Meeting documents

To note the written report of Cabinet Members, and any written questions & responses received.

To receive any additional verbal updates from Cabinet Members on their reports, as well as provide an opportunity for any oral questions from Members.

A Leader of the Council

B Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Transportation

C Cabinet Member for Resources

D Cabinet Member for Community Engagement & Public Health

E.Cabinet Member for Planning & Environment

F Cabinet Member for Education & Skills

G Cabinet Member for Children’s Services

H Cabinet Member for Health & Wellbeing

Leader

In response to Members’ questions the following points were made:

·         The Leader was proud of Buckinghamshire’s pioneering businesses in fields such as life sciences, automotive engineering and creative industries.  He would be working closely with the Local Economic Partnership in developing an Industrial Strategy and was also looking forward to the Buckinghamshire Brexit Summit in December.

·         Members were reminded that a full review of the Council’s budget position was undertaken each quarter at Cabinet. In summary, the latest Cabinet report showed that the Children’s Services and Adult Social Care budgets would be overspent by £800k and £1.4m respectively, but this would be counterbalanced by an underspend on contingency, therefore an total underspend of £3m was anticipated at year end.

Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Transportation

The Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Transportation reminded Members that the annual appeal for gifts for Looked After Children was underway and any gifts donated by local residents or community groups could be handed in to the Buckinghamshire Suite for safekeeping.  It was noted that the Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the Council would also be taking a number of Looked After Children to the pantomime in both Aylesbury and Wycombe.

In response to Members’ questions the following points were made:

·         Members could take advantage of a Speed Awareness campaign tailored to their own divisions, which would be launched shortly.

·         It was agreed that the Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Transportation would ensure that Members would receive the programme for the next phase of work funded by the DfT Pothole scheme.  This programme would run up to 18^th December.

·          Members also requested a copy of the schedule of works for the next phase of road resurfacing, highlighting that it would be useful for discussions around next year’s programme to be held as early as possible.

·         Government was still committed to delivering East/West Rail.  Work on the western section was due to begin in 2018, with a completion date of 2023.

·         A number of Members were complimentary about recent resurfacing work which had been undertaken in their divisions.  However some Members raised issues with the quality of work.  The Cabinet Member commented that on the whole the quality of Transport for Buckinghamshire’s work had improved, but he would investigate individual issues on behalf of those Members who had concerns.

·         Two Members asked the Cabinet Member for assistance in resolving ongoing issues with faulty rising bollards in their divisions.  It was noted that a capital bid had been submitted in order to replace faulty bollards.

·         An road safety issue was raised regarding a risky junction on the A413 near Great Missenden. The Cabinet Member advised that he would ask the road safety team to investigate concerns and report back to him.

Cabinet Member for Resources

In response to Members’ questions the following points were made:

·         The Cabinet Member was congratulated on his recent Digital Champion award and was asked when he would be able to share future plans for digital transformation at the Council.  Members were advised that a pipeline of further digital projects was being developed and would be shared in due course.  In addition some further updates to the Council’s website were planned.

·         The Cabinet Member agreed to provide information on the number of vacant posts across the Council excluding Children’s and Adult Social Workers. It was suggested that the Council could consider removing these vacant posts altogether in order to relieve budget pressures.

·         Concern was raised about the Council’s pension fund investing in fossil fuel companies. The pension fund was about to transfer it investments into the Brunel Pension Partnership and the Cabinet Member was a member of the Oversight Board. He would therefore have the opportunity to engage in an ethical investments policy discussion with other members going forward. It was noted that the Council has a strong performance in energy reduction measures.

·         The Apprenticeship Fund was used to support both new apprenticeships – the Council had made good progress on its target of 63 for the year – and also enrolling existing staff onto apprenticeship training.

·         The news that the National Social Work Student and Newly Qualified Social Workers Conference would be held in Buckinghamshire in 2018 was welcomed.

Cabinet Member for Community Engagement & Public Health

The Cabinet Member asked that a message of support and well wishes from the Council should be passed to Mr Bendyshe-Brown.

In response to Members’ questions, the following points were made:

·         It had been announced that Britain could no longer host the City of Culture in 2023, which Milton Keynes had been planning to bid for.  It was suggested that the Cabinet Member might contact Milton Keynes Council to discuss whether it would be appropriate to undertake a joint initiative to shine a light on the culture of Buckinghamshire in 2023 instead. The Cabinet Member confirmed that this news was hot off the press and this suggestion would be considered.

·         In response to a question regarding insurers asking people if they have been tested for HIV, the Cabinet Member advised that this was not an issue for the Council and noted that people with other issues, such as diabetes, could also face similar feelings of discrimination.

Cabinet Member for Planning and Environment

In response to Members’ questions, the following points were made:

·         An Air Quality Workshop was to be held with partners at Green Park on 19^th February. (Post meeting note:  Date now changed to 8^th March 2018). Whilst Buckinghamshire was below the national average in terms of air quality where was still more to be done and the Cabinet Member was actively working on this.

·         A Member suggested that it would be helpful, following a public consultation, if any subsequent changes to the final decision as a result of the consultation could be stated explicitly, to ensure that people could see that the consultation was genuine and that their views have been taken into account.  The Cabinet Member confirmed that he did not view consultation as a tick box exercise and genuinely wanted to hear people’s views.

Cabinet Member for Education and Skills

In response to Members’ questions, the following points were made:

·         A Member asked if a report could be prepared for Members to explain how the £500,000 budget savings in respect of SEND will be achieved.  The Cabinet Member advised that a timetable for changes in this area would hopefully be available in the new few weeks.

·         A Member thanked the Cabinet Member for attending the recent opening of an Adult Learning Centre in Quarrendon.

Cabinet Member for Children’s Services

The Cabinet Member introduced his report and highlighted the following key points:

• A minor typographical error in his report in the middle of P79 – it should read ‘post natal and ante natal support’. Members were reminded that a decision on the Early Help review had been postponed to the 8^th January Cabinet meeting. 
• Ofsted was currently reviewing Children’s Services and Inspectors would be on site for another week. 

·        A section of his report showcased the achievements of some Looked After Children. The Council currently had 470 Looked After Children.

In response to Members’ questions, the following points were made:

·         No decision had been taken on the new Early Help model.  The decision had been deferred to the 8^th January Cabinet to enable the Cabinet Member and officers the opportunity to listen to the views of residents and charitable organisations involved.

·         The current model for Children’s Centres was not adequately targeting the most vulnerable in our communities. Proposed locations for hubs were predicated on areas of deprivation and currently a lot of activities were delivered in the community, for example, in parish or church halls.  The aim of the Early Help model was to offer wrap around care to the most vulnerable families by offering co-ordinated services, rather than expecting them to navigate their way through a confusing multi-agency system of support.

·         A Member reported that his community had been proactive in coming forward to ask if they could take over the operation of their local Children’s Centre.  Other Members commented that this option was not always available in more deprived areas.

·         In response to a question regarding the impact that the Cabinet Member had had on his portfolio to date, he commented that whilst he had only been in post for six months, he hoped that positive changes he had seen in areas such as the Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH), transitions to Adult Services and the revitalised Corporate Parenting Panel would have led to better outcomes for Looked After Children.  It was hoped that Ofsted would also recognise these improvements.

Cabinet Member for Health and Wellbeing

The Cabinet Member for Health and Wellbeing highlighted the item on the Walled Garden in Missenden in her report and encouraged Member’s to visit.

In response to a question following up on an action from September’s Council meeting, the Cabinet Member advised that she had not yet contacted Aylesbury Town Council and the Dementia Friendly Alliance about their drive to make Aylesbury a dementia friendly town, but she would do this.