Agenda item
Minutes:
The following hot topics were reported:-
Cabinet Member for Health and Wellbeing and Deputy Leader
The Cabinet Member reported that Seeleys House Short Breaks Centre in Beaconsfield has been awarded a rating of 'Good', following a recent inspection by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) and thanked staff for their work on improving this facility. She also reported that she had enjoyed her visit to Buckingham Library which was dementia friendly.
Cabinet Member for Climate Change and Environment and Deputy Leader
The Cabinet Member had been helping with the tree planting scheme. The new Wing Wood would see 132,000 trees planted on land owned by Buckinghamshire Council which was a 51-hectare site, working in partnership with Forestry England. Wing Wood would include a mix of tree species suited to the locality, five new wildlife ponds and a community orchard as well as accessible paths for walking and cycling.
The 132,000 trees would form part of the council’s pledge to plant 543,000 trees, one for every resident in Buckinghamshire by 2031, as part of its Climate Change Strategy. In addition, there was an event at Grange Farm, Hazlemere End to plant over 400 trees (totalling 12,700 trees in all), 12,300 trees were being planted across a site of 7 hectares at Bury Farm, Amersham, 250 trees were planted in Buckingham for a community tree planting event involving Buckingham Town Council and 120 students from Princes Risborough School attended an event to plant 600 trees.
Cabinet Member for Accessible Housing and Resources
The Cabinet Member reported that webchat had been rolled out and members of the public could now get an instant reply to any queries and provided a good alternative to phone and email. It was also helpful that people were paying council tax bills by direct debit.
Cabinet Member for Transport
Reference was made to pressures to fix the road network following recent poor weather, which was a national issue. The County Council Network had also reported that 85% of Councils were under pressure with their budgets. The Government has announced £200 million for highways maintenance for the financial year 2023-24. The Council had already agreed to invest an extra £5 million, on top of £100 million for the four-year period, which would make £7.3 million with the additional funding from Government for Buckinghamshire. Work would commence on repairing the roads as quickly as possible, depending on the weather.
Cabinet Member for Education and Children’s Services
The Cabinet Member reported on the very successful Bucks Skills Show which was recently held in Stoke Mandeville Stadium. This was organised by Buckinghamshire Skills Hub. Over 5,000 people attended where there were more than 100 business with stalls. This included a number of high profile employers such as Pinewood Studios, Metro Bank, Amazon and Disney. The event was aimed at the under 25s. A further event would be held in Chesham in September.
Cabinet Member for Planning and Regeneration
The Cabinet Member referred to the call for brownfield sites which had now been plotted onto a map which could be viewed on the Council website. This provided raw data only and had not been advocated by the Council.
A report would be submitted to Cabinet in future months on the Council’s Regeneration Strategy which would include Aylesbury, Wycombe and Chesham. This aim was to ensure that Buckinghamshire was an attractive place to live, work and visit and supporting local economies to thrive.
Cabinet Member for Communities
Further funding had been received for the Household Support Fund of £4.8 million and a report would be submitted to a future Cabinet meeting on allocation of this funding. Charities and Community Groups could now apply for grant funding for projects that relate to the Safer Bucks Plan priorities through a Community Safety Fund. This was funded by the Council in partnership with the Heart of Bucks and further information can be found on their website.
https://heartofbucks.org/apply-for-a-grant/
Finally the Cabinet Member attended a launch at the Heart of Bucks for the Voluntary and Community Social Enterprise Sector Resilience Fund. The £230,000 fund had been established in partnership with Heart of Bucks, Buckinghamshire Council, the Mulberry Trust and the Rothschild Foundation. This new fund was designed to support new organisations which were suffering from increased operating costs due to the cost of living pressures. Organisations could apply for one off grants up to £10,000 with priority given to those who wanted to reduce inequalities in disadvantaged areas.
Cabinet Member for Culture and Leisure
The Cabinet Member referred to all the leisure and cultural activities available in Buckinghamshire during the Easter holidays.
Things to do in Buckinghamshire | Family Information Service
What's on this Easter - Visit Buckinghamshire