NPPF Wycombe District impact, Planning Liaison 3rd March, Procurement Act 2023 comes into force, Buckinghamshire Elections and BMKALC Conference
Good afternoon everyone,
It’s been a busy week once again in our office and judging from the inbox, in all of yours too. Questions this week have related to finance – you can tell the year end is hurtling towards us and the VAT questions are flying in, to the meeting dates for your Annual Meeting of the Parish Council, and the forthcoming changes in Procurement. But I’m going to start with Planning an in particular the impact to those councils in the Wycombe area, although it is a sit up and take note issue for all of us with the changes in the NPPF.
The Wycombe District housing land supply has fallen from above 5 years to less than 2 years following the new NPPF housing supply standard method. Whilst this might not matter for those located in the Green Belt, that part of the District that is not, will inevitably come under pressure via the ‘tilted balance’ until the Bucks Local Plan is adopted. As that is unlikely until 2029 earliest, this could have prolonged consequences. Consequently, we need to consider the impact on our councils who may be affected by this and how to face the challenges to the Bucks local plan and our existing neighbourhood plans This may include encouraging local councils to modify their plans in order to take best advantage of the tilted balance consideration. I have recommended that this matter be discussed at the next planning liaison on the 3rd March.
The next P is Procurement and the new Procurement Act coming into force on Monday! The new Act introduces streamlined processes, greater flexibility, and a sharper focus on value for money, social impact, and transparency, while ensuring suppliers of all sizes have a fair opportunity to work with the public sector These changes provide an exciting opportunity for local government to drive even greater efficiencies while delivering contracts that support thriving communities and sustainable economic growth.
The full suite of free learning and development is still available, from the LGA and Gov.uk is available. .
You can watch a great You Tube presentation from Steve Parkinson here
We also have a course coming up in September, https://bucksalc.gov.uk/events/new-enhancing-procurement-skills-for-clerks-and-councillors-in-person-workshop-september-12th-10am-to-3-30pm/.
If you would like a copy of the elections poster in Word format please email Lorraine at balc@bucksalc.gov.uk
Look out for Lorraine’s updates on our Conference, we have new speakers and new topics supporting Place Shaping and we are very excited. Please book your tickets at the earliest opportunity as I think it’s going to be very popular.
We look forward to speaking with you in the coming week and wish you a a happy and relaxing weekend!
Kind regards
Mel & Lorraine