Meeting documents

Venue: Council Chamber

Contact: Iram Malik 

Items
No. Item

78.

APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

To receive apologies for absence.

Minutes:

Apologies for absence were received from Honorary Aldermen E H Collins, D Cox, M Oram and Mrs K Peatey MBE. Councillors: C Etholen, M Hanif, Mrs A Jones, G Peart and Mrs W Mallen.

79.

MINUTES

To approve as a correct record the minutes of the meetings of Council held on 14 December 2015.

Supporting documents:

Minutes:

RESOLVED: That the minutes of the meeting of the Council held on 14 December 2015, be approved as a true record and signed by the Chairman.

 

80.

DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

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.

 

Minutes:

There were no declarations of interest.

81.

CHAIRMAN'S ANNOUNCEMENTS

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

Minutes:

The Chairman reported upon some of the activities that he and the Vice-Chairman had attended since the last meeting of the Council, these included:

 

i)             Ribbon Cutting Event held at Wycombe Sports Centre on 5 January 2016 

 

ii)            High Wycombe Guarantors Event  held on 6 January 2016.

 

iii)           Armed Forces Returning Personnel Reception held on 27 January 2016.

 

iv)           Sea Cadets Awards held on 29 January 2016

 

v)            WDC’S Mayor’s Civic Service held on 31 January 2016

 

vi)           Civic Dinner to mark 30 Year Renewal of Freedom of the Town to RAF HW held on 4 February 2016.

 

vii)         Chinese New Year Celebration

 

viii)        Marlow Town Mayor’s Charity dinner held on 21 February 2016

 

ix)           Deputy Commissioner for Pakistan Celebration of his appointment held on 23 February 2016.

 

He also commented on the forthcoming events that he would be attending.

 

Wycombe Leisure Centre

 

The Chairman reported that, on 5 January 2016, he and colleagues had been one of the first people through the doors of the new Wycombe Leisure Centre and had enjoyed some of the activities on offer. He commented that we should all feel proud as the facility marked a great achievement for this Council. He also made mention of the increased footfall and the positive feedback from the public.

 

He reminded Members that, on 2 March 2016, his Royal Highness the Duke of Kent would return to officially open the Wycombe Leisure Centre, 38 years after he opened the previous Wycombe Sports Centre. He will be greeted by the five-time Olympic gold medallist, Wycombe district resident, and Deputy Lieutenant of Buckinghamshire, Sir Steve Redgrave.

 

 

 

82.

QUESTIONS FROM MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC

Written questions may be asked of the leader or any Cabinet Member if submitted to the Head of Democratic, Legal and Policy Services no later than   12 noon on Thursday 18 February 2016. Questions will be submitted in the order in which they were 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.

Supporting documents:

Minutes:

(a) Question from Dr L Derrrick to the Cabinet Member for Planning

"Last July my 3 year old granddaughter had an accident on a slide in a playground on Red Kite Way in Disraeli.  The playground was provided by Miller Homes under a S.106 agreement with WDC.

 

Under the agreement, WDC should have inspected the playground before it was opened to ensure it was safe.  WDC didn’t.

 

Moreover, Miller Homes was allowed to undertake road building alongside the playground and store hazardous material by the playground. When the accident took place the playground was formally classified as an active construction site. 

 

An independent inspection found the slide had a moderate risk of causing serious injury to children. 

 

Why did WDC not inspect the playground?

 

Why did WDC allow Miller Homes to undertake construction work by the playground? 

 

Why did WDC allow Miller Homes to put children at risk?"

 

Response from Councillor D Johncock (Cabinet Member for Planning)

 

"Thank you Doctor Derrick for your question, actually three questions. I will do my best to answer them all in the time I’m allowed.

 

IN RESPONSE TO THE FIRST QUESTION ‘WHY DID THE COUNCIL NOT INSPECT THE PLAYGROUND?’

 

I have reviewed the Planning enforcement file and it is clear that the Officers had spent many hours responding to complaints, Freedom of Information requests and attending public meetings outside of office hours to answer questions in relation to the Play Area on the new estate on Garratts Way.

 

This Play Area first came to the attention of the Planning Enforcement Team last Summer after they received a report that it had not been constructed in accordance with the approved plans and was not safe.  This followed an accident involving your Grand-daughter who had been playing on the slide. It is my understanding that, thankfully, she only received bruising as a result of this incident and that, since then, there had been no further injury accidents.

 

Anyway, following that report, Officers promptly visited the site and established that the play area and equipment within it had been laid out in accordance with the approved plans.

However, a safety report relating to the play equipment had not been provided to the Council as required by the Section 106 Agreement. Following a request by Officers, the developer commissioned a safety report which confirmed that the play equipment was safe and met the required standards. The report did however make some minor recommendation as to how some of the equipment could be improved to overcome some small risks that had been identified. These works have now been carried out and a new safety report has been provided confirming the moderate risk previously identified had been overcome.

The Council did not inspect the playground before this because there was nothing to indicate that the development was a high risk in relation to not complying with the permission. The Council has to ensure that its resources are targeted effectively.

Moving onto the next question:

‘WHY DID WDC ALLOW  ...  view the full minutes text for item 82.

FIRE DRILL

The meeting was adjourned at 18.55 whilst the Council Chamber was evacuated due to the fire alarm sounding. Upon confirmation that it was safe to enter the building, the meeting reconvened at 19.00.

83.

QUESTIONS FROM MEMBERS

Questions to the Leader or any Cabinet members must be submitted by 12 noon on Thursday 18 February 2016. Questions shall be taken first from the Group Leaders of the political parties who shall be entitled to ask one initial Leader’s question each, including the right to adopt another Member’s question from his/her Group, of which written notice shall have been given to the Head of Democratic, Legal and Policy Services prior to the meeting.

 

The order of questions shall then permit the first question from each other Councillor to be asked before any subsequent questions from the same Councillor. One question will be taken in turn from each Councillor and there shall be no consecutive questions from the same Councillor unless there are no other questions to be asked.

 

Every Member asking an oral question is permitted to ask one supplementary question without notice provided that it not substantially the same as a question that was put to a Council meeting during the past six months.

 

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. 

 

 

Supporting documents:

Minutes:

 

(a)       Question from Councillor R Raja to the Leader of the Council

 

"When Cllr Wood became Leader last May she made "finding homes for the young" one of her top priorities.  She had now dropped that priority in the new corporate plan.  Could she tell us what targets she set for this priority and how far she had been successful in achieving her modest targets? Could she also tell us why "finding homes for the young" is no longer a priority?"

 

Response given by Councillor Ms K Wood (Leader of the Council)

 

"Thank you for your question Cllr Raja. I would just like to point out that my priorities when elected last year were Housing and Youth, not just finding homes for the young. However I am pleased you have given me the opportunity to highlight some of our plans for the next four years which have just been published in our Corporate Plan.

 

The Plan focusses on Place, People and Pounds.

 

Within our people priority, we list our priorities for engaging with younger people to help meet their needs and aspirations locally. These include increasing access to facilities and spaces for young people, which encompasses all kinds of facilities. Also within that priority we state we would be working on identifying opportunities and developing options for the Council to become more active in enabling the provision of homes which would of course include endeavouring to provide homes for young people.

 

I think you would therefore see Cllr Raja that it is very clear that we are prioritising housing in the district for all our residents including the young, via our Corporate Plan, the Local Plan, the Homeless Strategy and the day to day work of the officers in the housing service.

 

It is not something that could happen overnight, but we are putting all the plans in place to enable us to meet our priorities.

 

In addition, whilst we have been doing all this work, during the last year we have also assisted 97 households under the age of 30 between into permanent housing and that included 55 aged under 25. Equally we have prevented 94 households in which the main applicant was under the age of 30 from becoming homeless in the same period. So I disagree that finding homes for the young is no longer a priority."

 

There was no supplementary question.

 

(b)      Question from Councillor M Knight to the Leader of the Council

 

"Could the Leader outline the ways that Wycombe District Council works effectively with Bucks County Council and give examples of recent achievements as a result of collaboration, shared objectives and joint working?"

 

Response given by Councillor Ms K Wood (Leader of the Council)

 

"Thank you Cllr Knight for your question. We work very closely with a whole range of partners, including Buckinghamshire County Council, where we have mutual interest and benefit to help deliver the Council’s priorities, which are set out in our Corporate Plan. Just by way of example, the County  ...  view the full minutes text for item 83.

84.

PETITIONS

(i)            Council to receive any petition from a member of the public who lives, works or studies within the district or from a Councillor on his/her behalf as notified by the deadline of 5pm on Thursday 18 February 2016.  

 

(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 the Council will debate the matter for a maximum of 15 minutes and decide how to respond to the petition)

 

 

Minutes:

No petitions were received.

85.

CABINET

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

 

Cabinet                      8 February 2016                  

Supporting documents:

Minutes:

RESOLVED: That the minutes of the meeting of the Cabinet held on 8 February 2016 be received, and the recommendations as set out at minute 60 be approved and adopted. The Leader of the Council presented the minutes of the Cabinet Meeting of 8 February 2016 with the exclusion of Minute 63 (Revenue Budget and Council Tax Setting 2016/17) which would be recommended to Council separately as part of the Council Tax Setting agenda item (item 9).

 

 

 

86.

COUNCIL TAX SETTING 2016/17 AND PRESENTATION FROM LEADER OF THE COUNCIL

The minutes of the Cabinet meeting held on 8 February 2016 recommend revenue estimates and the district and parish elements of Council tax levels for 2016/17.

 

Full Council is required to consider the Revenue Estimates and the district and parish elements of Council tax levels for 2016/17 and then to set out the full Council tax.

 

Details relating to the precept for 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.

Supporting documents:

Minutes:

 

 

The meeting then specifically turned to the recommendation outlined in minute number 63 of the Cabinet Minutes of 8 February 2016 (Revenue Budget & Council Tax Setting 2016/17) along with the supplement issued to the 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 the Council Tax.  An addendum to pages 9 and 12 of the supplement was tabled at the meeting.

 

The Leader of the Council in introducing the Cabinet Member for Finance to make his Budget presentation, referred to the challenging times we were living in. She commented that the focusfrom Government was changing from central support to local taxation and this would result in the Council losing its grants at a faster rate than previously anticipated. She explained that the Council would have gaps in its funding in the future, and we therefore had to consider not just the current year but future years when setting the budget.

 

She expressed her thanks to the Council’s Improvement and Review Commission’s Budget Task and Finish Group for their rigorous examination of the budget and the professional manner in which they conducted their task. The Leader then thanked the Chief Finance Officer and Chief Executive along with the Senior Management team and the many other officers involved in the budget preparation.

 

She concluded by saying that Councils were not allowed to predict a deficit and the need to approve a balanced budget was paramount. She emphasised that the work that had gone into producing the budget, especially with the changing information from Government, was time consuming and challenging and therefore she thanked everyone involved.

 

The Cabinet Member for Finance rose to give his budget speech starting with some

background to this year’s budget. He started by mentioning that the budget process

had been challenging, and that over the last five years the Council had kept Council Tax at  the same level. He then emphasised that he was pleased to be able to present a balanced budget to Council for 2016/17.

 

He said as with last year, the Council continued to work in extremely challenging times especially with the challenges detailed in the final version of the four year financial settlement. He informed Members that this included the reduction to zero of the Revenue Support Grant by 2018/19, and over a 50% decrease in New Homes Bonus funding. The Council would receive significantly less funding than had been originally projected, approximately 2.6m less. It was noted that a key reason for the reduction in funding was the assumption that Councils with lower quartile council tax, including Wycombe District Council would increase their share of tax by a maximum of £5 on Band D properties for 2016/17. The four year settlement could be revisited should the condition of the national finances significantly deteriorate. He commented that the government had assumed in its financial calculations that the council tax  ...  view the full minutes text for item 86.

87.

STANDARDS COMMITTEE

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

 

Standards Committee                     5 January 2016

Supporting documents:

Minutes:

RESOLVED: That the minutes of the meeting of the Standards Committee held on 5 January 2016 be received.

 

88.

IMPROVEMENT & REVIEW COMMISSION

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

 

Improvement & Review Commission                   13 January 2016

 

 

Supporting documents:

Minutes:

RESOLVED: That the minutes of the meeting of the Improvement & Review Commission held on 13 January 2016 be received.

 

89.

AUDIT COMMITTEE

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

 

Audit Committee                  14 January 2016

Supporting documents:

Minutes:

RESOLVED: That the minutes of the meeting of the Audit Committee held on 14 January 2016 be received, and the recommendations as set out at minute 45 be approved and adopted.

 

90.

HIGH WYCOMBE TOWN COMMITTEE

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

 

High Wycombe Town Committee             19 January 2016

Supporting documents:

Minutes:

RESOLVED: That the minutes of the meeting of the High Wycombe Town Committee held on 19 January 2016 be received.

 

 

91.

SPECIAL PERSONNEL & DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE

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

 

Special P & D Committee               17 February 2016 (To follow)

Supporting documents:

Minutes:

RESOLVED: That the minutes of the meeting of the Special Personnel & Development Committee held on 17 February 2016 be received, and the recommendations as set out at minute57 be approved and adopted.

 

92.

PLANNING COMMITTEE

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

 

Planning Committee                       18 November 2015 

Planning Committee                       16 December 2015

Supporting documents:

Minutes:

RESOLVED: That the minutes of the Planning Committee held on 18 November 2015 and 16 December 2015 be received.

 

93.

QUESTIONS UNDER STANDING ORDER 11.2

To receive details of any written questions submitted before the deadline of 12 noon on Friday 19 February 2016.

Minutes:

No questions had been received.

94.

COMMITTEE APPOINTMENTS/CHANGES

 

 

Councillors A Turner and G Hall have given notice to the Chief Executive that they are no longer Independent Group representatives and that they have now joined the Conservative Group.

 

Councillor B Pearce has given notice to the Chief Executive that he is no longer a member of UKIP and is now an independent Councillor.

 

As a result of these changes, the political composition of the Council is as follows:

 

 

Conservative Group

 

 

49

 

81.66%

 

Labour Group

 

 

6

 

10%

 

East Wycombe Independent Party (EWIP)

 

 

3

 

5%

 

 

Independent

 

 

1

 

1.67%

 

Liberal Democrat

 

 

1

 

1.67%

 

Committee Changes

 

As a result of the above changes, the Conservative Group have gained a seat on the Audit Committee, Standards Committee, Personnel & Development Committee, Regulatory & Appeals Committee, and the Improvement & Review Commission.

 

The shared seat allocated to EWIP and the Independent Group on the Audit Committee, Standards Committee and Personnel & Development Committee has been lost.

 

With regard to the Improvement & Review Commission, the seat held by the Independent Group has been lost.

 

With regard to the Regulatory and Appeals Committee, the shared seat held by UKIP and Liberal Democrat has been lost.

 

Councillor G Hall is to continue on the Audit Committee as a Full Member but as a Conservative Group representative.

 

Councillor Ms J Wassell is to stand down as a standing deputy.

 

Councillor Mrs W Mallen is to replace Councillor Ms J Wassell as a Full Member on the Standards Committee.

 

Councillor A Turner to stand down as a standing deputy on the Standards Committee.

 

Councillor G Hall is to continue on the Personnel & Development Committee as a Full Member but as a Conservative Group representative.

 

Councillor M Knight is to stand down as a standing deputy on the Personnel & Development Committee.

 

Councillor A Turner to replace Councillor Ms A Baughan as a Full Member on the Improvement and Review Commission.

 

Councillor G Hall is to stand down as a standing deputy on the Improvement and Review Commission.

 

Councillor M Clarke is to replace Councillor B Pearce on the Regulatory and Appeals Committee.

 

Councillor R Farmer is to stand down as a standing deputy on the Regulatory and Appeals Committee.

 

Councillor A Turner is to replace Councillor Mrs G Jones as a Full Member on the Planning Committee.

 

Councillor C Whitehead is to replace Councillor Mrs G Jones as the Deputy Cabinet Member for Planning.

 

Councillor Ms A Baughan to replace Cllr A Turner as a full Member of EWIP on the Planning Committee. 

 

Councillor Ms J Wassell to replace Councillor Ms A Baughan as a full Member on the Regulatory & Appeals Committee

 

Councillor Ms A Baughan to replace councillor Ms J Wassell as a standing deputy on the Improvement & Review Commission

 

Outside Bodies

 

Councillor Miss S Brown is to replace Councillor Mrs J Teesdale on the Red Kite Board.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Minutes:

RESOLVED: That the following changes to Committee

Membership as set out in the summons be noted in

accordance with S.O.18(9):

 

Since the last meeting Councillors A Turner and G Hall had resigned as Members of the Independent Group. They were now Members of the Conservative Group.

 

Councillor B Pearce had resigned as a Member of UKIP and was now an independent Councillor.

 

As a result of these changes, the political composition of the Council was as follows:

 

 

Conservative Group

 

 

49

 

81.66%

 

Labour Group

 

 

6

 

10%

 

East Wycombe Independent Party (EWIP)

 

 

3

 

5%

 

 

Independent

 

 

1

 

1.67%

 

Liberal Democrat

 

 

1

 

1.67%

 

Committee Changes

 

As a result of the changes to the political composition, the Conservative Group had gained a seat on the Audit Committee, Standards Committee, Personnel & Development Committee, Regulatory & Appeals Committee, and the Improvement & Review Commission.

 

The shared seat allocated to EWIP and the Independent Group on the Audit Committee, Standards Committee and Personnel & Development Committee had been lost.

 

With regard to the Improvement & Review Commission, the seat held by the Independent Group had been lost.

 

With regard to the Regulatory and Appeals Committee, the shared seat held by UKIP and Liberal Democrat had been lost.

 

Councillor G Hall to continue on the Audit Committee as a Full Member but as a Conservative Group representative.

 

Councillor Ms J Wassell to be removed as a standing deputy of the Audit Committee.

 

Councillor Mrs W Mallen to replace Councillor Ms J Wassell as a Full Member on the Standards Committee.

 

Councillor A Turner to be removed as a standing deputy on the Standards Committee.

 

Councillor G Hall to continue on the Personnel & Development Committee as a Full Member but as a Conservative Group representative.

 

Councillor M Knight to be removed as a standing deputy on the Personnel & Development Committee.

 

Councillor A Turner to replace Councillor Ms A Baughan as a Full Member on the Improvement and Review Commission.

 

Councillor G Hall to be removed as a standing deputy on the Improvement and Review Commission.

 

Councillor M Clarke to replace Councillor B Pearce on the Regulatory and Appeals Committee.

 

Councillor R Farmer to be removed as a standing deputy on the Regulatory and Appeals Committee.

 

Councillor A Turner to replace Councillor Mrs G Jones as a Full Member on the Planning Committee.

 

Councillor C Whitehead to replace Councillor Mrs G Jones as the Deputy Cabinet Member for Planning.

 

Councillor Ms A Baughan to replace Cllr A Turner as a full Member of EWIP on the Planning Committee. 

 

Councillor Ms J Wassell to replace Councillor Ms A Baughan as a full Member on the Regulatory & Appeals Committee

 

Councillor Ms A Baughan to replace councillor Ms J Wassell as a standing deputy on the Improvement & Review Commission

 

Outside Bodies

 

Councillor Miss S Brown to replace Councillor Mrs J Teesdale on the Red Kite Board.

 

 

95.

POLLING PLACES

 

Local authorities are responsible for designating polling places and polling districts for Elections. The Returning Officer is able to designate polling stations within polling places.

 

If a change is required to a polling place at short notice (for example, a fire, lack of availability), Full Council authority is required.

 

The Police and Crime Commissioner Elections take place on 5 May 2016 and work has also begun on arrangements for the EU Referendum. Whilst no date has currently been set, due to the fact that this could be called at relatively short notice, work is already on going.

 

Due to these timescales, Council is recommended to grant authority to the Head of Democratic, Legal and Policy Services, in consultation with the Chairman of the Regulatory & Appeals Committee to make any change to a polling place that may be required. It is proposed that this authority be put in place for all elections to enable any issues that occur at short notice can be addressed quickly. This would negate the need for any special meetings to be called at very short notice.

 

The relevant Ward Members would be consulted on any such change in advance and all Members would be informed.

 

This would not affect the statutory requirement to undertake the 4 year review of polling places, which would come through the Council’s decision-making process in the normal way and also be subject to full consultation.

 

 

Minutes:

The report before Members sought delegated authority for the Head of Democratic, Legal and Policy Services, in consultation with the Chairman of the Regulatory & Appeals Committee to revise and bring into effect any changes to polling places that may be required. This would enable the Council to respond quickly to any changes arising at short notice, for example, a fire or lack of availability during the preparations for the forthcoming Police and Crime Commissioner Election and the EU Referendum.

 

Approval was sought for the proposed measures to be implemented for all future elections to ensure any issues that arose could be addressed promptly. This would negate the need for calling special meetings at short notice. Any proposed changes to a polling place would be made in consultation with the appropriate Ward Councillors.

 

The report highlighted that this delegation would not affect the statutory 4 year review of polling places that the Council was required to undertake and that this would continue to be processed through the Council’s decision-making process.

 

 

RESOLVED: That the delegated authority be granted to the Head of Democratic, Legal & Policy Services, in consultation with the Chairman of the Regulatory & Appeals Committee to make any change to a polling place that may be required, for all future elections.

96.

URGENT ACTION TAKEN BY CABINET OR INDIVIDUAL CABINET MEMBER

The following individual decisions have been published since the last ordinary meeting of the Council held on 14 December 2015.

 

(a)  Tree Planting Sponsorship Scheme on Handy Cross Hub

(b)  Community Support Grants 2016/17 (Planning & Sustainability)

(c)  Community Support Grants 2016/17 (Community Services)

(d)  Community Support Grants 2016/17 (Homes and Homelessness)

(e)  Consultation on the draft Princes Risborough Town Plan 

Minutes:

The individual decisions published since the last meeting of the Council held on 14 December 2016 as set out in the summons were noted.