Meeting documents

Mr Tett presented to Council the Annual Report 2019/20, which had been the 130^th year of the County Council.  Mr Tett highlighted the number of Alderman present at Council and thanked them for the legacy they had passed to existing councillors.

Mr Tett gave a presentation, appended to the minutes setting out the challenges and successes of the Council.  In particular Mr Tett made reference to:

• Over 100 services delivered, continuing to improve the lives of residents.
• The Council continued to come in on budget despite challenging financial situations.
• The Council had this year lost all Revenue Support from central government so this now had to come directly from the Council and the tax payer.
• Population continued to grow putting additional demand on Children’s Service and Adult Social Care.
• Money was being invested in order to protect front line services.
• There were a number of areas for celebration including the high number of schools in the county rated Good or Outstanding by Ofsted, the excellent university provisions and the investment in roads with an immediate £4m being invested in the council’s plane and patch programme.

• The Council led on a number of environment initiatives with a successful record on household waste recycling and a stream of income from Energy from Waste. 
• Money was being built into the budget to elevate the pressure to protect the county’s most vulnerable, with a focus on keeping people out of care homes and living independently for longer.
• The number of Looked After Children had increased to 500.  Two new Children’s homes had been opened in Bucks and there had been an increase on the number of children adopted.
• The council continued to have great relationships with the voluntary and community sectors and thanked them for their collaborative work.
• There had been significant funding from central government to help manage growth in housing and a Housing Infrastructure Fund bid for just under £200m had been submitted to help manage growth in Aylesbury.
• The council continued to look at the best ways to communicate with residents and reaching those residents that were isolated and lonely.
• The council had taken a number of difficult decisions due to financial pressures; this had been regrettable but had allowed the council to pass a very strong financial position over to the new unitary authority.
• The Structural Order for the new authority had now been passed through Parliament and came in effect on 23 May 2019.

Looking to the future, Mr Tett stated that the council would strive to create the very best council in the country, carrying forward heritage and commitment.

Mr Tett thanked all staff that had supported the council over the last 130 years and continued to support today across all services.

Mr S Lambert, Leader of the opposition welcomed the Leaders report and responded by highlighting the following:

• Adult Social Care saw a population with more complex needs
• Huge progress was being made in Children’s Services in the delivery of the Ofsted Improvement Plan and the importance of continued focus on that as the council moved into the new unitary authority.
• There were still gaps in the Education service that needed to be addressed; in particular more focus on Special Educational Needs (SEN) services was required.
• The council were on track to deliver a healthy budget in spite of no revenue support grants which was no mean feat.  Mr Lambert stated that the budget did not meet all of his group’s priorities but recognised that the council were handing over a strong and practical budget to the new unitary authority.

Mr Lambert paid tribute to staff; the backbone of outstanding service delivery and along with Members the integral part they would all play in the successful creation of the unitary council.

Mr D Martin commended Mr Shaw and Mr Irwin on the work they did each year for children at Christmas with the Christmas present appeal.  Mr Martin also paid tribute to staff across county and districts councils for the work they were doing together to deliver the new authority.

RESOLVED: Council NOTED the Annual Report.