Agenda item

The Leader presented the annual report which noted the achievements of the organisation against the objectives set out in the Buckinghamshire Corporate Plan 2020-25.

The Annual Report highlighted achievements across the authority which contributed to the delivery of key priorities outlined in the Corporate Plan, through the guiding principles of delivering on the Manifesto of the majority group, focussing on the people’s priorities, working in partnership, delivering locally, Service improvement and change, and responding to the unexpected.

The Leader looked at the challenging context for the last year which had included the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, rising inflation / energy costs; cost of living pressures impacting residents and businesses; national infrastructure projects impacting locally, major increases in demand and complexity for both adults’ and children’s social care, strong focus on the environment and climate change; and that housing affordability remained a key issue for many residents including young people and key workers.

The Leader highlighted the many achievements of the Council over the previous 12 months in areas including improving the environment, protecting the vulnerable, increasing prosperity, and the local responses to levelling up such as Opportunity Bucks: Succeeding for All, Community Boards delivering over 300 projects, the launching of the Buckinghamshire Swan envoy programme, over 3 million visits to leisure centres, and that the Council had set out a new vision for Buckinghamshire’s libraries to encourage culture, learning and reading, promote health and wellbeing and enable access, information and inclusion.

Challenges for the Council going forward would include continuing high inflation adding major cost pressures in all services; continued cost of living pressures for residents; the very cold, wet winter and early spring significantly damaging roads; a growing demand for temporary accommodation and affordable housing; pressure on the green belt; continuing to develop the new Buckinghamshire Local Plan; increases in demand and complexity for all social care; Adult Social Care reforms; NHS under strain and Integrated Care System in transition; uncertainty on legislative environment pre-general election; the Government’s ‘Levelling Up’ agenda could mean reduced national focus on the needs of areas such as Buckinghamshire; and balancing the Council’s finances becoming increasingly challenging, especially the capital programme.

The Leader concluded by emphasising that all money spent by the Council was taxpayers’ money and the focus on making savings as well as delivering income would remain.  The Council would also be looking at the ongoing transformation programme for services and maximising opportunities from the Council’s own property portfolio.  It was also mentioned that the Council had recently been shortlisted for LGC Local Authority of the Year.

In response to questions the Leader provided information:

-                      That looking at risks faced by the Council was dealt with under the remit of the Audit and Governance Committee and their Risk Management Group.

-                      That the work done clearing gullies and blocked drains had highlighted that further capital works were now required in some instances to fix underlying issues. Unfortunately, the Council was short of capital funding and had to prioritise these repairs.

-                      That road maintenance and fixing potholes remained a priority for the Council.

-                      On the Council’s Climate Change and Air Quality Strategy.

RESOLVED –

That the achievements of the Council in 2022-23 against the objectives outlined in the Buckinghamshire Council Corporate Plan 2020-25 be noted.