Meeting documents

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 3 October 2016

The minutes of the meeting of held on 3 October 2016 were confirmed and signed by the Chairman.

Presentation by Lou Patten, Chief Officer.

The Committee received a presentation from Louise Patten (Chief Officer of Aylesbury Vale and Chiltern Clinical Commissioning Groups) on the Buckinghamshire Health and Care System Plan.

The presentation set out the aim of the Buckinghamshire Health and Care System Plan which was to ensure that the people of Buckinghamshire have happy and healthier lives, supported by a sustainable health and care system.  The would be achieved by joining up primary care and community based services and rebalancing the health and social care spend by increasing support for living, ageing and staying well, and prevention and early intervention initiatives.  It was noted that care needed to be put in the best place because if nothing was done costs would exceed funding by about £107million over the next four years across the Buckinghamshire health system.

The presentation went onto to set out the key objectives for 2017/18 which included for example: improving prevention and self-care; further developing joint health and care commissioning across NHS and the Council; key providers forming a formal alliance to deliver joined up care; continuing to invest in rehabilitation and community services so fewer people need hospital care; and piloting new ways of joining up health and care closer to home, tailored to the needs of local communities through community hubs.

The Committee were advised on how the Buckinghamshire Primary & Acute Care System (PACS) in 2018 would work, ensuring people with ongoing care needs would receive more coordinated care with more services in the home and community settings. This would be delivered through integrated multi-disciplinary community teams, by linking hospital specialists to community-based care and making greater use of technology to deliver care remotely.  This was illustrated through the use of case study.

In the discussion which followed, the need for more joined up working and information sharing between hospitals in Buckinghamshire and Berkshire and between GPs and hospitals was noted by Members.  Members discussed the role GPs would have in the new PACS and the need for more GPs was recognised as an issue.  With regards to the use of a key worker, the importance of promoting the patient’s independence was stressed.  Furthermore, the necessity of having physiotherapy more readily available in hospitals and in the community at GP surgeries in order to promote patient independence was raised. 

Following a discussion on dementia care and the need for integrated services, it was noted that on Shrove Tuesday (28 February) from 10 am until 1 pm, pancakes and tea/coffee would be on sale in St Teresa’s Parish Centre to raise funds for Admiral Nursing who were Specialist Dementia Nurses.

In response to a question, Louise Patten confirmed that the NHS use a formula to predict how many people were likely to move into the District over the next few years in order to inform the future delivery of services.  She also confirmed that they liaise with the Council’s Planning Policy Department to gain an insight into the District’s infrastructure and future development projects. The Chair requested that the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 25.

To consider the report of the Director of Resources.

The Cabinet on 8 February 2017 would be receiving a report on the Council’s Budget Proposals and Council Tax for 2017/2018 and, in accordance with the Council’s Constitution, the Committee was invited to comment on the proposals.

The Committee’s attention was drawn to the following key points:

·        The proposed budget requirement is £7,782k, which will result in a council tax increase of £5 which is the maximum permitted for the Council by the Government. 

·        The table in 5.4 - as explained in 5.5 - set out the ongoing material reduction in funding to the Council that had been anticipated on the basis of the Council having accepted the Government’s offer of a 4 Year confirmed funding arrangement.  The known funding reductions would continue until 2019/20 and South Bucks District would no longer receive Revenue Support Grant after 2017/18.  It would also from 2018/19 be subject to a tariff or "negative RSG" payment.  This is due to the fact that in the funding system South Bucks was seen as a low needs and high resource authority.

·        The draft budget proposes using reserves as follows:

o   Local Development Document (LDD) reserve - £268k.

o   Economic Development Reserve - £5k.

• The proposed 2017/18 budget does not require any use of the General Reserve.  This is an improvement of £183k on the position reported to Cabinet in December.
• The suggested prudent level of general reserves for 2017/18 is £950k. As there is no planned use of the General Reserve in 2017/18 the prudent level of reserves will be achieved, and also would keep reserves above the £1,250k aimed for within the Medium Term Financial Strategy.
• The Council’s Treasury Management Strategy for 2017/18 which is being recommended to Cabinet following consideration by the Resources PAG, sets out the approach aiming to deliver investment income for 2017/18 of £200k. 

The Committee were also made aware of the key risks and the main issues facing the authority in the medium term, and that budget decisions needed to be mindful of the medium term situation facing the Council.

Members asked a number of questions and sought clarification and explanation of certain issues surrounding the revenue budget and use of reserves. 

The issue of the pension deficit was discussed and clarification was provided on the role of the Brunel Pension Partnership which had been set up as part of a Government policy to aggregate investment funds by allowing authorities to pool their investments into larger pools in order to achieve savings in investment management costs.

A concern was raised regarding the increasing costs of using Bed and Breakfast as a form of temporary accommodation and the impact of this on the medium term strategy.  A view was expressed that there was a need for the Council to take advantage of opportunities to use other forms of temporary accommodation.

Following the discussion, the Committee agreed that the Cabinet be informed it had no comments to make on the 2017/18 budget proposals apart from the comment regarding the increasing costs of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 26.

To consider the report of the Chief Executive.

Members of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee received a report outlining the performance of Council Services against indicators and service objectives during Quarter 2 of 2016-17. 

Members were able to note from the report that of the total 42 PIs, 7 were seen to be off-target (4 of these priority PI), with further detail of these within the two detailed performance tables accompanying the report:

·        Appendix A – Priority indicators Q2 2016-17

·        Appendix B – Quarterly corporate performance indicators Q2 2016-17

The Committee were pleased to note that the amount of long term sickness, whilst still an issue, was decreasing, and noted the continuing issue of temporary accommodation.

RESOLVED that the report be noted.

To consider the report of the Head of Healthy Communities

The Committee were invited to comment on the draft joint Private Sector Housing Strategy and associated policies which had been amended following consultation.

On 30 June 2016, Members considered a report on the draft joint Private Sector Housing Strategy and associated policies that had been prepared to replace the current Private Sector Renewal Strategy which was now out of date.  The strategy reflected changes to national policy and reflected comments and ideas discussed at the member workshop held on 3 February 2016. Amendments were also recommended to the financial assistance policy to provide more flexibility to assist occupants of mobile homes, disabled people requiring adaptations, and help to improve conditions in HMOs. 

Detailed draft joint policies on Houses in Multiple Occupation and Enforcement had also been prepared to provide greater clarity around areas of practice where there was an element of discretion, for example how the Council deals with non-licensable HMOs and Category 2 hazards. Following approval by Cabinet on 4 July 2016, the strategy and supporting documents were subject to a 6 week consultation via the council’s website. Only one response was received to the consultation and a number of minor amendments and additions to the Strategy and Action Plan were suggested. 

The comments suggested making reference to health and social care savings and to related targets in respect of fuel poverty and affordable warmth and removing the reference to AgeUK who were no longer pursuing their campaign for energy efficiency in mobile homes. No comments were received on the Financial Assistance, HMO and Enforcement policies.

The Strategy and Action Plan had been amended to reflect the comments received and were contained in Appendix 1, with the amendments shown in red.

RESOLVED that the subsequent minor amendments to the draft joint Private Sector Housing Strategy and Action Plan be noted and that the Cabinet be informed that the Committee had no further comments to make.

To receive the minutes of the Committees held on:

The minutes of the meetings of the Bucks Health and Adult Social Care Select Committee of the 6 September and 18 October 2016 were noted.

To receive the minutes of the Committees held on:

The minutes of the meetings of the Bucks Children’s Social Care and Learning Select Committee of the 20 September, 29 November and 6 December 2016 were noted.

To consider the report of the Chief Executive.

The Committee received a report which provided a summary of the service plans produced by service areas within the Council.

The service plans provided a summary of achievements from the current year and an overview of what each service aims to deliver for 2017-18.  As well as looking at aims and achievements, services were asked to look at a range of areas including:

·        Shared Services Programme

·        Know your customer and equalities

·        Performance indicators and risks

·        Costs and cost comparison information.

In the discussion which followed, the Committee requested that a KPI on fly-tipping for both authorities be added.  In response to a question, it was noted that whilst internal and external audit comes under the Resources Portfolio, as the managing of money and relationships was an executive function, both internal and external audit reported directly to the Audit Committees in both authorities.

The importance of succession planning in the workforce, including the use of apprenticeships, was noted. The Committee requested that the Personnel Committee consider the issue of succession planning and the use of apprenticeships at a future meeting.

RESOLVED that the report be noted.

An opportunity for Members to raise questions about items:

• during the meeting
• written questions submitted previously
• raised by information items

None.

To note the work programme timetable.

The work programme was noted by the Committee.  The Chairman requested that Gerrards Cross Car Park be added to the work programme once it had been discussed at the Resources PAG and the plans and timescales firmed up. The issue regarding the lack of off-street parking for Beaconsfield was also raised as an item for future discussion. It was noted that this could be covered as part of the Strategic Asset Review report which was due to be considered at the next meeting.

Application submitted to Chiltern District Council for gypsy and travellers site.

The Chair requested more information as to how the application relates to the emerging local plan as regards provision of gypsy and traveller sites and whether South Bucks District Council was a consultee on this application.  It was agreed that Planning Officers would respond to the member query directly. 

It was noted that the Local Development Plan was due to be considered at a future meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee as part of the consultation process. 

The Committee received a report, following a request by the Committee in October 2016, on a number of issues related to the South Buckinghamshire Golf Club and the Farnham Park Playing Fields.

The Committee discussed the following areas covered in the report:

·          Recent financial history for both golf course and playing fields and any trends

·          Overspend on Salaries

·          Depreciation figure above budget

·          Academy redevelopment and savings to be made

·          Farnham Park Playing Field leases

·          Opportunities for the playing fields

·          Other income generation opportunities

The Committee stressed the need to improve the financial viability of the Farnham Park operations, and in particular by investigating the opportunities for the playing fields to reduce their net cost as part of the Council’s Open Spaces strategy.  This was important given the significant cost of the playing fields operation, and that these were an under-utilised asset with buildings at the end of their useful lives.

RESOLVED that the report be noted.