Meeting documents

Venue: Council Chamber

Contact: Iram Malik 

Items
No. Item

83.

MINUTE'S SILENCE

Minutes:

A 1 minute silence was observed to pay respects to the victims of the Westminster terror attack.

84.

APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

To receive apologies for absence.

Minutes:

Apologies for absence were received from Honorary Aldermen: M Oram, Mrs K M Peatey MBE and Mrs P Priestley. Councillors:  M Asif, S Broadbent, M Harris, G Peart and S Saddique. 

85.

MINUTES

To approve as a correct record the minutes of the meetings of Council held on 23 February 2017 (attached)

Supporting documents:

Minutes:

RESOLVED: That the minutes of the meeting of the Council held on 23 February 2017 be confirmed as a true record and signed by the Chairman.

86.

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

87.

CHAIRMAN'S ANNOUNCEMENTS

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

Minutes:

 

Prior to making his announcements with regard to his activities since the last meeting of the Council, the Chairman made a brief statement in relation to the terrorist attack in Westminster on 22 March 2017.

 

The Chairman also went on to inform Members that Paul Shackley (Corporate Director) would be leaving the Council in early May to take up a new post as Chief Executive at Rushmoor Borough Council in Hampshire. The Chairman took the opportunity to congratulate him, wish him well in his new post and thank him for all his hard work and service to the Council.

 

The Chairman then went on to report on some of the activities he had undertaken since the last meeting of the Council in February.

 

(a)  The Chairman reported that a tree had been planted at Rye Park in recognition of our district volunteers. The official opening ceremony would take place later in the month.

 

(b)  Members were informed of the very well attended Buckinghamshire & Milton Keynes armed forces Day 2017 Ticket Launch which had taken place at the Aylesbury Waterside Theatre on 17 March.

 

(c)  The Chairman informed Members of the Hughenden Gardens Foundation Stone Ceremony held on 22 March.

88.

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 Monday 27 March 2017. 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:

Question from Mr M Foyle-York to the Leader of the Council

"In the WDC Unitary Authority proposal, mental health was not given adequate coverage.

 

Can this council promise myself and the rest of the public that they will give issues surrounding mental health as much attention as physical health, especially when so many of our services would be up in the air with a switch to a unitary model?"

 

Response from Councillor Ms K Wood (Leader of the Council)

 

"Thank you for your question. 

 

You may have seen that the District submission (and indeed the County submission) said very little about Adult Social Care generally including Mental Health.  We in the District Councils are very much aware of the negative impact that uncertainty can have on vulnerable people.  We want to reassure service users that we will seek to maintain the current delivery until there has been a careful review of the impact of any proposed change on any individual service users. 

 

It is precisely because we recognise the very specific and different needs of those who suffer with mental illness alongside other vulnerable service users that we have not set out our proposals in detail, I can however assure you that if a southern unitary Council was taken forward I will ensure that the needs of users of mental health services both collectively and individually will be given careful consideration as proposals are developed." 

 

There was no supplementary question.

 

 

89.

QUESTIONS FROM MEMBERS

Questions to the Leader or any Cabinet Members must be submitted by 12 noon Monday 27 March 2017. Questions shall be taken first from the Group Leaders of the political parties who shall be entitled to ask an initial Leader`s question, including the right to adopt another Member`s question form 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 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 is 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.

 

“Wycombe District Council seems fond of paying consultants for consultancies and feasibility studies, which range from commissioning the report for a two unitary authority option for Buckinghamshire, (with the WDC share of the cost being £25K), to the consultations about the new cemetery in Hazlemere and now the proposed £100K for a feasibility study about the establishment of a heavy rail line between High Wycombe and Bourne End.

 

Would the Leader like to tell us how much has been spent by WDC on consultations and feasibility studies in the last two years and how many such exercises cost more than £5,000?”

 

Response from Councillor Ms K Wood (Leader of the Council)

 

“Councillor Raja, Thank you for your question.  I share your desire to ensure that public money is used wisely and I can assure you that I have no fondness for paying out money at all but if we are to continue to deliver the amount of very successful projects that we do it is necessary to make use of external expertise which we do not employ.  And whilst you may know what you mean by ‘consultation' or ‘feasibility' these are terms which are used broadly to include a great many things.  (Consultancy can include barristers for legal advice, interim appointments, architects and designers on capital projects and public consultation exercises.  The same is true of feasibility work we can say how much was spent on specific projects but feasibility just means working out if something can be done.)  To try and provide a helpful response officers have gathered capital spend on feasibility which we can send you as a written answer. If this is not what you had in mind you will need to define exactly what it is that you are after.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Supplementary Question

 

“For the sake of transparency would it be possible to publish the number of studies taking place on the WDC website, giving reasons for it and the conclusions reached?”

 

Supplementary Response

 

“As I said previously, you will need to define what you mean so that we can correctly identify it. However you need to be aware that some of the information may be commercially sensitive, and so may not always be possible to publish it.”

 

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

 

“Five years on from the transfer of the District's housing to Red Kite would you consider the move to be a success and in particular what do you think the benefits have been for the wider community?”

 

Response from Councillor Ms K Wood (Leader of the Council)

 

“This is a difficult question to answer as it`s subjective. We would say that there has been a positive benefit from Red Kite in the following ways:

 

·         They have carried out much needed improvements to social housing homes and estates that would not have been possible had the transfer not taken place.

·         They have  ...  view the full minutes text for item 89.

90.

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 Monday 27 March 2017.

 

(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:

Councillor D Knights on behalf of the Risborough Area Residents Association had given notice that a petition would be handed in and Linda Cannon Clegg Chairman of the Association presented the petition and addressed the meeting. 

 

In accordance with Standing Order 9.1 the contents of the petition was summarised.

 

The Leader of the Council also made a statement in relation to the lodging of the petition by RARA and to the expansion of Princes Risborough. She stated that in preparing the plan for Princes Risborough the Council wished to ensure that local people had a voice and were heard. As such a Steering Group was established chaired by the town council with representatives from local groups including RARA. Working closely together a common goal had been established of achieving the best possible outcomes for local people from the expansion of the town.  

 

The Leader went on to clarify that the proposed plan was for up to 2755 new homes of which up to 2500 would be in the expansion area. The plan included precise infrastructure requirements to address the needs of the new and existing residents. The requirements included a new link road to relieve pressure on the A4010 the building of 2 new primary schools and expansion of secondary school places and new sporting facilities and improved connections between the expansion area and the existing town.

 

The Leader went on to acknowledge that the petition demonstrated how deeply and passionately the residents cared about where they lived.

 

It was agreed that the petition would be validated against the Council`s Petition Scheme. Members and the lead petitioners would be informed outside of the meeting how the petition would be administered following the validation process. 

 

 

 

 

 

91.

CABINET

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

 

Cabinet                      13 March 2017

Supporting documents:

Minutes:

Minute 80 –HWTC Referral- Community Infrastructure Levy

 

Cllr A R Green clarified that although the resolution of Cabinet was correct, it had not been the original recommendations of the HWTC that had been referred to the Cabinet, which were subsequently changed. 

 

Minute 84 – Major Projects Programme Review

 

Cllr A Collingwood sought reassurance that the Cabinet would work closely with ward Members to ensure that the plans would benefit everyone as a whole.

 

 The Leader answered in the affirmative.

 

 

RESOLVED: That the minutes of the meeting of the Cabinet held on 13 March 2017 be received and the recommendations as set out at minute numbers 82 and 84 be approved and adopted.

92.

IMPROVEMENT & REVIEW COMMISSION

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

 

Improvement & Review Commission                   1 March 2017

Supporting documents:

Minutes:

RESOLVED: That the minutes of the Improvement & Review Commission held on 1 March 2017 be received.

93.

AUDIT COMMITTEE

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

 

Audit Committee                  23 March 2017 (to follow)

Supporting documents:

Minutes:

RESOLVED: That the minutes of the meeting of the Audit Committee held on 23 March 2017 be received.

94.

HIGH WYCOMBE TOWN COMMITTEE

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

 

High Wycombe Town Committee             7 March 2017

Supporting documents:

Minutes:

RESOLVED: That the minutes of the meeting of the High Wycombe Town Committee held on 7 March 2017 be received.

95.

PERSONNEL & DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE

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

 

Personnel & Development Committee                15 March 2017

Supporting documents:

Minutes:

In the absence of the Chairman of the Committee Councillor G Hall rose to present the minutes of the meeting

 

RESOLVED: That the minutes of the meeting of the Personnel & Development Committee held on 15 March 2017 be received and the recommendation as set out at minute number 14 be approved and adopted.

96.

PLANNING COMMITTEE

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

 

Planning Committee                       15 February 2017

Supporting documents:

Minutes:

RESOLVED: That the minutes of the meeting of the Planning Committee held on 15 February 2017 be received.

97.

CHIEF EXECUTIVE'S ANNOUNCEMENTS

Minutes:

This item was withdrawn

98.

QUESTIONS UNDER STANDING ORDER 11.2

Minutes:

There were none

99.

COMMITTEE CHANGES/APPOINTMENTS

Planning Committee

 

Councillor L Wood be replaced by Councillor S Raja to serve as a full Member of the Planning Committee.

 

Councillor S Raja be replaced by Councillor L Wood to serve as a Standing Deputy on the Planning Committee.

Minutes:

The following changes made to Committee membership in accordance with Standing Order 18(9) as set out in the summons were noted.

 

Planning Committee

 

Councillor L Wood was replaced by Councillor S Raja to serve as a full Member of the Planning Committee.

 

Councillor S Raja was replaced by Councillor L Wood to serve as a Standing Deputy on the Planning Committee.

 

100.

URGENT ACTION TAKEN BY CABINET OR INDIVIDUAL CABINET MEMBER

The adoption of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance

working definition of anti- Semitism.

Minutes:

The individual decision published since the last ordinary meeting of the Council held on 23 February 2017, as set out in the summons was noted.