Meeting documents

Apologies for Absence/Changes in Membership.

Apologies were received from Mr S Bowles and Mrs L Clarke.

To disclose any personal or disclosable pecuniary interests.

There were none.

To agree the minutes of the meetings held on 21^st March and 23^rd May 2017 as a correct and accurate record.

The Minutes of the meetings on the 21^st March and the 23^rd May 2017 were confirmed as accurate records of those meetings and signed by the Chairman.

The Chairman welcomed the new Members onto the Committee, and encouraged Members to tease out the challenges and opportunities for the Council in relation to the Growth Inquiry item.

An opportunity for Members to have a short question and answer session with Cabinet Members for Transport, Environment and Community Engagement around their portfolio area priorities, challenges and opportunities.

Contributors:

Bill Chapple, Cabinet Member for Planning and Environment

Mark Shaw, Deputy Leader & Cabinet Member for Transportation

Noel Brown, Cabinet Member for Community Engagement and Public Health

The Chairman welcomed the, Cabinet Member for Planning and Environment, the Cabinet Member for Transport, and the Cabinet Member for Community Engagement for a short question and answer session with the Committee Members.

More detailed notes of the meeting can be found in appendix one and the full discussion can be found on the webcast.

All Cabinet Members were asked about their vision for growth. They each provided a brief overview of their views around the challenges and opportunities for their portfolio areas.

Questions to the Cabinet Member for Transportation included the following areas:

·         How the Council will maintain and develop existing and new infrastructure. The Cabinet Member gave examples of how s106 developer contributions have been used for growth. Members heard that the Council spend on maintenance of roads was equal to 10 years ago. They also discussed the challenges around the condition of unclassified roads. Members heard that the optimum amount of spend was £30-£35m per ear to keep traffic flowing. Members were advised that the plain and patch was ideally suited to repairs on minor roads.

·         Members raised the issue of the condition of the county’s pavements and asked how these will be maintained as part of our assets. Members heard that £1m was in the budget to patch and plane pavements where appropriate. The Cabinet Member told Members that he was keen to encourage walking and cycling more.

Questions to the Cabinet Member for Planning and Environment included the following areas:

·         The opportunities for generating energy to meet the growing demanding the county and how these can be exploited. Members heard about the option to install batteries to generate energy for the county. The Cabinet Member told Members that he was investigating these options and will come back to committee with more information.

·         Members asked about the energy generated from the Energy from waste Plant.

·         Members heard about the example of the Country parks as an area working commercially - Members heard that run at zero cost to the taxpayer. They cover their own costs through income generation and had over 1millon visitors last year. They were continuing to develop countryside activities at the parks.

The questions and answers directed towards the Cabinet Member for Community Engagement included the following areas:

·         The statutory services of Coroners and Registrars and the likely growth in these services as the county’s population grows. Members asked about how these services can be developed to accommodate growth.

·         The Cabinet Member told members that one of his priorities was to address the fear of crime in Bucks. Members were told that there was a higher perception of crime than the reality of crime within the county.

The Chairman thanked the Cabinet Members for attending.

Buckinghamshire will experience significant housing growth in the forthcoming decades, which will be set out in the District Council Local Plans.  This will have significant impact on the future demand for County Council services.

Each of the County Council’s four Select Committees will be holding themed meetings during July 2017 to investigate whether the County Council is ready for Growth.  The outline scope for this piece of work was agreed by the Transport, Environment and Communities Select Committee on 21st March 2017 and the final scoping document is attached for information.

The Transport, Environment and Communities Committee will be considering the opportunities, risks and impact of growth upon key services within the Business Units. These will include:

·         Strategic Planning and Infrastructure

·         Transport Strategy

·         Highways

·         Growth and Development

·         Energy and Resources

·         Waste Management

·         Planning and Environment

·         Communities.

The Committee will receive a PowerPoint briefing and will then have the opportunity to ask questions.

Contributors:

Martin Tett, Leader of the Council.

Neil Gibson, ED TEE Business Unit

Rachel Wileman, Head of Strategic Planning and Infrastructure

Joan Hancox, Head of Transport Strategy

John Rippon, Head of Growth and Development.

David Sutherland, Head of Planning and Environment

Rachel Toresen-Owuor, Head of Energy and Resources

Gurbaksh Badhan, Head Of Waste Management

Mark Averill, Head of Highways ( Client)

Chistine Urry, Head of Highways ( DM)

David Jones, Head of Community Focus

The Chairman welcomed the Leader of the Council and the Managing Director of the Transport, Environment and Economy (TEE) Business unit, who provided an overview of the challenges and opportunities presented by growth for the Council.

The Committee received a presentation from Heads of Service from within the TEE Business Unit which highlighted the key challenges and opportunities of growth for the different statutory services.

There was an in depth discussion with the Leader and Officers for the Committee to gather evidence to inform them on whether the County Council was ready for growth.

Further details of the discussion can be found in appendix 1 of the minutes and full details on the webcast.

The newly established committee will be having a work programme workshop on the afternoon of the 11^th July. The Committee’s work programme will be populated after the workshop and will be agreed at the Committee’s next meeting on the 12^th September.

Items on the agenda for the 12^th September meeting include:

·         To Agree the Inquiry Report - Is the Council ready for Growth?

·         Economic Development Inquiry – 12 month Progress Update.

·         Modern Slavery Inquiry – Information Gathering Item.

The Chairman explained that the new Committee was due to discuss the current work programme separately after the meeting.

The next meeting will be held at 10:00 am on the 12^th September 2017, in the Mezzanine Room 1, County Hall.

The next meeting was confirmed as 12thSeptember 2017 at 10.00am, Mezzanine Room 1, New County Hall, Aylesbury.