Update on High Wycombe Community Governance Review - September 2024

This follows a consultation that took place earlier this year, which sought views from High Wycombe residents, businesses and organisations on the current governance arrangements for the unparished area of High Wycombe.

The consultation asked respondents whether:

A) the existing governance arrangements for the area of High Wycombe are sufficient or could be improved or

B) whether the currently unparished area High Wycombe should be 'parished' and have a town council for the whole area.

The consultation also asked respondents for their views on paying a precept to cover the running costs of any new Town Council, as is the case for residents in other parts of Buckinghamshire who live in ‘parished’ areas – where a town and parish council also delivers public services alongside Buckinghamshire Council.

55,000 were invited to take part in the consultation, with a pack sent to every household and the ability to complete online. 2,546 responses were received , meaning 4.6% of the High Wycombe electorate responded to the consultation. Of those responding 1,517 (60% of those responding and 2.7% of the electorate) were in favour of a Town Council in principle but only 1,087 (43% of those responding and 2% of the electorate) supported paying for it. Responses commonly demonstrated an appetite for local improvements and better engagement, suggesting that this was more important than governance structure.

A full report has been published by Buckinghamshire Council today which sets out the next steps in the process and a recommendation on which option to proceed with, namely, either to agree to parish the unparished area and consequently to form a town council for that area; or to decide that the current arrangements, and any improvements to them, provide sufficient levels of community governance and so not to form a parish or town council.

The report recommends the second approach; to maintain the current governance arrangements for the High Wycombe area, and to focus on making improvements in the town governance, including a review of the High Wycombe Town Committee.

Councillor David Goss is Chair of Standards and General Purposes Committee. He said:

“We are not at the point of a formal decision on this yet; this report analyses the consultation responses and takes in other considerations too, including reflecting on the current governance arrangements in place in High Wycombe. These include Members directly elected by residents, other community representatives and also cover the civic arrangements for the town. The consultation was widely publicised so it’s something of a shame that we have seen such a very low response despite considerable efforts to encourage local people to take part by both the council and those who have been keen to support the proposal for a Town Council.

Our committee will now consider the report and its recommendations at our next meeting on 10 September. The committee then makes a further recommendation to go before all councillors at the next full council meeting on 18 September, where the final decision on this will be made.”