Meeting documents
The Executive
Tuesday, 14 May 2002
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To Members of the Executive Notice of a Meeting of the ExecutiveTuesday 14 May 2002 at 2.00 pmCounty Hall, Oxford
Contact officer: Deborah Mitchell (Tel: 01865 815463; E-mail) Membership
The
Agenda follows. Decisions taken at the meeting will become effective at
the end of the working day on 22 May 2002unless called in by that date
for review by the appropriate Scrutiny Committee. Copies of this Notice, Agenda and supporting papers are circulated to all Members of the County Council. AGENDA
To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 30 April 2002 (EX3) and to receive for information any matters arising therefrom. (TO FOLLOW) Executive Member:
Deputy Leader of the Council Report by Director for Strategy (EX5). This report implements the "Raising our Performance" commitments on strengthening our communication and responds to a request by the Executive for a review of all the County Council’s communications activities. It contains a series of proposals for expanding the scope and scale of these activities, including strengthening of the Media and Communications Unit; installing Community Information Points in key County Council buildings; and publication of a County Council magazine. The Executive is RECOMMENDED to approve the proposals contained in the report. Executive Member:
Learning & Culture Report by Director of Cultural Services (EX6).(download as .rtf file) The Best Value Committee considered the outcome of this review on 27 March 2002 (attached EX6). The Committee endorsed the outcomes and recommend the Review and Action Plan to the Executive and referred the outcomes of the Review to the Learning & Culture Scrutiny Committee for them to make any observations on the Review and Action Plan to the Executive. The Learning & Culture Scrutiny Committee are meeting on 7 May 2002 and their comments will be reported at the meeting.
The Executive is RECOMMENDED, subject to consideration of any comments from the Learning & Culture Scrutiny Committee, to note the outcomes of the Review and approve the identified action for service improvement. Executive Member:
Learning & Culture The Acting Chief Education Officer reports as follows:- A report was submitted to the Executive on 19 March 2002 which presented the draft Adult Learning Plan (ALP) 2002/03. The Executive adopted the ALP as its initial proposals for the Plan and instructed that the Plan be referred to the Learning & Culture Scrutiny Committee in time to report to this meeting. The Executive also agreed that in the meantime, the draft be sent to the Learning & Skills Council, but on the basis that the Plan would need to be ratified subsequently by full Council, in order to comply with government regulations. A copy of the Plan as submitted has been circulated to all members of the Executive and a copy has been placed in the Members’ Resource Centre. A copy is also available for public inspection.
The Learning & Culture Scrutiny Committee are meeting on 7 May 2002 and their comments will be reported at the meeting.
The Executive is RECOMMENDED:
Executive
Member: Children & Young People Report by Acting Chief Education Officer (EX8). The report presents applications from the following schools to open new Early Years Units from September 2002: The Blake CE Aided School Witney, Radley CE Primary school (jointly with Radley pre-school). A similar application from Sonning Common Primary school has been deferred at the request of the school.
The Blake proposal is supported by local schools but consultations with voluntary pre-schools and private nurseries have elicited concerns about the potential impact of the proposal on their numbers and future viability. Consultations on the proposal for Radley have shown strong support for the proposal and no objections. The Executive is RECOMMENDED:
Executive Member:
Schools Report by Acting Chief Education Officer (EX9). The Oxfordshire SACRE, whose purpose is to advise the LEA on religious education and worship in schools, presently comprises, in addition to 3 county councillors, representatives of the various churches and faith groups active in Oxfordshire, and 3 teacher representatives – 2 secondary and 1 primary. At recent meetings of the SACRE, members have discussed the important role of the teacher representatives, who seek to speak on behalf of teachers from all phases of schools. In the light of the new Foundation Stage of education, SACRE members recommended the teachers’ group should be increased from three to four and that the additional representative should be from the primary sector.
This recommendation was not initiated by the teachers’ group themselves, although it is supported by them and is unanimously endorsed by all members of the SACRE. A change is now required in the SACRE Constitution for this recommendation to be implemented. The Executive is RECOMMENDED to agree an increase in the teacher representatives on the Oxfordshire SACRE from three to four, on the basis that this will enable the inclusion of an additional primary school teacher. Executive Member:
Transport Report by Director of Environmental Services (EX10). This report seeks approval for an application to the Magistrates for the stopping up of three sections of highway that form part of Milton Park Estate.
These sections of highway (as shown on drawing no. 786/G153) were adopted in 1996 by agreement with the estate owners. At that time the owners intended to put forward further sections of the estate roads for adoption in the future. This is no longer their intention and they now wish to reverse the original adoption. This will bring all the estate roads back under the owner’s control. The Executive is RECOMMENDED to authorise the Solicitor to the Council to make an application to the Magistrates under section 116 of the Highways Act 1980 for the stopping up of the three sections of highway in Milton Park Estate (shown hatched on drawing no. 786/G153), on the grounds that they are unnecessary as highway. Executive Member:
Transport Report by Director of Environmental Services (EX11). This report gives details of proposals for improved cycling facilities between Adderbury and Banbury which were the subject of a public exhibition in Bodicote and Adderbury on 14 and 22 March this year respectively. It also summarises the views of those who attended (using the results of the exhibition questionnaire survey). The majority (86%) of the 84 people who completed questionnaires were in favour of introducing improved facilities for cyclists. The Executive is recommended to approve the commencement of detailed design work based on the most popular of the options for the cycle route presented at the exhibitions. The Executive is RECOMMENDED to:
Executive Member:
Transport Report by Director of Environmental Services (EX12).
This report details the response to the consultation on a package of traffic measures that have been devised with the intention of encouraging parents and children to walk and cycle to school. The proposals form part of the Better Ways to School project that is being developed in partnership with St Barnabas School, Oxford. Two areas of concern have been identified in discussion with the school, crossing facilities on Walton Well Road at its junction with Walton Street and the narrow roads directly around the school itself.
The Executive is RECOMMENDED to:
Executive
Member: All
The Executive Procedure Rules provide that the business of each meeting of the Executive is to include "updating of the Forward Plan and proposals for business to be conducted at the following meeting".
The
publication date of the next Forward Plan, for the period June – September
2002, is 22 May 2002. It will therefore be necessary to determine
its content at this meeting. Recommendations for additions and amendments
are attached as
Items from the Forward Plan (as now proposed to be updated) for the next two meetings appear in Schedule 4.
The Executive is RECOMMENDED to:
(a) agree the additions and amendments set out in Schedules 1 - 3 for the purpose of the Forward Plan for the ensuing four months;
(b) subject to (a) above, note the items currently identified for forthcoming meetings as set out in Schedule 4.
Exempt Item
The Executive will be invited to resolve to exclude the public for the consideration of the following exempt item (marked E) by passing a resolution in relation to the item in the following terms:
"that the public be excluded during the consideration of the following item in the Agenda since it is likely that if they were present during that item there would be a disclosure of "exempt" information as described in Part I of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act, 1972 and specified below the item in the Agenda".
Executive
Member: Transport Report by Director of Environmental Services (EX14E). The report describes bus services for which subsidy agreements run out shortly. In some cases (Section A of the report) these are services in the Oxford and Abingdon areas, which are scheduled for review at this time. Section B deals with services run by Thames Travel, mainly in the Wallingford area, which although in an area not now scheduled for review, need to be retendered because they have reached the legal maximum five years’ subsidy contract length. Services in Section C are temporary subsidy contracts following withdrawal of previously unsubsidised services, whose longer-term future now needs to be considered. Section D describes some subsidised services whose operators have given notice to terminate before the planned end of the contract.
In all cases tenders have been invited for continuation of the services concerned, and in some cases also for alternatives arising from review and consultation. These, with officers’ recommendations, and local member comments on the recommendations, will be reported subsequently to Executive.
The financial position of the bus subsidy budget is described in the report. On recent trends, cost increases are to be expected. Officers recommend that an increase no more than £130,000 a year be agreed, to avoid overcommitment of the budget early in the year.
(Information Exempt in that it relates to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (other than the authority).)
NOTE: The report itself does not contain exempt information and is thus available to the public. The exempt information is contained in confidential annexes and has been circulated only to members and officers entitled to receive it, or will be reported orally at the meeting. Members and officers are reminded that financial information relating to subsidy agreements reported at the meeting in the exempt part of the agenda (whether in writing or orally) must not be divulged to any third party.
The Executive is RECOMMENDED to make its decisions on subsidy for services described in this report on the basis of the tender prices contained in exempt Annex 3 to be reported subsequently.
May
2002 |
