We asked, you said, we did

We asked for your views about proposed changes to school admissions in Buckinghamshire for September 2026. 

These changes were: 

• updates to the county admissions scheme and school admission rules (also known as oversubscription criteria) 

• an increase in the published admission number (PAN) for two schools: Holmer Green Junior School and Tylers Green Middle School 

• a reduction in the PAN for three schools: Lee Common Church of England School, Marsh Infant and Nursery School and Naphill and Walters Ash School 

• an extension to the catchment of one school – Waddesdon Village Primary School – to include some of the former catchment of Westcott Church of England School, which closed in August 2024 

The consultation ran from 5 December 2024 to 31 January 2025. 

Six people responded to us regarding the five schools changing their published admission numbers and the school extending its catchment area. The six people had mixed views on these changes.

Three of these people additionally responded to us regarding the updates to the county admissions scheme and school admission rules. One email was also received concerning admissions issues. 

Although some respondents disagreed with some of the proposed changes to admissions numbers and catchment, the very low level of participation in the consultation, despite it being promoted, reflected the fact that the changes were minor and considered non-controversial. 

Because all the directly affected governing bodies were party to the decision to consult and agreed with the suggested changes, the very small number of expressions of disagreement in the consultation were not deemed to carry sufficient weight to affect these schools’ proposed changes. 

Similarly, the proposed updates to the county admissions scheme and school admission rules were very minor and attracted only three survey responses and one email in the form of comments. 

Some of the comments received addressed wider concerns than those changes that were being proposed. As the concerns expressed related to aspects of the admission rules that were not being proposed for change, they fell outside of the scope of this consultation. However, these responses will be taken into account when considering future changes. 

As a result of the overall small number of responses the decision was made to proceed with the proposed changes, and a decision was taken on 24 February 2025 by the Leader of the Council and the Cabinet Member for Education and Children’s Services to: 

• adopt the proposed changes in the published admission numbers for five schools 

• adopt the proposed change in the catchment area for Waddesdon Village Primary School 

• confirm the county admissions scheme and school admission rules. 

We asked you for your views regarding the proposal to undertake landscaping improvements on White Hart Street, High Wycombe, under Phase Two of the ongoing regeneration works.

Our proposal was to remove three trees in the area: two outside Café Roberto and one outside TSB Bank/Guild Hall. This would also include the installation of three new trees outside the Café, with a number of small trees / large planters as well.

We received 7 responses during this consultation with a even split between those who supported the proposals, and those who objected. The breakdown of these results is shown below:

• Support - 3 (42.86%)
• Oppose - 3 (42.86%)
• Other comments - 1 (14.28%)

A report was submitted to the Council with the recommendation to proceed with the removal of the three trees outside the Café and the Bank, with a decision arriving on 13th February 2025.

Link to the Officer Decision Report: Decision - White Hart Street Regeneration – Landscaping Improvements - Modern Council 

We asked for views on a statutory notice to open a Communication and Interaction (Autism) Unit at Overstone Combined School, Wing.

The representation period ran from 26 November to 23 December 2024.

This followed an initial consultation on the proposal from 30 September to 10 November 2024.

We received 21 responses to the statutory notice, including:

• 17 online responses
• 4 by email or post

Of the 21 who responded, 18 (85.7%) agreed with the proposal to open a Communication and Interaction Unit, 3 (14.3%) did not agree and 0 (0%) didn’t know.

View more information on the representations received (PDF 0.16MB).

Together with the Governing Board of Overstone Combined School, we have considered the representations we received.

On 12 February 2025, the Leader of Buckinghamshire Council approved the opening of a Communication and Interaction (Autism) Unit at Overstone Combined School.

We asked for your views on our draft All-Age Carers Strategy. We asked whether you felt we had identified the right priorities to support our unpaid carers, or if there are other priorities we should focus on.  

The consultation ran from 4 November to 15 December 2024. 

We received 32 online responses to the consultation. Our previous engagement activity to inform the priorities for the strategy draft received 259 responses.  

The key findings were: 

• 93% of respondents strongly agreed or agreed with priority 1 - to provide a system that best works for carers, by joining up services and identifying carers at the earliest stage 
• 81% of respondents strongly agreed or agreed with priority 2 – to ensure carers can find information and advice they need easily, when they need it 
• 94% of respondents strongly agreed or agreed with priority 3 – to support our carers’ health and wellbeing, helping them to access support and balance their life outside of their caring role 
• 68% of respondents strongly agreed or agreed with priority 4 – to support carers to access employment, to minimise the financial impact of caring 

We identified four key themes from your feedback and updated our strategy and delivery action plan to address these. 

Key feedback theme: Carers struggle to navigate existing information: 

• we have worked alongside carers to redesign the council’s web pages for carers 
• we have launched a pilot with ‘Mobilise’, a digital platform providing  information and resources 
• we will deliver a communications awareness campaign on how carers can access support 

Key feedback theme: Carers do not have capacity to consider their own health and wellbeing: 

• we will develop a targeted approach to identify and better support older age carers with planning for the future 
• we will work with schools to help young people balance their caring responsibilities with education, social interaction and overall wellbeing 
• We will work with health to promote NHS health checks for carers  

Key feedback theme: Carers are frustrated that they need to relay their circumstances to multiple professionals: 

• we will strengthen the process for identifying and providing support to adult carers, with online self-referral options 
• we will review the information that is recorded about carers across the system and improve the process of sharing this information across the partnership 
• we will work with the commissioned provider to ensure the first contact with carers meets their immediate need with easily accessible information 

Key feedback theme: Financial barriers are an added, unnecessary stressor for carers: 

• we have revised priority four (support for access to employment) to reflect the circumstances of retired carers 
• we will work with the Department for Work and Pensions to ensure information and guidance on benefits and financial support available for carers is accessible 
• we will develop a toolkit for carers on steps they could take to further minimise financial hardship 
• we will work with businesses to review the existing concessions open to carers across Buckinghamshire and opportunities to enhance this offer 
• we will develop carers-inclusive workforce guidance to promote best practice across the business sector in Buckinghamshire 

The revised 2025-26 All-Age Carers Strategy and delivery action plan were approved by the Council’s Cabinet at a meeting on 11 February 2025.  

View the report to Cabinet. 

We will begin activity to deliver the action plan supporting the strategy in April 2025. 

View the Buckinghamshire Council news release. 

We asked for your views on a proposal to prohibit motorised traffic (except for access to off-street premises) in Roughwood Lane, Chalfont St Giles.

The consultation ran from 22 November to 13 December 2024.

We received 601 responses to the consultation:

• 51 (8.5%) supported the proposal
• 519 (86.5%) objected the proposal
• 31 (5.2%) commented on the proposal but did not say whether they supported or objected

View a summary of the responses (PDF 0.44MB).

View the responses in full (redacted) (PDF 4MB).

On 15 January 2025, taking into consideration the consultation feedback, the Leader in consultation with the Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Transport agreed to not proceed with the proposal.

Instead, it was agreed to:

• improve the signs for the existing 7.5 tonnes weight limit in Roughwood Lane
• implement a Traffic Regulation Order (TRO) to prohibit motorised traffic in Roughwood Lane except for permit holders and access to off street premises from 21 February 2025
• extend the eligibility criteria for a permit to all residents and businesses located in the following five parish council areas:
  • Chalfont St Giles Parish Council area
  • Chalfont St Peter Parish Council area
  • Chenies Parish Council area
  • Chorleywood Parish Council area (Hertfordshire)
  • Little Chalfont Parish Council area

On 3 February 2025, a decision was made to extend the eligibility criteria for a permit to all residents and businesses in the following areas:

• Seer Green Parish Council area
• selected postcodes in the WD3 area (ending in 5BT, 5BU, 5DA, 5DB, 5DD, 5DE, 5DF, 5DG, 5DH, 5DL, 5DN, 5DP, 5DQ, 5DW, 5HA, 5HB and 5HD)

If you are eligible, you can now apply for a permit to use Roughwood Lane.

Legal order

On 21 February 2025, the Traffic Regulation Order (TRO) to prohibit motorised traffic in Roughwood Lane, except for permit holders and access to off street premises, came into effect. You can view the documents for this legal order, including the formal notice, on the Overview page below.

We asked for views on whether you agreed with opening a Communication and Interaction (Autism) Unit at Overstone Combined School, Wing.

The consultation ran from 30 September to 10 November 2024.

We received 24 responses to the consultation:

• 19 online survey responses
• 5 email and postal responses

On the proposal to open a new Communication and Interaction (Autism) Unit, of the 24 who responded:

• 17 (71%) were in agreement with the proposal; 5 (21%) did not agree; and 2 (8%) didn’t know
• 24 (100%) said that they understood why the proposal had been made

Together with the Governing Board of Overstone Combined School, we have considered the responses to the consultation.

In view of the need for SEND provision and having taken into account all responses received, on 26 November 2024 we published a statutory proposal to open a Communication and Interaction (Autism) Unit at Overstone Combined School.

We asked for your views on the proposal to merge the Gerrards Cross East ward with the Gerrards Cross South ward.

The consultation ran from 11 September to 23 October 2024.

We received 93 responses to the consultation:

• 41 respondents agreed with the proposal to merge the wards; 50 respondents disagreed; 2 didn't know

The responses against the proposal raised concerns that it would negatively affect electoral equality.

On 14 November 2024, the Standards and General Purposes Committee felt that merging the wards would improve electoral equality and create a distinct boundary with the North ward. 

The Committee agreed to merge Gerrards Cross East ward and Gerrards Cross South ward. 

The merged ward is to be called Gerrards Cross South ward to better reflect community identity, electoral equality and promote efficient and effective local government. 

A Reorganisation Order was also agreed by the Committee which means the changes will take effect on 1 March 2025, in time for the next scheduled local elections on 1 May 2025.

Each year we must prepare a budget. All councils have a legal duty to limit their spending to the income they receive each year - our budget must balance.

Most of our annual budget needs to be spent on the services we are required by law to provide, such as social care for adults and children.

We consulted on the proposed budget allocation and service priorities from 29 August to 13 October 2024.

We received 1,033 responses to the consultation:

• 1,031 online responses
• 2 postal responses

Views on proposed allocation of annual budget for 2025 to 2026:

• 32% of respondents agreed with the proposed allocation of Buckinghamshire Council’s annual budget for 2025 to 2026
• 37% of respondents disagreed with the proposal
• 30% of respondents neither agreed nor disagreed with the proposal

The top 10 services where respondents felt we should prioritise funding:

1. Care and support for older people and vulnerable adults (61%)
2. Road maintenance (52%)
3. Educational services (40%)
4. Community safety (36%)
5. Housing (31%)
6. Maintaining parks, open spaces, playing fields and the countryside (28%)
7. Services and support for children and young people (27%)
8. Protecting the environment (26%)
9. Pavement maintenance including footpaths (23%)
10. Public transport (20%)

The top 10 services where respondents felt we should not prioritise funding:

1. Public Health services (48%)
2. Culture and tourism (46%)
3. Car parking (40%)
4. Library services (32%)
5. Services to attract and support local businesses (30%)
6. Town centre regeneration (28%)
7. Planning services (22%)
8. Sport and leisure services (26%)
9. Housing (21%)
10. Protecting the environment (19%)

157 residents also provided feedback on their priority areas for spend at Bucks County Show on 29 August 2024.

The Buckinghamshire Youth Voice Executive Committee shared their views on priority areas for spend by sending a letter to the Leader, the Section 151 Officer and the Corporate Director for Children’s Services.

More information about the budget consultation results (PDF 1.0MB).

The consultation results were reviewed by Cabinet, alongside the final budget report, at its meeting on 2 January 2025.

During the week of 6 January 2025, the Budget Scrutiny Select Committee Inquiry reviewed and challenged the budget proposals.

They made recommendations on potential change to the budget which were presented to Cabinet on 11 February 2025.

At its meeting on 26 February 2025, Buckinghamshire Council approved the proposed budget allocation for 2025 to 2026.

We asked for your views on our draft Buckinghamshire Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan (LCWIP). To help us develop a future walking, cycling and wheeling network plan for the county, we asked whether you felt we had identified the right priority ‘corridors’ between settlements and if there are other connections that should be considered.

Respondents were able to indicate their views on the overall network and on any of the proposed ‘corridors’, which were grouped based on geographical areas.

We also asked you to tell us about your current travel behaviours and the factors which influence active travel.

The consultation ran from 2 September to 13 October 2024.

We received 734 responses in total to the consultation, including:

• 678 online responses
• 1 postal response
• 55 email responses – 9 of which were from town and parish councils

Feedback was also received at The Bucks County Show, Bucks Youth Summit, and four public drop-in events.

Aylesbury area

Of the 435 online responses received on the Aylesbury area:

• support for the proposed 13 corridors ranged between 83% and 96%
• 18 alternative corridors or amendments were suggested

Buckingham and Winslow area

Of the 85 online responses received on the Buckingham and Winslow area:

• support for the proposed 12 corridors ranged from 84% to 93%
• 11 alternative corridors or amendments were suggested

Amersham, Chesham and the Chalfonts area

Of the 64 online responses received on the Amersham, Chesham and the Chalfonts area:

• support for the proposed 14 corridors ranged from 76% to 90%
• 10 alternative corridors or amendments were suggested

Wexham, the Ivers and the Farnhams area

Of the 31 online responses received on the Wexham, the Ivers and the Farnhams area:

• support for the proposed 6 corridors ranged between 69% and 83%
• 4 alternative corridors or amendments were suggested

Wycombe area

Of the 157 online responses received on the Wycombe area:

• support for the proposed 15 corridors ranged between 58% and 89%
• 8 alternative corridors or amendments were suggested

Buckinghamshire LCWIP network plan

249 online responses were received on the survey question on the overall LCWIP network plan – 82% strongly agreed or agreed with the proposed network.

The Buckinghamshire Greenway

246 online responses were received on the survey question on the Buckinghamshire Greenway – 80% strongly agreed or agreed with the proposal.

Travel perceptions

The consultation collected information on respondents’ perceived barriers to active travel in Buckinghamshire and their perceptions of what would encourage them to make active travel journeys in Buckinghamshire.

Respondents stated that they travel actively for the following reasons in Buckinghamshire.

• shopping and local services (83% of respondents)
• park/green spaces (64% of respondents)
• medical appointments (56% of respondents)
• work/business (49% of respondents)
• access public transport (bus stop/train station) (42% of respondents)
• school, college or other place of education (16% of respondents)
• nursey/pre-school (10% of respondents)

The top three barriers to active travel in Buckinghamshire, as identified by 276 respondents who answered this question, were:

• busy roads (79% of respondents)
• lack of suitable routes (67% of respondents)
• personal safety concerns (41% of respondents)

Factors that most respondents said would greatly encourage or encourage them to travel more actively in Buckinghamshire were:

• separation from motorised vehicles (346 respondents)
• safe crossing points and junctions (335 respondents)
• smooth path surface (341 respondents)
• separation of users [e.g. cycling and walking] (331 respondents)
• lighting and visibility (330 respondents)

Buckinghamshire Youth Summit

Targeted youth engagement on the draft Buckinghamshire LCWIP took place at the Bucks Youth Summit in March 2024. Over 50 young people were engaged and many indicated support for ‘corridors’ proposed in the draft Buckinghamshire LCWIP.

The participants commented that factors including smooth surfacing, crossing points and supporting features such as greenery and seating points were important to consider the design of walking, cycling and wheeling infrastructure.

The following key changes have been made to the LCWIP following the consultation:

• refinements to proposed LCWIP ‘corridors’ based on feedback (e.g. enhancing network coverage and strengthening cross-border connectivity).
• additional ‘corridors’ - five additional corridors incorporated into the LCWIP network, based on feedback received through the consultation, the anticipated level of demand/usage of the ‘corridor’ and opportunities to further enhance connectivity.  The five additional ‘corridors’ are:
  • ‘Pitstone-Tring’;
  • ‘Chalfont St Giles-Little Chalfont’;
  • ‘Holmer Green-Great Missenden’;
  • ‘Farnham Royal-Burnham’;
  • ‘Marlow-Henley on Thames’.
• aspirations - updated mapping of aspirations, incorporating the additional aspirations identified through the consultation.

The Buckinghamshire LCWIP and consultation results, including the travel perceptions findings, are to be further considered further as part of the development of future active travel schemes. They will also be integrated appropriately with the Council’s Local Transport Plan 5 and Local Plan for Buckinghamshire, which are currently in development.

On 11 February 2025, Cabinet agreed to adopt the Buckinghamshire LCWIP as Council policy.

View the adopted Buckinghamshire LCWIP.

Buckinghamshire Highways asked residents if they supported the introduction of a 30mph speed limit order on a section of Cheddington Road, Pitstone from the railway bridge to the 'Autumn Leaves' property.

The consultation results showed that 26 people had responded to the consultation, with the results as follows:

• 25 respondents (96.15%) supported the introduction of a speed limit order.
• 1 respondent (3.85%) commented on other concerns in the area.

Buckinghamshire Council made a decision on 17th January 2025 to approve the recommendation to introduce a '30 mph' speed limit order as advertised.

You can find the decision and the report here: Decision - Cheddington Road, Pitstone Proposed 30mph Speed Limit - Modern Council

Buckinghamshire Highways will now start the process of putting this order into effect. A newspaper advert will be published when the order is due to take effect.

We asked for your views on our draft Air Quality Action Plan (AQAP) for Buckinghamshire.

We also let you know that we were revoking four Air Quality Management Areas (AQMAs) in-line with the guidance published by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).

The consultation ran for 10 weeks from 22 July to 30 September 2024.

We received 100 responses to the consultation, including:

• 94 responses to the online survey
• 6 responses via email

Responses received from statutory consultees Defra, the Environment Agency, UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) and neighbouring local authorities strongly supported the AQAP.

View a summary of the responses received in chapter four of the AQAP (PDF 3MB).

Appendix A of the AQAP (PDF 3MB) includes:

• all responses received
• a summary of the recommendations received
• whether the recommendations have been included in the AQAP

Following consultation, the AQAP was amended to take into consideration the comments made.

On 22 January 2025, the Leader of Buckinghamshire Council approved the AQAP for Buckinghamshire for adoption.

We asked for your views on our draft Gambling Act 2005 Statement of Licensing Policy (the ‘Gambling Act Policy’).

The consultation ran from 29 July to 20 September 2024.

We received nine responses to the consultation. This included a letter submitted on behalf of the Betting and Gaming Council.

View a summary of the responses in the reports to Licensing Committee on 19 November 2024.

At its meeting on 26 February 2025, Buckinghamshire Council approved the Gambling Act Policy for adoption.

The revised policy will come into effect on 1 April 2025.

View the policy on the Buckinghamshire Council website.

We can send you a copy of the policy. Email licensing@buckinghamshire.gov.uk to request this.

Alternatively, you can view the document in our Aylesbury office on Mondays to Fridays between 9am and 4:30pm at:

The Gateway
Gatehouse Road
Aylesbury
Buckinghamshire
HP19 8FF

We asked you to help us design our library services so that staff are available at the times when you need them most.

The consultation ran from 10 July to 18 September 2024.

We received 1,212 responses to the consultation, including 221 paper surveys submitted. We also ran a number of focus groups and engaged with over 200 local services and organisations.

Your feedback on preferred days:

• Friday and Saturday are the preferred days to access the library, with an average of 73% of respondents indicating these days as a preference
• Monday and Sunday are the least preferred days
  • Sundays are mentioned by less than 25% of respondents on average
  • Sundays are slightly more popular with respondents under 65 years old, but it is still the least popular day of the week for that group

Your feedback on priority times for staff:

• 10am to 4pm are the most important hours to staff the library
  • 10am to 12pm is the strongest preference, with an average of 74% of respondents indicating it as a preference
• 4pm to 6pm is also a priority for respondents under 65 years old, although still a lower priority than 10am to 4pm

Your feedback on Library Flex:

• 39% of respondents are likely to access the library during unstaffed times; 14% are neither likely nor unlikely; 43% are unlikely; and 4% didn’t know
• 20% of respondents consider the changes will have a generally positive impact on access to the library; 26% consider them neither positive nor negative; 46% consider them generally negative; and 8% didn’t know
• 66 respondents said they would be interested in using library spaces during unstaffed hours
  • 36 respondents represented organisations interested in using library spaces during unstaffed hours

How you use the library:

• 88% of respondents use the library to borrow books
• 1% of respondents do not use any library services
• 83% of respondents use the library once a month or more
• Respondents under 65 years old are more likely to use the library for borrowing e-books, using Wi-Fi, using as a work/study space, and for children’s activities

High Wycombe Library

High Wycombe Library was not selected for Library Flex because of the difficulties in adapting the building. Instead, we proposed to open the library on a Monday instead of a Sunday.

We received 162 responses on High Wycombe Library:

• 46% of respondents agreed with the proposal to change the opening day from Sunday to Monday; 14% neither agreed nor disagreed; 38% disagreed; and 2% didn’t know

Burnham Library

Burnham Library was not selected for Library Flex due to the constraints of the building. Instead, we proposed to make savings either through recruiting more volunteers or by reviewing opening hours.

We received 143 responses on Burnham Library:

• generally, using the library in the morning is preferred by over 65s and using the library in the afternoon is preferred by under 65s
• we were not successful in recruiting more volunteers

View the detailed consultation analysis report (PDF 2MB).

On 2 January 2025, Cabinet agreed to implement Library Flex. For more information about what this means for each library, view the Cabinet reports.

Cabinet also agreed to:

• modify the layout of High Wycombe Library and to open the library on a Monday instead of a Sunday
• reduce the opening hours at Burnham Library from 38 to 27 hours per week

We asked for your views about how our early help and Family Hub services could be developed, to best support families with help and advice at the earliest point. We asked how you would like to access services and tell us about any gaps you see in our current services. 

The survey ran from 15 July to 8 September 2024. 

We received 55 online responses to the survey: 

• 27 (49%) either use early help services or have used the services in the past 
• 43 respondents (78%) told us they would like to access early help services in person, with 32 respondents (58%) wanting to access services online (respondents could select more than one option)  
• 33 respondents (60%) told us that areas of support we could consider developing in early help services include advice on: 
  • children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND)  
  • financial support   
  • mental health 

We also talked with families at a range of events and sessions across the summer holiday period, where we gathered informal feedback and encouraged families to complete the survey.

We used your feedback, together with feedback from our early help partner organisations, to finalise our initial offer for Family Hub Network services. 

The Buckinghamshire Family Hub Network launched on 19 November 2024. Services and support offered by the Family Hub Network. 

We will continue to develop our Family Hub Network services with the support of local partners and organisations in the Network. We will continue to work collaboratively with families through our Family Hub services to ensure we deliver local support that meets families’ needs. 

All the feedback is being used to inform the priorities of the revised Early Help Partnership Strategy 2025 - 2030.  

A public consultation on the revised Early Help Partnership Strategy is scheduled to open in late spring and the agreed Strategy published in autumn 2025. 

We asked for your views on proposals to install electric vehicle (EV) charging points and create dedicated EV charging only bays in Wendover. 

The consultation ran from 15 July to 25 August 2024.

We received 75 online responses to the consultation.

Out of the original 18 locations, 5 have been removed due to objections received in the consultation relating to road safety, accessibility, limited parking spaces, and private/allocated spaces. 

The final shortlist of 13 proposed locations was agreed in collaboration with the Wendover EV Working Group, which includes local councillors, Wendover Parish Council, and interest groups.

On 12 December 2024 the council approved a formal consultation to take place to install at least 10 kerbside EV charging points and create dedicated parking spaces for EV charging only bays in Wendover. 

The formal consultation runs from 8 January to 30 January 2025.

We asked for your views on proposed changes to Buckinghamshire Council’s Housing Allocations Policy. This policy sets out the priorities and processes for the allocation of social housing throughout the Buckinghamshire Council area. 

The consultation ran from 11 July to 22 August 2024. 

We received 261 responses to the consultation: 

• 245 responses were by individuals and 16 on behalf of organisations 
• 21% of the individual responses were from people on the housing register 

Your views on the proposed changes were as follows: 

Policy proposal 1: to remove legacy district boundaries 

• 60% agreed or strongly agreed with this proposal 
• 11% neither agreed nor disagreed 
• 12% disagreed 
• 15% strongly disagreed 
• 2% didn’t know 

Policy proposal 2: to increase the number of years an applicant will need to qualify for residency from two years to five years 

• 64% agreed or strongly agreed with this proposal 
• 10% neither agreed nor disagreed 
• 13% disagreed 
• 13% strongly disagreed 

Policy proposal 3: to introduce residency requirements for those over 55 

• 68% agreed or strongly agreed with this proposal 
• 14% neither agreed nor disagreed 
• 7% disagreed 
• 10% strongly disagreed 
• 1% didn’t know 

Policy proposal 4: to strengthen the priority for households in temporary accommodation 

• 67% agreed or strongly agreed with this proposal 
• 18% neither agreed nor disagreed 
• 6% disagreed 
• 5% strongly disagreed 
• 4% didn’t know 

Policy proposal 5: to strengthen the priority for households that have been assessed as homeless and are not in temporary accommodation 

• 64% agreed or strongly agreed with this proposal 
• 21% neither agreed nor disagreed 
• 7% disagreed 
• 5% strongly disagreed 
• 3% didn’t know 

Policy proposal 6: to redefine the requirements for households under occupying affordable housing that are willing to downsize 

• 81% agreed or strongly agreed with this proposal 
• 11% neither agreed nor disagreed 
• 4% disagreed 
• 4% strongly disagreed 
• 1% didn’t know 

Policy proposal 7: to use automatic bidding to proactively match priority households with available housing 

• 48% agreed or strongly agreed with this proposal 
• 22% neither agreed nor disagreed 
• 9% disagreed 
• 17% strongly disagreed 
• 4% didn’t know 

Policy proposal 8: to add homeless households placed in temporary accommodation under a relief duty to the list of applicants the Council reserves the right to directly allocate housing to 

• 52% agreed or strongly agreed with this proposal 
• 23% neither agreed nor disagreed 
• 11% disagreed 
• 11% strongly disagreed 
• 3% didn’t know 

Policy proposal 9: to revise bedroom standards for households with children over the age of 18 

• 71% agreed or strongly agreed with this proposal 
• 13% neither agreed nor disagreed 
• 6% disagreed 
• 9% strongly disagreed 
• 1% didn’t know 

View the analysis of the responses to the consultation (PDF 649KB)  

On 8 October 2024, Cabinet approved the new Housing Allocations Policy. As consultation respondents were generally supportive of the proposed policy changes, these went forward unchanged. 

The least well supported policy change in the consultation was the proposal to use automatic bidding to proactively match priority households with available housing. The report to Cabinet noted that the comments people provided on this change showed that the way the proposal was set out in the consultation had led to some misunderstanding as to how it would be implemented. 

For clarity, automatic bidding will not be used for most households on the housing register. 

We will use automatic bidding on behalf of households who are in priority but are not using their weekly bids. Automatic bidding will be switched on in conversation with the household as part of their personal housing plan, or if someone is unable to log on to the website to submit bids themselves and they request that we do this on their behalf.  

Where automatic bidding is switched on, the bidding parameters (location, type of property etc.) will be agreed with the household.

We asked for the views of unpaid carers of all ages and levels of responsibility, to help us understand what is important for carers on the following topics:  

• being a carer  
• about the support you receive   
• time away from caring  
• health and wellbeing   
• work, education and training  
• financial support   

Face to face and online engagement activities took place including: 

• 8 face to face engagement sessions with adult carers  
• 2 online engagement events with adult carers   
• 5 face to face engagement events with young carers between the ages of 5-16   

Feedback from professionals and community organisations who support unpaid carers and those they care for, was also received. 

The engagement ran from 22 July to 18 August 2024.

We received 345 responses to the online survey.  

Feedback from all carers, professionals and organisations identified the following key themes: 

• understanding a carers role and identifying carers 
• assessment and care planning process 
• available resources and information 
• communication from Adult Social Care 
• health and wellbeing support for carers 
• carers taking a break 
• financial support 

Young carers also identified the following: 

• establish assessment process for young people 
• siloed support within schools and uncertainty around transitions between schools 
• support at home during school breaks 

We used your views feedback to create our draft All-Age Carers Strategy with 4 equally important priorities: 

• to provide a system that best works for carers, by joining up services and identifying carers at the earliest stage 
• to ensure carers can find information and advice they need easily, when they need it 
• to support our carers health and wellbeing, helping them to access support, meet other carers and prepare for the future 
• to support carers in accessing employment, to minimise the financial impact of caring 

On 4 November 2024 launched a consultation on the Buckinghamshire All-Age Carers Strategy 2025 to 2030. 

We asked for your views on which aspects of nature are important to you to help us develop a Local Nature Recovery Strategy (LNRS) for Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes.

We received 444 responses in total, including:

• 439 online responses
• 5 printed surveys

We also received 40 responses from young people to a young person-friendly version of the survey.

We reviewed all the feedback we received. Suggestions for new priorities and measures were compared to the existing list of priorities and measures. Any new suggestions were then included in the shortlisting process.

Two new priorities and 50 new measures went through shortlisting for the draft Local Nature Recovery Strategy. The new priorities related to restoring and enhancing grasslands and enabling landowners to practice wildlife-friendly land management.

On 10 February 2025, we launched a consultation on the draft Local Nature Recovery Strategy for Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes, including on the shortlisted priorities and measures.

Residents and businesses were asked for their thoughts on the following restrictions in the Elm Farm Estate in Aylesbury:

Overall, majority of residents supported the following restrictions:

Following the Informal Consultation, we shared the results with Elected Members for Aylesbury South - East.

We have amended the 'No Loading Mon - Sat 8am - 10pm' restriction to the following:

We asked for your views on the proposal to merge:  

• the Highlands and Watchcroft ward into the Buckingham North ward 
• the Fisher’s Field ward into the Buckingham South ward 

The consultation ran from 7 May to 16 June 2024.  

We received 21 responses to the survey: 

• 18 agreed with the proposal that Highlands and Watchcroft ward be merged into Buckingham North ward; 2 disagreed; 1 didn’t know 
• 17 agreed with the proposal that Fisher’s Field ward be merged into Buckingham South ward; 2 disagreed; 1 didn’t know 

The responses in support of the proposals were generally for community identity reasons.  

The responses against the proposals were: 

• an objection to merging a smaller ward into a larger ward 
• a suggestion that Fisher’s Field was more closely linked to Nelson Street and the town centre and therefore should be in the North ward, rather than the South ward 

The 2 responses that said they didn’t know referred to matters outside of the scope of this review. 

On 10 September 2024, the Standards and General Purposes Committee agreed: 

• to merge Highlands and Watchcroft ward into Buckingham North ward 
• to merge Fisher’s Field ward into Buckingham South ward

This will better reflect community identity, electoral equality and promote efficient and effective local government.

A Reorganisation Order was also agreed by the Committee which means the changes will take effect on 1 March 2025, in time for the next scheduled local elections on 1 May 2025.