Agenda, decisions and draft minutes

There were no apologies for absence.

To approve as a correct record the Minutes of the meeting held on 10 and 16 September 2024

RESOLVED – That the Minutes of the Cabinet meeting held on 10 and 16 September 2024 be approved as a correct record.

Councillor S Broadbent declared a personal interest in item 10 as a Board Member of Red Kite Housing Association

Councillor A Macpherson declared a personal interest in item 10 as a Board Member of Fairhive Housing Association 

The following hot topics were reported :-

Leader

The government had said it was minded to progress a devolution deal for Buckinghamshire, which was agreed with the previous conservative government. The Level 2 deal mainly related to devolution of the Adult Education budget, skills funding and some compulsory purchase powers. Whilst nationally there was a strong preference for councils to join more strategically as combined authorities there were no current plans for this model.

The Leader also made reference to the Eastern Link Road and that whilst it was complicated and expensive it was important to put this in place due to the impact of congestion on Aylesbury roads.

Cabinet Member for Health and Wellbeing

The Cabinet Member reported that the Council had been notified that there would be a CQC Inspection at Buckinghamshire. The Council would need to supply information over the next three weeks including performance information. Site visits would need to be arranged which could be undertaken within the next six months although there needed to be a 6-8 weeks notice period. There would be deep dives into case work and interviews with key members at the Council and with its partners. The last inspection was in 2008 and the Council had received a good rating. The Cabinet Member commented that it was important to recognise the pressure on staff over the coming weeks.

Cabinet Member for Transport

The Cabinet Member reported that they were about to undertake a readiness check, known as a winter parade to make sure the Council’s Highways Team were winter ready.

Cabinet Member for Education and Children’s Services

The Cabinet Member reported that she had attended the Foster Carer Award Dinner at Adams Park, High Wycombe on 27 September which had been an excellent event and complimented the excellent foster carers who helped children in Buckinghamshire, who shared some of their experiences. One of the foster parents won a £3000 holiday raffle prize. Anyone who was interested in becoming a foster carer should contact the Council.

Cabinet Member for Climate Change and Environment

The Cabinet Member reported that they had extended the Energy Doctor Scheme to promote energy efficient homes which was particularly key with helping to save money with the withdrawal of the winter fuel allowance. Reference was also made to the Helping Hands team who helped the vulnerable and also to highlight the importance of applying for pension credit where appropriate. The team could signpost residents to Citizen Advice Bureau and Age UK who could help with this as the form was complicated.

Question from Councillor Robin Stuchbury to Councillor Peter Strachan, Cabinet Member for Planning and Regeneration 

Please can you provide detailed information on how many planning appeals are currently taking place in Buckinghamshire and which took placein 2023 - 2024, including legal fees, officer time, if these costs have been reported to cabinet or a select committee meeting and in addition how many planning permissions have been refused by a planning committee against officer recommendations to approve?  

Question from Councillor Robin Stuchbury to Councillor Peter Strachan, Cabinet Member for Planning and Regeneration

“Please can you provide detailed information on how many planning appeals are currently taking place in Buckinghamshire and which took place in 2023 - 2024, including legal fees, officer time, if these costs have been reported to Cabinet or a Select Committee meeting and in addition how many planning permissions have been refused by a Planning Committee against officer recommendations to approve?”

Response from Councillor Peter Strachan

There are a total of 139 planning appeals (excluding enforcement appeals) currently in progress as of the 27th September 2024. The detailed split of appeal types comprises 40 fast track householder appeals, 10 Hearings, 7 public inquiries and 82 written representation appeals. Over the period August 2023 to the end of July 2024 the Council received 278 valid appeals (excluding enforcement appeals).

The Council uses its planning and specialist resources across a range of different statutory and non-statutory functions, and we do not currently record officer time against individual appeals.  Therefore, we do not specifically hold the overall cost information requested.

For the period 2023/2024 in the Planning and Development Service area there was a total spend against the Planning appeal reserve of £172,615. This spend covered the costs associated with some contractor support for appeal work, costs awarded against the Council by the Planning Inspectorate and contractor support on the Development Consent Order for the London Luton Airport.

For Legal Services the costs for 2023/24 period were;

Internal legal costs for inquiries/appeals in 2023/24 were 1505 hours equating to £150,670.98 and Disbursements for inquiries/appeals in 2023/24 were £384,287.99 (+vat).

The Council reports monitor a rolling 12-month period from Aug 23 to July 24, and the number of valid appeals received following a committee overturn for this period was 10.

Scrutiny of the operation of the Planning Service falls to the Growth, Infrastructure & Housing Select Committee. At a meeting on 18th April 2024 a report was brought regarding Planning Committee Performance.  This included details on appeal performance. It is open to the Growth, Infrastructure & Housing Select Committee to request a report looking specifically at the subject of planning appeals if that would be considered beneficial.

The Leader introduced the Forward Plan and commended it to all Members of the Council and the public, as a document that gave forewarning of what reports would be discussing at forthcoming meetings.

RESOLVED – That the Cabinet Forward Plan be noted.

For Cabinet to note the Select Committee Work Programme.

The Leader introduced the Select Committee Work Programme and commended it to all Members of the Council and the public, as a document that gave forewarning of what Select Committees would be discussing at forthcoming meetings.

RESOLVED – That the Select Committee Work Programme be noted.

The Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and Inclusion Strategy 20252030 was the key document underpinning the improvement and transformation of the support and services provided for children and young people with SEND and their families in Buckinghamshire.  It set out the collective ambitions across Education, Health and Care to improve the experiences and outcomes of children and young people. It had been developed by key stakeholders including parent/carer representatives, partners and children and young people who had collaborated on its content.

The strategy aimed to achieve whole system change, recognising interdependencies between services. It placed greater focus on earlier intervention whilst also ensuring the needs of children and young people with high support needs were met. The shared ambition was for every child and young person with SEND to receive an inclusive education, have access to meaningful opportunities within the community and have a smooth transition into adulthood.

The strategy was part of the SEND workstream of the Children’s Services Transformation Programme, Phase 2. It sat alongside the delivery of the SEND Strategic Plan, and the redesign of the Council’s SEND Service. As such its development was monitored via the Children’s Transformation Board, Service Improvement Board and the multi-agency SEND Partnership Board.

RESOLVED –

That the draft Strategy and consultation document to progress to public consultation be APPROVED.

The Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and Inclusion Strategy 2025-2030 was the key document underpinning the improvement and transformation of the support and services provided for children and young people with SEND and their families in Buckinghamshire.  It set out the collective ambitions across Education, Health and Care to improve the experiences and outcomes of children and young people. It had been developed by key stakeholders including parent/carer representatives, partners and children and young people who had collaborated on its content.

The strategy aimed to achieve whole system change, recognising interdependencies between services. It placed greater focus on earlier intervention whilst also ensuring the needs of children and young people with high support needs were met. The shared ambition was for every child and young person with SEND to receive an inclusive education, have access to meaningful opportunities within the community and have a smooth transition into adulthood.

Buckinghamshire’s 4 strategic priorities were:

• Early Support

• Education Provision and Decision-making 

• High Support Needs 

• Preparing for Adulthood 

There were a lower number of people receiving SEND support in Buckinghamshire than nationally and less Education and Health Care Plans (7,000 people in Buckinghamshire all receiving specialist support or in special schools). The Council were looking at further support being provided in mainstream schools so that the child could receive services locally which was better for the child or young person. A transformation programme was also underway to support this Strategy.

The strategy was part of the SEND workstream of the Children’s Services Transformation Programme, Phase 2. It sat alongside the delivery of the SEND Strategic Plan, and the redesign of the Council’s SEND Service. As such its development was monitored via the Children’s Transformation Board, Service Improvement Board and the multi-agency SEND Partnership Board.

During discussion the following points were noted:-

·         The in year deficit on the high needs block budget was £6.8 million and could be nearer £10 million. This was a serious issue nationally and needed to be addressed by Government as it was unsustainable.

·         In terms of the consultation it would be sent to all schools, all parent/carer groups, voluntary organisations and anyone who provided services in this area e.g. therapy. It had already been discussed at the SEND Local Area Partnership Board and the Place Based Partnership and support groups for parents with children who had SEND.

·         A question was asked about what other Councils were promising in this area. The Strategy was developed from a statement of action following the last inspection in March 2022 including progress that the Council had been making in partnership with health partners. There was also a Delivering Better Value Programme which was in response to the deficit of the High Needs Block. There had been a national shift to early support. Connected to the impending CQC assessment the preparation for adulthood was also key. The Council was working in line with current thinking regionally and also nationally.

·         A comment was made to include faith groups in  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

This report set out the vision for day opportunities and overnight respite so that all adults with care and support needs could live well and independently as part of their communities. These services provided vital support for people to learn daily life skills and provide care to support independence. Day opportunities and overnight respite were delivered from many sites and run by external providers along with a council-run service called ‘the short breaks service’.

The current service model needed to ensure that the Council could meet the changing needs of adults with care and support needs in the community and achieve the vision. Most of the care and support was delivered through a variety of external providers.

There were three key drivers for change. 

• Firstly, to ensure that the Council had the right service model to deliver the vision for day opportunities that focussed on supporting adults to live independently and well in the community, aligned to the Better Lives Strategy.

• Secondly, to ensure that adults supported could access high quality facilities and buildings that meet their needs.

• Thirdly, to provide value for money to the Council and taxpayers.

Over the last few years, the need for building-based provision had reduced considerably. Firstly, this was because of the work that had taken place to increase community-focused provision enabling access to mainstream activities including enabling participation in leisure facilities, facilitating access to shops to purchase provisions and enhancing daily living skills. Secondly, work had taken place with residential and supported living providers to strengthen their day activities offer, so that residents no longer must travel to a separate day centre to access meaningful activities during the day. And, thirdly, there had been an increase in the take up of direct payments which offered greater choice and flexibility for those that need care and support and their families/carers.

Three overall options for change had been considered. The first option was to continue to keep 7 council day centres and the same operating model. The second option was to keep 3 day centres and no longer deliver the service from the 4 other centres, as well as increasing external market provision. The third option considered was to close the Council’s Short Breaks service and deliver all day opportunities and overnight respite services through external providers alone.  

Option 2 was recommended, which was to keep 3 council day centres and no longer deliver adult social care services from the 4 other centres. No decision has been taken on these options and the service area were proposing to consult to gather views to inform a decision.

RESOLVED –

(1)             That the proposal to go out to public consultation and seek views on the preferred operating model for Adult Social Care Day Opportunities and Overnight Respite Services be APPROVED.

(2)             That following the public consultation exercise a report will come back to Cabinet on the consultation findings with a recommendation on the future operating model.

This report set out the vision for day opportunities and overnight respite so that all adults with care and support needs could live well and independently as part of their communities. These services provided vital support for people to learn daily life skills and provide care to support independence. Day opportunities and overnight respite were delivered from many sites and run by external providers along with a council-run service called ‘the short breaks service’.

The current service model needed to ensure that the Council could meet the changing needs of adults with care and support needs in the community and achieve the vision. Most of the care and support was delivered through a variety of external providers.

There were three key drivers for change. 

• Firstly, to ensure that the Council had the right service model to deliver the vision for day opportunities that focussed on supporting adults to live independently and well in the community, aligned to the Better Lives Strategy.

• Secondly, to ensure that adults supported could access high quality facilities and buildings that meet their needs.

• Thirdly, to provide value for money to the Council and taxpayers.

Over the last few years, the need for building-based provision had reduced considerably. Firstly, this was because of the work that had taken place to increase community-focused provision enabling access to mainstream activities including enabling participation in leisure facilities, facilitating access to shops to purchase provisions and enhancing daily living skills. Secondly, work had taken place with residential and supported living providers to strengthen their day activities offer, so that residents no longer must travel to a separate day centre to access meaningful activities during the day. And, thirdly, there had been an increase in the take up of direct payments which offered greater choice and flexibility for those that need care and support and their families/carers.

Three overall options for change had been considered. The first option was to continue to keep 7 council day centres and the same operating model. The second option was to keep 3 day centres and no longer deliver the service from the 4 other centres, as well as increasing external market provision. The third option considered was to close the Council’s Short Breaks service and deliver all day opportunities and overnight respite services through external providers alone.  

Option 2 was recommended, which was to keep 3 council day centres and no longer deliver adult social care services from the 4 other centres. No decision has been taken on these options and the service area were proposing to consult to gather views to inform a decision.

The Cabinet Member for Health and Wellbeing reported that there would be a 12 week consultation period. There would also be conversations with service users to put their views forward and an all Member briefing. There were in person meetings scheduled for October and also drop in sessions in November.  There was an easy read survey and a dedicated email address. Some of the centres were  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9.

Buckinghamshire’s Allocations Policy was last updated in April 2022. Since the last policy was implemented, housing demand had changed and the pressures to find appropriate housing for those most in need had increased. This had resulted in an increase of homelessness applications being made, of which a high proportion required the provision of temporary accommodation, as well as an increase in the number of applicants who were registering for housing assistance via the Bucks Homes Choice pathway.  

Legislative changes had also taken place during this timeframe and required incorporation into the revised Allocations Policy to ensure that it was legally compliant, which further supported the need for a full review of the current Allocations Policy in place.   Results from the public consultation, which took place between the 11th July 2024 and 22nd August 2024, showed a broad agreement to all the changes proposed. Appendix One of the report set out the proposal of changes, along with the anticipated impact these changes could have on the register and rationales for the changes. 

RESOLVED –

That the updated Housing Allocations Policy be adopted and implemented. 

Buckinghamshire’s Allocations Policy was last updated in April 2022. Since the last policy was implemented, housing demand had changed and the pressures to find appropriate housing for those most in need had increased. This had resulted in an increase of homelessness applications being made, of which a high proportion required the provision of temporary accommodation, as well as an increase in the number of applicants who were registering for housing assistance via the Bucks Homes Choice pathway.  

Legislative changes had also taken place during this timeframe and required incorporation into the revised Allocations Policy to ensure that it was legally compliant, which further supported the need for a full review of the current Allocations Policy in place.   Results from the public consultation, which took place between the 11th July 2024 and 22nd August 2024, showed a broad agreement to all the changes proposed. Appendix One of the report set out the proposal of changes, along with the anticipated impact these changes could have on the register and rationales for the changes. 

The main change was removing reference to legacy councils and looking at a county wide approach so that applicants could bid in all areas. There were some subgroupings in the legacy Aylesbury Vale District of which very few that had been allocated by the sub-group markets; out of 1000 registrations last year only 71 were allocated in this way. Residency qualifications would be moved from 2 years to 5 years and residency requirements were introduced in applicants over 55. This was important as there had been a build up of unlet property in some of the housing associations. It would strengthen the banding for homeless households so Band B for prevention and Band C for households in relief. Band A was the highest priority. They were redefining households who were willing to downsize including looking at children over 18 to allow them to continue to reside with parents where it could be reasonably expected. The Minister of Communities and Local Government had also previously issued guidance about veterans, care leavers and victims fleeing domestic abuse and the need to meet residency requirements. No change was required for domestic abuse as the Council already waived the local connection requirement and there were small changes regarding veterans who had served in the last five years. There were still discussions ongoing regarding care leavers.

Those residents who were homeless would be asked to re-register which would be just reconfirming their circumstances. Some residents would hopefully be able to remove themselves from the list if their circumstances had changed. Currently there were 7,047 on the list. Whilst that figure would remain high it was hoped that a more accurate figure would be available on Bucks Home Choice with the re-registration.

Cabinet welcomed the report.

RESOLVED that the updated Housing Allocations Policy be adopted and implementation. 

This report provided an update on adult social care, both locally and nationally. It included details on demand within the sector and budget as well as information on key work which had taken place within the last six months. Adult social care had:-

·         Provided advice, guidance and support to an average of 3,200 residents each month. This was helping to manage the increase in demand for support.

·         Improved the way that the Home Independence Team works. This had increased the capacity within the team, which had improved the number of hours it had been able to work with residents from 471 hours per week in November 2023 to 652 hours in January 2024.

·         Made improvements to hospital discharge. Adult social care staff were now working with NHS staff as part of an integrated team to assess people in hospital ready for discharge. Staff were also working with NHS in the Transfer of Care Hub, a single unit that organised discharges from hospital. As a result of these changes there has been a 40% reduction in the number of people who were waiting in hospital unnecessarily when they were medically fit for discharge.

As a result of more people going home or straight into a permanent placement, the improved support to residents had also helped the system to reduce the number of interim care home discharge beds. These have been reduced from 46 in March 2023 to 20 in March 2024 and the length of stay in such beds had also reduced to 41 days.  These changes have been better for people leaving hospital and had meant a better use of available capacity for the system.

However, alongside improvements and successes, adult social care was still experiencing some significant challenges, including:

·         Increasing demand for services and support for people with  more complex needs

·         Increasing unit costs for services, with external care providers struggling with recruitment pressures and a high cost of living

·         The national shortage of qualified professionals

·         The high number of safeguarding referrals made to the Council, which was twice the rate of similar authorities. When triaged, it was clear that many of these referrals did not relate to safeguarding issues.

RESOLVED –

That the latest developments in relation to adult social care, both locally and nationally, be NOTED.

This report provided an update on adult social care, both locally and nationally. It included details on demand within the sector and budget as well as information on key work which had taken place within the last six months. Adult social care had:-

·       Provided advice, guidance and support to an average of 3,200 residents each month. This was helping to manage the increase in demand for support. There had been improvements to their website and the customer service team so residents could be triaged more effectively. The Bucks Online Directory was also being updated. 

·       Improved the way that the Home Independence Team works. This had increased the capacity within the team, which had improved the number of hours it had been able to work with residents from 471 hours per week in November 2023 to 652 hours in January 2024.

·       Made improvements to hospital discharge. Adult social care staff were now working with NHS staff as part of an integrated team to assess people in hospital ready for discharge. Staff were also working with NHS in the Transfer of Care Hub, a single unit that organised discharges from hospital. As a result of these changes there has been a 40% reduction in the number of people who were waiting in hospital unnecessarily when they were medically fit for discharge.

·       The service area were currently preparing for the CQC assessment.

·       In safeguarding the service were addressing 96% of cases within 48 hours. The service area were working with partners to reduce inappropriate referrals to safeguarding.

·       The transformation programme was focusing on prevention and reablement to deliver savings.

As a result of more people going home or straight into a permanent placement, the improved support to residents had also helped the system to reduce the number of interim care home discharge beds. These have been reduced from 46 in March 2023 to 20 in March 2024 and the length of stay in such beds had also reduced to 41 days.  These changes have been better for people leaving hospital and had meant a better use of available capacity for the system.

However, alongside improvements and successes, adult social care was still experiencing some significant challenges, including:

·       Increasing demand for services and support for people with  more complex needs

·       Increasing unit costs for services, with external care providers struggling with recruitment pressures and a high cost of living

·       The national shortage of qualified professionals – there were vacancy rates of around 24%.  There had been a cut nationally to adult social care apprenticeship training.

·       The high number of safeguarding referrals made to the Council, which was twice the rate of similar authorities. When triaged, it was clear that many of these referrals did not relate to safeguarding issues as mentioned above.

The Cabinet Member reported that they were still waiting for changes from the new Government with regards to social care reform and the implications of a National Care Service and how this would be funded. There was no mention of social care  ...  view the full minutes text for item 11.

To help mitigate cost of living pressures and provide support to residents, the Council have continued to develop and deliver a range of initiatives to support residents; and have continued to provide support to residents who were most in need through the Helping Hand service. The Council had received confirmation of the sixth tranche of Household Support Fund grant from the Department for Work and Pensions. This new allocation would cover the period from October to March 2025, and would be used to continue to provide essential support to residents across Buckinghamshire, ensuring that this was in line with the Government guidance.

RESOLVED –

(1)               That the range of support provided by the Council for individuals experiencing hardship across the county be NOTED.

(2)               That authority be delegated to the Cabinet Member for Communities to approve the arrangements for deploying the new Household Support Fund allocation from the Department for Work and Pensions, which has been extended to cover the period October 24 to March 25, once the Government guidance has been shared.

To help mitigate cost of living pressures and provide support to residents, the Council have continued to develop and deliver a range of initiatives to support residents; and have continued to provide support to residents who were most in need through the Helping Hand service. The Council had received confirmation of the sixth tranche of Household Support Fund grant from the Department for Work and Pensions of £2.4m. This new allocation would cover the period from October to March 2025, and would be used to continue to provide essential support to residents across Buckinghamshire, ensuring that this was in line with the Government guidance. The only change to the guidance from the previous tranche of the grant was that the Government had asked that Councils report back on prevention as a separate activity within Management Information returns. The use of the funding was detailed in 4.6 of the report.

The Cabinet Member for Communities focused on key initiatives which had been undertaken:-

·         Developing a communications strategy to ensure that residents who need support were aware of what was available and how to access this. The Buckinghamshire Council website included a detailed ‘Cost of Living’ section which was regularly updated with new information, frequent posts were made on social media platforms to reach residents and a printed Resident Support Leaflet continued to be distributed across the County (predominantly focusing on Opportunity Bucks wards) to reach residents who might not be accessing content online. 

·         Continuing to develop and support ‘Welcoming Spaces’ where people can come together in a warm, safe and supportive environment across the County, primarily in Libraries and also through 17 additional community venues for residents to access. The Council had also distributed 640 warm packs during the winter of 2023/24, through Welcoming Spaces and through key partners across the county who helped to ensure that residents who needed these most were able to receive them.

·         The Food Champions Network, which was made up of residents who take the lead on coordinating food collections for their local area and ensuring these were received by local food banks had expanded and this was promoted at the most recent Bucks County Show.

·         Continue to promote the Energy Doctor scheme, providing support to eligible households to reduce fuel costs and increase energy efficiency through the implementation of energy saving measures such as insulation jackets for hot water cylinders, energy saving lightbulbs and draft proofing. More recently, the scheme was expanded to those in social housing where they meet the eligibility criteria.  

·         Making Every Adult Matter (MEAM) team had been working with a small cohort of residents from Opportunity Bucks wards who have contacted Helping Hand for support a high number of times, helping to connect them with other services that could support and address underlying challenges. The team had recently expanded into Aylesbury, focusing on rough sleepers.

·         Support had been given to young adults taking a college course to provide motivation and measures showed that improvement had increased by 19% in the last  ...  view the full minutes text for item 12.

Cabinet were asked to consider the recommendations made by the Growth, Infrastructure and Housing Select Committee following a review on the Legacy of Everyone In and Homelessness in Buckinghamshire.

RESOLVED –

(1)               That the ‘Legacy of ‘Everyone In’ and Homelessness in Buckinghamshire’ Scrutiny Review Group, as well as the supporting officers, be thanked for their work and subsequent recommendations.

(2)               That Cabinet’s responses to the Scrutiny review report and recommendations, as set out and circulated to Members, be agreed.

Note: a complete breakdown of the scrutiny recommendations and Cabinet’s responses can be found here

Cabinet were asked to consider the recommendations made by the Growth, Infrastructure and Housing Select Committee following a review on the Legacy of Everyone In and Homelessness in Buckinghamshire.

The Chairman of the Growth Infrastructure and Housing Select Committee, David Carroll, attended with the Chairman of the Task and Finish Group, Councillor Thomas Hogg.

·         The Everyone In period began in March 2020 at the start of the pandemic, The government asked Local Authorities to procure accommodation urgently for people ‘who are, or are at risk of, sleeping rough, and those who are in accommodation where it is difficult to self-isolate, such as shelters and assessment centres’. To do this they provided specific funding, which allowed the Council to accommodate these individuals, this became known as the ‘Everyone In’ policy.

·         The purpose of this scrutiny review was to review the outcomes of Everyone In, identify lessons learnt and any gaps in current provision.

·         The Review Group met with a variety of stakeholders, these included the Council’s Housing/homelessness Team, MEAM team (Making Every Adult Matter), Thames Valley Police, Wycombe Connections/Aylesbury Homeless Action Group.

·         Recommendations focused on the following aspects: Improving Data within the service (What gets measured, gets managed), helping more people for less Council money, use of a CRM to augment their work, investing in preventative homelessness work (by submitting a business case to Cabinet), improved co-ordination between partners and funding for MEAM - conditional on satisfactory performance indicators.

·         Data was key in terms of knowing of which area required improvement and once that data had been collected this could be used by the CRM system Abavus to help understand need and then for officers to work with partners and a variety of different organisations across Buckinghamshire to find the best service to address the need of individuals. The business case produced should identify savings from preventative work. Other external factors into homelessness needed to be examined including drug and alcohol addiction.

·         Review group members were Cllrs Andrea Baughan, Nic Brown, David Carroll, Chris Poll, Maz Hussein, Stuart Wilson, officers and above mentioned partners

During discussion the following points were made:-

·         In terms of numbers on the street Everyone In had a positive effect. During the course of Everyone In, the Council housed over 300 people, and following the initial series of lockdowns, brought the number of rough sleepers down to 5 in November 2020. The number of rough sleepers was significantly reduced compared to prior to ‘Everyone In’. Initially the figure stood at 16 verified rough sleepers in November 2022. There had been an increase in homelessness and rough sleeping in recent months following the pandemic, and as of October 2023, there were 31 people identified sleeping rough, 19 in the south of the county, and 12 in the north.

·         There were different types of homelessness; those who were homeless, perhaps temporarily due to personal circumstances and towards the other end of the spectrum, rough sleepers.  It was noted that approximately 80% of these were identified as ‘High Needs’. High  ...  view the full minutes text for item 13.

The Council had for several years been keen to secure the development of the Aylesbury Woodlands Site for a mixed-use scheme comprising primarily of commercial and residential uses together with the construction of a new spine road. Following a Cabinet decision made on 4 January 2024 a successful marketing campaign resulted in a potential preferred bidder being identified.

This report had regard to yet unresolved Land assembly issues, which sought:

(a) to provide the Council with an alternative route to development should negotiations stall; and

(b) approval to carry out preparatory works to reduce the overall project time should it have to exercise its compulsory purchase powers in the future. 

Compulsory purchase was intended as a last resort to secure the assembly of all the land needed for the implementation of projects. However, if an acquiring authority waited for negotiations to break down before starting the compulsory purchase process, valuable time would be lost and key trigger points including funding and potentially planning, might be put at risk. The Council had secured £25m of HIF funding but there were conditions attached to the funding which might be at risk if the project was not advanced in a timely manner.

Therefore, it was sensible, given the amount of time required to complete the compulsory purchase process, for the acquiring authority to plan a compulsory purchase timetable as a contingency measure; and initiate formal procedures. This would also help to make the seriousness of the authority’s intentions clear from the outset, which in turn might encourage those whose land was affected to enter more readily into meaningful negotiations. A Compulsory Purchase Order would not be successful unless the scheme was deliverable and therefore its viability would be a major factor when considering its implementation. 

RESOLVED –

(A)  That it be agreed for preparatory work to be undertaken to determine, should the situation require, if there is a case for the Council to use its Compulsory Purchase Powers (“CPO)” to acquire either:

(i)                 The Woodlands Site, being the land shown for indicative purposes only edged red on the plan at Appendix 1, or

(ii)               Or The land required for the construction of the Eastern Link Road South (ELSR) shown for indicative purposes as the area shown hatched on the plan at confidential appendix (A5), or

(iii)              A combination of (i) and/or (ii) above. 

(B)   That authority be delegated to the Service Director – Commercial Property and Regeneration, in consultation with the Section 151 Officer, the Service Director (Legal and Democratic) and the Cabinet Member for Accessible Housing and Resources, to undertake all necessary steps to enable the Council to fully consider the options for making a Compulsory Purchase Order and/or a Side Roads Order, as outlined in A above, including: 

(i)                 the exercise of powers under section 16 Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976 and/or section 5A Acquisition of Land Act 1981 to require owners and occupiers to provide information about their ownership or occupation.

(ii)               the exercise of powers under section  ...  view the full decision text for item 14.

The Council had for several years been keen to secure the development of the Aylesbury Woodlands Site for a mixed-use scheme comprising primarily of commercial and residential uses together with the construction of a new spine road. Following a Cabinet decision made on 4 January 2024 a successful marketing campaign resulted in a potential preferred bidder being identified.

This report had regard to yet unresolved Land assembly issues, which sought:

(a) to provide the Council with an alternative route to development should negotiations stall; and

(b) approval to carry out preparatory works to reduce the overall project time should it have to exercise its compulsory purchase powers in the future. 

Compulsory purchase was intended as a last resort to secure the assembly of all the land needed for the implementation of projects. However, if an acquiring authority waited for negotiations to break down before starting the compulsory purchase process, valuable time would be lost and key trigger points including funding and potentially planning, might be put at risk. The Council had secured £25m of HIF funding but there were conditions attached to the funding which might be at risk if the project was not advanced in a timely manner.

Therefore, it was sensible, given the amount of time required to complete the compulsory purchase process, for the acquiring authority to plan a compulsory purchase timetable as a contingency measure; and initiate formal procedures. This would also help to make the seriousness of the authority’s intentions clear from the outset, which in turn might encourage those whose land was affected to enter more readily into meaningful negotiations. A Compulsory Purchase Order would not be successful unless the scheme was deliverable and therefore its viability would be a major factor when considering its implementation. 

The Cabinet Member for Accessible Housing and Resources referred to the site which was shown on the plan which had 495 acres in total between the Grand Union Canal to the north and A41 to the south. There was a small typo in the report to refer to Hampden Fields (paragraph 3.3). Outline planning permission had been secured for 1100 new homes and 1 million square feet of new commercial space. Running north/south through the site was the proposed route of the Eastern Link road (south) which linked to the existing Eastern Link road (north of the canal) with the A41 roundabout to the south of the site. It was a critical section of the Aylesbury Link Road.

Following a question the Corporate Director of Planning Growth and Sustainability confirmed that there would be a need for a canal bridge; there was a variety of land interest where agreement was required and one of those was the Canal Trust.

RESOLVED –

(A)  That it be agreed for preparatory work to be undertaken to determine, should the situation require, if there is a case for the Council to use its Compulsory Purchase Powers (“CPO)” to acquire either:

(i)                  The Woodlands Site, being the land shown for indicative purposes  ...  view the full minutes text for item 14.

To resolve that under Section 100(A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 the public be excluded from the meeting for the following item(s) of business on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Part I of Schedule 12A of the Act.

RESOLVED –  That under Section 100(A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 the public be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Part I of Schedule 12A of the Act. 

Confidential appendices – Eastern Link Road and Aylesbury Woodlands 

Information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information) (Paragraph 3, Part 1 of Schedule 12A, Local Government Act 1972) (The need to maintain the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosure, because disclosure could prejudice the Council’s position in any future process or negotiations)

RESOLVED – That the confidential Minutes of the Cabinet meeting held 10 September 2024 be approved as a correct record.

The confidential appendices for the Eastern Link Road (South) and Aylesbury Woodlands were discussed.

26 November 2024 at 10am

26 November 2024 at 10am