Agenda, decisions and minutes

Before inviting nominations for the office of chairman of the Council, Councillor Michael Waine (the retiring Chairman) took the opportunity to reflect on his year in office as Chairman of the Council, and in particular his civic duties promoting Oxfordshire County Council and meeting a broad spectrum of staff.  He thanked the Vice-chairman (Councillor Patrick) for her support and friendship throughout the year. He then presented his wife, his personal assistant (Sara Lenihan) and Tim Stimpson with small gifts as a token of his appreciation for their help and support during the Year.

Councillors Hudspeth, Brighouse, Webber and Atkins paid tribute to the outgoing Chairman thanking him for his hard work and effort over the year and in particular his Championing of the children of the County.

The Monitoring Officer, Nick Graham then invited nominations for the office of Chairman of the Council for the 2017/18 Council Year.

Councillor Webber moved and Councillor Hudspeth seconded that Councillor Patrick be elected as Chairman of the Council for the 2017/18 Council Year.

There being no other nominations and no dissent, Councillor Patrick was duly declared elected by a show of hands (nem con).  Upon election, Councillor Patrick read out and signed the Statutory Declaration of Acceptance of Office.

RESOLVED:  (nem con) that Councillor Zoe Patrick be elected as Chairman of the Council for the 2017/18 Council Year.

The Chairman called for nominations for the office of Vice-Chairman. 

Councillor Brighouse moved and Councillor Hudspeth seconded that Councillor Gill Sanders be elected as Vice-Chairman of the Council for the 2017/18 Council Year.  There being no other nominations and no dissent, Councillor Gill Sanders was duly declared elected by a show of hands (nem con) Vice-Chairman of the Council for the 2017/18 Council Year.  She read out and signed the statutory Declaration of Acceptance of Office.

RESOLVED:  that Councillor Gill Sanders be elected Vice-Chairman of the Council of the 2017/18 Council Year.

Councillor Gill Sanders was elected as Chairman for the 2017/18 Council Year.

Council paid tribute and held a minute’s silence in Memory of Mike Allsopp, Former County Councillor of the Faringdon Division. 

Council congratulated Councillor Arash Fatemian on the birth of his son.

Members were reminded that an Extraordinary Meeting and a group photo was scheduled to take place following lunch at 2.00 pm.

To approve the minutes of the meeting held on 21 March 2017 (CC1) and to receive information arising from them.

The Minutes of the Meeting held on 21 March 2017 were approved and signed.

The Chairman reminded members of the need to return the forms for notifying financial and other interests (the Register of Members Interests form) within 28 days of the date of election – i.e. by Thursday, 1st June at the latest, as failure to do so could be subject to formal investigation as a criminal offence.  Returning councillors also needed to confirm in writing that their current registration was up to date and correct.  An email would suffice by way of a declaration to this effect.

To receive the Returning Officer’s Report (CC6) on the election of Councillors on 4 May 2017.

The Council had before them a report by the Returning Officer setting out the results of the election of Councillors on 4 May 2017.

Councillor Harris indicated that that he would wish to see more detail in future returning Officer reports such as failed candidates and number of Oxfordshire County Council Staff who had worked on the elections.

Members paid tribute to Rodney Rose for his many years on the Council and in particular his contribution as Deputy Leader of the Council.

RESOLVED:

(a)       to note the Returning Officer Report; and

(b)       ask the Chairman to send a card on behalf of the Council to thank Rodney Rose for his service to Oxfordshire County Council and to send him it’s very best wishes for the future.

Report by the Monitoring Officer (CC7).

At its Annual Meeting, Council is required to agree the officer scheme of delegation within the Council's Constitution. 

The Scheme of Officer Delegation is contained in Part 7.2 of the Council’s Constitution.  The Scheme itself gives delegated authority to the Head of Paid Service, directors and other chief officers whose titles and/or areas of responsibility are set out in Part 2, Article 13 of the Constitution.  Copies of the amended sections of the Constitution have been placed in the Members’ Resource Room.

Since the Constitution was fully reviewed in 2014-15, the Council has undertaken a senior management review. The only changes are those arising from the previously agreed senior management review. The consequential changes to the Constitution were agreed by Audit and Governance Committee in January 2017 and by Full Council in March 2017. As such these relate to changes in post title and do not create additional or new delegations of powers.

Council is RECOMMENDED to note the proposed amendments to Article 13 and to Part 7.2 of the Constitution and to approve the Scheme of Officer Delegation (Part 7.3) as amended.

The Council had before them a report by the Monitoring Officer (CC7) which set out the proposed changes to the Council’s Officer Scheme of Delegation set out in the Constitution.

During debate, Members indicated that they would like a full Review of the Constitution. 

RESOLVED: (on a motion by Councillor Patrick, seconded by Councillor Gill Sanders and carried nem con) to note the proposed amendments to Article 13 and to Part 7.2 of the Constitution and to approve the Scheme of Officer Delegation (Part 7.3) as amended.

The Monitoring Officer reports as follows:

In light of the General Election, only meetings dealing with essential matters will meet during the purdah period. A revised list of Council dates is attached

In addition a request has been received from the District Councils to bring forward the budget meeting of full Council in February 2018 to facilitate their budget setting processes.

Council is RECOMMENDED to note the revised schedule of meetings and to agree to waive Rule 2.1 of the Council Procedure Rules to allow the February 2018 budget meeting of full Council to be held on 13 February.

The Council had before them a revised meetings schedule for 2017/18 which had been drawn up to reflect the decision taken in light of the general election, to only hold essential meetings during the purdah period.  The report also sought agreement to a request received from the district councils to bring forward the budget meeting of full Council to facilitate their budget setting processes.

Councillor Patrick moved and Councillor Gill Sanders seconded that the recommendations set out in the report and on the face of the Agenda be adopted.

During debate, Members expressed disappointment that a meeting fell within the half term when there had been an agreement to avoid school holidays where possible.

Following debate, the motion was put to the vote and was carried by 38 votes to 15, with 9 abstentions.

RESOLVED: (by 38 votes to 15, 9 abstentions) to note the revised schedule of meetings and to agree to waive Rule 2.1 of the Council Procedure Rules to allow the February 2018 budget meeting of full Council to be held on 13 February.

Members are asked to:

(a)       elect the Leader of the Council;

(b)       note the names, addresses and electoral divisions of the people appointed to the Cabinet by the Leader of the Council for the coming year and their respective portfolios;

(c)       note the Office of the Leader of the Opposition.

At the conclusion of the Council’s proceedings all members are asked to remain in their seats in the Council chamber while committees meet for the purpose of electing Chairman and Deputy Chairman.

(1)       The Office of Leader of the Council

Councillor Heathcoat moved and Councillor Fatemian seconded Councillor Ian Hudspeth for the Office of Leader of the Council.

The Motion was put to the vote and was carried by 33 votes to 15, with 15 abstentions.

RESOLVED: to elect Councillor Ian Hudspeth as Leader of the Council.

(2)       to note (nem con) the following appointments to the Cabinet by the Leader of the Council for the coming year and their respective portfolios as follows;

(3)       The Office of Leader of the Opposition

RESOLVED: to note that Councillor Brighouse was the Leader of the Opposition.

Report by the Director of Law & Governance (CC10)

The report reviews the political balance on Scrutiny and other committees and appoints members to them. (ANNEXES TO FOLLOW).

The Council is RECOMMENDED to:

(a)       confirm the political balance on committees shown in Annex 2 to the report;

(b)      appoint to committees the councillors and co-opted members shown in Annex 3, subject to any changes reported at the meeting.

The Council had before them a report CC10 which summarised the rules for the political balance on Scrutiny and other committees, together with Annex 2 confirming the political balance on the committees and Annex 3, showing the membership of all committees.

RESOLVED: (on a motion by Councillor Patrick, seconded by Councillor Gill Sanders and carried by 62 votes to 1) to:

(a)       confirm the political balance on committees shown in Annex 2 to the report;

(b)       appoint to committees the councillors and co-opted members shown in Annex 3, subject to any changes reported at the meeting.

Recommendations Agreed by 62 votes to 1.

The report (CC11) is structured to reflect the activity of the Council’s three scrutiny committees; Performance Scrutiny, Education Scrutiny and Health Overview & Scrutiny and the Cabinet Advisory Groups. The report highlights the work carried out by each Committee to scrutinise service activity and performance as well as Cabinet decisions taken over the past year.

Council is RECOMMENDED to receive the report.

The Council had before them the Annual Report of the Scrutiny Committee (CC11) which set out the activity of the Council’s three scrutiny committees; Performance Scrutiny, Education Scrutiny and Health Overview & Scrutiny and the Cabinet Advisory Groups. The report highlighted the work carried out by each Committee to scrutinise service activity and performance as well as Cabinet decisions taken over the past year.

Councillor Brighouse moved and Councillor Constance seconded that the Council receive the Annual Report of the scrutiny committees.

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

RESOLVED: (nem con) to receive the report.