Meeting documents

To receive apologies for absence

Apologies were received from Honorary Aldermen E H Collins, Mrs K M Peatey and Mrs P Priestley; Councillors M Angell, D A Anson MBE, M C Appleyard, S Graham, C B Harriss, A Hussain, Mrs D V C Morgan, Mrs M L Neudecker and C Shafique MBE.

To approve as a correct record the minutes of the meetings of Council held on 15 December 2014.

            RESOLVED: That the minutes of the meeting of the Council held on 15 December 2014 be approved as a true record and signed by the Chairman.

To receive any disclosure of disclosable pecuniary interests by Members relating to items on the agenda.  If any member is uncertain as to whether an interest should be disclosed, he or she is asked if possible to contact the District Solicitor prior to the meeting.

Members are reminded that if they are declaring an interest they should state the nature of that interest whether or not they are required to withdraw from the meeting.

No declarations of interest were received.

To receive such communication as the Chairman of the Council may wish to make.

The Chairman explained that during the past few weeks, in the Chairman’s office the promised refurbishment was to be undertaken.  It was reported that this should be completed by mid-March. 

The Chairman reported that the Guarantors dinner, held in January, had been a superb event with nearly 200 people in attendance, all of which had lived within the town were over 80. 

The Chairman also stated that the High Sherriff had said earlier in the Chairman’s year that he did not really know High Wycombe, so he was taken on a whistle-stop tour around High Wycombe visiting the sports centre and ending up with a visit to Instron on Cressex Business Park. 

The Chairman wished to thank those Members who attended the Civic Service in February and that some delicious cakes and biscuits were provided by Michael Brown of Empower to Cook. 

The Chairman then asked for Members to note some key events due to take place and referred to the Rural Forum which would take place on Thursday 19 March at 5.00pm. The Chairman stated there were three meetings per year, which included a Farm Tour which was scheduled for 18 June. 

The Chairman’s Reception would be held on Thursday 26 March at 7.00pm and the Chairman requested that Members please respond to the invitations that had been sent out. 

Written questions may be asked of the Leader or any Cabinet Member, if submitted by 12 noon on Friday 20 February 2015.  Questions will be submitted in the order in which they are received.

A questioner will have a maximum of 1 minute to ask a question, and the answer shall not exceed 3 minutes. Any questioner may put one supplementary question without notice within a maximum time of 1 minute and the answer may not exceed 2 minutes.  

(a)       Question from Dr L Derrick to the Cabinet Member for Community

"In January, I wrote to Councillor Gaffney about the IRC’s review of urgent healthcare.

I said it was limited, superficial and complacent. The IRC had failed to grasp the problems of the NHS providing integrated urgent healthcare when the healthcare is provided by different private sector companies alongside the public sector.

IRC recommended that the MIIU provide additional services at Wycombe hospital. To illustrate my point, I asked if the IRC had found out what was already required to be provided by the private sector company running the MIIU.

Councillor Gaffney hasn’t answered my question.

He had 20 working days under the Freedom of Information Act. The deadline is 23 February.

Could WDC answer my question?"

Response by Councillor Mrs J A Adey (Cabinet Member for Community).

Councillor Gaffney replied to you on the 21 February before the deadline under the Freedom of Information Act request.  I appreciate you had to submit your question before the deadline expired for a reply to you.

However, you fail to say that your first letter, dated 26 January, was sent to Councillor Gaffney in your position as spokesperson for Health and Social Care for the Wycombe Constituency Labour Party.  Councillor Gaffney replied to your first letter on 6 February.

Supplementary Question

I take it the answer to my question is no - the IRC did not ask what the MIIU was already required to provide.   If it had, it would have discovered that the contract has 8 months to run and the clinical commissioning groups have set-up boards for the re-procurement of the services.

So the IRC’s recommendations for the provision of additional services including joining up the IT systems of the MIIU and the A&E at Stoke Mandeville make no sense at this late stage in the contract.  It would be a poor use of resources if another private sector company was given the contract. This is what happens when services are contracted out; each organisation runs its own systems and the patient suffers.

Won’t it make more sense for WDC to recommend restoring the provision of urgent care at Wycombe hospital to the public sector? And halt further privatisation in the NHS?"

Supplementary Response

Councillor Gaffney, in his letters, refuted your points and explained that he considered your comments were based on a misunderstanding of the purpose and focus of the review undertaken by the Improvement and Review Commission.

The Commission did hear about the services being provided, but it was not specifically focused on the detailed requirements, compliance and penalties of BUC’s contract with the Clinical Commissioning Group, as the purpose was to follow the lead of patients’ experiences shared at the public listening event in accordance with the scope of the review, which was agreed by the Improvement and Review Commission at its meeting on 15 September 2014.

They key point I wish to make is that this review was scoped and designed to primarily look  ...  view the full minutes text for item 74.

Questions to the Leader or any Cabinet Members must be submitted by Friday 20 February 2015.  Questions will be taken first from Leaders of the political parties in order of number of Members.

Other Members will be called upon in the order in which questions have been received.  Every member asking an oral question is permitted to ask one supplementary question without notice provided that it does not introduce any new matter.  The appropriate Member will respond to any questions remaining unanswered at the expiry of 30 minutes in writing.

Any question remaining unanswered after 30 minutes will be answered within 10 working days in writing after the meeting by the appropriate Member and appended to the minutes of the meeting.

(a)       Question from Councillor A Turner to the Cabinet Member for Environment

Since the introduction of the ANPR car park system in Princes Risborough the Town Centre has seen a marked drop in footfall. Retailers and residents alike have raised concerns about the system and the adverse effect it is having on the viability of the Town Centre, so much so that proposed investment plans for the Town of at least two national chains have now been thrown into doubt. All of the hard won success of town centre regeneration achieved over the last six years is now in jeopardy, due to the intransigence of Wycombe District Council.

As the Cabinet member has declined any further discussion on the matter, how does this Council plan to address this serious situation?

Response from Councillor Mrs J E Teesdale (Cabinet Member for Environment)

There is no evidence that the new system has created a drop in footfall.  Indeed, the national average over the whole year was reported to be of 5.2% and the media has also reported recently, large retailers drop in footfall over the current year. Indeed, our own income figures for Horns Lane compare favourably and in line with the outturn for the same periods last year.

It is a very easy target to point blame at parking, but there are greater issues with local economy and tightening of household budgets, which are continuously being reported in the press throughout the current era of austerity that more affects public spending.  Times are tight for everyone, local businesses and councils alike.

WDC has kept parking charges down with no increases now for several years in Princes Risborough, albeit we have incurred substantially higher operating costs year on year. New systems are in place in order to control and reduce overheads further. If this is not possible, then changes may have to be reviewed.

Supplementary Question

Thanks for the response although I doubt residents and retailers will be impressed.  Further to the issue of ANPR in Princes Risborough, there was a recent article in the Daily Mail which claims councils may be operating outside the law as the system was not approved by the Government.  Could you confirm whether car parks in Princes Risborough are not in breach of the law?

Supplementary Response

That is an entirely different question so I will not answer it.  Car parking in Princes Risborough is very reasonable with three hours of parking for £1.  In High Wycombe the cost in Easton Street for an evening’s parking cost £3.  People have commented they like the new system as it gives them flexibility.  We have not put up our parking prices for some time.

(b)      Question from Councillor G Hall to the Leader of the Council

With AVDC committing themselves to thoroughly investigating the benefits or disadvantages of creating a single unitary council for their own area, the remainder of Buckinghamshire is left in a very difficult and potentially untenable position as we clearly could not continue to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 75.

(i)            Council to receive any petition from a member of the public or form a Councillor on behalf of a Member or a member of the public as notified by the deadline of 5pm on Thursday 19 February 2015.

(ii)          Council to consider any petition already received that meets the required number of signatures to qualify for a debate by Full Council.  (The petition organiser will have 5 minutes to present the petition and then Council will debate the matter for a maximum of 15 minutes and decide how to respond to the petition).

A petition was received from Mr R File which read as follows:

"We, the undersigned, wish to object to what appears to be happening to the driveway to the Main Gate to Bassetbury Manor.

Since the WDC decided to sell Bassetbury Manor to Crown House School, the once gracious open driveway has been allowed to deteriorate.  For the last year it has been gated off to secure the building site for the school which has now been open for a term.  During this time the drive has remained enclosed by a 2.5m high site gate and littered with dustbins, skips and building detritus. The principal use, however, has been to park anything up to a dozen cars, whilst the previous car park behind the Main gate has been vacated for use as a playground.

In a Historic Conservation area, the Manor, Bar and Mill constitute a complex with a history going back to a mention in the Doomsday Book.  The open driveway not only suggested the link between the three listed buildings, but provided the best public viewing point for passers-by and should not be enclosed to provide car parking which can be accommodated in its old location. There remains ample ground on the other side of the Manor and school building to provide play areas.

We fail to see any good reason why the site-gating to Bassetbury Lane should not be removed forthwith and the attractive open driveway, verged with grass, restored.

We call on the Council to reinstate the driveway of Bassetbury Manor to its original condition."

The Chairman received the petition and commented that it would be validated against the Council’s Petitions Scheme.  Members would be informed outside of the meeting how the petition would be administered once the validation had take place.

To receive the minutes of and consider any recommendations from the following meeting:

Cabinet                      9 February 2015

The Leader of the Council presented the minutes of the Cabinet Meeting of 9 February 2015 with the exclusion of Minute 79 (Council Tax Setting 2015/16) which would be recommended to Council separately as part of the Council Tax Setting item to be presented by the Cabinet Member for Finance.

            RESOLVED: That the minutes of the meeting of the Cabinet held on 9 February 2015 be received and the recommendations as set out at Minute numbers 75 and 76 be approved and adopted.

The minutes of the Cabinet meeting held on 9 February 2015 recommend revenue estimates and the District and parish elements of Council Tax levels for 2015/16.

Full Council is required to consider the Revenue Estimates and the District and Parish elements of Council Tax levels for 2015/16 and then to set out the full Council Tax.

Details relating to the precept from Bucks County Council, the Thames Valley Police Authority and Bucks and Milton Keynes Fire Authority are awaited. The full report containing these details together with the Full Council Tax details across the District is therefore to follow.

Members are reminded that they must have regard to the Chief Financial Officer`s report when setting the Council Tax.

In accordance with Standing Order 16.5, a recorded vote shall take place on decisions relating to the setting of the Budget and Council Tax.

The meeting then specifically turned to the recommendation outlined in minute number 79 of the Cabinet Minutes of 9 February 2015 (Revenue Budget & Council Tax Setting 2015/16) along with the supplements issued to this item outlining the final Parish / Town, Buckinghamshire County Council, Thames Valley Police Authority and Buckinghamshire & Milton Keynes Fire Authority precepts and confirmation of the Formula Grant figures required in order to set Council Tax.

The Leader of the Council introduced the item and explained that the budget was prudent with expectations and focused on maintaining essential services whilst continuing to drive down costs and to see further efficiencies and utilise the council’s asset base.

The Leader explained that the Council was financially robust and continued to maintain good reserves which meant no borrowing was required. It was kept in mind that it was taxpayers’ money being dealt with and that for the last five years Council Tax had been kept at the same level. 

The Leader also explained that the national economy, as a whole, was looking decidedly better as more positive news was being reported. Job creation levels were at record levels compared with recent years meaning that unemployment continued to fall dramatically.  Recent reports on the UK economy indicated continued growth as the Conservative led Government got the country back on track.  However, because the Government was still running a deficit there would be further challenges for all Local Authorities’ finances for many years to come.  This meant that the budget before the Council took a realistic view of future funding and not just a single year.

The Leader explained that it was not all about cost reduction and efficiency savings; the extensive asset base was used to generate revenue to fill the gap left by reductions in Government funding – examples of such were the new Waitrose at Handy Cross and the purchase of three retail units in Wycombe Town Centre, two of which were full let.

The Leader stated that the budget had been agreed by Cabinet and was recommended for approval by the Council.  He explained that it had also been examined by a Budget Task and Finish Group meaning that it had been through a robust process. 

The Leader thanked all Members who took part on the Budget Task and Finish Group for their professional and challenging part in undertaking their review. The Leader also thanked the Chief Finance Officer and Chief Executive along with the Senior Management team and many other officers involved in the budget preparation.

The Leader believed that the budget before Council was the best budget that could have been reached given the challenges faced.  He reminded Council that, unlike central Government, a deficit was not legally allowed to be run and that balancing the budget was important, although when sometimes the future was uncertain, certain proposals carried significant risks – hence the need for contingencies but he believed that the budget addressed these.  The budget was achieved through a combination of compromise, reality and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 78.

To receive the minutes and consider any recommendations from the following meeting:

Standards Committee                     6 January 2015

            RESOLVED: That the minutes of the meeting of the Standards Committee held on 6 January 2015 be received.

To receive the minutes of and consider any recommendations from the following meeting:

Improvement & Review Commission                   14 January 2015                 

In introducing the item, the Chairman of the Improvement and Review Commission outlined the work carried out in relation to Minute 31, ‘Urgent Health Care Review’.  A detailed report of the review had been circulated to Members in advance of the Council meeting.  The Chairman wished to place on record his gratitude to all the different branches of the NHS who took, and still are, taking a very proactive and positive approach and reaction to criticism from the public. He also wished it to be noted his gratitude for the Head of Democratic, Legal and Policy Services and his team who worked so hard on this project. 

Discussion took place on the recommendations arising from the review and Members were supportive of the proposals.

            RESOLVED: That the minutes of the meeting of the Improvement and Review Commission held on 14 January 2015 be received and the recommendations as set out at minute number 31 be approved and adopted.

To receive the minutes of and consider any recommendations from the following meeting:

Audit Committee                  15 January 2015

            RESOLVED: That the minutes of the meeting of the Audit Committee held on 15 January 2015 be received.

To receive the minutes of and consider any recommendations from the following meeting:

High Wycombe Town Committee                         20 January 2015     

            RESOLVED: That the minutes of the meeting of the High Wycombe Town Committee held on 20 January 2015 be received.

To receive the minutes of and consider any recommendations from the following meetings:

Planning Committee                       29 October 2014

Planning Committee                       19 November 2014

Planning Committee                       17 December 2014

            RESOLVED: That the minutes of the meetings of the Planning Committee held on 29 October 2014, 19 November 2014 and 17 December 2014 be received.

To receive the minutes of and consider any recommendations from the following meeting:

Personnel & Development Committee                19 January 2015

            RESOLVED: That the minutes of the meeting of the Personnel and Development Committee held on 19 January 2015 be received and the recommendation as set out at Minute number 32 be approved and adopted.

To receive the minutes of and consider any recommendations form the following meeting:

Regulatory & Appeals Committee             2 February 2015

            RESOLVED: That the minutes of the meeting of the Regulatory and Appeals Committee held on 2 February 2015 be received and the recommendations as set out at Minute numbers 23 and 24 be approved and adopted.

To consider the following Notice of Motion submitted by the deadline of noon on Friday 13 February 2015.

The following Notice of Motion is submitted by Councillor A Turner and seconded by Councillor G Hall:

"Given the recommendations of the recent Ernst & Young report, commissioned by Bucks Business First, on the potential savings through the creation of a Unitary Authority for Buckinghamshire, I believe that further delay in this matter is no longer justified. The report concludes that potential annual savings in excess of £20M can be achieved by merging the County and four District Councils in to a single Unitary Authority, with varying savings if two or more Unitary Authorities are formed. With Government funding of local government continuing to decline rapidly both County and District Councils are having to make / consider cuts to service provision and future council tax increases in a desperate attempt to balance the books. Under these circumstances it cannot be right to ignore such huge savings that the creation of a Unitary Authority might bring. Therefore, I move that with immediate effect this Council, in conjunction with Bucks County Council and the three other District Councils in Bucks, commissions an independent review into the practicalities, costs and potential savings of forming a Unitary Authority."

The following Notice of Motion was proposed by Councillor A Turner and seconded by Councillor G Hall:

"Given the recommendations of the recent Ernst & Young report, commissioned by Bucks Business First, on the potential savings through the creation of a Unitary Authority for Buckinghamshire, I believe that further delay in this matter is longer justified.  The report concludes that potential annual savings in excess of £20M can be achieved by merging the County and four District Councils in to a single Unitary Authority, with varying savings if two or more Unitary Authorities are formed.  With Government funding of local government continuing to decline rapidly both County and District Councils are having to make / consider cuts to service provision and future council tax increases in a desperate attempt to balance the books.  Under these circumstances it cannot be right to ignore such huge savings that the creation of a Unitary Authority might bring.  Therefore, I move that with immediate effect this Council, in conjunction with Bucks County Council and the three other District Councils in Bucks, commissions an independent review into the practicalities, costs and potential savings of forming a Unitary Authority."

In proposing the motion Councillor Turner believed that the time was right to investigate forming a unitary authority and stated that over the coming years further cuts would be faced.

Councillor G Hall seconded the motion.

During the discussion on the motion, the following points in favour of the motion were raised –

·         That the time had come to move away from County Council format.

·         That the Ernst & Young report had raised various options in relation to unitary authorities.

·         That AVDC had already commissioned a review on the practicalities and that it was believed to be inevitable that they would follow this route.

The following points against the motion were raised –

·         The cost of investigating this route raised concern and that Central Government had stated it would not be in favour of authorities turning unitary as there was no appetite for this issue at present.  There was no government funding available to support any review.

·         Concern was also raised that if WDC joined other authorities to form a unitary, the Council would have to take on other councils’ debts.  It was noted that WDC had no debts currently and therefore this should be resisted.  The level of debt of other Bucks authorities was reported.

·         Central Government were not in favour, as it was believed now was not the right time.  Since 2010, DCLG ministers had said that this issue was a distraction and therefore not a priority. 

The Leader of the Council believed that the report being commissioned by AVDC, whilst initially costing £80,000, would probably end up nearer £300,000 which is funding WDC could ill afford to commit at this time. 

In summing up Councillor Hall believed there was confusion among authorities about who did what.  He stated that he had hoped for a full and frank discussion and that a solution was being proposed as  ...  view the full minutes text for item 86.

To receive details of any written questions submitted before the deadline of 12 noon on Friday 20 February 2015.

The following individual decisions have been published since the last ordinary meeting of the Council held on 15 December 2014.

1)      Allocation of Community Support Grants 2015/16 (Community Services)

2)      Allocation of Community Support Grants 2015/16 (Homes and Homelessness)

3)      Community Support Grants 2015/16 (Planning & Sustainability)

4)      Release of Facilities for Young People Capital Funding for the supply and installation of a new toddler multi unity at Desborough Recreation Ground and upgrade of play area at Rennie Close Downley.

5)      Release of funds not exceeding £50 000 from the Contingency Fund to fund planning and design work on the council owned Reserved Sites.

6)      Community Support Grants 2015/16 Planning & Sustainability – Provision of Dial A Ride Services.

7)      Rent Deposit Scheme and Homeless Prevention Fund

The seven individual decisions published since the last meeting of the Council were listed within the summons.