Agenda item

The Committee will receive an update on the Town and Parish Council Charter. The charter will act as a framework (memorandum of understanding) to support partnership working and inform Buckinghamshire Council’s approach to liaison with local councils. It will set out the relationship between the new Buckinghamshire Council and the 169 town and parish councils in Buckinghamshire, including how to harness the opportunities to strengthen partnership working and improve services for residents. It sets out the joint principles and respective roles, responsibilities and expectations, and it will be a live document which will be refreshed regularly in consultation with town and parish councils.

Presenters:-

Gareth Williams – Cabinet Member for Communities and Public Health

Claire Hawkes – Service Director for Localities and Strategic Partnership

The Cabinet Member for Communities and Public Health introduced the report and stated that the Charter was still under development given the time lost due to coronavirus, but a lot of preparation work and focus on building collaborative cultures had been done. The Service area had focused on developing key relationships and many of the operational aspects, such as regular liaison arrangements with BMKALC (Bucks & MK Association of Local Councils), clerks and communications, were in place.

The charter would act as a framework (memorandum of understanding) to support partnership working and inform Buckinghamshire Council’s approach to liaison with local councils. It would set out the relationship between the new Buckinghamshire Council and the 169 town and parish councils in Buckinghamshire, including how to harness the opportunities to strengthen partnership working and improve services for residents. It set out the joint principles and respective roles, responsibilities and expectations, and it would be a live document which would be refreshed regularly in consultation with town and parish councils.

A working group of clerks had been established ahead of vesting day, their expertise and shared vision was helping the charter evolve. There was appetite from local councils to not simply produce a product that sits on the shelf but instead took time to co-design a charter so the dynamic end product added value. The group had met again since the pandemic started to ease to check on progress and consider how a ‘launch’ might now work given social distancing measures and a parish conference no longer appropriate. They were currently reviewing a second draft ahead of sharing this wider across all town and parish councils.

In particular the Cabinet Member referred to the following:-

• The Town and Parish newsletter was continuing as clerks found it extremely useful.
• The nature of the relationship with all Councils was key - it was important that the charter was relevant for larger and smaller councils across Buckinghamshire.
• The partnership working had been good – undertaking planning, working with Community Boards, looking at new ways of working including the devolution offer which had attracted attention.
• Localities and Strategic Partnerships were a new service and critical relationships were being developed with the Council, clerks and the new Community Board Co-ordinators to understand each other’s roles.

During discussion the following points were made:-

• A Member commented that the Charter was very aspirational and asked whether enough resources would be provided to deliver the Charter. She commented that some Parish and Town Councillors did not have capacity to take on any further work. The Cabinet Member reported that the draft Charter would be sent out for consultation and that everyone who wanted to participate could do but that no resource implications would be imposed from the centre. The Charter would be a strategic framework working relationship document which would set the tone for a good working relationship and would not go into operational detail. The Chairman commented that it was also important to consult Members of Parish meetings in rural areas.
• Reference was made to the fact that High Wycombe was unparished and it was important that the level of consultation with this community was the same as other areas including any resources for social cohesion and uplift. The Cabinet Member reported that they would consult Members and clerks on the document including informing Community Board Co-ordinators.  In terms of additional resources officer support was provided by the Service Area including weekly calls between the Deputy Chief Executive and Parish and Town Council representatives since the start of covid-19. In terms of devolution some councils want all services devolved including property and services whilst other did not. Devolution was not a priority at the moment but some pilots were going ahead.
• Another Member expressed concern about the democratic deficit in High Wycombe and was reassured that the town would not lose out in any way. The Cabinet Member reported that the High Wycombe Community Board was one of the most proactive Boards and were the first Board to develop a recovery strategy for covid-19.
• A Member who was also a Town Councillor welcomed the charter and asked about timescales for devolution. In response it was noted that apart from the pilots, devolution would not be taken forward until 2022. Any short term resource implications would be communicated early to Councils. The Team working on devolution were aware of budgeting processes for town and parish councils.

The Cabinet Member and officers were thanked for attending the Committee and for providing an excellent update on their work.