The Buckinghamshire Council meeting on 26 November 2025 included a presentation from the Thames Valley Police and Crime Commissioner and the Chief Constable, and was scheduled to cover street trading controls, reports from cabinet members, and a series of notices of motion. Councillors were also scheduled to discuss the appointment of an interim chief executive officer, and to answer questions on notice.

Appointment of Interim Chief Executive Officer

Councillors were asked to consider the appointment of Sarah Ashmead as Interim Chief Executive Officer and Head of Paid Service, on an annual salary of £220,000. The report pack stated that the current Chief Executive Officer and Head of Paid Service, Rachael Shimmin, was due to leave Buckinghamshire Council on 18 January 2026. The Senior Appointments and Pay Committee (SAPC) had undertaken a selection interview on 21 November 2025, and unanimously recommended Sarah Ashmead for the role. The appointment was scheduled to commence on 19 December 2025, to allow for a handover period, and would be for up to one year. The report pack noted that if Sarah Ashmead was appointed, this would create an Interim Corporate Director Children's Services role, and that the SAPC had reviewed and approved a recruitment process for this post.

Street Trading Controls

Councillors were asked to consider a recommendation to adopt Schedule 4 of the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1982, which would apply to the Buckinghamshire Council area from 1 October 2026. The report pack also noted an intention to pass a resolution designating all streets within the Buckinghamshire Council area as Consent Streets. A new Street Trading Policy, which the Licensing (Public Protection) Committee had previously approved in principle on 17 July 2025, was also scheduled to be noted.

The report pack stated that adopting a unified approach to street trading regulation would provide a clear and consistent framework, ensuring public safety, preventing crime and disorder, and enhancing the character of the council's area.

The report pack summarised the different approaches to street trading controls that were in place in the legacy district councils:

• Aylesbury Area: Consent streets have been designated in Aylesbury, Buckingham, and Wendover.
• Chiltern Area: Consent streets operate in several areas, and there is one prohibited street.
• South Bucks Area: Several roads have been designated as prohibited streets.
• Wycombe Area: Several areas have been designated as Prohibited Streets, the remain areas are deemed consent streets.

The report pack noted that a new draft street trading policy had been agreed by the Licensing Committee on 27 February 2024 for public consultation. The consultation, which ran between 15 March and 26 May 2024, attracted over 260 online survey responses and many additional written comments, primarily from town and parish councils.

The Licensing (Public Protection) Committee received a report summarising the feedback received during the consultation period on 17 July 2025. The main areas of concern expressed by respondents related to the detrimental impact on community events and small businesses, and suggestions of regulatory overreach.

The report pack stated that the Licensing (Public Protection) Committee agreed that no changes were necessary where the consultation outcome was generally in agreement with the proposals or opinion was evenly divided. The Committee also agreed that certain areas of the policy should remain in place, even though most respondents to the consultation may have disagreed with the proposed approach, because the Committee was satisfied that these measures were necessary to maintain public protection, ensure adequate consultation and protect existing traders respectively. These areas are:

• Peripatetic (mobile) traders
• 28-day consultation for new applications
• Proximity of traders

Notices of Motion

Councillors were scheduled to consider four notices of motion:

• Supporting Local Farmers through Council Activities and Procurement
• Addressing Emergency Healthcare Access Inequality in Wycombe through Council Health Responsibilities
• Buckinghamshire & Milton Keynes Fire Authority Consultation Objection
• Protecting Buckinghamshire's Chalk Streams

Supporting Local Farmers

Councillor Steven Broadbent, Leader of the Council, proposed a motion, seconded by Councillor Phil Gomm, to support local farmers through council activities and procurement. The motion recognised the role of Buckinghamshire farmers in food security, rural employment, environmental stewardship and community wellbeing. The motion proposed that the council:

• Ensure that, where feasible and lawful under the Procurement Act 2023, council procurement processes provide appropriate access for local suppliers particularly for food, catering, and other related services—whilst maintaining value for money and transparency.
• Require that catering at council-organised events includes food & drink options sourced from local producers, including meat, dairy, fruit, and vegetables, unless specific dietary or cultural needs dictate otherwise, and that an annual report reflecting the achievement of this requirement is compiled and submitted to the Cabinet Member for Resources and presented to Cabinet.
• Promote, within existing budgets and public awareness campaigns encouragement to Buckinghamshire residents to shop locally and support the County's farming community, thereby reducing food miles and strengthening the local economy.
• Engage with local farming representatives and stakeholders, including via the Rural Forum, to ensure their voices are heard in council considerations and activities.

Councillor Chris Chilton proposed an amendment, seconded by Councillor Hazel Arthur-Hewitt, to remove the requirement for an annual report to be compiled and submitted to the Cabinet Member for Resources and presented to Cabinet.

Addressing Emergency Healthcare Access Inequality in Wycombe

Councillor Khalil Ahmed proposed a motion, seconded by Councillor Trevor Snaith, to address emergency healthcare access inequality in High Wycombe through council health responsibilities. The motion noted that High Wycombe has been without a fully functioning Accident & Emergency (A&E) department since its closure in 2005, and that residents requiring certain emergency treatment must currently travel to Stoke Mandeville Hospital, Wexham Park or Oxford, journeys that can exceed an hour and create risk in life-threatening situations. The motion also noted that Stoke Mandeville Hospital, serving as the main emergency centre for southern Buckinghamshire, will likely be subject to additional strain due to population growth and large-scale housing development.

The motion recognised that Buckinghamshire Council has a statutory role through:

• The Health and Wellbeing Board, responsible for identifying population health needs and influencing service provision.
• The Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA), which is designed to describe the local populations health needs.
• The Health & Adult Social Care Select Committee, empowered to scrutinise and make representations on NHS decisions affecting local residents.
• Its Public Health duties to reduce inequalities and improve health outcomes, particularly in Opportunity Bucks wards where deprivation correlates with poorer health outcomes.

The motion proposed that the council:

• Ask the Health & Adult Social Care Select Committee to consider a focused scrutiny inquiry into emergency care provision, including travel times and system pressures, health needs identified through the JSNA, and to invite representatives from Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust and NHS England to provide evidence.
• The Council will formally report on the outcomes to NHS leadership and Buckinghamshire MPs.
• Encourage all councillors to support this work in the interest of ensuring equitable access to emergency healthcare for all Buckinghamshire residents.

Councillor Isobel Darby proposed an amendment, seconded by Councillor Lesley Clarke OBE, to:

• Recognise that Stoke Mandeville Hospital and Wexham Park Hospitals serve as the main emergency centres for southern Buckinghamshire and will likely be subject to additional strain due to national government imposing a housing target of 95,000 on Buckinghamshire.
• Recognise that the national government imposed housing target of 95,000 will place pressure on services across Buckinghamshire including the primary.
• Recognise that the council already seeing success in improving access to health services, reducing inequalities and improving outcomes across the county, notably seeing improvements in Opportunity Bucks wards by equalising waiting times, and the launch of Health on the High Street in High Wycombe and Aylesbury, and should continue in this work.
• Recognise that access to timely emergency care is a key determinant of health outcomes in critical situations and sits alongside the Council's public health responsibility to promote population wellbeing.
• Ensure Buckinghamshire Council continues to be a strong advocate for uses all of its statutory health responsibilities, including the Health and Wellbeing Board, JSNA, and scrutiny functions, to address inequalities in access to emergency and urgent care in all its forms for residents across the county, including, and to present a united, evidence-based case for hospital based provision in Wycombe and Stoke Mandeville hospitals and others outside the county such as Wexham Park and Milton Keynes UH.
• Ask the Health & Adult Social Care Select Committee to consider a focused, evidence based, scrutiny inquiry into emergency care provision, including access in different settings, travel times and system pressures, and to invite representatives from Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust and NHS England to provide evidence.
• The Health & Adult Social Care Select Committee will formally report on the outcomes to Buckinghamshire Council's Cabinet.
• Encourage all councillors to support the endeavours of the Council, the local NHS and partners in improving access to healthcare in this work in the interest of ensuring equitable access to emergency healthcare for all Buckinghamshire residents.

Buckinghamshire & Milton Keynes Fire Authority Consultation Objection

Councillor Jackson Ng proposed a motion, seconded by Councillor Simon Rouse, to object to the Buckinghamshire & Milton Keynes Fire Authority consultation. The motion noted that the Buckinghamshire & Milton Keynes Fire Authority has resolved to proceed to public consultation on proposals that would materially reduce fire engines and operational fire stations within Buckinghamshire, and that these proposed cuts were rejected by the previous 2024/5 Authority.

The motion stated that the Council believes these proposals will:

• risk longer emergency response times, with consequential risk to life and property across Buckinghamshire, particularly around communities like Beaconsfield, Amersham, High Wycombe, Buckingham, Stokenchurch and Great Missenden.
• weaken local and county-wide resilience in the face of major incidents and emergencies.
• fail to factor in the major housing and infrastructure growth planned for Buckinghamshire.
• diminish public confidence in emergency preparedness and the wider system of civil protection in which this Council plays a statutory role.
• fail to be properly consulted on given the rushed consultation period.

The motion proposed that the Council:

• submit a formal objection to the consultation, setting out the Council's concerns regarding the impact of the proposed reductions on community safety and emergency resilience in Buckinghamshire.
• make clear that the Council does not support widened operational independence for the Chief Fire Officer and the weakened democratic scrutiny it would lead to
• set out a separate objection to the Chief Fire Officer about the failure to provide sufficient time for consultation over a truncated 10 week period over Christmas and New Year and formally request a further 3 week extension
• write to the Chair of the Fire Authority, expressing the Council's objections, calling for the proposals to be withdrawn, and seeking urgent reassurances regarding the maintenance of safe and adequate fire and rescue provision for Buckinghamshire's communities

Protecting Buckinghamshire's Chalk Streams

Councillor Ade Osibogun proposed a motion, seconded by Councillor David Moore, to protect Buckinghamshire's chalk streams. The motion noted that Buckinghamshire is home to many globally rare and ecologically important chalk streams, and that only 260 chalk streams exist globally, the vast majority of which are located in southern and eastern England.

The motion proposed that the Council:

• have due regard when preparing the emerging Local Plan for Buckinghamshire to the Chilterns Chalk Streams Planning Guidance, and the Local Nature Recovery Strategy for Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes
• work with key partners including the Chilterns Chalk Stream Project¹, the various Catchment Partnerships, BBOWT, River Thame Conservation Trust and other partners to publicly promote the importance, status and protection of chalk streams across Buckinghamshire.
• request that Cabinet write to DEFRA and local water companies urging action to further regulate abstraction and invest in water infrastructure that protects chalk streams and seeks to minimise any flood risk.
• Ensure that the actions from this motion and any subsequent policy implementation remain consistent with future legislative developments, including amendments to the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, the Environment Act 2021, and any successor biodiversity or water management legislation.

Reports from Cabinet Members

Members were scheduled to receive reports from Cabinet Members, and to ask questions about matters affecting their portfolios. The Cabinet Members who were scheduled to present reports were:

• Councillor Steven Broadbent, Leader of the Council
• Councillor Robert Carington, Resources
• Councillor Carl Jackson, Education and Children's Services
• Councillor Thomas Broom, Transport
• Councillor Ade Osibogun, Environment, Climate Change & Waste
• Councillor Mark Winn, Housing and Regulatory Services
• Councillor Peter Brazier, Culture and Leisure
• Councillor Steve Bowles, Communities
• Councillor Isobel Darby, Health and Wellbeing
• Councillor Peter Strachan, Planning

The reports covered a range of topics, including:

• Strategic Finance
• National Film & Television School investment
• Buckinghamshire Enterprise Zone
• England's Economic Heartland (EEH)
• South East Aylesbury Link Road (SEALR)
• High Speed 2 (HS2) and East West Rail (EWR)
• Heathrow Airport Expansion
• Together Survey
• CRM – Financial and Non-Financial Benefits
• National Customer Services Week (NCSW)
• In-Tend contract management and procurement system
• Peer Review
• Aylesbury Town Centre
• High Wycombe - White Hart Street public realm improvement scheme
• Chesham Broadway SuDS based public realm project
• Denmark Street Project
• Hampden Fields Primary School
• Kingsbrook Secondary School Expansion
• Second Primary School in Kingsbrook: Orchard View Primary Academy
• SEND Inspection Underway in Buckinghamshire
• Care Leavers' Month
• SEND Places across the County
• New Ofsted Education Inspection Framework
• Early Help Support for Families Across Buckinghamshire
• HAF Christmas Activity Programme
• Bucks Home Education Team Wins Gold 'Kit' Award
• Enhancing Recruitment and Retention in the Early Years and Childcare Workforce
• Kinship Care
• Fostering Awards
• 'The Run' - Foster with Bucks Campaign
• The Virtual School Conference
• Delivery of the capital programme
• Wendover Electric Vehicle (EV) Charging Infrastructure Trial
• Misbourne Greenway
• Local Transport Plan 5
• School transport referrals for the 2025/26 academic year
• School Transport Policy consultation
• Bus Service Improvements to Aylesbury bus routes
• Modeshift STARS – School Travel Plans
• Buckinghamshire Council's Highways and Transport Stakeholder Conference
• Winter Parade
• Chesham High Street
• Simpler Recycling – Food Waste Rollout for Flats
• Enforcement
• Garden Waste
• Leaf Clearance
• Flood Management Capital Programme
• Local Nature Recovery Strategy
• Council Land Tree Planting Programme
• River Great Ouse In-Channel Clearance in Buckingham
• Project Groundwater's Success at the Flood & Coast 2025 Awards
• Grant Updates
• Libraries – Supporting Literacy and Wellbeing in Schools
• Black History Month in Buckinghamshire Libraries
• Wildwood Wonders Sensory Workshops
• Library Flex Roll Out Completed Across Buckinghamshire's Main Libraries
• Health on the High Street
• We Make Wycombe Creative Hub
• Spotlight Weeks
• Buckinghamshire Archives
• Buckinghamshire Film Office
• WhizzFizz: Weekends of Wonder – Final Event at Chesham Library
• Country Parks
• Parks and Green Spaces
• Leisure Centres
• Playing Pitch and Outdoor Sports Strategy
• Armed Forces
• Remembrance Sunday
• Cabinet Member Public Spaces Protection Orders (PSPOs) update
• Cabinet Member CCTV Update
• Support With the Cost of Living
• Making Every Adult Matter
• Resilience Service
• Opportunity Bucks
• Community Boards
• Town and Parish Councils
• Buckinghamshire Faith Forum
• VCSE (Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise) Sector
• Registration Service
• Coroner's Service
• Unauthorised Encampments and Related Activity – Update
• Crematoria and Cemetery Service
• Housing Development
• Homelessness Prevention & Advice
• Temporary Accommodation
• Disabled Facilities Grant
• Bucks Home Choice
• Environmental Health – Residential Team
• Environmental Health - Environment & Commercial Team
• Trading Standards
• Kingsbrook Meadows Strategic Alternative Natural Greenspace (SANG) approval
• Commencement of the Draft Local Plan for Buckinghamshire consultation
• Local Plan Reviews – Buckinghamshire Minerals and Waste Local Plan (2019), Wycombe Local Plan (2019) and Wycombe Delivery and Site Allocations Plan (2013)
• Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL)
• Planning Compliance & Enforcement
• Gypsy and Travellers Call for Sites
• Integrated Community Equipment Service
• Healthwatch
• Carers Programme
• Safeguarding week
• Fair Pay Agreement
• Principal Social Worker Annual Report
• Buckinghamshire All Age Autism Strategy
• Tomorrow's World - Health and Wellbeing in Buckinghamshire in 2045
• A Year of Impact: Healthy School Neighbourhood in Action
• International Day of Older People Event
• Children and Young People's Drug and Alcohol Treatment and Support Service
• Celebration & Reflection Event – BHT Children and Young People's Services
• Stoptober

Questions on Notice from Members

Councillors were scheduled to answer questions on notice from members. The questions covered a range of topics, including:

• High Street Rental Auction Powers
• A revised public notice at Nook Park, Great Horwood
• Sharing a commissioned report on the Council becoming a social housing provider
• Parking in council car parks in Buckingham
• Engagement with the Regional Flood and Coastal Committee
• Buckinghamshire's performance against comparators
• A funding transfer from Schools Block to the High Needs Block
• Measures to ease pressures on schools with disproportionately high SEND needs
• Procurement arrangements