Police and Crime Commissioner had commissioned two pilot services to support victims of Modern Slavery in Reading and Oxford.

·         Members expressed concerns that victims could suffer more if modern slavery was investigated in a piecemeal way, rather than tackling the root cause strategically at a higher level.  Mrs Edwards agreed that some forms of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9.

The Committee will receive an update on the progress of the Supported Transport Programme.  This Programme incorporates a number of the recommendations arising from the Committee’s 2014 Public Transport Inquiry, including the establishment of an Integrated Transport Unit and the development of a new model of service delivery for the longer term.

Contributors:

Mr Mark Shaw, Cabinet Member for Transportation

Mr Basil Jackson, Interim Director of Transport, BCC

Mr Andrew Bluck, Head of Client and Public Transport, BCC

The Chairman welcomed Mr Mark Shaw, Cabinet Member for Transportation, Mr Basil Jackson, Interim Director of Transport and Mr Andrew Bluck, Head of Client and Public Transport to the meeting.  Members received an update on various aspects of the Supported Transport Programme. During the presentation and in answer to subsequent Members’ questions the following main points were noted:

·         Home to School Transport – In urban areas it was often cheaper for students to catch a local bus service than to use BCC provided buses and this also gave more freedom to students to use their bus passes at the weekends or if staying late at school for clubs. Members felt this should be encouraged as it could help to reduce the home to school transport budget.  It was difficult to strike a balance between expectations, demand and the type of service that could be provided for home to school transport, given BCC’s budget pressures.

·         Community Engagement projects – Members expressed concerns that with a diminished budget it would be impossible to deliver on all the requests that a community might make.  In Waddesdon, a community bus was being trialled but there were concerns about sustainability in the long term.  BCC was working with Community Impact Bucks to support business modelling and toolkits for a wide range of community transport options.   There was a need to encourage people to do more themselves, using volunteers to drive buses or car sharing in rural area.

·         Local Growth Plans – Members were keen to ensure that any new service delivery model would take into account local growth plans, particularly in Aylesbury Vale.  Bus operators needed to recognise growth as a commercial opportunity. Also there was a feeling that transport providers were not good at identifying existing potential demand.

·         Expectations vs Reality – it was noted that in surveys, residents may request a bus service and indicate they would use it frequently but then in practice rarely use it, which led to the service being stopped.  Also sometimes individuals willingly volunteered to support a project but then did not honour the commitment, which undermined successful delivery. 

·         Safeguarding – Members asked for assurances that robust safeguarding mechanisms were in place for all drivers, now that client transport was back in-house.  In response, Mr Bluck explained that procedures had been strengthened during 2015 and that an audit undertaken at the end of 2015 had led to the introduction of further improvements. There had been some spot purchasing of transport in Adult Social Care which had led to concerns, but now everything operated under the Client Transport regime.  Enhanced training which included safeguarding had also been adopted.

The Chairman thanked the Cabinet Member, Mr Jackson and Mr Bluck for attending the meeting and asked that the Committee continued to be updated on the progress of the Supported Transport programme.

Members will receive a 12 month update to monitor progress towards the Committee Inquiry recommendations.

Contributors:

Mr Warren Whyte, Cabinet Member for Planning and Environment

Mr John Rippon, Head of Growth and Strategy Development, BCC

Mr Andrew MacDougall, Senior Infrastructure Co-ordinator, BCC

Mr Niall Cater, Developer Contributions Co-ordinator

The Chairman welcomed Mr John Rippon, Head of Growth and Strategy Development, Mr Andrew MacDougall, Senior Infrastructure Co-ordinator and Mr Niall Cater, Developer Contributions Co-ordinator to the meeting.  The Committee received a 12 month update report on the progress of implementing the recommendations agreed by Cabinet in May 2015, as a result of the Committee’s Inquiry into S106.

It was agreed that the update under Recommendation 3 would be revised slightly to read ‘In addition the Senior Infrastructure Co-ordinator will discuss major developments with both local members and Cabinet Members…’, as it was important that the knowledge of local Members could be shared with the Cabinet Members. 

It was also noted that there would be a consistent approach encompassing the development of both the S106 programme and Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) bids on an annual basis.  Members welcomed the appointment of Mr Andrew MacDougall to the key post of Senior Infrastructure Co-ordinator, which would provide oversight for the development and delivery of schemes.

The Chairman thanked Mr Rippon, Mr MacDougall and Mr Cater for attending the meeting.  The Committee discussed the progress that had been made and agreed that recommendations had been met.  It was agreed that the Committee and Governance Adviser would update the recommendations template to reflect this and circulate it to Members.

ACTION: Committee and Governance Adviser

Members are asked to note the Work Programme.

The Committee noted the future work programme.

The next meeting will be held on Tuesday 12^th July 2016 at 10am in Mezzanine Room 2, County Hall, Aylesbury.  There will be a pre-meeting for Committee Members only at 9.30am.

The next meeting will be held on Tuesday 12^th July 2016 at 10am in Mezzanine Room 2, County Hall, Aylesbury. There will be a pre-meeting for Committee Members only at 9.30am.