Decisions

See attached annex.

Quarterly staffing report providing details of key people numbers and analysis of main changes since the previous report.

Recommendation agreed.

To provide background and context to the service and resource planning process for 2018/19.

Recommendations agreed.

Agreed and signed subject to the correction of the word “underspend” in the first sentence of the third paragraph of the preamble to minute 52/17 to read “overspend”.

None.

To seek approval of the submission of an expression of interest to the Housing Infrastructure Fund for schemes under the “Forward Funding” programme.

Recommendations agreed subject to the following addition to recommendation (d) shown in bold below:

The Cabinet RESOLVED to:

(a)          Agree to the submission of an Expression of Interest to the Housing Infrastructure Fund

(b)          Agree to the process set out above for the assessment of viability of schemes and for their subsequent prioritisation

(c)          Note the current candidate scheme packages and current draft assessments

(d)          Delegate to the Strategic Director for Communities, in consultation with the Leader of the Council and the Cabinet Member for Environment, and taking into account the view of the Growth Board, the final viability and prioritisation assessment and the detail of the bid submission including the detail of projects to be included within each scheme. This should be based upon further thorough evaluation of the robustness of governance arrangements and levels of assurance on deliverability.

Councillor Hudspeth undertook to keep Political Group Leaders informed of discussions as matters progressed.

.

To seek a decision on the use of the transition fund underspend, and to seek a decision on the future of Florence Park.

Cabinet agreed:

(a)  Regarding the future use of the Florence Park site to support the proposal for asset transfer and transition fund grant for Aspire. Cabinet further agreed to provide active and positive support to assist Aflah Nursery finding alternative premises; and

(b)  To approve the proposed use of the transition fund underspend and to invite Aflah Nursery to reformat their proposal as appropriate to re-apply under the new scheme for transition funding should they so wish.

Apology from Councillor Constance.

Noted.

Item 6 -           Mr Aquib Hafeez

Mr Misbah Hafeez

Councillor Linda Smith, Oxford City Council

Jane Gallagher

Mr Chris Sewell

Mr Alexander Massey

Dr Hilary Walker

Rev Elizabeth Allison-Glenny 

Mr Terry Tran-Nguyen

Nick Lunch

Ms Lesley Williams

Ms Candida March

Mr Paul Roberts,

Councillor Jamila Begum Azad

Councillor John Sanders

Councillor Helen Evans

Councillor Liz Brighouse

Item 7 – Councillor Helen Evans

Item 8 - Councillor Jane Murphy, Deputy Leader, SODC

Councillor Neville Harris

Councillor Liz Brighouse

Item 9 – Councillor Laura Price

To approve the Draft CRMP Action Plan 2018/19 for consultation.

The Draft CRMP Plan will then be sent to Performance Scrutiny Committee on 21 September 2017 prior to public consultation.

Recommendations agreed.

None.

None.

City Councillor Jean Fooks attended in place of City Councillor James Fry. Apologies were received  from Cllr Carmen Griffiths.

Councillors Bulmer, Fooks, Howson, Lygo, Sanders and Thompson each declared personal interests as members of the Pension Fund Scheme under the provisions of Section 18 of the Local Government Act 1989. Cllr Mark Lygo also declared a personal interest in respect of his role as a retained fore-fighter.

The Minutes of the last meeting held on 23 June 2017 were approved and signed as a correct record, subject to the amendment of City Cllrs Jean Fooks and James Fry from ‘District Cllr’ to ‘City Cllr’ in Minute 28/17.

Julia Spraggs addressed the Committee on behalf of Fossil Free Oxfordshire.

Received.

Agreed.

Received.

Noted.

Noted.

Noted.

No further issues requiring summary.

No further issues brought.

(a)  noted and supported;

(b)  noted and supported;

(c)  considered at Agenda Item 8;

(d)  endorsed.

The unconfirmed Minutes of the Local Pension Board, 21 July 2017, were noted.

To note the report and to request the officers to bring this key performance data to each meeting of this Committee for the time being.

(a)  noted;

(b)  agreed.

Document reviewed and no comments or amendments made.

Noted.

(a)  noted;

(b)   in respect of risk 4 – the Committee believed the score to be at the right level, given the likelihood that risks would fluctuate to a higher or lower level over a longer period of time; agree that likelihood score for risk 8 be raised from 3 to 4; and with respect to risk score 10, to reduce the likelihood score from 3 to 2. Committee also requested the officers to bring a detailed report to the next meeting on a number of ICT risks identified at the meeting; and

(c)  noted and to request the officers to provide online training in individual issues, where appropriate also.

Report received and outturn position noted.

To seek agreement of the award of Daytime Support Grant Funding, as per the agreed decision making process.

(a)  Approved; and

(b)  Agree the proposed process for awarding grants, as set out at paragraph 28 in the report, subject to further discussion with the Director for Adult Services.

There were no declarations of interest.

To seek agreement of the outcome of the annual review of Care Home Fees effective from April 2017.

(a)  Approved;

(b)  Approved;

(c)  Approved;

(d)  Approved;

(e)  Approved;

(f)    Approved;

(g)  Agreed; and

(h)  Agreed.

There were no requests to submit a petition or to make an address.

There were no questions from County Councillors.

There were none.

The Minutes of the meeting held on 11 July 2017 were approved and signed subject to showing Councillor Ted Fenton under Apologies and Absence.

Matters Arising

At the suggestion of Councillor Webber, the Chairman agreed to ask officers to give further consideration to the follow-up mechanism used to report back on issues raised at Council.

Dr Sheikh Ramzy spoke in support of Agenda Item 16 (Motion from Councillor Jamila Azad calling for an independent review of hate crime legislation, including measures to tackle online hatred and abuse);

Mr Chris Church spoke in support of Agenda Item 15 (Motion from Councillor John Sanders) calling for a councillor-led inter-council Air Pollution Action Group to identify measures to reduce air pollution.

There were none.

The Chairman reported the Maggie Culture Crawl in aid of the Maggie Centre at the Churchill hospital, Oxford.  Gift Aid Envelopes had been circulated and a just Giving page had been set up should members wish to support the cause.

The Chairman informed members that the Chairman’s Dinner this year would be held in honour to raise funds for the Friends of the Young Musicians’ Association.  He urged Members to come and support the Charity.

Council congratulated staff on being awarded

There were none.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Bulmer, Clarke, Handley and Mathew.

With the consent of Council, Councillor Cherry moved an alteration to his motion at the suggestion of Councillor Reeves as shown below in strikethrough:

"Oxfordshire County Council Highways Department needs at least £165 million pounds to get Oxfordshire roads fit for purpose. Unfortunately though, it has to work with a highways budget for Oxfordshire roads of around £20 million a year.

Council asks the leader of Oxfordshire County Council write to the Minister for Transport to ask that he give urgent consideration to the importance of extra funding for our failing roads in Oxfordshire.”

Councillor Smith moved and Councillor Johnston seconded the following amendment as shown below in bold italics and strikethrough:

"Oxfordshire County Council Highways Department needs at least £165 million pounds to get Oxfordshire roads fit for purpose. Unfortunately though, it has to work with a highways budget for Oxfordshire roads of around £20 million a year.

Council asks the leader of Oxfordshire County Council write to the Minister for Transport to ask that he give urgent consideration to the importance of extra funding for our failing roads in Oxfordshire.”Council also asks Cabinet to consider prudential borrowing as an additional way to ensure ongoing investment in our local roads”

The amendment was lost by 46 votes to 12, with 1 abstention.

The Substantive motion as amended was carried unanimously.

RESOLVED: (Unanimous)

"Oxfordshire County Council Highways Department needs at least £165 million pounds to get Oxfordshire roads fit for purpose. Unfortunately though, it has to work with a highways budget for Oxfordshire roads of around £20 million a year.

Council asks the leader of Oxfordshire County Council write to the Minister for Transport to ask that he give urgent consideration to the importance of extra funding for our roads in Oxfordshire.”

The time being 4.00 pm, this motion was considered dropped in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 15.1

With the consent of Council, Councillor Turnbull moved an alteration to her motion at the suggestion of Councillors Reeves and Johnson as follows in bold italics and strikethrough:

Oxfordshire has a growing number of children and young people (CYP) as having complex social, emotional and mental health needs. Some of these CYP have experienced conflict and all need timely access to services including specialist psychological assessment. Counselling or therapy to help them through the crisis and rebuild their lives.

The local CAMHS has been struggling to meet the needs of these young people. Figures for June 2017 show that only 53% of young people get their first routine appointment within 12 weeks of referral (target is 75%). There are currently 1,114 CYP waiting to access mental health services in Oxfordshire.

The CAMHS provides excellent care, but is a service currently unable to offer quick, flexible intervention to help young people in distress. This is having a detrimental effect on schools, which lack the expertise, training and resources to manage their pupils’ complex needs.

There is a real, growing need to provide young people in distress with access to one-to-one or group-based specialist services that help alleviate trauma and build resilience while they wait for longer term assessment and treatment. These services should be freely accessible to young people through the locality teams working from our family and children's centres.

This Council, recognising this urgent  need, calls on Cabinet to investigate the cost and practicality to set up a specialist emotional and mental wellbeing service for CYP for consideration in the 2018 budget. This service would complement and support the mental health awareness work that is being done in schools, but would focus on providing rapid, flexible support for young people in distress.

The motion as amended was carried by 55 votes to 0.

RESOLVED: (55 votes to 0)

“Oxfordshire has a growing number of children and young people (CYP) as having complex social, emotional and mental health needs. Some of these CYP have experienced conflict and all need timely access to services including specialist psychological assessment. Counselling or therapy to help them through the crisis and rebuild their lives.

The local CAMHS has been struggling to meet the needs of these young people. Figures for June 2017 show that only 53% of young people get their first routine appointment within 12 weeks of referral (target is 75%). There are currently 1,114 CYP waiting to access mental health services in Oxfordshire.

The CAMHS provides excellent care, but is a service currently unable to offer quick, flexible intervention to help young people in distress. This is having a detrimental effect on schools, which lack the expertise, training and resources to manage their pupils’ complex needs.

There is a real, growing need to provide young people in distress with access to one-to-one or group-based specialist services that help alleviate trauma and build resilience while they wait for longer term assessment and treatment. These services should be freely accessible to young people through the locality teams working from our family and children's centres.

This Council, recognising this urgent need, calls on Cabinet to investigate the cost and practicality to set up a specialist emotional and mental wellbeing service for CYP for consideration in the 2018 budget. This service would complement and support the mental health awareness work that is being done in schools, but would focus on providing rapid, flexible support for young people in distress.”

The time being 4.00 pm, this motion was considered dropped in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 15.1

The amendment by Councillor Liz Brighouse as set out below in bold italics and strikethrough was carried by 48 votes to 13, with 1 abstention.

“This Council notes that in spite of repeatedly advertising vacancies, the Oxfordshire Clinical Commissioning Group has been unable to recruit enough GPs and other clinical staff to meet local need.

Many patients now have to wait for at least 4 weeks for a non-emergency appointment with their GP. This is in part due to the difficulty of in attracting GP’s to serve in rural areas Oxfordshire, especially where house prices are high. and GP premises require significant investment. It is a problem shared with other counties, and is acknowledged by the SPARSE Rural Group of the Rural Services Network, which  has given backing to a proposal to offer GPs a “rural weighting” as part of their remuneration.  Similar to the accepted practice of ‘London weighting’, such a scheme Oxfordshire although a rural County has all the challenges in recruiting staff due to the cost of living as exists in London. Introducing a weighting scheme such as operates in Londonwould aim to attract the much needed physicians and in turn facilitate better provision of health services across the County.

This Council believes that a “rural weighting” this is needed in order to attract GPs and other clinicians to the county and so relieve pressure on Accident and Emergency Services.  This Council therefore asks the Leader of the Council to request Oxfordshire MPs to lobby the Secretary of State for Health to introduce a “London Weighting” type  scheme of ‘rural weighting’ for GPs and clinical staff  who accept positions in rural counties such as Oxfordshire.”

The substantive motion as amended was agreed unanimously.

RESOLVED:  (Unanimous)

“This Council notes that in spite of repeatedly advertising vacancies, the Oxfordshire Clinical Commissioning Group has been unable to recruit enough GPs and other clinical staff to meet local need.

Many patients now have to wait for at least 4 weeks for a non-emergency appointment with their GP. This is in part due to the difficulty in attracting GP’s to serve in Oxfordshire, where house prices are high. Oxfordshire although a rural County has all the challenges in recruiting staff due to the cost of living as exists in London. Introducing a weighting scheme such as operates in Londonwould attract the much needed physicians and in turn facilitate better provision of health services across the County.

This Council believes that this is needed to attract GPs and other clinicians to the county and so relieve pressure on Accident and Emergency Services.  This Council therefore asks the Leader of the Council to request Oxfordshire MPs to lobby the Secretary of State for Health to introduce a “London Weighting” type scheme for GPs and clinical staff  who accept positions in Oxfordshire.”

The time being 4.00 pm, this motion was considered dropped in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 15.1

Council received the report of the Cabinet.

In relation to paragraph 1 (Section 75 Agreement – Update 2017) (Question from Councillor Rooke to Councillor Stratford), Councillor Stratford undertook to provide Rooke with a written answer detailing what systems are in place to support staff through the process of the Care Quality Commission’s review of high DETOC figures in Oxon and should the result lead to a reduction in government funding, how will the Cabinet Member ensure that any loss to the pooled budget is geared in relation to the proportions of DETOC figures which are directly the responsibility of the County Council.

In relation to paragraph 1 (Section 75 Agreement – Update 2017) (Question from Councillor Price to Councillor Stratford), Councillor Stratford undertook to provide Price with a written answer detailing what elements of the pooled budget are contributing towards the care and support directly related to the now permenantly closed acute hospital beds and what the potential risks to the budget are now that the CCG now plan to close further beds.

In relation to paragraph 2 (City Centre Transport Improvements and Experimental Queen Street Closure) (Question from Councillor Johnston to Councillor Constance), Councillor Constance undertook to provide Councillor Johnston with a written answer detailing whether there are any contingency plans in place should the government decide not to close Queen Street.

In relation to paragraph 2 (City Centre Transport Improvements and Experimental Queen Street Closure) (Question from Councillor Howson to Councillor Constance), Councillor Constance undertook to provide Councillor Howson with a written answer detailing why the Westgate Travel Plan did not feature in the report that went to Cabinet in July and explaining why having spent £400,000 on the Worcester street junction the Council are spending more money redeveloping that junction again, despite the fact that councillors were told last week that there is going to be a joint County and City study with consultants to look at the whole problem of transport, pedestrians and cycling within the City and the cost of that Study.

Recommendations Agreed by 53 votes to 3, with 2 abstentions

To review Treasury Management activity in 2016/17 in accordance with the CIPFA code of practice.

Recommendations Agreed nem con

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

In relation to question 5 (Question to Councillor Constance from Councillor Hannaby, Councillor Constance gave an undertaking to follow up on the suggestion that the Council extend its current maintenance Contract.

In relation to question 7 (Question to Councillor Hibbert-Biles from Councillor Howson, Councillor Hibbert-Biles gave an undertaking to include representations about funding for SEN transport now that the DfE is having a review on the Guidance in relation to SEN Transport.

In relation to question 10 (Question to Councillor Constance from Councillor John Sanders, Councillor Constance agreed to walk the route with Councillor Sanders to discuss the points raised in his question.

In relation to question 11 (Question to Councillor Constance from Councillor Pressel, Councillor Constance gave an undertaking to follow up with officers on how the Council worked with the City Council on the Botley Road improvements.

(a)  agreed;

(b)  not to support the establishment of the Cross Pool Information Forum for the reasons outlined in the report and to amend the consultation response at Annex 2 accordingly;

(c)  noted;

(d)  agreed;

(e)  acknowledged and agreed;

(f)    agreed.

Councillor Les Sibley (Councillor Lawrie Stratford)

Councillor Dr Kirsten Johnson (Councillor John Howson)

None declared

Approved and signed

Matters arising – 33/17 – subject to satisfactory references the vacant Planning Officer (Monitoring, Compliance and Enforcement) post in the Development Management Team had been filled.

None

None

Approved