Meeting documents

To approve the minutes of the Healthy Communities PAG held on 28 February 2019.

The minutes of the Healthy Communities PAG held on 28 February 2019 were approved.

There were no declarations of interest.

The PAG received a written update from Councillor D Pepler on the meeting of the Buckinghamshire Healthcare Trust held on 27 March 2019. Councillor Pepler advised that there had been a further meeting held since, which he had been unable to attend.

There had also been a meeting of the Buckinghamshire Health and Adult Social Care Select Committee held on 19 March 2019, which Councillor W Matthews had provided a written update on; this update was not attached to the agenda but could be viewed online here.

The PAG received an update report from the Head of Healthy Communities, which detailed the current work ongoing within the service area. The following points were highlighted to the PAG:

• There had been in a slight upturn in nightly booked B&B temporary accommodation, although there remained a substantial decrease over the course of the year.  Were the increase to continue, the Council could offer new units at Bath Road to those households in nightly booked accommodation. The Bath Road development was planned for completion at the end of June 2019, following contractor delays. The final budget closedown figures showed a £32k saving against budget.
• The introduction of the Homelessness Reduction Act in April 2018 had, to date little impact on homelessness applications which remained at a similar level to the previous year. The time spent waiting for properties via the Bucks Home Choice Scheme ranged from 3 months to 31 months. The supply of properties from developments at Denham Film Studios and Mill Lane, Taplow should help get people in to tenancies.
• Officer meetings have been held and a draft action plan created in relation to air quality in Iver. The main focus was to reduce HGV numbers travelling through Iver and to remove parked cars from the High Street. A range of solutions were being explored such as introducing parking restrictions and 20 mph speed limits through the town centre. A ‘lot 2 – sensor trial’ air quality grant of £130,000 had been awarded to the Council, in a joint application with Slough, Heathrow and Ricardo E&E. The plan was to monitor air pollution on transects from the perimeter of the airport out toward the villages.
• In Environmental Health, the Freemantle Trust had been fined £33k with costs of £8,900 and a victim surcharge of £125 for poor hygiene standards at Lent Rise House. Chilli and Grill mobile, Beaconsfield had been prohibited from trading due to poor food hygiene standards. It was understood that the owner had since taken over another food premises which would be monitored.
• Round Coppice Farm was currently closed following the fire and a police investigation was ongoing.
• In Community Safety, burglary dwelling had increased by 4.4% and the community safety team were working closely with the Thames Valley Police Neighbourhood team offering crime reduction advice through various outlets. Operation Gauntlet had launched in partnership with TVP to tackle phone scams and frauds.
• Community and Leisure activities were outlined in the report and included the GLL community engagement programme, Beaconsfield community bus, Holtspur Youth Club, dementia friendly golf and Chairman’s Volunteer Awards. GLL held their sports awards for which the Chairman had to send apologies, it would be explored as to which other Members had then been invited in the Chairman’s place as the immediate past Chairman reported that she had not received an invite. Post meeting note: Cllrs P Hogan (Portfolio Holder) and T Egleton (Vice-Chairman) had been invited, although were not able to attend and Cllr W Mathews (immediate Past  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

The PAG received a report which recommended that the Council supported and signed the Motor Neurone Disease (MND) Charter which recognised and respected the rights of people with MND. This would result in the Council ensuring policies and procedures enabled people with MND to receive a rapid response to their needs and good quality care and support.

The PAG recognised that the Council was already actively finding ways to support those people with Motor Neurone Disease as well as other disabilities. Members agreed that no one should be disadvantaged because of a disability and supported the signing of the MND Charter.

The PAG received a report which asked Members to agree the process to award funding for the community project grants for the period 2019/20 and to agree the Service Level Agreement funding for a three year period, subject to a signed service level agreement to key organisations delivering services to vulnerable persons in South Bucks.

The voluntary and community sector provided support and services to meet a wide range of needs that would not otherwise be provided by statutory services. The Council currently provided funding to the voluntary sector through; the Chairman’s Fund, the award of Community Development grants, and the allocation of the Community Lottery Fund. The Council also awarded funding to key organisations delivering services for vulnerable persons in South Bucks via a service level agreement (SLA).

It was explained to the PAG that the SLAs as set out in recommendation 1 had been recommended for a three year period to ensure that these organisations did not lose out on funding through the unitary transition, although the SLAs could be brought to an end at any point should the Council choose to do so. It was noted that the CAB also received external funding and all organisations were recognised as valuable to residents.

Recommendation 2 which related to the continued funding of £8,000 to Buckinghamshire County Council to provide the voluntary sector infrastructure support contract within the South Bucks District and the wider Buckinghamshire area would only be for the period 2019/20 as there would be no commitment required for 2020/21 as this would fall within the unitary budget.

The PAG was advised that for the past two years, the Council received match funding from Heart of Bucks for its Community Grant awards, however the feedback received was that this had not met the Council’s expectations. It had therefore been suggested that the Community Development Grant, Lottery Community Central Pot and funds from the Chairman’s Fund be combined to establish the South Bucks Community Grants which would be administered by the Council.

Following a detailed discussion, where alternative options, including an amount allocated per Member to award amounts to organisations in their wards was discussed; the PAG agreed that the most appropriate way forward would be to retain £5,000 from the Chairman’s Fund for small awards to be distributed by the Chairman and amalgamate the remaining funds into a combined Community Grants pot. This pot would be allocated following an application process in which each Ward Member would be consulted prior to any decision by the Healthy Communities PAG to recommend the award of funding.

There was discussion that the award of funding should be via a ward budget process but concern was raised that similar schemes saw money left over in the budget as Ward Members had not awarded their full allocation. It was acknowledged that there was more than one member for the majority of wards and hoped that this meant with active encouragement, applications would be received and an award granted.

The PAG agreed that  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

The PAG received a report detailing a proposal to change the Joint Leisure Advisory Board name to the Active Life Advisory Board and amend the group’s Terms of Reference accordingly. This was recommended to reflect the current role of the LAB and would ensure that the Council was in the best position to contribute effectively to the public health agenda.