Agenda item

Members received reports from Cabinet Members. There was an opportunity for members to ask questions of individual Cabinet Members about matters and issues affecting their portfolios.

Leader of the Council, Councillor Martin Tett

(i)      Future investment in Chesham - a levelling up fund bid had been submitted to government focussing on regeneration in Chesham, however this had not been approved. It was noted that none of the levelling up fund bids that had been submitted by Buckinghamshire Council had been approved by government. The Leader would continue to submit bids at every opportunity to support regeneration across the county.

(ii)    Local ward member consultation on decisions affecting their wards – the Leader reiterated that Buckinghamshire Council was a member-led authority. It was noted that there was a requirement for local members to be consulted on all cabinet reports, and that the Leader had previously rejected reports where local member views had not been included within reports.

(iii)  Suitable support for Afghan families – members were advised that suitable support had been put in place for Afghan families that had resettled in Buckinghamshire. It was noted that a constraint was finding suitable accommodation in the family’s ideal location, as accommodation was difficult to find; the council worked closely with families to meet their needs.

Cabinet Member for Planning and Regeneration, Councillor Gareth Williams

The Cabinet Member encouraged members to complete the planning survey that had been circulated via the select committee, which would help to inform the council what members wanted to see from the planning service.

(i)      Backlog in planning applications – it was noted that figures for backlogs differed depending on area (e.g., enforcement, major applications). There was a 42% increase in applications received by the council year on year. The team had done a phenomenal job of reducing backlogs and turnover of applications was 25% up on last year. The Cabinet Member recognised there was more work to do and had directed teams to work on backlogs specifically.

(ii)    Buckinghamshire Design Code – the council had been given £50,000 funding from government as part of a pilot scheme which had funded ‘Bucks Place’, an online design tool. Comments from Bucks Place would feed into the formation of the Buckinghamshire Local Plan.

(iii)  Winslow group – the Cabinet Member welcomed the invitation to meet with the group to discuss development in Winslow.

Cabinet Member for Transport, Councillor Steven Broadbent

One of the council’s key priorities was the clearing of drains and gullies, which the council had invested significant sums into the budget to supporting. The Cabinet Member was pleased to announce that half of the 85,000 gullies across the county were cleared, and teams continued to deliver the outstanding works at pace.

(i)      Gully clearing in Gerrards Cross – a graphic would soon be uploaded onto the members portal detailing gully clearing progress by ward.

(ii)    Timeline for repairing street lights – it was noted that since April 2021, approximately 795 street lights had been repaired, and work was ongoing. Street lights were also going through an LED replacement process, which was well underway. From next month, an update was being rolled out to FixMyStreet which would see improvements to reporting street lighting issues specifically, including details on when replacements might be due.

(iii)  Temporary lights and abandoned cars in High Wycombe – it was noted that lots of work was happening on the roads by the council, but also statutory undertakers (e.g., utilities companies), and on occasion, works continued beyond the specified work period. Members were encouraged to report any delayed works so that the council could investigate. The member was advised to report the locations of abandoned cars to the team so that officers could investigate.

(iv)  Road permits – members were advised that when scheduled works took place, assessments were done in advance. All local ward members were sent information on works relating to their ward area, and were encouraged to share this information with residents. In case of emergency works, companies had the right to work on the road immediately.

Cabinet Member for Culture and Leisure, Councillor Clive Harriss

(i)   The Rye, High Wycombe – the Cabinet Member was made aware that the football pitch at The Rye had been water logged and meant that football teams had had to use a pitch further afield. The Cabinet Member would look into alternative sites for football matches to take place.

(ii) Play Streets Pilot Scheme, Aylesbury West – Councillor Sarah James was recognised for her work on the Play Streets Pilot Scheme in Aylesbury West.

Cabinet Member for Education and Children’s Services, Councillor Anita Cranmer

(i)      Ofsted rating – Ofsted were expected to visit imminently. The service had been on an improvement journey and the Cabinet Member was optimistic that the service had improved.

(ii)    Secondary school results – it was asked how the secondary school results incident could be prevented from happening again. Members were advised that this was an unfortunate incident in which an IT system had failed. A new system had been put in place and members were reassured that this would never happen again.

Cabinet Member for Finance, Resources, Property and Assets, Councillor John Chilver

(i)      Customer Service call waiting times – The Cabinet Member recognised that there had been some unacceptable delays in time taken to answer calls. It was noted that the summer period had been particularly busy with calls relating to waste and council tax. Data on call waiting times was monitored closely, and call waiting times had reduced over the past couple of months. A number of measures were in place to make contact with the council as easy and accessible as possible.

(ii)    Loans – the loans referred to related to the former legacy authorities, and funded their capital programmes as opposed to individual projects which made them difficult to identify.

(iii)  Devolution of assets to Aylesbury Town Council – the Cabinet Member welcomed discussions with Aylesbury Town Council on any proposals they might have for devolution of assets.

(iv)  Community board funding, and management of the council’s properties – the member was asked to direct the question to the Cabinet Member for Communities.

Cabinet Member for Health and Wellbeing, Councillor Angela Macpherson

The Cabinet Member advised that the council received further detail on the government’s proposed social care reforms last week, and explained the impact the proposals would have on the service. Once the government’s white paper was received, the Cabinet Member would arrange a full member briefing on the paper and what it meant for the council.

(i)      Workforce pressures – this was a key issue for the council as well as other local authorities across the country. Vacancies did cause significant pressures, however the council were working hard to recruit staff and had plans in place to address recruitment and retention, including a Workforce Strategy. The council support educational opportunities for staff (social work degree/ apprenticeship/ cadet scheme) to help bring people into the service, as well as career progression opportunities. It was noted that the winter period would bring significant pressure.

(ii)    Safeguarding Campaign, and the issue of scams - the Cabinet Member was congratulated on the success of the Safeguarding Campaign thus far. It was noted that referrals had increased as a result of the campaign, which would continue until February 2022. The council were also supporting the national campaign. The Cabinet Member would provide a detailed response to the member as to how the council was working to address the issue of scams.

(iii)  Access to GPs – this issue had recently been raised at the Health & Wellbeing Board. GPs in attendance had explained the huge workload they were dealing with and recognised the call wait times that residents faced, and that service could be improved. The Cabinet Member urged members to listen to the webcast of the discussion at the Health & Wellbeing Board meeting for further information.

(iv)  Care sector staff and vaccinations – members noted that vaccination numbers were reasonably high for Buckinghamshire care staff. However, mandatory vaccination for care staff would have an impact on staffing levels. The Cabinet Member would provide the member with vacancy figures.

Cabinet Member for Housing, Homelessness and Regulatory Services, Councillor Nick Naylor

(i)      Taxi licensing policy – a driver/ council liaison group had been established to further discuss the policy with the taxi industry. Some concessions had been made in some areas, but not in others, particularly with regards to safety and child safety.

(ii)    Social housing – the member was asked to write to the Cabinet Member in relation to the proposal for social housing at the specific site, who would look into the matter along with the Cabinet Member for Planning Regeneration.

Cabinet Member for Communities, Councillor Steve Bowles

The Cabinet Member expressed thanks to members for showing their support to end violence against women and young girls, at the white ribbon stall. The council had plans to develop a strategy with specific focus on ending abuse against women and young girls. Councillor Bowles would be talking to listeners of Wycombe Sound on 25 November specifically about this issue. 

Members were advised of the enormous amount of work going on around Armed Forces. The council had reinforced its support for Armed Forces by signing the Armed Forces Covenant in July 2020, which was a commitment to ensuring that no Armed Forced personnel were disadvantaged. Members noted that Buckinghamshire had a significant Armed Forces community. Members were encouraged to get involved in groups, events and activities, and were advised that increased member engagement would enable the council to ‘go for gold’.

(i)      Community Board funding – members were advised that an email had been received by Chairmen and Vice-Chairmen of Community Boards to inform them that, given budgetary pressures including significant risk in social care services and home to school transport pressures, as well as scenarios for Buckinghamshire in the impending government spending review, it was the Cabinet’s intention to take back £3.5 million of rolled over funds. Members noted that 225 projects had be approved for funding to a total cost of £1.46m, with existing match funding of £1.2m (total value £2.66m). There were £1.4m worth of projects in the pipeline which included projects committed last year. There remained a large amount of unallocated funding. The decision to take back funds had not been taken lightly; the Cabinet remained committed to community boards which were a keystone of the localism agenda.

(ii)    Devolution of buildings – a member meeting recently took place regarding devolution of community centres to Aylesbury Town Council. The council were currently going through the process of looking at devolving Meadowcroft Community Centre to the town council. It was hoped that that community centre would be the first of many community centres devolved to the town council.

Cabinet Member for Climate Change and Environment, Councillor Peter Strachan

The Cabinet Member was pleased to announce that effective 13 December 2021 separate food collections would resume in High Wycombe and Amersham; residents would be informed over the coming days. A member briefing note would be circulated week commencing 29 November 2021 to enable members to advise residents on the matter. Members welcomed the good news.

(i)      Greatmoor energy from waste plant – members were asked to write to the Cabinet Member who would arrange visits to the plant on their behalf.

(ii)    Charging for green waste collections – members were advised that no decision had been made in relation to charging for green waste collections in High Wycombe. Members would be informed if any changes to charges were made.

(iii)  Protecting Buckinghamshire’s mature trees - the Cabinet Member recognised the importance of maintaining Buckinghamshire’s existing mature trees, and advised members that protections for trees were supported in planning. Tree planting was one of sixty items on the council’s action plan within the climate change strategy; the Cabinet Member informed members he would be planting trees tomorrow (25 November 2021).

(iv)  CO2 emissions from Greatmoor energy from waste plant – the member was advised to write to the Cabinet Member for the detail on emissions from the plant.