Agenda item

Following the Committee’s Community Board review which was presented to Cabinet in May 2022, Members will receive a further update on the implementation of their recommendations.

Contributors:

Cllr Arif Hussain, Cabinet Member for Communities

Roger Goodes, Service Director – Partnership, Policy and Communications

Wendy Morgan-Brown, Head of Partnerships and Communities

The Chairman welcomed Cllr Arif Hussain, Cabinet Member for Communities and Wendy Morgan-Brown, Head of Partnerships and Communities to the meeting.  The Cabinet Member reminded the Select Committee that its report to Cabinet in May 2022 included 11 recommendations and following an update on progress presented to Committee in February, this was the final update on the implementation of those recommendations.  Alongside the Select Committee report there had also been proposals from a Cabinet Member Task and Finish Group and the internal service review which had contributed to some significant changes in how Community Boards operated.

The Cabinet Member highlighted three recommendations in particular – Recommendation 5 was for a proactive communications strategy for Community Boards.  A strategy had been agreed by January 2023 and since then all Community Board Managers had received social media training to enable them to promote the activity of their Board and all Community Boards have seen an increase in followers as a result.

Recommendation 7 was related to Highways schemes and considering an alternative mechanism for their delivery.  Following the introduction of a new highways contractor in April 2023, a new six step process had been established to help to identify realistically deliverable schemes and a highways handbook had been created to provide cost information for the most commonly requested solutions. A review of schemes that had been submitted but not begun had been undertaken and now approved schemes were moving forward for delivery by March 2024.

Recommendation 10 was to establish a mechanism to evaluate projects which had received Community Board funding.  A new evaluation form was now in place, which enabled reflection on whether the aims of a project had been delivered effectively. 60 evaluation forms have been distributed to date, with 8 already completed and Community Board Managers would be following up on each of the projects and reporting back to the Cabinet Member and Community Board Chairmen every quarter.  The evaluations would also be used to inform the annual Community Board report to Council.

The Cabinet Member also reported that a further review of the Community Boards would shortly be undertaken in light of the electoral boundary changes which would come into effect in 2025.

The Chairman thanked the Cabinet Member for providing this overview and invited Members’ questions.  In response to questions and during subsequent discussions, the following main points were noted:

• The Highways Handbook included suggested solutions for local road safety issues.
• A Member congratulated the team on increased levels of community engagement.  He gave an example of a recent Community Board meeting which was very well-attended by residents who were supportive of 20mph speed limits but the Chairman was reluctant to discuss the pros and cons of the issue and kept repeating the Council’s policy on 20mph limits – was this an example of proper engagement? In response, the Cabinet Member explained that the Community Boards were there to engage with local people but also had to support the priorities and policies of the Council and sometimes there were limits to what could be delivered.
• There was concern around the cost of highways schemes that could be a drain on Community Board resources.  51 schemes were reported to be progressing and officers were confident that they would all be funded.  A Member expressed the view that highways schemes still caused frustration for Community Boards and it could be beneficial to deal with them separately.
• A Member asked a question regarding how the benefits of Community Boards were being analysed centrally. For example, were all geographical areas or different demographic groups within an individual Community Board receiving a fair share of funding. Wendy Morgan-Brown commented that each Community Board should be working to deliver the priorities that had been agreed locally.  Community Board Managers had access to public health data and community safety data which could also be used to inform their priorities. Whilst accepting this point, the Member suggested that it was important for this to be monitored to ensure that priorities addressed the locally identified needs and were delivered effectively.
• The Cabinet Member was asked about his vision for the Community Boards, as there was concern that the review considering the impact of electoral boundary changes could see some Community Boards being amalgamated and further funding reductions. In response, Cllr Hussain explained that he was a strong advocate for the Community Boards as the local face of Buckinghamshire Council and wanted them to continue for the longer term.  He also praised the Communities team for all their hard work in supporting the Community Boards.

The Chairman thanked the Cabinet Member for Communities and Wendy Morgan-Brown for attending the meeting and asked that the Select Committee be kept up to date on the outcome of the Community Board review.