Agenda and draft minutes

Apologies were received from Councillors N Brown, S Chhokar, L Clarke OBE, M Collins, P Cooper, E Culverhouse, P Griffin, T Hogg, Mahboob Hussain OBE JP, Maz Hussain, S Kayani, Jane MacBean, R Matthews, W Matthews, S Morgan, N Naylor, W Raja, J Rush, N Southworth, Sir B Stanier Bt, M Stannard and A Wood.

RESOLVED –

That the Minutes of the Council meeting held on 18 September 2024 be approved as a correct record.

Councillors A Bond, R Carington, P Gomm and M Turner declared a personal interest in agenda item number 10 (Notice of Motion: This Council supports Buckinghamshire farmers and opposes the Family Farm tax), on farming related issues that were already declared in their Register of Interests.

Councillors P Birchley and R Newcombe declared a personal interest in agenda item number 10 (Notice of Motion: Motion to Double Canopy Tree Cover), as representatives of the Council on the Chilterns Conservation Board.

Councillors J Chhokar and C Harriss declared a personal interest in agenda item number 10 (Notice of Motion: The Impact of the Government’s ‘Education Tax’ on Buckinghamshire) as their children attended independent schools.

The Chairman reported on the engagements that she and the Vice-Chairman had attended since the last meeting of the Council, a full list of which would be appended to the Minutes.  The majority of engagements had been for local groups, charities and the voluntary sector.  Members were informed that the Chairman had done her skydive for charity on 28 September in aid of the 3 charities she supported, which were South Bucks Hospice, Oasis Partnership and Heart of Bucks.  The Chairman would also soon be involved in the release of a Christmas single, again to support the chosen charities.

Councillor R Stuchbury presented an e-petition on behalf of constituents requesting that the Council provide facilities for the re-use of left over paint within Buckinghamshire.  The Cabinet Member for Climate Change and the Environment thanked residents for their work on the petition and advised that he would provide a written response to it in due course.

Councillor M Walsh, Chairman of the Health and Adult Social Care Select Committee, informed Members that the Council had been advised in October 2024 that NHS England was reviewing the services provided by Mount Vernon Cancer Centre.  The Centre in Northwood, Middlesex, provided non-surgical specialist cancer care covering a population of more than two million people with approximately 13,000 patients attending the centre each year. It was not the main specialist cancer centre for the majority of patients in Buckinghamshire (around 930 patients attended between 2023/24 which amounted to 7% of the total attendance).

NHS England and its partners had been instructed to make plans for public consultation on the proposals, and it had been proposed that affected local authorities set up a new joint health scrutiny committee to scrutinise them.  Hertfordshire County Council was expected to chair the joint HOSC as more than half the patients came from Hertfordshire.  The intention was that political proportionately would be waived, as outlined in 5.4 of the draft terms of reference (Appendix 1 to the Council report), and that Buckinghamshire Council would be able to appoint two Councillors to sit on the joint HOSC.

It was proposed by Councillor M Walsh, seconded by Councillor Thomas, and

RESOLVED –

(1)               That it be agreed for Buckinghamshire Council to be part of the Joint Health Scrutiny Committee to scrutinise various aspects of the reprovision and relocation of services from Mount Vernon Cancer Centre.

(2)               That the terms of reference for the Joint Health Scrutiny Committee be agreed, subject to the agreement of the other authorities.

(3)               That authority be delegated to the Chairman of the Health and Adult Social Care Select Committee and the Monitoring Officer to sign off the final terms of reference.

The Cabinet Member for Communities informed Members that the budgets available for Special Expenses in High Wycombe had historically been underspent.  These funds were ringfenced for the purpose of the approved activities within the High Wycombe unparished area, with underspends transferred to reserves. It was currently forecast that HWTC would have accumulated ringfenced reserves of £815k by March 2025.

At the request of the HWTC, a review of the arrangements for the use of special expenses had been undertaken and identified that the Committee was constrained in allocating the funds to local priorities due to the current budget headings and the very specific list of services agreed by Council.  The recent Community Governance Review had identified a number of public realm concerns raised by residents and acknowledged the role of the HWTC in addressing these issues. Similar issues had also been identified by the Community Board and other local resident groups. The HWTC was keen to be able to use the funds to tackle local priorities.

In order to give the HWTC greater flexibility to respond to issues in the unparished area, it was proposed that the Leader/Cabinet be given the authority via a key decision to agree proposals by the HWTC to vary the use of the special expenses budget and reserve during the course of the financial year in response to need. This would ensure Council governance of the Special Expenses scheme whilst also allowing decisions to be taken promptly as required.  Such proposals would need to be for the benefit of the unparished area and relate to activities carried out by at least one parish council in Buckinghamshire.

It was proposed by Councillor A Hussain, seconded by Councillor P Turner, and

RESOLVED –

That authority be delegated to the Leader of the Council / Cabinet to determine proposals from the High Wycombe Town Committee to vary the use of the agreed Special Expenses budget during the course of the financial year.

The Monitoring Officer informed Members that due to personal circumstances that had been shared with her, Councillor Nick Naylor had been unable to attend a Council / Committee meeting since 6 June 2024.  His six months absence period would expire on 6 December 2024.

Under Section 85(1) of the Local Government Act 1972, Councillor Naylor had submitted a request that the Council give consideration to approve his absence and agree that the absence period be extended to the end of the Municipal Year. The extension would not prevent Councillor Naylor from returning to meetings at any time but would give flexibility and prevent further recourse to the Council before the end of the Municipal Year. The Monitoring Officer was satisfied that the reasons shared by Councillor Naylor were sufficiently justified for the Council to authorise the absence and grant a dispensation.

RESOLVED –

That in accordance with Section 85 of the Local Government Act 1972, a dispensation be granted to Councillor N Naylor, and that the absence period be approved until the end of the Municipal Year.

Members received reports from Cabinet Members. There was an opportunity for members to ask questions of individual Cabinet Members about matters and issues affecting their portfolios.

Leader of the Council, Councillor Martin Tett

The Leader confirmed that he had attended a meeting the previous day to discuss the Government’s Devolution Bill which might be published in the coming weeks. However, there was no guarantee this would happen and there was no information on the Bill's content. Members would be briefed when more information was available.

In response to a question regarding the £8 million overspend on children's services, the Leader confirmed that the local government settlement for 2025-26 was likely to be issued on 19 December.  Until it was received it was unclear what funding Buckinghamshire Council would receive.  It was possible that the Government would change the basis on which funding was allocated and that it would only be a one-year settlement.

Cabinet Member for Culture and Leisure, Councillor Clive Harriss

The Cabinet Member encouraged everyone to support local arts groups and attend pantomimes over the Christmas period.

The Cabinet Member agreed with a Member that it was long overdue to develop a Lifestyle Centre for the north of Buckinghamshire, similar to the Chiltern Lifestyle Centre.  Members were reminded of the lessons learnt from the Chilterns Lifestyle Centre and the financial challenges involved which would include requiring contributions from developers and from other funding streams.

A Member was informed that the Cabinet Member had a prior engagement and would likely not be able to attend the turning on of the Christmas lights in Buckingham.

Cabinet Member for Environment and Climate Change, Councillor Thomas Broom

The Cabinet Member provided an update to confirm that over the last few days, he had been working closely with communities across the county, the Environment Agency, and other third-parties groups to manage and mitigate the flooding incidents, particularly in Buckingham. He noted that there were still eight flood alerts and one flood warning in place, and he would continue to monitor the situation.

In response to a request to visit areas affected by flooding to explore additional flood resilience measures, the Cabinet Member agreed, confirming that he had already seen positive results from mitigation projects in the past but acknowledged the need for more work due to increased heavy rainfall incidents. He expressed his willingness to visit and discuss further measures within the financial constraints.

With regards to the prioritisation of tree planting and the possibility of setting up a wood planting stakeholder group in Winslow, given the success of the wood planted in Wing, the Cabinet Member noted the success of the Wing group and expressed his willingness to follow up and consider the suggestion.

Cabinet Member for Communities, Councillor Arif Hussain

The Cabinet Member highlighted the achievements of a local 10 year old young man who had won the Young Champions Award at the ‘Proud of Bucks Awards’ for the Southwest Chilterns, for setting up a litter-picking group.  The Cabinet Member thanked  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9.

The Chairman informed Members that In order to manage the seven Motions on the agenda as fairly as possible, she had spoken with Group Leaders and intended to alternate between Motions received from the Opposition Groups and the Majority Group.  She would be using her discretion to hear the Motions in the following order:

1.                  Adult Social Care (including the 2 amendments).

2.                  Buckinghamshire farmers and the Family Farm tax (including 1 amendment).

3.                  Affordable Housing.

4.                  The Impact of the Government’s ‘Education Tax’ on Buckinghamshire.

5.                  Motion to Double Tree Canopy Cover (including 1 amendment).

6.                  The impact of the Budget on Buckinghamshire Council.

7.                  Net Zero 2030.

A maximum of 90 minutes would be allocated to deal with the Motions.  The Chairman would then move the meeting to vote on the Motion that was being debated, and any remaining Motions that had not been dealt with would be deferred to the next ordinary meeting of the Council.  This would be the Council meeting on 12 March 2025.

1.                  Notice of Motion: Adult Social Care

The Chairman informed Members that a motion had been submitted regarding Adult Social Care. The motion was proposed by Councillor Wilson and seconded by Councillor Wheelhouse and was detailed at pages 95-96 of the Council agenda.

Councillor Wilson explained the rationale of the motion, at the conclusion of which he stated that he was happy to accept and take on board Amendment No. 2 to his Motion that had been submitted by Councillor A Macpherson and seconded by Councillor Tett, and that was detailed at pages 4-6 of the Council supplementary agenda.

Before proceeding, the Chairman of the Council received confirmation from Councillor Schaefer (proposer of Amendment No. 1 to the Adult Social Care Motion – detailed at pages 3-4 of the Council supplementary agenda) that she was happy to withdraw her amendment. Councillor Morgan, the seconder of Amendment No. 1 to the Adult Social Care Motion, had given her apologies and was not in attendance at the meeting.

The Chairman then received confirmation from the proposer and seconder of Amendment No.2 that they formally moved the amendment.  The meeting then agreed to accept Amendment No. 2 and it became the substantive motion.

It was then proposed by Councillor Winn, and seconded, that the question be now put.  Following a brief response from the mover of the original motion, it was –

RESOLVED –

(1)               That the Leader and the Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Health and Wellbeing write to the Prime Minister, Chancellor of the Exchequer and the Secretary of State for Health, all Buckinghamshire MPs, and the Leaders of each major political party, imploring them to accelerate plans for adult social care reform. In addition to ask that Government convene a cross-party Royal Commission with the objective of developing affordable and sustainable proposals for reform.

(2)               That the Leader and Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Health and Wellbeing write to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, copying all Buckinghamshire  ...  view the full minutes text for item 10.

The written responses to questions from Members, published as a supplement to the agenda, were noted.

A list of decisions taken by the Leader since the Annual Council meeting on 18 September 2024 were received and noted.

Wednesday 26 February 2025 at 4.00pm

4 p.m., Wednesday 26 February 2025.