Agenda and minutes

To approve the minutes of the meeting held on 10 September 2013 (CC1) and to receive information arising from them.

The Minutes of the meeting held on 10 September 2013 were approved and signed.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Jamila Azad and Sam Coates.

The Chairman reported as follows:

(1)               Council commemorated 100 years of car production in Oxfordshire.

(2)               The death of Delia Smith, who was a County Councillor for the Thame Divison 1989 – 2007, died on 27 September 2013.  Councillors Carter, Brighouse and Purse paid tribute to the former County Council.  Council agreed to send a card to the family. The Council then observed a Minute’s Silence in her memory. 

To make any changes to the membership of the Cabinet, scrutiny and other committees on the nomination of political groups.

RESOLVED: to agree the following appointments:

(a)      to replace Councillor Atkins with Councillor Mark Gray on the Education Scrutiny Committee;

(b)      to replace Councillor Gray with Councillor Atkins on the Pension Fund Committee;

(c)      to appoint  Mrs Liz Smith as a Parent Governor Representative for Primary Schools on the Education Scrutiny Committee.

The Council received the following Public Addresses:

Mrs Sue Richard, on behalf of the Save Oxfordshire's Children's Centres campaign, spoke in support of the Motion from Councillor Janet Godden (Agenda Item 17), requesting that the Council consider seriously Cllr Godden's suggestions for further meetings to ensure that the full consequences of any reductions in services were understood, in advance of members agreeing the budget proposals, and well in advance of the final vote on the budget.  She urged the Council in particular not to cut Children’s Centres which provided essential early intervention to many vulnerable children across Oxfordshire.

Mrs Alexandra Daniels spoke as a local resident who had benefited from a considerable amount of support from her local children’s centre during a crisis  point in her family life, in support of the Motion from Councillor Janet Godden (Agenda Item 17), requesting that the Council do not cut Children’s Centre’s and recognise the valuable resource they provide to many vulnerable children and families in Oxfordshire.

The following question by Mr Bernie Douglas was put to the Deputy Leader of the Council, Councillor Rodney Rose:

What measures are in place/ are OCC taking to ensure that the area receives the maximum possible benefit/mitigation form the proposed construction and operation of HS2?

Councillor Rose answered in the following terms:

Where the HS2 proposals may have an impact on Oxfordshire’s road and public footpath network the County Council is working to ensure that measures are included that will mitigate that impact: the County Council continues to monitor progress with Government’s proposal.

24 Questions with notice were asked.  Details of the questions and answers and the supplementary questions and answers (where asked) are set out in Annex 1 to the Minutes.

In relation to Question 11 (Question from Councillor John Tanner to Councillor David Nimmo Smith) Councillor Nimmo Smith undertook to provide Councillor Tanner with a written answer to the question of when the review of the Council’s approach to Highways Maintenance would be completed.

In relation to Question 22 (Question from Councillor Roz Smith to Councillor Arash Fatemian) Councillor Fatemian undertook to provide Councillor Smith with a written answer to the question of where the sure start money would be coming from if it had to be paid back and whether it would be capital or Revenue money.

Report of the Cabinet Meeting held on 15 October 2013 (CC9).

The Council received the report of the Cabinet.

In relation to paragraph 1 (City Deal Strategy Overview) (Question from Councillor Brighouse) Councillor Hudspeth undertook to keep all members informed on the progress of the City Deal Negotiation.

In relation to paragraph 6 (Contributions Policy) (Question from Councillor Patrick) Councillor Heathcoat undertook to provide Councillor Patrick with a written answer regarding carers entering into contracts of employment.

In relation to paragraph 7 (Revised Space Standards for Schools) (Question from Councillor Patrick) Councillor Carter undertook to provide Councillor Phillips with a written answer regarding the level of flexibility afforded to local communities in the design of new schools.

"This Council notes the impending electrification of much of the County's rail network. Council therefore asks Cabinet to use all possible means to ensure that:

(i)         electrification facilitates the construction of a station at Grove/Wantage;

(ii)        that the freight line to Cowley, is electrified to eliminate the "running of diesels under the wire" elsewhere;

(iii)       proper co-ordination in advance takes place with bus companies and diversion routes planned early to help ease the upheaval caused by alterations to many road bridges all over the County.”

Councillor Howson moved and Councillor Patrick seconded the following motion:

"This Council notes the impending electrification of much of the County's rail network. Council therefore asks Cabinet to use all possible means to ensure that:

(i)         electrification facilitates the construction of a station at Grove/Wantage;

(ii)        that the freight line to Cowley, is electrified to eliminate the "running of diesels under the wire" elsewhere;

(iii)       proper co-ordination in advance takes place with bus companies and diversion routes planned early to help ease the upheaval caused by alterations to many road bridges all over the County.”

Following debate the motion was put to the vote and was carried nem con.

Agreed

RESOLVED: (nem con)

This Council notes the impending electrification of much of the County's rail network. Council therefore asks Cabinet to use all possible means to ensure that:

(i)         electrification facilitates the construction of a station at Grove/Wantage;

(ii)        that the freight line to Cowley, is electrified to eliminate the "running of diesels under the wire" elsewhere;

(iii)       proper co-ordination in advance takes place with bus companies and diversion routes planned early to help ease the upheaval caused by alterations to many road bridges all over the County.

“This Council, mindful of the fact that Oxfordshire has already cut £127m and has in place plans to cut a further £74m from its budget, asks the Leader of the Council to write to the Prime Minister, Chancellor of the Exchequer and the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government asking them to:

(a)                   Consider the impact on services of a further cut of £60m given that the additional cut will have to be made on services which are not statutory and will hit the rising number of  vulnerable elderly  people and children in all communities.

(b)                   Mitigate the damage which these further reductions in expenditure will have on communities across Oxfordshire through the Autumn Statement and the Local Government Finance Settlement  by a combination of giving greater local determination to elected councillors in relation to the Council Tax and providing a less onerous settlement to local government.

(c)                        Consider In the longer term a new approach to securing the financial stability and sustainability of local government.”

Councillor Brighouse moved and Councillor Hards seconded the following motion:

“This Council, mindful of the fact that Oxfordshire has already cut £127m and has in place plans to cut a further £74m from its budget, asks the Leader of the Council to write to the Prime Minister, Chancellor of the Exchequer and the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government asking them to:

(a)                   Consider the impact on services of a further cut of £60m given that the additional cut will have to be made on services which are not statutory and will hit the rising number of  vulnerable elderly  people and children in all communities.

(b)                   Mitigate the damage which these further reductions in expenditure will have on communities across Oxfordshire through the Autumn Statement and the Local Government Finance Settlement  by a combination of giving greater local determination to elected councillors in relation to the Council Tax and providing a less onerous settlement to local government.

(c)                        Consider In the longer term a new approach to securing the financial stability and sustainability of local government.”

Councillor Williams moved and Councillor Godden seconded the following amendment shown in bold italic:

“This Council, mindful of the fact that Oxfordshire has already cut £127m and has in place plans to cut a further £74m from its budget, asks the Leader of the Council to write to the Prime Minister, Chancellor of the Exchequer and the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government asking them to:

(a)       Consider the impact on services of a further cut of £60m given that the additional cut will have to be made on services which are not statutory and will hit the rising number of vulnerable elderly people and children in all communities.

(b)       Mitigate the damage which these further reductions in expenditure will have on communities across Oxfordshire through the Autumn Statement and the Local Government Finance Settlement by a combination of giving greater local determination to elected councillors in relation to the Council Tax and providing a less onerous settlement to local government.

(c)       Consider in the longer term a new approach to securing the financial stability and sustainability of local government.”

(d)       The Leader of the Council to lead all party delegation to meet the Secretary of State for local Government to illustrate the impact the proposed settlement would have on services, to question the criteria for this settlement RSG and to appeal that extra resources are required in whatever form to diminish the impact of the cuts.'

The amendment proposed by Councillor David Williams was put to the vote and was lost by 47 votes to 11.

Following debate, the substantive motion was put to the vote and was carried nem con.

RESOLVED: (nem con)

This Council, mindful of the fact that Oxfordshire has already cut £127m and has in place plans to cut a further £74m from its budget, asks the Leader of the Council to write to the Prime Minister, Chancellor of the Exchequer and the Secretary  ...  view the full minutes text for item 81/13

Councillor Lilly moved and Councillor Waine seconded the following motion as amended with Council’s agreement by Councillor Brighouse in bold italic/strikethrough

“The County Council notes that the Deputy Prime Minister has found an additional £600 million for school dinners. The County Council feels that the money could be better used by targeting the most needy pupils to year 6 rather than this scatter gun approach.

The County Council is concerned that the funding will not be adequate for Oxfordshire and this could lead to a short fall requiring cuts to other areas of schools budgets such as teaching and learning and/or the Councils over stretched budget.

The County Council is also concerned that many rural schools do not have adequate or even existing facilities and will need capital spending to bring kitchens and dining areas up to the required standard.

The County Council asks the Leader to write to the Deputy Prime minister to confirm that the scheme will be fully funded along with any additional capital expenditure required.”

The motion, amended in bold italic/strikethrough was put to the vote and was carried nem con.

RESOLVED: (nem con)

The County Council notes that the Deputy Prime Minister has found an additional £600 million for school dinners.

The County Council is concerned that the funding will not be adequate for Oxfordshire and this could lead to a short fall requiring cuts to other areas of schools budgets such as teaching and learning and/or the Councils over stretched budget.

The County Council is also concerned that many rural schools do not have adequate or even existing facilities and will need capital spending to bring kitchens and dining areas up to the required standard.

The County Council asks the Leader to write to the Deputy Prime minister to confirm that the scheme will be fully funded along with any additional capital expenditure required.

“There is mounting concern as to the likely impact on the environment of Oxfordshire in relation to hydraulic fracturing of natural gas and oil, the system popularly known as ‘fracking’.

The Council considers that the potential scale of environmental damage would place a severe strain on County Environmental services and will have immediate consequences on other County services whilst drilling operations are in hand. Of special concern is the potential release of carcinogenic Radon gas from pockets locked in the Oxfordshire geology.

The County Council is also aware that the release of climate changing gases such as methane and carbon dioxide that will result from the extraction of more fossil fuels will contradict the Councils commitment to moving to a local low carbon economy.

With potential drilling sites all over the County this Council asks its Planning & Regulation Committee to have regard to these concerns in dealing with any application to issue a license to conduct exploratory drilling or to undertake full scale extraction production”.

The time being 1.00 pm the meeting closed and therefore the motions from Councillor David Williams (2), Kieron Mallon, Susanna Pressel and Janet Godden were considered dropped in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 15.1.