Agenda and draft minutes

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Cllr Mahon declared that he had worked closely with the Helping Hands team as Chairman of the Parish Council.

The minutes of the meeting held on 22^nd November 2023 to be confirmed as a correct record.

The minutes of the meeting held on 22^nd November 2023 were agreed as a correct record.

Public questions is an opportunity for people who live, work or study in Buckinghamshire to put a question to a Select Committee.

The Committee will hear from members of the public who have submitted questions in advance relating to items on the agenda. The Cabinet Member, relevant key partners and responsible officers will be invited to respond.

Further information on how to register can be found here: https://www.buckinghamshire.gov.uk/your-council/get-involved-with-council-decisions/select-committees/

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The Committee will receive an overview of the Country Parks operating model and an update on their current work programme.

Contributors:

Cllr Clive Harriss, Cabinet Member for Culture and Leisure

Sophie Payne, Service Director, Culture, Sport and Leisure

Andrew Fowler, Head of Parks and Green Spaces

The Chairman welcomed the following people to the meeting:

• Cllr Clive Harriss, Cabinet Member, Culture and Leisure
• Sophie Payne, Service Director, Culture, Sport and Leisure
• Andrew Fowler, Head of Parks and Green Spaces

The Cabinet Member, Culture and Leisure introduced the overview, making the following key points:

• The four country parks had been self-financing for many years.
• Each park had a unique offer and the parks offered a range of activities.
• The parks offered opportunities for education, volunteering and conservation.
• The parks contributed to residents’ health and wellbeing and were particularly important during the covid pandemic.
• Visitor numbers were higher than pre-pandemic levels.
• The main income from the parks came from car parking charges.
• The parks had contributed to Council funds since the year 2005 to 2006.
• New facilities were planned for the parks.
• The parks had been a huge success for the council and were extremely well-maintained.

In response to questions and during subsequent discussions, the following main points were noted:

• The Changing Places facility at Black Park was expected to be completed in March 2024.
• Building projects were subject to external planning constraints but the target delivery dates in the report should be met.
• Increased car parking charges were the largest reason for customer complaint but the numbers complaining were relatively low. Cars often transported four or five people so the charges still represented value for money and as the car park was often full it appeared that visitors tended to accept the charges.
• The parks were able to be self-financing through income from parking charges, filming licences and forestry products and in addition, some of the facilities, such as cafes, were commercial businesses which paid rent.
• The new Black Park café would help ease the demand on the existing catering facilities. It would also encourage people to visit in poor weather as it will be right next to the car park. Visitors will be able to get refreshments indoors and may visit the park in quieter periods. The café will provide around 45 covers. Turnaround time would be relatively high as most customers visit the park for 1 to 2 hours. The running of the café would be outsourced and would provide significant rental income, (it should generate £20,000 to £30,000 per year in addition to the profit made by the kiosk) which will mean the building costs will be fully recovered over time.
• Plans were in place to replace a collapsed bridge over the River Colne in Denham Country Park by winter 2024 to 2025. Over the next 2 years, footpaths and habitat would be improved using HS2 mitigation funding and a Project Officer had recently been appointed to oversee this work
• It had been a busy year for filming in Black Park and the Film Office had seen an increase in applications since the writer’s strike ended.
• Work was in progress to plan the Stoke Poges Country Park which would be on the site of the Lanes Golf Centre.
• In relation to the Little Marlow  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

An opportunity for the Select Committee to hear about the support that has been available to Buckinghamshire residents to assist them during the crisis, from both the Council and our partners. 

Contributors:

Cllr Arif Hussain, Cabinet Member for Communities

Matt Everitt, Service Director, Business Intelligence and Community Support

The Chairman welcomed Cllr Arif Hussain, Cabinet Member for Communities and Matthew Everitt, Service Director, Business Intelligence & Community Support to the meeting. He expressed his thanks and admiration for the work of the Helping Hand team and asked that his comments be passed on to the officers involved.  The Committee echoed these comments.

The Cabinet Member for Communities introduced the report, making the following key points:

• Buckinghamshire was seen as a very affluent area but there were pockets of deprivation, especially in the Opportunity Bucks wards.
• A new cohort of residents has emerged. They had not suffered financial hardship before and did not know how to get help.
• A number of initiatives had been set up to help residents including welcome spaces, warm boxes and Helping Hand partnership working between council officers and voluntary and community partners was vital to the delivery of these schemes.
• Nine work streams had been set up using officers and the voluntary sector. Each of these had bespoke communications so that residents could understand what help was on offer.
• The Energy Doctor service also helped with household fuel usage. The Citizens’ Advice Bureau offered help with debt relief.
• A grant of £4.8 million from the Government’s Household Support Fund had helped 7,500 residents with a range of needs.

In response to questions and during subsequent discussions, the following main points were noted:

• The Cabinet Member for Communities explained that the Council was currently lobbying the government for funding for the year 2024 to 2025. He would share any updates with the committee. The team was looking at ways to continue the Helping Hand offer should the Household Support Fund be withdrawn.
• The Buckinghamshire Food Partnership (BFP) communicated with food banks and suppliers to ensure that their work was not duplicated and is working with the Rothschild Foundation and other providers in the Chesham area to adopt a food ladder approach.  This approach aims to help residents in crisis or struggling to get good food and then work towards developing sustainable community solutions.
• The networking and partnership approach had been very successful. Partners had been investigating sustainable solutions to help residents move out of financial insecurity, which would drive down demand for the Helping Hand service.
• The Service Director, Business Intelligence & Community Support agreed to share information about how many residents per ward request support from Helping Hands and data to show whether demand was rising.

                                               Action: Service Director, BI & Community Support                                                                      

• It was explained that Food champions were volunteers who co-ordinate donations to food banks for an area, such as their street or an estate.
• A Member pointed out that there was some confusion between food banks and community fridges. There was also a concern that some residents could collect food from more than one food bank. He wondered if there could be more emphasis on donations and collections for food banks. The Service Director, Business Intelligence & Community Support explained that Food Actions Plans were being developed to bring the various parties together. Some community  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

The Select Committee will receive an update on the work of the Anti-Social Behaviour team, to better understand their role and responsibilities and the impact of their work across Buckinghamshire. 

Contributors:

Cllr Arif Hussain, Cabinet Member for Communities

Gideon Springer, Head of Community Safety

Abdul Rahim, Community Safety Manager (Operational)

The Chairman welcomed Gideon Springer, Head of Community Safety and Abdul Rahim, Community Safety Manager to the meeting.

The Head of Community Safety introduced the report, making the following key points:

• In 2014 the Government had changed the definition of Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB) to put the emphasis on the victim’s perception. This meant that ASB could be difficult to define and could cover a wide range of behaviours and actions. ASB could affect an individual and the environment.
• Various bodies could help tackle ASB, including social landlords and charity partners. Buckinghamshire Council did not have a response service – urgent complaints were dealt with by the police. Street wardens employed by the Council, worked in High Wycombe and new wardens were being recruited for Aylesbury.
• For low level ASB, informal means were used to resolve problems. The ASB Action Group (ASBAG) dealt with more complex cases. The vulnerability of victims was taken into account. ASB had led to some victims taking their own lives so risk assessments were carried out.
• The victim could ask for an ASB case to be reviewed. If the complaint was about the Council, the Police and Crime Commissioner would appoint an external reviewer, otherwise the Council would set up a Panel to investigate if the ASB case had been dealt with properly. This year only 1 case had been reviewed which showed that partners were dealing with ASB at an early stage. The Safer Bucks Board has oversight of ASB case reviews.
• Year to date there had been 147 reports of ASB and 135 resolved complaints. Not all reports of ASB would progress to an ASB case as they could be signposted to parking or waste colleagues or to Thames Valley Police.  Of 124 new ASB cases, 72 were considered at the ASBAG, where different approaches to resolving ASB would be discussed with partners.  One injunction had been issued and two Community Protection Notices (CPN).
• Buckinghamshire was below the national average for ASB cases and crime in general and compared favourably with Milton Keynes and Oxford in the last year.

In response to questions and during subsequent discussions, the following main points were noted:

• There were only 3 officers dealing with ASB but a number of teams and partners have been involved, for example to combat fly tipping.
• Referrals from members of the public could be made via the Buckinghamshire Council website and were then triaged by the team. Any partner agency, whether internal or external, could refer.
• People could also ask for ASB case referrals via the website. Often repeated problems were due to a person’s mental health issues. This behaviour could be very challenging to deal with and relied on the involvement of mental health services.
• It was important to strengthen communications with the police and other agencies. The Head of Community Safety would be happy to arrange meetings with members. He stated that the most challenging problems needed a creative, multi-agency approach. The Cabinet Member for Communities explained that member seminars would  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

The Committee will discuss the work programme and note the items for the next meeting.

Contributors:

All Committee Members

• In April the Committee would look at the Leisure Strategy.
• The work of the Digital Exclusion Group was ongoing.
• Cllr Frank Mahon suggested that Hannah Tomlin from the Helping Hands team could talk to the committee about the everyday work of the team.
• Cllr Greg Smith asked if it would be appropriate for the committee to discuss community energy projects which could help residents struggling with household bills. This could straddle the remit of the Transport Environment and Climate Change Committee. The Scrutiny Officer and Cllr Smith would discuss this after the meeting.

                                                                                   Action: Cllr Smith/Scrutiny Manager                                                                                                      

• Cllr Susan Morgan asked if the committee could look at the Autism Strategy to ensure inclusivity. The Scrutiny Manager explained that the strategy had already been considered by the Children and Education and the Health and Adult Social Care scrutiny committees but she would discuss with the Chairman if there was a further angle for the Committee to investigate.

                                                                                  Action: Chairman/Scrutiny Manager

The next meeting will take place on 10^th April 2024 at 10am.

10th April 2024 at 10am