Meeting documents

There were no declarations of interest.

RESOLVED: That the minutes of the meeting of the Improvement & Review Commission held on 15 September 2014, be approved as a true record and signed by the Chairman.

The Chairman of the Commission welcomed all to the Meeting, particularly those in the public gallery, many present due to an interest in this ‘call-in’ item.

The Chairman explained the points and procedures that would be followed in respect of the ‘call-in’:

·         The decision taken in respect of the Reserve Sites and progressing the Local Plan; could not currently be implemented until the Commission had considered this item and, if recommendations were made, until the Cabinet had in turn considered any recommendations that the Commission may make in respect of the decision.

·         No members of the Commission (including the Chairman and Vice Chairman) were members of the Cabinet. Commission membership was on a mixed party basis, but all its work was carried out on a non-political basis.

·         The Cabinet Member for Planning and Sustainability and the Leader of the Council had been invited to assist the Commission, so that the Commission could hear both sides of the argument. They were not permitted to vote.

·         Initially a vote would be taken as to whether the ‘call-in’ was to be debated. Then all Members of the Commission would have the opportunity to ask Councillor Snaith (the lead ‘call-in’ Member) and the Cabinet Member and Leader questions relating to the ‘call-in’ before any vote was taken. .

·         As this was a call-in to the Commission of the Cabinet decision the debate would be by the Commission itself.

·         The Chairman’s role was to ensure a balanced debate and raised a number of points for the proposer of the call-in to address.

The decision as to whether to debate the ‘call-in’ required under paragraphs 43 and 44 of the Commission’s protocol was put to the Meeting, and a majority for debate was indicated.

Councillor T Snaith elaborated on the reasons for the call-in submitted, and tabled a series of 6 recommendations, with supporting reasons, for the Commission to consider for referral to Cabinet as follows:

1)    To look into and re-assess the objectively assessed figures for the known homes, homes in pipeline and windfall homes, and that this be done ahead of any decision to release any reserve sites;

2)    To look at the sites in more detail with the aim of increasing density on some of them, thereby relieving the need on other reserve sites and the release of other reserve sites;

3)    Re-assess the core strategy with particular reference to the Green Belt review, before releasing any reserve sites;

4)    Revisit and test the case for less dwellings because of the District’s AONB/green belt circumstances with Government/Planning Inspectors, before releasing any reserve sites;

5)    Consult with Officers to revisit what Wycombe District Council can do as a result of being constrained by AONB and Green Belt and to discuss this with DCLG (Department for Communities and Local Government) as to reducing the number of homes needed, as a result of these constraints, before releasing any reserve sites; and

6)    Investigate and bring forward robust District-wide infrastructure plans in conjunction with other statutory partners,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 19.

The Commission being part way through its review into urgent health care, considered the report on the agenda which fed back on the public listening event that was held on 15 October. This feedback was to be further considered at the special meeting on 11 December, when Healthwatch Bucks were to be presenting the findings from their recent survey of users in Buckinghamshire of urgent health care services.

This meeting gave an opportunity to hear from the local health service providers representing the Chiltern Clinical Commissioning Group, Aylesbury Vale Clinical Commissioning Group, Bucks Healthcare NHS Trust, Bucks Urgent Care and South Central Ambulance Service.  A written submission had also been received from Steve Baker, MP.

From the Listening event four themes had been identified, it was recognised that they were all connected and reinforced the overall experience and treatment received. These themes were:

1.    Communication and Access to urgent health care services

2.    Treatment received

3.    Urgent health care facilities

4.    Distance and travelling between SM A&E and HW MIIU

The providers gave a presentation to the Commission with the aid of power point which outlined the following:

·         The background to the centralisation of A&E to Stoke Mandeville and the establishment of the MIIU at High Wycombe.

·         How services were now commissioned and the need for public involvement and feedback on performance.

·         The ‘right treatment, right place, right time’ initiative featuring:

Ø  NHS111

Ø  MIIU and out of hours GP’s

Ø  A&E

Ø  Regional Specialists

·         The Bucks Set-up was in line with the NHS England template.

·         The out of hours GP’s service contract had been extended to next year in order to align all services.

·         The development of the MDAS Multidisciplinary Day Assessment Service at Wycombe (for frail and elderly not needing A&E but unable to wait for outpatients).

·         111 was used by some 11,000 people per month in Bucks, importantly it could book appointments to attend primary care units or MIIU, it was often better to use than incurring lengthy A&E waits.

·         In respect of accessibility, already following on from the listening event:

Ø  4 Wheelchairs were in place at MIIU;

Ø  Signposting was improved;

Ø  Staff training had been undertaken; and

Ø  Porters were in place

·         New X-ray unit was due to open in MIIU 26 December 2014

·         Plastering simple fractures MIIU 24/7, complex/ compound fractures transferred to Stoke Mandeville.

·         Importantly working towards joined up IT between Wycombe and Stoke Mandeville.

·         The charts of the self-presenting patient pathway and urgent GP referral pathway were explained, it was hoped the dedicated units featured within these, would reduce duplicate assessments and hence waiting times.

·         The vast majority of feedback on the ‘Friends & Family’ Tests was good if not excellent, but the ‘listening event’ demonstrated that there was still much work to be done.

Members made a number of points and received clarification on a number of queries as follows:

·         In respect of ambulance services the problem in turning around ambulances after arrival at Hospitals was  ...  view the full minutes text for item 20.

The Commission was invited to note the extensive work of the Sports & Leisure Centre Task & Finish Group and the level of scrutiny that had been carried out in respect of this flagship project for the District.

It was noted that the Sport & Leisure Centre Task & Finish Group had met on two occasions in the last year to scrutinise issues and risks associated with the construction of the new sport and leisure centre.  It has received information from WDC and Buckinghamshire County Council officers and representatives from Jacobs and Mace.  As progress towards construction was already advanced at the time the group was re-convened, to focus on any risks and issues which might hinder the progress or success of the project going forward.

To achieve its aims the Group had chosen to review the risk register in detail, put questions to officers, and receive a presentation on the traffic modelling which had been undertaken for the scheme to support the planning application.

After receiving information the Group had been satisfied that the risks associated with the construction of the sport and leisure centre were being appropriately managed and that the process to model the traffic implications had been robust.  

The Commission noted the outcomes of the work of the Sports & Leisure Centre Task and Finish Group and agreed that its work had now concluded.

Members noted the new attached Improvement & Review Protocol for consideration ahead of referral to the Council’s Regulatory & Appeals Committee for inclusion in the Council Constitution.

The report outlined that the update had been required in order to remove a number of out of date cross references and statutes found in the document. Members decided that the consideration of the protocol needed to be deferred to the next scheduled meeting of the Commission in order that they could scrutinise the amendments made in detail along with suggesting any further amendments.

Officers to provide Members with a ‘track changes’ copy of the protocol to identify the amendments, along with complete ‘before’ and ‘after’ copies to aid their consideration of this updating exercise.

RESOLVED: That consideration of the proposed new Improvement & Review Protocol item be deferred to the Commission meeting of -14 January 2015.

The Meeting noted the update in respect of the Commission’s work programme and the current position with regard to Task and Finish Groups, of which the Budget Task & Finish Group was about to start its work later that month, under the Chairmanship of Councillor J Richards.

No topics were identified on the attached Cabinet Forward Plan for review by the Commission at future meetings.

The following Information Sheet had been issued since the last meeting of the Commission:

·         2/2014            Follow up statistical data on Community Safety Partnership Item – Commission Meeting 15 September 2014

No questions had been received from Members in respect of this document.

There were no Councillor Calls for Action.