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 Cabinet Member for Transportation

C Cabinet Member for Planning & Environment

D Cabinet Member for Community Engagement & Public Health

E Cabinet Member for Children’s Services

F Cabinet Member for Resources

G Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Health & Wellbeing

H Cabinet Member for Education & Skills

 

Leader

Mr M Tett highlighted the following points:

·         The consultation on a potential third runway at Heathrow was open and the Leader urged all members to look at the consultation document, as this would have a dramatic effect on the whole of the County. The possible introduction of significant fees for dropping off passengers at the terminals could lead to offsite parking issues in the Iver area.

·         To date, three formal meetings of the Shadow Executive had been held and there had been a real sense of collaboration and joint working from representatives of all five existing councils, which was very positive for the creation of the new Unitary.

·         It was noted that the new Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government was Robert Jenrick and the new Minister for Housing was Esther McVey.

 

In response to Members’ questions the following main points were noted:

·         The Armed Forces Community Covenant was included in one of the workstreams for the new Unitary Council.

·         Following a disappointing response from Chris Grayling in response to the Council’s notice of motion on HS2, a member asked if the Leader would be pressing for a meeting with the new Secretary of State for Transport.  The Leader confirmed that he would want to have early discussions about HS2 and also the routing of the Cambridge to Oxford Expressway.

·         The Council’s position would remain steadfast – the Leader had always opposed HS2 and the Council gave qualified support to the expansion of Heathrow, always pressing for mitigation for areas such as Iver which would be impacted most, in partnership with South Bucks District Council.

·         In response to a Member’s concern about inappropriate content on Social Media, the Leader commented that he always encouraged members to conduct themselves with dignity and courtesy and this should also apply online.  Often there was a motivation to make social media posts interesting to stimulate debate, but they should remain respectful and discrimination of any kind was not appropriate.  Another member noted that any discriminatory or offensive posts on social media should be reported to the relevant monitoring officer.

·         It was noted that the new Prime Minister had promised to ‘fix the crisis in social care once and for all’. The Leader agreed that he would continue to press Government on resolving the funding issues for Social Care.  The Green Paper had been delayed five times and a resolution was vital for both local government funding and the dignity of older people and adults with learning difficulties.

 

Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Transportation

Mr M Shaw highlighted the following:

·         The Cabinet Member apologised for the recent traffic issues on the A41, which were caused when a developer removed traffic lights earlier than planned. Transport for Buckinghamshire (TfB) had worked well with the developers to rectify the issues as quickly as possible.

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

·         TfB had already completed their first round of weed spraying and had resources to undertake further sprays.

·         Wycombe High Street was looking very shabby and had issues with rising bollards not working. The Cabinet Member agreed to look into progress of discussions and would try to resolve any issues.

·         A member raised the condition of the C3 road between Grendon Underwood and Gawcott. Although there had been some patching undertaken on this route, it remained hazardous particularly for cyclists. An assessment of the road was requested and the Cabinet Member was asked if HS2 would be required to contribute to the maintenance of haul routes.

·         In response, the Cabinet Member explained that the road was inspected in line with the Asset Management Policy, so it was inspected annually and any potholes reported in between would be dealt with by the local area technician.  It was noted that the Council had a duty to maintain highways which were safe to use but this didn’t necessarily mean 100% defect free.  It was suggested that the Member and her neighbouring Councillor, Mr C Clare, might want to consider nominating the road for additional plane and patch work.

·         A member thanked the Cabinet Member for the recent jetpatching work at Sunnybank and welcomed the announcement of a further 9 additional charging points.

·         Issues remained with faulty bollards in Aylesbury West and the Cabinet Member was asked if this could be properly resolved.

·         Further update on the ADEPT project was requested and the Cabinet Member agreed to include this in his report to the next Council meeting.

·         A member noted that GP provision in Aylesbury was being reconfigured but there would be issues for patients reliant on public transport in reaching their surgeries.  The Cabinet Member explained that there was a reliance on commercial bus companies to provide these routes, but he would investigate.

·         A member noted that there had been some complaints about grass cutting being undertaken too early and some residents had enquired about the possibility of establishing green corridors.  The Cabinet Member commented that the idea of green corridors was being discussed with rangers.

 

Cabinet Member for Planning and Environment

Mr W Chapple highlighted the following:

·         Officers of the Council featured in a BBC programme on preventing flytipping which was aired on 18^th July and could be seen on iPlayer.

·         The Aylesbury Garden Town meeting due to take place in July had been cancelled so the next one would be held in September.

·         Chiltern and South Bucks had extended the consultation deadline on their Local Plan.

 

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

·         A local campaign was being launched to raise money to apply for planning permission to reopen the Household Recycling Centre at Bledlow, which had been closed earlier in the year. 

·         The Chiltern and South Bucks Local Plan consultation would close on 23rd August.

·         A member asked if the Council would be objecting to the Chiltern and South Bucks Local Plan on the grounds of its proposal to release significant areas of green belt land for development.  The Cabinet Member reiterated his own commitment to protecting the green belt and it was noted that he was currently drafting the Council’s response.

·         A member thanked the Strategic Flood Defence team for providing training and assistance in deploying flood defences on the Willows estate in Aylesbury.

·         The Cabinet Member was asked if incidents of flytipping had increased since the closure of the Bledlow HRC and the closure of the Rabans Lane site for two days per week.  A member suggested that in some instances town or parish councils could be removing flytipping without reporting it as an incident.  The Cabinet Member confirmed that there had not been an increase in flytipping incidents.

·         A member noted that the future of the Burnham HRC would be decided shortly and asked how members would be kept up to date.  It was reported that the decision would be taken at Cabinet on 9^th September.

·         A member expressed concern that the Aylesbury Garden Town Plan could have aspirations of becoming a new district council.  The Cabinet Member explained that the Aylesbury Garden Town masterplan was being developed to raise the status of Aylesbury up to proper Garden Town status. Reasonable governance arrangements had been put in place to support this aim.

 

Cabinet Member for Communities and Public Health

Mr G Williams highlighted the following:

·         Buckinghamshire had a vibrant voluntary and charitable sector and the Cabinet Member had been meeting with many groups since taking up his post in May. Concerns about the continuation of grant funding with the introduction of the new Unitary had been raised and this was being discussed.

·         The Street Association initiative was celebrating its two year anniversary – there were 6 Street Associations in Bucks with 326 volunteers and their success was being recognised with award nominations. Street Associations would be particularly focussing on tackling social isolation and the Cabinet Member gave an example of a lady in Aylesbury who had moved from South Africa and had not spoken to anyone for two years until she joined the Street Association and was now one of its integral members.

·         A member congratulated the Street Association’s on their success and invited the Cabinet Member to visit Youth Concern in Aylesbury to find out more about their Next Steps project which would be tackling homelessness. The Cabinet Member accepted this invitation.

 

Cabinet Member for Children’s Services

Mr W Whyte highlighted the following:

·         The Judicial Review of the Council’s decision to redesign its Early Help service had been dismissed and the new improved service would launch in September to coincide with the start of the new school year.

·         Fostering events were coming up in Aylesbury on 15^th August and in Micklefield in High Wycombe on 11^th September.

 

In response to Members’ questions the following main points were noted:

·         A member thanked the Cabinet Member for the Ofsted Update in his report and thanked officers in Children’s Services for their continued hard work in improving services for Children.

·         A member asked for reassurance that all was on track for the implementation of the Early Help service.  The Cabinet Member reiterated that everything was progressing well although there might be some delays around the Family Information Service.

 

Cabinet Member for Resources

There were no questions from members.

 

Cabinet Members for Health and Wellbeing

Lin Hazell highlighted that there had been a number of comments from the new Prime Minister regarding improvements in Social Care and the service would be monitoring developments closely.

 

In response to Members’ questions the following main points were noted:

·         A member reported that the Princes Centre had recently been presented with the Queens Award. The Cabinet Member congratulated all the staff at the Princes Centre for this recognition of their work.

·         A member noted the significant changes to the healthcare system in Bucks with the introduction of Primary Care Networks and asked that the Cabinet Member would work closely with health colleagues to ensure the smooth transition and delivery of high quality services.  The Cabinet Member confirmed that partnership working was key.

 

Cabinet Member for Education and Skills

Mrs A Cranmer highlighted the following:

·         91.5% of our maintained schools are rated as good or very good.

·         Our Special Educational Needs service has been reorganised and this has led to significant improvements in the processing of Educational and Healthcare Plans (EHCP). The previous backlog had been cleared.

·         Seven schools in Aylesbury which had been struggling were showing signs of improvement through the Side by Side project.

·         A member asked what support had been given to Bucks schools in responding to the government’s Period Poverty task group.  The Cabinet Member advised that this issue had been recognised and reported that schools were given support to help girls who might be experiencing period poverty.

·         A member asked the Cabinet Member to pass on his thanks to all the Admissions team for the smooth running of the school placement process, which was not an easy task. 

·         The Cabinet Member was also requested to work closely with the Cabinet Member for Children’s Services to further reduce the attainment gap between looked after children and their peers.