Meeting documents

Questions to the Leader or any Cabinet Members must be submitted by 12 noon on Monday 4 December 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 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 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 6 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.

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

"As the cabinet has now approved the replacement of Saunderton Lodge as the future temporary accommodation provision for vulnerable members of society, would the Leader like to tell us what the likely plans are for the Saunderton Lodge land and can she reassure us that the land will only be used for social use and not be sold off to increase the surplus on the council’s balance sheet?"

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

 

"Saunderton Lodge is an isolated property in need of substantial investment.  If and when it is declared surplus, the Council will be required to meet its statutory obligation upon disposals, which is to achieve the ‘best price reasonably obtainable’.  This may well come from users such as a nursing home, sheltered housing or the like, or from an ‘institutional’ user, which have quasi-social purposes, but I cannot at this stage guarantee that this will be the case.  The priority will be to find a future custodian so that once vacant, the property does not become vandalised.  Any proceeds of disposal will be used to ‘cross finance’ the cost of the proposed new Temporary Accommodation, if that is the route we go down."

 

Supplementary Question

 

"I would hope that we do see some action and that the land is not sold off. We need to use the land for the benefit of the residents. "

 

Supplementary Response

 

"As I said in my original answer any proceeds of disposal will be used to cross finance the cost of the proposed accommodation. The proposals will not result in an increase the balance sheets."

 

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

 

"It has been reported that the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, Sajid Javed, is very close to making a decision regarding the unitary authority proposals. If he were to bring news that 2018 is to be a happy new year for you do you anticipate any changes would be made to the plans given that they were put together almost a year ago?"

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

 

"I’m delighted that you recognise that our submission is the stronger and have confidence it is the one most likely to receive the go-ahead.  However I think we need to await the announcement before making decisions on our implementation plans."

 

Supplementary Question

 

"Given that the decision is going to be later than originally expected, how do you envisage that this will impact upon the timelines and deadlines for changes to be implemented?" 

 

Supplementary Response

 

"Clearly the implementation plans stated within the submission will need to be revised. However we cannot revise this until we get the required timelines." Therefore I am unable to answer your question at the moment."

 

c)Question from Councillor K Ahmed to the Cabinet Member for Community

 

"A Children’s Centre in Totteridge has 979 children under the age of 5 living in its catchment area. 628 of these (more than 64%) are registered with the Children’s Centre. 375 of these children (over 38%) have had at least one contact with the Children’s Centre over the last year and 191 (over 19%) have had multiple.

 

Clearly, this is a vital service on which many local residents rely, so why isn’t WDC protesting more actively against planned closure of this and many other centres?"

 

Response from Councillor G Peart (Cabinet Member for Community)

 

"Thank you Cllr Ahmed for asking this question about an issue that is very current and also for doing some research into the numbers of children registered with the Castlefield Children`s Centre. There has already been a question about this matter at a recent Council meeting.

 

As you will be aware BCC has announced a review of the delivery of children’s services generally including the children’s centres and we await the outcome early in the New Year. Until that review is complete and the results published it is not possible to make any further useful comment.

 

I can confirm that there has been communication with the relevant members of BCC on the matter to raise concerns about the delivery of children’s services that are much needed to better assist the most vulnerable families in Wycombe and particularly the children within those families. We have also offered to work closely with BCC to give assistance locally where we are able to provide it.  

 

When the proposals are made known we will be able to assess the proposals and respond accordingly."

 

Supplementary Question

 

"The Children`s Centre in Totteridge has 979 children under the age of 5 living in its` catchment area. More than 64% are registered with the Centre. 375 of these children have had at least one contact with the centre over the last year whilst 191 have had multiple.

 

Clearly this is a vital service on which many local residents rely, so why isn`t WDC protesting more actively against its planned closure?"

 

Supplementary Response

 

"We hope to see an improved connection and consequent improvement in delivery. We work closely with Bucks CC but cannot comment until the review is complete. "

 

(d)Question from Councillor M Asif to the Cabinet Member for Planning

 

"Would the Cabinet Member for Planning like to tell us whether he is confident that WDC residents have given him a good idea about their concerns and reservations about the local plan; and would he like to tell us about the broad areas of public approval or concern?"

 

Response from Councillor D Johncock (Cabinet Member for Planning).

"The latest consultation on the New Local Plan was the final one before the plan is submitted for scrutiny in March next year. Many people have given us their input and played an active part in the local plan process. The plan we will be submitting to the Planning Inspector is the result of five years of detailed technical work and a number of different consultations over that period with local people and key stakeholders right across the District and beyond. I am therefore confident that we have a good handle on the issues and concerns that residents across the District have about the Plan. I am also pleased that the latest consultation has drawn many positive comments as well as negative ones.   

At this stage, it is too early to give any detail on the broad areas of concern or approval as there has been a high level of response and the consultation only ended last Monday.  My officers will, however, be producing a summary of the issues raised primarily for the benefit of the Inspector undertaking the examination of our Plan but I will ensure that all Members see an early draft of this document so that they too have a good understanding of the issues that have been raised by both local people and our statutory consultees."

There was no supplementary question.

e)Question from Councillor Ms J Wassell to the Cabinet Member for Housing

 

"Please can you update us on the numbers of residents currently placed in Bed and Breakfast outside of Wycombe District? I am particularly concerned about families with young children being placed there."

 

Response from Councillor Mrs J Langley (Cabinet Member for Housing).

 

"At present we have 10 households with children staying in bed and breakfast out of the district. This changes on a weekly basis, but I can advise that these families are primarily in Slough on an average for about 4 weeks, and this changes on a weekly basis. We hope to move at least 4 families back to the District before Christmas. We have had some more properties released at Daws Hill."

 

Supplementary Question

 

"I am pleased to hear that 4 of the families will be moving back to the district prior to Christmas, leaving just 6 out of the district. Does Saunderton Lodge offer the provision which will make B&Bs a thing of the past?"

 

Supplementary Response

 

"Subject to planning permission when the new temporary accommodation in Desborough Road is completed this will increase our capacity to house homeless households in the district considerably and do away with B&Bs."

 

(f)Question from Councillor M Abdullah Hashmi to the Leader of the Council

 

"In light of the many episodes of harassment reported elsewhere and the lack of adequate processes for victims to make confidential complaints that these reports exposed, does WDC have any plans to update its own complaints procedures to offer greater guarantees of confidentiality to those raising the complaints and does the council have procedures in place to investigate such harassment complaints satisfactorily?"

 

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

 

"I share your concerns and had already discussed with the Chief Executive and with the Head of Legal Services, Head of Democratic Legal & Policy Services the adequacy of our existing complaints processes which also deal with issues of confidentiality.  I am satisfied that they do allow action to be taken (within the scope of the legislation available to us) if we have concerns about any member or officer of this Council.

 

·         The Council has a complaints process for members of the public to raise concerns about staff conduct,

·         We have a separate process if it is alleged that Members have breached the code of conduct for members

·         There are informal and formal mechanisms in place which are set out in the Council’s Grievance Policy, Procedure and Toolkit for staff who wish to raise concerns about other staff including managers. 

·         We have the member/officer protocol for dealing with concerns by staff against members or vice versa

·         and finally we have a whistleblowing policy if staff or members of the public wish to raise concerns directly without going through the relevant service area or manager. 

 

As you will appreciate there may be a need for a criminal investigation in some cases and where this is the case the complainant will be urged to consider making a complaint to the police.  It is my view that where a Member or Officer is subjected to harassment as a result of their membership or employment with the authority then we will offer support to them if they wish to make a complaint to the police. 

 

I personally would take any complaint I received about harassment by a member of this Council very seriously and would want to reassure anyone who was the victim of harassment that their complaint will be listened to and acted upon.  I know that the Chief Executive shares my view about this with regard to any member of staff. In light of the recent reports in the media staff have been reminded in our weekly newsletter of the Council’s commitment to creating a safe and healthy working environment that is free of discrimination and harassment.  As Leader of the Council I would like to make the same statement to every member of this Council - you do not have to suffer in silence. You were elected to serve your communities and that involves, as we all know, taking criticism from time to time, but that does not mean you have to suffer harassment or abuse."

 

There was no supplementary question

 

(g)Question from Councillor S Graham to the Cabinet Member for Economic Development & Regeneration

 

"The Bucks Free Press dated 24.11 2017 features a story that the historic Library could be used for offices.

 

The building has stood empty since the library moved to the Eden shopping centre.

 

A number of options have been considered for its future over the years including putting it up for sale or handing it over to charitable trust, but so far none of those options have come through.

 

The County Council now wants this historic town centre building to be used for a wide range of purposes including offices and community use.

 

My question to the Cabinet Member for Economic Development is whether he has been involved, or been contacted by the County Council, in respect of their interests as have been reported in the Free Press’?"

 

Response from Councillor S Broadbent (Cabinet Member for Economic Development & Regeneration)

 

"Over the past 10 years, the Council has frequently sought to encourage the County to bring this building back into beneficial use. The Council is pleased to note that the County is now progressing its own proposals for re-use."

 

Supplementary Question

 

"Have the Conservatives given up on community cohesion? Many community organisations are crying out for meeting places. Why hasn’t this issue been considered with Bucks CC?"

 

Supplementary Response

 

"Discussions have been in shared areas. The focus has been on remedial work of the building. I am not influencing the choice of what is decided, and they will do as they see fit. We just want a suitable use for the Town Centre."

 

(h)Question from Councillor Ms J Wassell to the Cabinet Member for Economic Development & Regeneration

 

The question was withdrawn

 

 (i)Question from Councillor M Knight to the Cabinet Member for Community

 

"Attending the Christmas light switch on in Frogmoor it was a delight to see it full of many families from High Wycombe and the wider district enjoying themselves. It is unfortunate that the rest of the year Frogmoor is increasingly becoming an area which families avoid due to a small minority of people being drunk and behaving erratically. I hope to think that we all recognise that a balanced approach is needed to tackle this issue where both enforcement and comprehensive support for people with substance misuse issues go hand in hand. We have been promised a multi-agency coordinated approach in the past.

Could you provide an update on how this is going and what factors are inhibiting progress?"

Response from Councillor G Peart (Cabinet Member for Community).

 

"Thank you Cllr Knight for asking this question about a matter that is a great concern for all Members. We all want our main town areas to be an attractive and welcoming place for people to visit and spend time in.

 

In November a multi-agency meeting took place, which included both enforcement agencies and those agencies within the town who can offer support to people with housing and drug/alcohol issues.  At this meeting we agreed that there is a need to raise awareness of the support that is available, and to try to encourage the public to support these agencies, rather than giving money directly to people who may be begging as for many it is probable that any money they are given will be used for drink or drugs.

 

At this meeting it was suggested that High Wycombe BIDCo consider relocating the food or general markets to Frogmoor to increase the number of shoppers in this area.  Frogmoor was leased to the BidCo as they wished to develop more events there and we hope this will become a reality when their new Manager is appointed. 

 

Regular multi-agency meetings are being organised by our new Anti-Social Behaviour Officer, Nick Adkins, to develop and implement action plans for each of the street drinkers/beggars so that we can safeguard the general community, and also protect these very vulnerable people. 

 

We already have a Public Spaces Protection Order restricting drinking in the town and are issuing Fixed Penalty Notices.  We will have posters printed asking the public to support Wycombe Homeless Connection. This will be followed up in the New Year with more signposting to support agencies and material to hand out to people begging or drinking, providing contact details for the support agencies.  Nick will also contact other local tons to see if there is additional best practice that we can apply locally."

 

Supplementary question 

 

"I agree it is difficult to ensure we have sufficient policing resources, and there have been approximately 18% budget cuts in this area. Perhaps you ought to lobby your national party on these cuts which have had such a massive impact on our town."

 

 Supplementary Response

 

"I cannot comment on the police budget, but the police have been active and cooperative. The problem is twofold. Firstly, the problem of beggars, and secondly the issue of the welfare of people who need help. Both these issues need to be prioritised and pursued."

 

The Corporate Director clarified that Chiltern Shopping Centre was due to be purchased which would improve the area around Frogmoor. In addition the meeting was informed that the markets were run by Estates within the Council and not BidCo.