My ideas for the future (Buckinghamshire Council)

Both as a town councillor and community activist, I watch what happens at Buckinghamshire Council (formerly the County Council and district councils | AVDC) closely. I am often a critic, I should say. But I also praise decisions that I think are helping our community to become even better. And certainly, there are several local Buckinghamshire Councillors who diligently serve their local communities, taking up the concerns of their constituents and addressing local matters (such as flooding and road surface quality).  And I thank them for this. Like them, I hope soon to be able to do this as both a Town and Shire councillor. 

If you elect me, what can you expect me to work on? Here are some of the broad ideas that I am keen to take into the Buckinghamshire Council:

• Revising the organisations procurement / commissioning / purchasing policies so that the Council spends much more of your taxpayers' monies on local suppliers. I think the least that a Council can do, when exhorting us all to 'shop local', is to do it too! It makes sense!
• Currently the Council does not routinely publish all of its Freedom of Information inquiries and their answers in one accessible place. (I know - I was surprised too!) This needs changing and the Council needs to become far more open and transparent.
• We need a new way of fixing potholes in the County. If insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result, then the approach taken by Transport for Bucks needs medical attention! I think the whole system could be radically improved by introducing a warranty based insurance scheme. This would mean those who dig up our roads (telecoms, utilities, developers etc) would have to insure against problems occurring years later. I think such a scheme would stimulate the road diggers to do better repairs (because it would cost them if they didn't)
• We need a new approach to the relationship between parish/town councils and the Buckinghamshire Council. We need far greater respect and recognition on both sides towards each other. 
• For starters the whole planning process needs revision so that parish/town councils are guaranteed a voice and an opportunity to object to planning applications that they deem unsatisfactory. 
• The finances of the Buckinghamshire Council are probably an object lesson in 'smoke and mirror' accountancy. As above, we need more transparency, more honesty and more scrutiny of just how the Council is spending taxpayers' money. The Council also needs a new way of approaching the business investments it makes. Did you know that the Council owns a riding stable for example?
• I will be pressing for every Council building to have a plan to use more clean/green energy in order to reduce costs and tackle the climate emergency. Moreover, I think there are ways in which the Council can use its influence to enable more local businesses and organisations to do likewise. My impression is the Council is approaching the climate emergency as something of a PR exercise and only introducing cosmetic changes. It needs to be far, far more bold and committed. 
• The pandemic and lockdowns have served to magnify the inequalities in our society, especially in our schools. I fear that the gap between the highest achievers and those pupils who struggle will only have widened in recent months (and it was widening before too!). We need a robust strategy designed to address the underlying causes of this and put in place actions to narrow this educational gap. 
• The same can probably be said for health and social care. We need a plan to properly understand and address the reasons why poverty is increasing in our towns and villages - and what can be done to ensure that everyone gets a chance to live a decent, healthy and happy life. 

I could go on, but that is probably enough for now. The fact is that while the officers and staff of the Buckinghamshire Council are working hard on many of these matters, what they lack is the political will from the members of the Council. The Council needs more councillors who are prepared to challenge, investigate and speak up for local communities - and not simply accept the way things have been. 

It is time for change!

An indication of what Buckinghamshire Council thinks about poverty...