Agenda, decisions and minutes

Apologies were received from Councillor S Bowles, Cabinet Member for Communities, Councillor G Williams, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Planning and Regeneration, and Rachael Shimmin, Chief Executive.

To approve as a correct record the Minutes of the meeting held on 15 February 2022

RESOLVED –

That the Minutes of the meeting held on 15 February 2022 be approved as a correct record.

Councillor A Macpherson declared a personal interest in agenda item number 11 and 14 (Affordable Housing Position Statement) as a Board Member of the Vale of Aylesbury Housing Trust.  These items were subsequently withdrawn from the agenda for this meeting.

The following hot topics were discussed:

Leader

The Leader stated that the Council condemned the unlawful Russian invasion of Ukraine and was fully supportive of Ukraine and its people.  The Gateway Council building had been lit blue and yellow on Monday evening and the Ukrainian flag would be flown from several buildings, as a very clear and public sign of support.

The Council was encouraging people that wished to provide support to make a financial donation to the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), rather than providing clothes, toiletries etc.  A link to ‘A Helping Hand for Ukraine’ and on some of the main charities supporting Ukraine during the ongoing conflict in the region was accessible from the Council’s website.

Cabinet Member for Finance, Resources, Property and Assets

Members were informed that there was an increased risk to cyber security due to the conflict in Ukraine.  Internal Comms had been sent to all staff to make them aware of the part they played in protecting themselves and the Council from cyber threats, as all UK Central and Local Government agencies had been advised to be on heightened alert.  Members of the public were similarly recommended to remain vigilant.

Cabinet Member for Children’s Services and Education

The Cabinet Member advised that Ofsted had commenced an inspection of the Council’s Special Education Needs and Disability (SEND) Service.  The inspection would take 2 weeks, being off site this week, and then on-site next week interviewing staff, parents and service users.  This Ofsted inspection differed to the recent inspection of Children’s Services in that the Council would not receive a judgement / rating at the end of it.  However, it was possible that a ‘Statement of Actions’ would be produced, which was the case with around 20% of local authority SEND inspections. 

Cabinet Member for Transport

(i)             The Cabinet Member advised that today’s London Tube Strike would impact on Aylesbury, Great Missenden and Amersham due to a lack of signallers.  A similar Tube strike was expected to be held on Thursday.  The strikes would also impact on some morning services on Wednesday and Friday.  People were advised to check with Chiltern Railways before travelling on these days

(ii)           Moving Traffic Offences – An upcoming change in legislation by the Department for Transport would mean that powers used previously only by the police would soon be available to a limited number of Councils.  Buckinghamshire Council wishes to be one the first local authorities to take advantage of this opportunity.  The Council was currently inviting feedback from people on these plans to take on enforcement of moving traffic offences, such as ignoring ‘no entry’ or ‘no left/right turn’ signs, driving in bus or taxi routes or other places where motor vehicles are prohibited, entering yellow box junctions without the exit being clear, stopping on school keep clears, or driving the wrong way up one-way streets.  The deadline for responses was 4 April 2022.

(iii)         The Cabinet Member, Leader and all Cabinet Members thanked  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

Question from Councillor Stuart Wilsonto Councillor Gareth Williams, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Planning and Regeneration, Councillor Clive Harriss, Cabinet Member for Leisure and Culture, and Councillor John Chilver, Cabinet Member for Finance, Resources, Property and Assets

“Little Marlow Country Park Development Status and Plans 

The Little Marlow Lakes Country Park is a site wholly in the green belt and adjacent to AONB. It is formally designated a Country Park in the Wycombe Local Plan under Policy RUR4. Little Marlow Lakes Country Park is also designated as the Burnham Beeches SAC Mitigation site for the proposed development of 467 houses in Bourne End at Hollands Farm under Policy BE2 of the same Wycombe Local Plan. This is presently subject to an outline planning application at an advanced stage of determination (now due March 31^st, 2022) which would carry a total in perpetuity mitigation cost of almost £1.5m under a s106 agreement. Following recent questions to Cabinet Members at Budget Scrutiny and the Finance & Resources Select Committee, the status and plans for this Country Park within Buckinghamshire Council’s broad oversight remain obscure and wholly conflicted. 

Can the Cabinet Members please clarify the status of Little Marlow Lakes Country Park as part of Buckinghamshire Council’s Country Parks portfolio and its ability to simultaneously deliver: 

·            the natural environment and recreational objectives outlined in Policy RUR4;  

·            all the Burnham Beeches SAC mitigation measures required for Hollands Farm, Bourne End (Policy BE2, Development Brief and Appropriate Assessment); 

·            and the various development proposals within the Country Park for a major film studio, a large training facility for Wycombe Wanderers and a temporary (5 year) industrial stockyard, either in part or wholly sponsored by Buckinghamshire Council?” 

Question from Councillor Robin Stuchbury to Councillor Gareth Williams, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Planning and Regeneration 

“Health provision in Buckinghamshire through Section 106 contributions 

Evidence suggests that it is difficult getting developer contributions to fund health services in the community.  Within North Buckinghamshire there has been no notable contributions in the preceding years before the Unitary Council and those contributions which have been made to Health Bodies and the County Council which now no longer exist as a result of organisational changes. Please could the Cabinet Member explain what work is going on to ensure that the appropriate contributions are being made through future developments to support health service provision within the community and what steps/policies have been put in place since Buckinghamshire Council came into operation to improve this situation for the well-being of Buckinghamshire constituents in the longer-term.”

Question from Councillor Stuart Wilson to Councillor Gareth Williams, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Planning and Regeneration, Councillor Clive Harriss Cabinet Member for Leisure and Culture, and Councillor John Chilver, Cabinet Member for Finance, Resources, Property and Assets

“Little Marlow Country Park Development Status and Plans

RESPONSE was provided by Councillor Chilver on behalf of the 3 Cabinet Members

“We recognise the huge value provided by Country Parks and green spaces - as has been particularly seen over the past two years, with record numbers of visitors to our own existing parks.

The approach to mitigating the recreational impacts of Hollands Farm was agreed with Natural England as the Wycombe Local Plan was prepared.  The rationale for this approach was that it was preferable to meet the need for Suitable Alternative Natural Greenspace (SANG) on a nearby site as it was not possible to accommodate it on site.

The package set out in the adopted development brief demonstrates how this would be achieved and is aimed at access to and movement within the country park area utilising existing rights of way and not requiring additional purchase of land. 

In applying the Natural England SANG standard means an additional 4.15 ha of land on top of open space requirements would be required, the area designated in the Local Plan as Country Park is 326ha.  The mitigation measures are based on existing rights of way and therefore they can take effect regardless of current status of the country park.

Cabinet has considered and approved the recommendations from the Budget Scrutiny and Finance  ...  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 Cabinet would be discussing at forthcoming meetings.

RESOLVED –

That the Cabinet Forward Plan be noted.

For Cabinet to note the Select Committee Work Programme.

RESOLVED –

That the Select Committee Work Programme be noted.

Cabinet was asked to consider the recommendations of the Growth, Infrastructure and Housing Select Committee, following a rapid review undertaken into Member engagement in planning.  During November and December 2021, the review group had collected evidence through meetings and by conducting a survey of elected Members and planning staff.  The review group had then met in January 2022 to discuss and agree its key findings and recommendations that were detailed at Appendix 1 to the report to Cabinet.

Cabinet considered their responses to the scrutiny review and it was agreed that the Member Development Working Group should take a lead in actioning some of the recommendations, particularly on guidance notes for Members and Officers, Meet the Planner ‘informal’ events and on political awareness training.  It was also commented that other areas such as planning enforcement and planning engagement with Town and Parish Councils would benefit from similar review by scrutiny.  

RESOLVED –

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

(2)           That Cabinet’s responses to the review, as detailed at the meeting be noted.

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

Councillor C Poll, Chairman of the Review Group into Member engagement in planning attended the meeting to present the findings and recommendations which had been reported to Cabinet by the Growth, Infrastructure and Housing Select Committee.

Cabinet was informed that a rapid review had been undertaken during November and December 2021 into Member engagement in planning.  The review group had collected evidence through meetings and by conducting a survey of elected Members and planning staff.  The review group had then met in January 2022 to discuss and agree its key findings and recommendations that were detailed at Appendix 1 to the Cabinet report.

Cabinet considered their responses to the scrutiny review and commented or raised the following points during discussion:

·            It was agreed that the Member Development Working Group should take a lead in actioning some of the recommendations, particularly on guidance notes for Members and Officers, Meet the Planner ‘informal’ events and on political awareness training.

·            That it would be helpful to also involve the Environment team in this work as there were overlaps between this area and planning.

·            A Cabinet Member commented on the positive and productive outcomes from a recent Planning Surgery he had attended.

·            A more detailed explanation was provided on recommendation 2 and enabling all Members to be able to access and receive training on GIS maps to enable them to look up planning application details and other useful information such as flood plains and conservation areas.  It was believed that this would answer many Member queries without the need to have to contact a planning officer.

·            It was commented that other areas such as planning enforcement and planning engagement with Town and Parish Councils would benefit from similar review by scrutiny.

RESOLVED –

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

(2)           That Cabinet’s responses to the review, as discussed at the meeting, be noted.

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

Buckinghamshire Council’s Corporate Plan set out what the Council wanted to achieve and how this would be done, addressing the challenges faced and harnessing opportunities as they presented themselves.

The current plan had been approved in February 2020.  A light-touch review of it been undertaken to reflect key events and changes in priorities since the drafting of the plan in 2019/20.  The revised plan reflected the impact of the pandemic on the Council’s priorities, together with other key developments such as new national legislation.

A draft of the refreshed corporate plan was attached at Appendix 1 to the Cabinet report.  The plan was intended to cover the period until 2025, in accordance with the current Council term, and would continue to be subject to an annual refresh.  It was proposed that following consultation on the draft with Select Committee Chairmen (recommendation 1 of the 2022 Budget Scrutiny Inquiry had been to review the Corporate Plan prior to the end of the financial year) the refreshed corporate plan 2020-25 would be submitted to full Council for approval and then published on the website.  The statistics at the ‘Buckinghamshire in numbers’ page of the plan would also be updated, where necessary, before the plan was submitted to Council.  It was also requested that at the ‘Moving forward together: valuing partnerships’ page that the dot point on ‘Increase our overall contribution to HM Treasury’ be moved to be the last of the 6 points.

RESOLVED –

(1)          That the refreshed Corporate Plan 2022 be AGREED for submission to Council.

(2)          That the Leader be authorised to make further amendments to the draft in light of feedback from Select Committee Chairmen, prior to submission of the Corporate Plan Refresh 2022 to Council.

Buckinghamshire Council’s Corporate Plan set out what the Council wanted to achieve and how this would be done, addressing the challenges faced and harnessing opportunities as they presented themselves.

The current plan had been approved in February 2020.  A light-touch review of it been undertaken to reflect key events and changes in priorities since the drafting of the plan in 2019/20.  The revised plan reflected the impact of the pandemic on the Council’s priorities, together with other key developments such as new national legislation.

The Leader introduced a draft of the refreshed corporate plan that was attached at Appendix 1 to the Cabinet report.  The plan was intended to cover the period until 2025, in accordance with the current Council term, and would continue to be subject to an annual refresh.  It was proposed that following consultation on the draft with Select Committee Chairmen (recommendation 1 of the 2022 Budget Scrutiny Inquiry had been to review the Corporate Plan prior to the end of the financial year) the refreshed corporate plan 2020-25 would be submitted to full Council for approval and then published on the website.

Cabinet Members commented on issues relating to their portfolio, or raised the following comments during discussion:

·                On the importance of the Council working with partners to achieve and deliver the agreed outcomes.  As a public document, the Corporate Plan would help to communicate to staff, partners and residents, a clear concise narrative of strategic intent.

·                That the Corporate Plan was the Council’s main strategic business planning document, establishing a golden thread between the Council’s priorities, as set out by elected Members, and the activities which would be undertaken to deliver the organisation’s agreed outcomes.

·                That the page on ‘How will we spend the 2022/23 budget’ highlighted the expenditure on Adult Social Care and Children’s Social Care.  Expenditure on Adult Social Care had increased by 23.2% since 2015.

·                It was requested that the statistics at the ‘Buckinghamshire in numbers’ page of the plan should be updated, where necessary, and that at the ‘Moving forward together: valuing partnerships’ page, the dot point on ‘Increase our overall contribution to HM Treasury’ should be moved to be the last of the 6 points, both changes to be made before the plan was submitted to Council.

RESOLVED –

(1)          That the refreshed Corporate Plan 2022 be AGREED for submission to Council.

(2)          That the Leader be authorised to make further amendments to the draft in light of feedback from Select Committee Chairman, prior to submission of the Corporate Plan Refresh 2022 to Council.

Children’s Services in Buckinghamshire had been judged to be inadequate by Ofsted in August 2014 and November 2017.  Following the November 2017 ‘Inadequate’ judgement, Ofsted had recently conducted their reinspection of services for children in need of help and protection, children looked after and care leavers. As part of the inspection, inspectors evaluated:

·                overall effectiveness of the service

·                the experiences and progress of children in need of help and protection

·                the experiences and progress of children in care and care leavers

·                the impact of leaders on social work practice with children and families

This inspection had found that Buckinghamshire was no longer ‘Inadequate’, and the overall judgement of Children’s Services was ‘requires improvement to be good’. The report had been published on Friday 11 February 2022 and could be accessed here.

Members thanked staff for the work that they had done over a number of years, including during the pandemic, that had resulted in the latest Ofsted rating.  It was stated that there was no room for complacency, and it was the aspiration for the Council that Children’s Services be rated at least good at the next Ofsted inspection.

RESOLVED –

That the positive outcome of the Ofsted re-inspection of services for children in need of help and protection, children looked after and care leavers be NOTED. 

Children’s Services in Buckinghamshire had been judged to be inadequate by Ofsted in August 2014 and November 2017.  Subsequently, the Secretary of State had appointed John Coughlan CBE, former Chief Executive of Hampshire County Council, as Children’s Commissioner to undertake a review to determine if the most effective way of securing and sustaining improvement in Buckinghamshire was to remove the control of children’s social care from the Council.  The Council had retained control of its Children’s Services and an Improvement Board had been established to drive sustainable improvement across Children’s Services to address the feedback and areas of concern identified during the November 2017 inspection.

Between July 2018 and October 2019, Ofsted had completed 4 monitoring visits, which had reflected that progress had been made, as well as the general challenge in improving services and the specific challenges around recruitment and retention of social workers.

The fifth monitoring visit had been scheduled for Spring 2020 but had been postponed due to Covid-19.  A Covid focussed visit had been conducted in February 2021 which had again noted the challenges in relation to recruitment and retention as well as the significant increase in demand as a result of the pandemic.

Ofsted had conducted their reinspection of services for children in need of help and protection, children looked after and care leavers between 29 November and 17 December 2021.  As part of the inspection, inspectors had evaluated:

·            the overall effectiveness of the service.

·            the experiences and progress of children in need of help and protection.

·            the experiences and progress of children in care and care leavers.

·            the impact of leaders on social work practice with children and families.

Inspectors had reviewed approximately 400 children’s case files and over 350 documents. They had also met with staff, partners, children and young people, care leavers, parents and carers, adopters and foster carers, as well as the Leader, Cabinet Member Children’s Services & Education, Chief Executive and Senior Leaders within Children’s Services.

The Cabinet Member for Education and Children’s Services informed Members that the recent inspection had found that Buckinghamshire was no longer ‘Inadequate’, and the overall judgement of Children’s Services was ‘requires improvement to be good’. The report had been published on Friday 11 February 2022 and could be accessed here.

Paragraph 2.12 of the Cabinet report detailed some of the actions that the Council needed to take improve the Service:

(i)             The understanding, and reduction of, a high rate of re-referrals and assessments that result in no services being provided for children and their families.

(ii)           The consideration and cumulative impact of earlier interventions and family histories in children and family assessments. 

(iii)         The quality of social workers’ direct work with children.

(iv)         The support provided to children aged 16 and 17 years who present as homeless.

(v)           The impact of independent reviewing officers (IROs) in decisively escalating children’s cases when there is drift and delay in the progress of their care plans.

(vi)         The quality of case supervision for social workers in order  ...  view the full minutes text for item 10.

It was agreed that this item would be withdrawn from the agenda for additional work to be done on the Position Statement.  It would be submitted to a future Cabinet meeting.

Consilio Property Limited was a company limited by shares founded in September 2017 by South Bucks District Council.  In April 2020 100% ownership of Consilio had transferred from South Bucks District Council to Buckinghamshire Council.  The aims and objectives of Consilio had been reviewed and revised to align with its shareholder objectives of enabling the new development of residential property on surplus land on the council’s existing estate to:

·            Increase the amount of good quality affordable and key worker housing stock for Buckinghamshire’s residents.

·            Increase the supply of private housing to meet the Councils housing needs under the adopted Local Plan.

·            Promote and showcase by delivery Buckinghamshire Councils affordable Housing aspirations.

·            Provide a financial return to the Council for the benefit of its residents, where viability allows.

Consilio would have a positive impact on the county’s economic development and help influence economic performance by helping to increase the County’s housing supply.  The company currently held a portfolio of property assets comprising of two commercial buildings and a development of 34 flats, including 14 of which were allocated to affordable housing.  Future Freehold development proposals were currently under consideration by Consilio as evidenced in the Consilio Business Plan, detailed in the confidential part of the agenda.

To be compliant with regulations surrounding the supply and management of Social Housing, Consilio was building the appropriate structure to secure Registered Housing Provider (RP) status as soon as possible.  Funding in the new Consilio landscape would require ongoing discussion and agreement with shareholders. There might additionally be grant funding available from Homes England, especially once RP designation was achieved, that could be secured on a project specific basis to support future residential investments.

In 2021, Consilio Property Ltd had appointed a new Directorship team to enhance good governance and transparency and to take the company forward.  In summary, Cabinet was informed that Consilio Property Ltd was well structured with both good governance and internal and external professionals in place to support ongoing management.  Consilio was now well placed to deliver the aims and objectives shared with Buckinghamshire Council.

RESOLVED –

(1)          That it be NOTED that the Business Plan attached to the Cabinet report represented a true and accurate reflection of Consilio Property Limited’s past and current position. 

(2)          That the Business Plan be AGREED, noting that Consilio Property Limited was expected to continue to generate net returns even with no additional investment.

Consilio Property Limited was a company limited by shares founded in September 2017 by South Bucks District Council.  In April 2020 100% ownership of Consilio had transferred from South Bucks District Council to Buckinghamshire Council.  The aims and objectives of Consilio had been reviewed and revised to align with its shareholder objectives of enabling the new development of residential property on surplus land on the council’s existing estate to:

·            Increase the amount of good quality affordable and key worker housing stock for Buckinghamshire’s residents.

·            Increase the supply of private housing to meet the Councils housing needs under the adopted Local Plan.

·            Promote and showcase by delivery Buckinghamshire Councils affordable Housing aspirations.

·            Provide a financial return to the Council for the benefit of its residents, where viability allows.

Consilio would have a positive impact on the county’s economic development and help influence economic performance by helping to increase the County’s housing supply.  The company currently held a portfolio of property assets comprising of two commercial buildings and a development of 34 flats, including 14 of which were allocated to affordable housing.  Future Freehold development proposals were currently under consideration by Consilio as evidenced in the Consilio Business Plan, detailed in the confidential part of the agenda.

To be compliant with regulations surrounding the supply and management of Social Housing, Consilio was building the appropriate structure to secure Registered Housing Provider (RP) status as soon as possible.  Funding in the new Consilio landscape would require ongoing discussion and agreement with shareholders. There might additionally be grant funding available from Homes England, especially once RP designation was achieved, that could be secured on a project specific basis to support future residential investments.

In 2021, Consilio Property Ltd had appointed a new Directorship team to enhance good governance and transparency and to take the company forward.  In summary, Cabinet was informed that Consilio Property Ltd was well structured with both good governance and internal and external professionals in place to support ongoing management.  Consilio was now well placed to deliver the aims and objectives shared with Buckinghamshire Council.

The Cabinet agenda also included a number of confidential appendices:

Appendix 1 – Consilio Property Limited Business Plan

Appendix 2 – Consilio Finance report narrative

Appendix 3 – Consilio Balance Sheet

Appendix 4 – Consilio P&L Year to Date – November 2021

Members discussed the confidential appendices in private as part of their deliberations and upon returning to public session it was –

RESOLVED –

(1)          That it be NOTED that the Business Plan attached to the Cabinet report represented a true and accurate reflection of Consilio Property Limited’s past and current position. 

(2)          That the Business Plan be AGREED, noting that Consilio Property Limited was expected to continue to generate net returns even with no additional investment.

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 pursuant to Section 100(A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 the public be excluded from the meeting during consideration of Minutes No 14, 15 and 16 on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Part I of Schedule 12A of the Act as defined as follows:

Minute 15 – Consilio Property Limited Business Plan 2021-2023

The items include 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 exemptions outweighs the public interest in disclosure, because disclosure could prejudice the Council’s position in any future process or negotiations).

It was agreed that this item would be withdrawn from the agenda for additional work to be done on the Position Statement.  It would be submitted to a future Cabinet meeting.

This item was undertaken in confidential session as part of Minute item 12 and details of the public discussion and the decisions taken are included within Minute number 12.

RESOLVED –

That the confidential Minutes of the Cabinet meeting held on 15 February 2022 be agreed as a correct record.

29 March 2022 at 10am

The next meeting would be held at 10am on Tuesday 29 March 2022.