Agenda, decisions and minutes

There were no apologies.

To approve as a correct record the Minutes of the meeting held on 8 October 2024.

RESOLVED – That the Minutes of the Cabinet meeting held on 8 October 2024 be approved as a correct record.

There were no declarations of interest.

The following hot topics were discussed:-

Cabinet Member for Transport and Cabinet Member for Climate Change and Environment

50 emergency calls were received during Storm Bert relating to flooding, traffic accidents and fallen trees. There was flooding in Buckingham where 40 properties had been affected and three roads and a car park was closed. They had been working very closely with the Climate Change and Environment portfolio and Buckingham Town Council for a joined up response. Water levels were reducing and the situation was being monitored carefully by the Service areas. There was also debris on the A413 and the road had been closed by Thames Valley Police in both directions and was then controlled by traffic lights. Leather Lane had also been closed. They were in conversation with HS2 about the amount of debris on the roads which had been washed down.

All Cabinet Members thanked staff for their huge efforts during this time.

Cabinet Member for Education and Children’s Services

The Family Hub Network was launched on 19^th November which aimed to make it easier for families and residents to access support. The network covered Aylesbury Vale, Chiltern and South Bucks and Wycombe bringing together local and county-wide organisations. The aim was to match families with services that best fit their needs, using local knowledge and connections, hopefully resolving issues early, reducing the need for more costly services later. There were 16 family centres across Buckinghamshire of which three had been re launched. An appointment was not required and residents could just turn up. The main hubs were open all the time but smaller hubs had shorter opening times.

Cabinet Member for Culture and Leisure

The Cabinet Member made reference to supporting arts and culture and the upcoming pantomime season.

Question from Councillor Stuart Wilson to Councillor Peter Strachan, Cabinet Member for Planning and Regeneration

A political leaflet from prominent Buckinghamshire Councillors was distributed recently in Chalfont St Giles stating they were “fighting plans for 100,000 homes on local Green Belt” which I take to mean Green Belt in Buckinghamshire rather than Chalfont St Giles. The recent Member briefing on the proposed NPPF changes stated that up to 50,000 dwellings could be accommodated on non-Green Belt land, leaving 13,000 dwellings on sites in the Green Belt based on the prior housing need used for the new Local Plan.

Could the Cabinet Member please clarify whether a revised target of 86,000 dwellings under the proposed new housing need method is intended or likely to be entirely built on the local Green Belt given its distribution across the county (or 100,000 houses including a new town in all likelihood outside of the Green Belt given planning constraints) and confirm that Planning will continue to brief Members on the likely balance between development on non-Green Belt and Green Belt to avoid any confusion or inaccuracy?

Question from Councillor Robin Stuchbury to Councillor Steve Broadbent, Cabinet Member for Transport and Councillor Thomas Broom, Cabinet Member for Climate Change and Environment

You will be aware that we recently experienced Flooding at Meadway in Buckingham due to the extremely high level of rainfall, which has caused extensive damage to several properties. You will also be aware that there was flooding in Mitre Street which caused major damage to a bungalow and that there is an ongoing problem in Western Avenue in respect of drainage capacity which is resulting in the flooding of properties on a regular basis irrespective of heavy rainfall.

Residents are of the opinion that these events are the result of poor maintenance and repairs not being undertaken which leads to there being no capacity to deal with high rainfall within the highway drainage system. Given the significant impact this has on the affected residents, please may I seek assurance that these ongoing concerns are being addressed and that a proper and timely response will be given to residents, and ask what is the planned capital expenditure to address these matters within Buckingham?

Question from Councillor Stuart Wilson to Councillor Peter Strachan, Cabinet Member for Planning and Regeneration

A political leaflet from prominent Buckinghamshire Councillors was distributed recently in Chalfont St Giles stating they were “fighting plans for 100,000 homes on local Green Belt” which I take to mean Green Belt in Buckinghamshire rather than Chalfont St Giles. The recent Member briefing on the proposed NPPF changes stated that up to 50,000 dwellings could be accommodated on non-Green Belt land, leaving 13,000 dwellings on sites in the Green Belt based on the prior housing need used for the new Local Plan. 

Could the Cabinet Member please clarify whether a revised target of 86,000 dwellings under the proposed new housing need method is intended or likely to be entirely built on the local Green Belt given its distribution across the county (or 100,000 houses including a new town in all likelihood outside of the Green Belt given planning constraints) and confirm that Planning will continue to brief Members on the likely balance between development on non-Green Belt and Green Belt to avoid any confusion or inaccuracy?

Response from Councillor Peter Strachan

In so far as the Local Plan is concerned, we currently expect the government to publish its final post-consultation version of the revised NPPF in December 2024 which should confirm the scale of housing numbers that the council will be required to allocate land for in the new Buckinghamshire Local Plan. The scale of these numbers is anticipated to be in excess of 100,000 with a single new towns proposed by the Lyon’s Commission and potentially far higher should multiple new towns be proposed. The allocation of these houses will depend on sites proposed in the ‘Call for Sites’, land constraints such as flood risk, infrastructure etc. The government’s final policy on the forced release of Green Belt will also be an important consideration. The council cannot say at this point in time what proportion will be in current Green Belt or on Green Belt sites. It is for local political and community organisations to lobby for their preferred NPPF policies with national government.

Finally, I confirm that it remains my intention to ensure that members continue to be briefed on the progress of the Local Plan at the appropriate times during plan preparation.

Question from Councillor Robin Stuchbury to Councillor Steve Broadbent, Cabinet Member for Transport and Councillor Thomas Broom, Cabinet Member for Climate Change and Environment 

You will be aware that we recently experienced Flooding at Meadway in Buckingham due to the extremely high level of rainfall, which has caused extensive damage to several properties. You will also be aware that there was flooding in Mitre Street which caused major damage to a bungalow and that there is an ongoing problem in Western Avenue in respect of drainage capacity which is resulting in the flooding of properties on a regular basis irrespective of heavy rainfall. Residents are of the opinion that these events are the result of poor maintenance and repairs  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

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.

Cabinet were asked to consider the recommendations of the School Attendance Review Group which was formed to investigate the extent of school non-attendance within Buckinghamshire since the pandemic and to ascertain how schools and the local authority were working together to address the issue, which was currently a national concern.

RESOLVED – 

(1)   That the Rapid Review Group, as well as the supporting Officers, be thanked for their work and subsequent recommendations.

(2)   That Cabinet’s responses to the School Attendance Review 2024 and recommendations, as detailed at the meeting, be agreed.

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

 .

Cabinet was asked to consider the recommendations of the School Attendance Review Group which was formed to investigate the extent of school non-attendance within Buckinghamshire since the pandemic and to ascertain how schools and the local authority were working together to address the issue, which was currently a national concern.

The Chairman of the Rapid Review Group made the following points:-

·         The increase in school non-attendance was an issue of great national concern and the rates had increased significantly since the Covid pandemic with an increase nationally from between 4 to 5% nationally prior to the pandemic and 7.6% nationally following the pandemic.

·         The group gained research from several Officers as well as eleven schools – primary, secondary and special schools and heard about some excellent work that was underway to ameliorate the problem but the issues behind the figures were complex.

·         Schools reported a cultural change of some parents in attitude to attendance since the pandemic, more parents were working from home as well as increased mental health issues in children and young people such as a notable increase in anxiety. In some cases, schools also reported an increase of requests for term time holidays

·         The key fact was that there was a clear link between good attendance and good educational attainment, well-being and wider development. Department of Education research shows that young people not achieving a grade 4 to 9 in English and Maths in 2022 had an absence rate of 8.8% compared to 5.2% in those achieving a grade 4. The highest achievement levels were found in the highest attendance groups.

·         Non-attendance figures were lower in primary schools than secondary with year 11 pupils showing the worst figures, although primary figures were rising.

·         The review group was set up to investigate the position in Buckinghamshire and find out what measures were being taken to improve the situation in the county, which had nonattendance figures just below the national figures.

·         All schools were working hard at addressing the issue- in various ways such as teachers allocated to address attendance; good reporting of attendance figures (which was now compulsory for all schools since the implementation of the revised “Working Together to Improve School Attendance” since 19^th August 2024); soft starts to the day for some pupils as well as a variety of other successful measures such as mentoring projects.

·         As per the recommendations, the review group found a need for a communications campaign around the issue to raise awareness of the impact that absence from school had on pupils and “consistently promote the benefits” as requested by the new guidance. The campaign should include information to ensure understanding around the term anxiety which many more pupils were experiencing.

·         There should be a clear information platform for the communications campaign to ensure all statistics and key messages encouraging school attendance could be found in one place and the information should be made available to front line council staff as well as schools.

·         The Group noted the essential role undertaken  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

The Council’s Capital Programme for 2024/25 to 2027/28 was approved by Full Council in February 2024 as £666.264m.  The programme was revised to £674.977m following additions agreed by Cabinet in July 2024.    The report set out the recommended changes for approval and would result in the Capital Programme increasing to £686.639m.   Since the Budget changes agreed by Cabinet in July 2024, £2.007m of additions have had Leader or Cabinet decision approval (Denmark Street Future High Street project, Disposal of Old County Offices, Aston Clinton Traffic Calming Phase 1, and the Libraries Transformation Programme).  

The report recommended further changes which had been recommended through the Council’s Gateway process: 

• Additions of £10.237m for new projects of which £5.187m are externally funded from grants and s.106, and £5.000m for additional roads funding is to be transferred from the Revenue budget, as originally approved at full council due to the Capital nature of the works, and a further £50k for Aylesbury Town Centre Improvement works funded from the Economic Reserve.  

• Reductions of £0.582m, where external funding has been reviewed.

• A reprofile of the programme to align with current project delivery plans, including £24.487m is recommended to be reprofiled from 2024/25 to future years.  

RESOLVED that the recommended changes to the Capital Programme be approved:

1. £10.237m of additions to the Capital Programme, of which £5.187m are funded from ringfenced grants and s.106, and £5.050m is funded from ringfenced council reserves. 

2. £0.582m of technical adjustments from the capital programme for adjustments to external funding. 

3. The revised £686.639m Capital Programme, with £24.487m reprofiled from 2024/25 into future years.  

4. the release of funding of £3.222m relating to the projects set out in section 5 of the report.   

The Council’s Capital Programme for 2024/25 to 2027/28 was approved by Full Council in February 2024 as £666.264m.  The programme was revised to £674.977m following additions agreed by Cabinet in July 2024.    The report set out the recommended changes for approval and would result in the Capital Programme increasing to £686.639m.   Since the Budget changes agreed by Cabinet in July 2024, £2.007m of additions have had Leader or Cabinet decision approval (Denmark Street Future High Street project, Disposal of Old County Offices, Aston Clinton Traffic Calming Phase 1, and the Libraries Transformation Programme).  

The report recommended further changes which had been recommended through the Council’s Gateway process: 

• Additions of £10.237m for new projects of which £5.187m were externally funded from grants and s.106, and £5.000m for additional roads funding was to be transferred from the Revenue budget, as originally approved at Full Council due to the Capital nature of the works, and a further £50k for Aylesbury Town Centre Improvement works funded from the Economic Reserve.  

• Reductions of £0.582m, where external funding had been reviewed.

• A reprofile of the programme to align with current project delivery plans, including £24.487m was recommended to be reprofiled from 2024/25 to future years.  

RESOLVED that the recommended changes to the Capital Programme be approved:

1. £10.237m of additions to the Capital Programme, of which £5.187m are funded from ringfenced grants and s.106, and £5.050m is funded from ringfenced council reserves. 

2. £0.582m of technical adjustments from the capital programme for adjustments to external funding. 

3. The revised £686.639m Capital Programme, with £24.487m reprofiled from 2024/25 into future years.  

4. the release of funding of £3.222m relating to the projects set out in section 5 of the report.   

This report set out the forecast Revenue and Capital outturn position for Buckinghamshire Council for the financial year 2024/25 as at Quarter 2.  The Council continued to experience significant financial pressures due to increases in demand, complexity of need and market insufficiency in key services, primarily High Needs Block (DSG), Children’s Social Care, Home to School Transport, Temporary Accommodation and Adults Social Care. These pressures were in line with those being experienced nationally.

The forecast revenue outturn position at Quarter 2 was an adverse variance of £8.4m (1.7% of Portfolio budgets) compared with £6.5m reported in Q1. This was primarily due to pressures in Education and Children’s Services around additional placements for Looked After Children, Transport Services linked to increases in demand in Home to School Transport and in Climate Change & Environment due to Waste Collection contract costs and income pressures in the Waste Service.  

Within the overall position there was an adverse variance of £14.3m (3%) in Portfolios (£10.0m last quarter) offset by a £5.8m (£3.5m last quarter) favourable variance in Corporate & Funding. The forecast for the Dedicated Schools Grant budget was an in year deficit of £13.1m (£7.7m Q1), primarily due to ongoing pressures within the High Needs Block. An Action Plan had been developed to address the significant issues in this area.

The forecast position on capital budgets £185.1m against a budget of £181.8m, a net accelerated spend of £3.3m (1.8% of the budget). £4.4m accelerated spend related to the Highways contract linked to Structures and Plane and Patch. The budget included an approved savings programme totalling £95.3m over 3 years with £41.3m of additional income and savings to be delivered in 2024/25.  Delivery of savings for 2024/25 (including in-year mitigations) was currently forecast at 98.1% after taking into account mitigations (97% last quarter) with £0.8m (1.9%) of unmitigated pressures included in the adverse variance reported above.

Actions would continue to be required to closely manage the in-year financial position.

Paragraph 2.3 of the report needed to be corrected to say £14.3m.

RESOLVED –  That the Quarter 2 Budget Management Report 2024-2025, and the risks and opportunities contained within it, be NOTED.

This report set out the forecast Revenue and Capital outturn position for Buckinghamshire Council for the financial year 2024/25 as at Quarter 2.  The Council continued to experience significant financial pressures due to increases in demand, complexity of need and market insufficiency in key services, primarily High Needs Block (DSG), Children’s Social Care, Home to School Transport, Temporary Accommodation and Adults Social Care. These pressures were in line with those being experienced nationally.

The forecast revenue outturn position at Quarter 2 was an adverse variance of £8.4m (1.7% of Portfolio budgets) compared with £6.5m reported in Q1. This was primarily due to pressures in Education and Children’s Services around additional placements for Looked After Children, Transport Services linked to increases in demand in Home to School Transport and in Climate Change & Environment due to Waste Collection contract costs and income pressures in the Waste Service.  

Within the overall position there was an adverse variance of £14.3m (3%) in Portfolios (£10.0m last quarter) offset by a £5.8m (£3.5m last quarter) favourable variance in Corporate & Funding (£2.9m with capital financing, £2.4 million in interest payable and £3.1mill on treasury income).There were £16.2 mill of contingencies being retained in order to manage risk. The forecast for the Dedicated Schools Grant budget was an in year deficit of £13.1m (£7.7m Q1), primarily due to ongoing pressures within the High Needs Block. An Action Plan had been developed to address the significant issues in this area.

There was a £6.7million pressure in Education and Children’s Services due to high numbers of Looked After Children, £4.5 million in transport services which included home to school transport due to demand. The Council’s budget included savings and £41 million was due to be delivered in the current financial year which was 98% of the savings target. 

The forecast position on capital budgets £185.1m against a budget of £181.8m, a net accelerated spend of £3.3m (1.8% of the budget). £4.4m accelerated spend related to the Highways contract linked to Structures and Plane and Patch. The budget included an approved savings programme totalling £95.3m over 3 years with £41.3m of additional income and savings to be delivered in 2024/25.  Delivery of savings for 2024/25 (including in-year mitigations) was currently forecast at 98.1% after taking into account mitigations (97% last quarter) with £0.8m (1.9%) of unmitigated pressures included in the adverse variance reported above.

Actions would continue to be required to closely manage the in-year financial position.

Paragraph 2.3 of the report needed to be corrected to say £14.3m.

During discussion the following points were made:-

·         In terms of the overspend of the Dedicated Schools Grant this was a national challenge for councils with SEND responsibilities. This was an authorised overdraft which was time limited. The primary challenge was the number of children with EHCPs increasing and a sufficiency challenge with the number of special schools in area so children had to be placed in independent schools outside of the County. There was a high needs block recovery plan and a  ...  view the full minutes text for item 10.

The quarterly performance report provided details of the key performance measures reported through the corporate performance framework for 2024/25 and the performance scorecard. which provided information on four key elements of performance for the Council covering Finance, Customer Service, Performance and Human Resources indicators. Within the performance report and performance scorecard, outturns which were performing at or better than target were classified as Green, those which were within 5% of the target were Amber and those which were more than 5% of the target were Red. At the end of Quarter 2, 91 indicators had outturns reported with a Red, Amber or Green status. Of these, 63 were Green (69%), 11 were Amber (12%) and 17 were Red (19%).

RESOLVED that the performance report be noted including the action taken to improve performance where required.

The quarterly performance report provided details of the key performance measures reported through the corporate performance framework for 2024/25 and the performance scorecard, which provided information on four key elements of performance for the Council covering Finance, Customer Service, Performance and Human Resources indicators. Within the performance report and performance scorecard, outturns which were performing at or better than target were classified as Green, those which were within 5% of the target were Amber and those which were more than 5% of the target were Red. At the end of Quarter 2, 91 indicators had outturns reported with a Red, Amber or Green status. Of these, 63 were Green (69%), 11 were Amber (12%) and 17 were Red (19%). The new OFLOG figures had been included for the first time.

Cabinet Members each addressed the red indicators in their portfolio and the following key points were made:-

Leader

The number of new business registrations were falling and the unemployment rate was rising. The Council was working with business support organisations and Bucks Business First to address this but it was a national issue and there was concern over rising national insurance contributions. Inflation was increasing and growth was dropping. The Council had lobbied the Office for Investment. The South East Link Road had been very difficult to deliver with multiple land ownership issues and Compulsory Purchase powers and the interaction with Network Rail and Thames Water. The contract had now been let for the whole of that section of road. The roundabout on the Wendover Road might soon be open for south bound traffic.

Affordable Housing and Resources

The average call waiting time target was underperforming which was due to seasonal factors e.g home to school transport and bus passes and special educational needs. There were a number of improvement actions listed such as AI. The Leader asked for information on the longest wait time and for this to be circulated to all Cabinet Members. No complaints had been received for call waiting times.

Climate Change and Environment

An issue which had cropped up around flytipping related to abandoned lorries. There were a number of trailers across the County and there was an ongoing multi agency criminal investigation being led by the Environment Agency and a number of other police forces. The trailers were being treated as evidence. Once the Council had access the Council needed to test whether there was hazardous material in the trailer. If identified specialist contractors needed to get rid of this material.

Culture and Leisure

This portfolio was not reaching their target for engagement with archives through social media and in-person visits. Improvement actions included promoting their history festival (histfestbucks) through social media.

Education and Children’s Services

There had been an increase in the number of Looked After Children which had impacted on targets and staffing issues. Most children were placed in Buckinghamshire but if not travel was an issue for visits. In terms of re-referrals the Council had reduced their target to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 11.

The confidential minutes were agreed.

17 December 2024 at 10am

17 December 2024 at 10am