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

 

The Leader reported that in the Autumn statement the Government had announced it would be extending and providing additional funding to local Government for local support.  Funding details were unavailable, but it was hoped that it would at least match £2.4m that had previously been provided.  This funding would help to fund the Helping Hands team.  The Leader received comments and questions on New Park, Great Horwood, and on Ukrainian refugees.  Members were informed:

·       That a Leader’s decision would be published very soon – (https://buckinghamshire.moderngov.co.uk/ieDecisionDetailss.aspx?ID=926) that would approve proposals to help mitigate the expected pressure on the demand for accommodation in Buckinghamshire and which related to the volume of Ukrainian citizens (approximately 1,400 people) resettled in the county.  The proposals would help to mitigate this pressure by:

-          Providing support for Buckinghamshire residents to continue/commence hosting.

-          Providing support measures to assist the transition of Ukrainian guests into private rented accommodation.

-          Enabling the use of funding from Government for the Ukraine scheme to develop the supply of temporary accommodation.

A Press Release on how Bucks residents could offer a spare room in their home for a Ukraine guest had also recently been published.

·       That Officers were investigating allegations around how a site in New Park, Great Horwood, was run.  However, as the investigations had not concluded and there were still legal sensitives, the Leader was not able to publicly comment further at the moment.

 

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

 

The Cabinet Member received comments and questions on Dyscalculia, the Bourne End Academy, energy efficiency in schools and on the SEND service.  Members were informed:

·       That the Cabinet Member would respond to the Member about testing in Bucks Schools for dyscalculia.

·       That the Cabinet Member joined with local Members in congratulating Bourne End Academy, who had progressed in a couple of years from special measures to now being rated good, and outstanding on leadership and management.  The school had also achieved the best GCSEs at 5+ at English and Maths of any secondary modern school in Bucks and was oversubscribed this year for Year 7 admissions.

·       That the Council could consider what might be done and was possible to assist schools to improve energy efficiency in their buildings (e.g. lighting, light bulbs).

·       That the Cabinet Member would arrange a Teams meeting with a Member to discuss issues including special education needs, dyslexia and speech therapy.

 

Cabinet Member for Accessible Housing and Resources – Councillor John Chilver

 

The Cabinet Member received comments and questions on apprenticeships, The Exchange restaurants, customer service awareness, loans to Thurrock Council and social housing.  Members were informed:

·       That since the start of the new Council there had been 19 new apprentices each year.  There were currently 195 members of staff on various apprenticeship programmes across the Council or at schools.  The Council was actively promoting opportunities for more apprenticeships.  During Covid, the Kickstart programmes had been run with 45 placements for young people aged 16-25.  Of these, 11 had remained working within the Council.

·       That it was great news that all restaurants in The Exchange, Aylesbury, were now occupied.  An undertaking was given to chase up a reply on plumbing works problems being experienced by Hirali, the Sri Lankan restaurant.

·       On the performance of queries made by the public via the Council’s telephone queries, which had been highlighted during a customer service awareness week.  The Cabinet Member had recently sat with a customer service agent and been impressed with the professionalism and efficiency, and how they handled what were often difficult situations.  The Service had experienced an increase in calls earlier in the year due to missed bins, Council tax, and £150 rebate/vouchers.  The wait time to answer calls had risen to 8 minutes in the Summer but through a number of initiatives and recruitment that had now reduced to less than 3 minutes, with 95% of calls being answered.

·       That the Council had received a letter from Thurrock Council’s Section 151 Officer to confirm that the £10m loan to that Council would be fully repaid at the due date in January.  Members were informed that the criteria for making similar loans in the future had been looked at and tightened up.

·       That a report on social housing was being prepared outlining schemes delivered and underway, including those delivered by the Council and other organisations.

 

Cabinet Member for Communities – Councillor Steve Bowles

 

The Cabinet Member reported that on 25 November he had attended the flag raising ceremony at The Gateway for White Ribbon Day.  He also highlighted the White Ribbon stand located in The Street and encouraged Members to sign the pledge.  The Cabinet Member received comments and questions on a local hot meals project, White Ribbon Day and Aylesbury Garden Town.  Members were informed:

·       That the hot meals project for older people that had been initiated by some Members in the Waddesdon and surrounding areas had been a huge success.  Thanks were also expressed for the continued work of Community Boards.

·       That a 2-day training course was now available for people to raise their awareness on engaging with men and boys to end violence against women and girls, with an opportunity for people to also become a White Ribbon Ambassador or Champion within their community.

·       That the Cabinet Member would liaise further with Officers about a further Member nominee being appointed onto the Aylesbury Garden Town Board.

 

Cabinet Member for Culture and Leisure – Councillor Clive Harriss

 

The Cabinet Member encouraged everyone to support and attend local theatre / pantos and local museums over the festive season.  He received questions on Higginson Park, Aqua Vale SEND provision, Prebendal Farm and on Buckingham Tourist Information.  Members were informed:

·       That comments were welcomed from people on plans to refurbish the play area in Higginson Park.  Officers would also be consulting widely on any proposals.

·       That he would come back to the Member with information on any plans to re-line the swimming pool at the Court Garden Leisure Complex.

·       That post Covid, there was a very high demand from people to use Leisure Centres and facilities.  The Cabinet Member would talk to the operators of Aqua Vale about access for SEND provision, particularly during half-term and Summer holiday periods.

·       That while some improvement works had been done to a local park in the Prebendal Farm area, it was acknowledged that more work needed to be done.  It was mentioned that some of the recent works had been vandalised.

·       That the Cabinet Member was happy to liaise with a Member on initiatives and collaborative efforts that might assist in boosting the local economy in Buckingham.

 

Cabinet Member for Homelessness and Regulatory Services – Councillor Mark Winn

 

The Cabinet Member reported on actions being taken by the Council relating to damp/black mould in social and rented housing.  The Council had an important role to play with registered providers and social landlords to ensure that they addressed critical safety issues in their housing and sought to improve standards within the rental sector.  This included the important role of the Environmental Health team (enforcement) where complaints to a landlord had not led to improvements.  Members were informed that all Councils and providers had received a letter from the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities asking for data on the remediation on damp and mould hazards including on enforcement action taken.  An initial response had been signed off by the Leader, with a more detailed response to be provided to the SoS by 27 January 2023.  Council had been asked to provide information on how they were prioritising enforcement action, including on plans to ensure adequate enforcement capacity was in place to assist in driving up standards in the private rental sector.  The Council was at the initial stages of gathering and analysing local data to help identify possible local improvements and was focussing priorities on current cases.  The Cabinet Member and the Corporate Director would be meeting with registered providers next week to gain a better understanding on how they dealt with complaints about damp/mould.  Members would be kept informed of any issues.

 

The Cabinet Member received comments and questions on enforcement against illegal gypsy encampments, housing associations, damp/black mould in social and rented housing, on rough sleepers and on the illegal sale of tobacco.  Members were informed:

·       On how the Council was able to use Section 60 powers to respond to illegal gypsy encampments that might occur on Council owned land.

·       That if Members were aware of housing associations not dealing with or responding to reports of safety issues that this information should be passed on to the Environmental Health team.

·       That it was important for tenants and landlords to work together to drive up standards in the private rental sector.

·       On the good work of the Wycombe Homeless Connection, and on the other work and initiatives being done over the winter period for rough sleepers across Bucks.

·       Councillor Morgan was thanked for the work she had done with Trading Standards and TVP regarding identifying the provision and sale of illegal tobacco.

 

Cabinet Member for Transportation – Councillor Steve Broadbent

 

The Cabinet Member updated Members on A413 / Wendover Road closures over Christmas and New Year, including information on how the Council and EKFB (HS2s contractors) would be communicating closure details to Members and residents.  Local drop-in sessions hosted by EKFB would be held on 6, 13 and 14 December.

 

The Cabinet Member received comments and questions on the e-scooter trial, drain/gully clearing, Thames Water, fibre broadband, demand responsive training, electronic vehicle charging, winter roads network, HS2, a Buckingham cycleway and the Haddenham-Thame cycleway.  Members were informed:

·       That Zipp had provided the Council with data on car journeys replaced as a result of the e-scooter trial.  Data was based on user surveys and could be provided to the Member.

·       That the Council had cleared 85,000 drains/gullies last year and had again cleared two-thirds of these so far this year.

·       That he shared the frustrations of a Member relating to unnecessary disruptions caused by Thames Water when carrying out works in the Waddesdon area.  So far this year over 23,500 permit applications had been received for works (which compared to approximately 20,000 p.a. 3-4 years ago, and 63,000 permit applications last year).  Of these applications, 5,300 applications had been revoked, refused, or fined through fixed penalty notices.  The Service was putting in a huge effort of inspection to ensure all companies acted within the approved authority limits.

·       That fibre broadband companies were bound by the same rules as other utility companies when undertaking works.  Details of all permits which might include emergency out of hours contact details were available on https://us.one.network/.  If the Member had a particular issue they were welcome to contact the Cabinet Member.

·       On details of the two demand responsive transport schemes in the county (Wycombe was live, Aylesbury was in the final procurement stage) that had been funded through the rural mobility fund.

·       That the Cabinet Member should be able to visit Marlow to look at local issues with a Member, diary commitments permitting.

·       That the Cabinet Member had provided detailed information on plans for on-street electric vehicle charging at the Transport, Environment and Climate Change Select Committee meeting on 3 November during discussion of the Council’s Electric Vehicle Action Plan.  An update had also been provided at that meeting on demand responsive transport.

·       That the highways team were ‘winter ready’ (i.e. which included for road gritting) for the forthcoming Winter period.

·       That he would follow up with Officers and provide an update on HS2 works impacting on the A418 and the area to the west of Aylesbury as well as at Stone.

·       That regards to the delivery of a development agreement to construct a cycleway in Buckingham, a Member was referred to the response to a written question that was an agenda item later in the meeting.

·       On aspirations to provide for a Haddenham-Thame cycleway as a part of larger green infrastructure plans across the county.

 

Cabinet Member for Planning and Regeneration – Councillor Peter Strachan

 

The Cabinet Member received comments and questions on planning pre-application meetings, the Buckinghamshire Local Plan, green belt/AONB, auto-response when planning applications submitted, planning infrastructure and Cllr Stuchbury question.  Members were informed:

·       To write to the Cabinet Member if they had a particular issue, e.g. time taken to organise a planning pre-application meeting.

·       That the development of the Buckinghamshire Local Plan was the highest priority within his portfolio.  While a lot of hard work was being done with an eye on the 2025 deadline to have a Local Plan in place, the Council was also waiting for new planning policies to be announced by central Government that could impact on housing allocation numbers.

·       In response to a question about the Council having a planning policy statement regarding the future use of green belt / AONB for housing that, as per the answer to the previous question, the Council was waiting for announcements from central Government.  The Council was determined to protect green belt/AONB which was borne out in local decision-making, however, there were occasions when green belt could be built upon.

·       In response to a question on auto-responses to matters submitted to the planning process, Members were asked to notify the Cabinet Member if they had a particular issue.

·       That issues such as sufficient electricity capacity to support new developments, the impact of new developments on school places (i.e. leading to over subscriptions to schools) and the provision of developer contributions were all looked at as part of the current planning process, which reflected national regulations.  If Members had specific issues they believed were not being addressed they were asked to write to the Cabinet Member.

·       That a Member had received a full response relating to a query on a sewage matter.  If the Member had further queries they were asked to write again to the Cabinet Member.

 

Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Health and Wellbeing – Councillor Angela Macpherson (Councillor Zahir Mohammed, Deputy Cabinet Member for Public Health answered questions for this portfolio area)

 

The Deputy Cabinet Member reported that in the recent mini budget announcement by the Chancellor social care reforms had been delayed until October 2025.  While this delayed some of the work that had to be done the Council would continue to work to address known demand pressures. He also reported the vaccination programmes in Buckinghamshire continued to be well supported by the elderly but that more work was still required to be done with younger people.  Members were always welcome to invite Public Health to Community Board meetings to update them on local issues such as local health profiles and on health inequalities.  The Deputy Cabinet Member received comments and questions on a new doctor’s surgery at Waddesdon and on raising awareness of HIV testing in BAME and minority communities in Bucks.  Members were informed:

·       That the Member should write to the Cabinet Member for Planning and Regeneration regarding possible doctor’s surgery in Waddesdon.

·       That a lot of campaigns were taking place to raise awareness of HIV testing available to all people in the community and encouraging people to come forward and get tested.  The Member would be provided with specific information relating to his question.

 

Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Environment and Climate Change – Councillor Gareth Williams

 

The Cabinet Member received comments and questions on waste collections in the south of the Council area, green bins, a waste issue and on payment methods.  Members were informed:

·       That it was pleasing that the reliability of household waste collections in the south of the area had returned to the same levels as before the round re-organisations.  The Cabinet Member would speak to Veolia about some operatives not putting bins back where they had been collected from.

·       That if a household decided not to take a green bin subscription then the bin would not be removed straight away in case the household changed their mind.  The Council would be look to collect bins early in the New Year from households that did not have a subscription.

·       To write to the Cabinet Member about a refuse collection issue at a Community Centre so that it could be raised with Veolia.

·       That the issue of customers having to provide a self addressed envelope if they required a payment receipt would need to be picked up with the Resources team.