Agenda and draft minutes

The newly appointed Chairman of the High Wycombe Town Committee (Councillor P Turner) took the opportunity of welcoming all those present to the first meeting of the new municipal year.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors: Alam, Smith and Mr & Mrs Hayday.

Wendy Morgan- Brown provided an introduction as to her role in her capacity of the assigned dedicated lead officer to the committee, in which she stated that she would be working closely with Councillor A Hussain`s portfolio to assist in progressing the committee`s work schedule.

To appoint the Vice- Chairman for the 2024/25 municipal year.

RESOLVED: That Councillor N Rana be appointed as Vice Chairman of the High Wycombe Town Committee for the 2024/25 municipal year. 

To approve the minutes of the meetings held on 26 March and 15 May 2024.

RESOLVED: That the minutes of the meetings of the High Wycombe Town Committee held on 26 March and 15 May be approved as a true record.

A Member wished it to be recorded that she was pleased that the statement from Mr Callaghan had now been circulated for Members` information. She also expressed her disappointment that the Nexus project had not yet been provided with an opportunity to attend a meeting of the committee to conduct a presentation.

To receive any declarations of interest

No declarations of interest were received

Contact Officer: Shabnam Ali

This item was withdrawn from consideration and deferred to a post- election date whereby fuller details of the scheme could be provided.  

Contact Officer: Martin Dickman

A verbal update was provided to the meeting by Linda Francis.

Members were informed that the working sub- group which had been formed at the previous meeting held in March to discuss the provision of a Sunday burial service, anticipated costs and proposed fees was due to meet tomorrow. This would subsequently report back to the scheduled September meeting of the Committee.

Karen Collins Head of Registration and Coroners was also in attendance to provide a verbal update on the Medical Examiner system and death certification reforms which were due to be implemented on 9 September 2024.

The new statutory rules would require that all deaths in England and Wales be scrutinised by a Medical Examiner (ME) prior to being registered by the registration service. The (ME) would review the notes of the deceased and be in receipt of the medical certificate of the cause of death, issued by the attending GP. It was highlighted that some deaths would need to be referred to the coroner.

The whole process was outlined in some considerable detail.

A member queried how the new process was being advertised to keep all concerned updated as to the new rules and regulations. The presenting officer confirmed that publicity was currently being put together and it was anticipated that it would be in circulation by August time. This would include leaflets in libraries, GP surgeries, and in addition would include an update of the Bucks website to reflect the changes.    

Members collectively expressed their heartfelt thanks to the team for all the hard work being carried out in the background.

RESOLVED: That the report be noted.

Contact Officer: Fiorella Mugari

A report was submitted which presented the revenue outturn position for 2023/24 and the impact on working balances at year end for the Committee. The net outturn position was £317k with an underspend of £188k against a total budget of £505k. The table on page 13 of the agenda pack provided the detail at activity level.

A member asked what had caused there to be an underspend on allotments. It was confirmed that only a portion had been spent on grounds maintenance and that the underspend would go into the working balances which would be accounted for in the budget setting process in November.     

Another member requested an explanation as to why the allocated amount was not being spent on community grants, and questioned whether this was due to communities being unaware of its availability, or because they did not meet the set criteria of the application. Others agreed that the application form which was aimed at small community groups and volunteer organisations had become overly complicated for small grants, and expressed the view that the current format should be reviewed.

RESOLVED: That

(i)                   the report be noted,

(ii)                The lead officer would examine the existing small grants application forms and look to simply the processes, also providing further guidance to the relevant client group.

Contact Officer: Glenn Watson

This item was withdrawn.

 The Chairman read out the following statement.

It was indicated in the High Wycombe Community Governance Review Terms of Reference that the occurrence of a General Election may have implications for the Community Governance Review timeline.  In accordance with best practice guidance for the pre-election period, the Council is unable to publish and consider any Draft Recommendations during the current pre-election period. A revised timeframe is being prepared for resolution after the election.

To note the work programme

RESOLVED: That

(i)                  The work programme be noted,

(ii)                Nexus Presentation be subsumed into the CIL funding item to be considered at the scheduled September/November meeting.

10 September 2024

This was scheduled to take place on 10 September 2024 7pm QVR offices