Agenda and draft minutes

Apologies were received from Cllr Enright, Cllr Hicks, and Cllr van Mierlo (substitute: Cllr Thomas).

Cllr Enright attended virtually as a guest of the Committee, at the discretion of the Chair.

Cllr Sudbury had apologised in advance that he would be arriving late.

There were none.

To approve the minutes of the meeting held on 07 February 2024 (PLOSC4) and to receive information arising from them.

The Committee is recommended to AGREE the minutes as a true and accurate record having raised any necessary amendments.

5/24 – first paragraph should have ended with a full stop rather than a comma.

Subject to that amendment, the Committee resolved to AGREE the minutes of the meeting of 07 February 2024 as a true and accurate record.

Members of the public who wish to speak at this meeting can attend the meeting in person or ‘virtually’ through an online connection. To facilitate ‘hybrid’ meetings we are asking that requests to speak are submitted by no later than 9.00 a.m. four working days before the meeting, i.e., 9.00 a.m. on Thursday 11 April 2024. Requests to speak should be sent to scrutiny@oxfordshire.gov.uk  

If you are speaking ‘virtually’, you may submit a written statement of your presentation to ensure that, if the technology fails, your views can still be taken into account. A written copy of your statement can be provided no later than 9.00 a.m. two working days before the meeting. Written submissions should be no longer than one A4 sheet.

There were none.

Cllr Dr Peter Sudbury, Deputy Leader of the Council with Responsibility for Climate Change, Environment & Future Generations, Bill Cotton, Corporate Director for Environment and Place, Rachel Burns, Team Leader Waste Strategy and Circular Economy, and Jamie Slagel, National Management Trainee have been invited to present a report on the Council’s Circular Economy Strategy and Action Plan.

The Committee is asked to consider the report and raise any questions, and to AGREE any recommendations it wishes to make to Cabinet arising therefrom.

Cllr Dr Pete Sudbury, Deputy Leader of the Council with Responsibility for Climate Change, Environment & Future Generations, had been invited to present a report on the Circular Economy Strategy and Action Plan (the CES).  He was accompanied by Bill Cotton, Corporate Director for Environment and Place, Rachel Burns, Team Leader Waste for Strategy and Circular Economy, and Jamie Slagel, National Management Trainee.

Before the Cabinet member’s arrival, the Corporate Director for Environment and Place introduced the strategy and likened it to the old-fashioned concept of 'make do and mend', focused on resource conservation. The Team Leader for Waste Strategy and Circular Economy, the National Management Trainee, and their colleagues were commended for their broad thinking in putting together the strategy.

An emerging action plan was focused on the Council improving its own practices. The next steps involved working with district councils to manage waste and collaborating with partners across Oxfordshire to advance this progressive agenda.

The Team Leader for Waste Strategy and Circular Economy highlighted that the discussion revolved around the transition from a linear to a circular economy. The aim was to design items for longevity, using more sustainable, reusable, or recyclable materials, and enabling repair and disassembly at the end of life.

The CES was crucial for the Council to meet its Net Zero targets. The strategy increased resource-security and resilience, especially considering global events impacting activities and costs. It was noted that managing household waste costs around 6% of the Council's budget, a figure that was increasing. Transitioning to a circular economy could help control these costs. The CES would create between 6,000 and 7,000 jobs in Oxfordshire and could add £400m to £500m to the Oxfordshire economy.

The National Management Trainee emphasised the importance of translating strategy into delivery, and an action plan was developed concurrently with the strategy. The focus was on using less, using for longer, and reusing. Seven critical areas were identified for focus.

Procurement was a major focus, as the majority of the Council’s material and carbon footprint came from procured services. The Council was committed to embedding the concept of the circular economy in its new contracts.

IT equipment, made up of high-value assets reliant on critical metals, was another important area. Unused equipment could be redeployed within the Council, saving money and having positive environmental impacts by freeing up critical minerals and metals.

To ensure a successful transition from strategy to delivery, measuring and monitoring its impact would be key. The need to identify appropriate metrics for the Council and build processes to collect and report on this data was discussed. This was an emerging field worldwide, with no standardised metric, but work was being done with other councils to develop appropriate metrics for the Council.

The CES laid out the intention to work across the county on a partnership strategy with other councils, universities, the local NHS, businesses, landowners, and the voluntary and community sector. Agreement had already been reached with district councils in Oxfordshire to produce a countywide  ...  view the full minutes text for item 12/24

Cllr Judy Roberts, Cabinet member for Infrastructure and Development Strategy, and Rachel Wileman, Director of Planning, Environment and Climate Change, have been invited to present a report on the Council’s Infrastructure Funding Statement and Section 106 Update.

The Committee is asked to consider the report and raise any questions, and to AGREE any recommendations it wishes to make to Cabinet arising therefrom.

Cllr Judy Roberts, Cabinet member for Infrastructure and Development Strategy, had been invited to present a report updating the Committee on the Council’s approach Infrastructure Funding and the spending of section 106 contributions.  The Infrastructure Funding Statement had been submitted to the Committee at its meeting on 06 December 2023 before being submitted to Cabinet.  The large sums of money unspent had also been explored at the Performance Overview & Scrutiny Committee in December and in the latter’s scrutiny of the Cabinet’s proposed budget.  Cllr Roberts was accompanied by Rachel Wileman, Director of Planning, Environment, and Climate Change. It was emphasised that increasing the speed and ease with which moneys were spent was an ongoing process.

The Director of Planning, Environment and Climate Change, commended the Council’s ability to collect money, and emphasised that s106 money was often collected and pooled for larger infrastructure projects. A piece of work was underway to look at the flexibility of s106 moneys and to see what money had been spent, what money was committed to be spent, and what money was not currently earmarked. While it was the Services responsibility to take s106 agreements forward and deliver infrastructure, there was also a collective responsibility across the Council to mobilise the money.

Insights were sought from the Committee as to how greater engage localities and members themselves in the spending of s106 moneys. A resources map had been created to look at potential housing sites linked to their planning permission status and whether money had been allocated to those sites.

The Committee raised the following issues:

·       The frustration on the part of both members and residents that residents were not getting the infrastructure they were owed from s106 moneys. The apparent lack of transparency over where the money was and how it was being spent – or not – compounded these frustrations.

The Committee was assured that work was already underway on this with using technologies to create a dashboard of infrastructure projects that were in the pipeline and where the funding for these projects was. This dashboard would enable members and residents to monitor projects and to see how moneys were being spent.

·       Concerns were raised about the money from s106 being spent correctly on what would benefit the community the most. There were fears that money was being assigned too narrowly and reducing the flexibility of the money, which then failed to benefit the community.

Officers acknowledged that greater partnerships were needed with localities and communities to determine what exactly was needed. The intention was to build a greater narrative with members, who had the knowledge of what was needed. It was hoped that the creation of the dashboard would help to engage members with the potential projects and the status of funding for those projects.

·       The prospect of having a s106 officer per locality was raised a method of ensuring focus within each locality for the spending of these moneys.

The Committee was given a rough breakdown of how s106 moneys were  ...  view the full minutes text for item 13/24

The Committee is recommended to NOTE the action and recommendation tracker.

NB. This item is to follow.

The Committee resolved to NOTE the action and recommendation tracker.

Attached is the Committee’s proposed forward work plan alongside the latest Council business management and monitoring report, and Cabinet forward plan.

The Committee is recommended to AGREE its forward work plan having considered any issues arising from the other reports.

The Committee resolved to AGREE the proposed forward work plan, having taken account of the Cabinet Forward Plan and the Budget Management Monitoring Report subject to the following amendments:

·       A potential report on mobility hubs, to be explored by the Scrutiny Officer

·       To request the issue of public health be included within the forthcoming report on flooding.

Attached is the Cabinet response to the Place OSC report on Vision Zero. The Committee is asked to NOTE the response.

The Committee resolved to NOTE the Cabinet response to its report on Vision Zero.