Issue - meetings

Cabinet Member: Future Economy and Innovation

Forward Plan Ref: 2025/128

Contact: Conor O’Sullivan, Assistant Project Manager (Conor.O’Sullivan@oxfordshire.gov.uk)

Report by Director of Economy and Place (CA10).

The Cabinet is RECOMMENDED to

a.    APPROVE the Get Oxfordshire Working Plan on behalf of Oxfordshire County Council.

b.    NOTE Other partner organisations (including the Jobcentre Plus and NHS Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire West Integrated Care Board) will be taking the Plan through their own approval processes.

c.    DELEGATE authority to the Director of Economy & Place, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Future Economy & Innovation, to make any amendments arising from the Cabinet discussion and to account for feedback from partner organisations, and sign off the final plan.

d.    DELEGATE authority to the Director of Economy & Place, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Future Economy & Innovation, to refresh and/or make revisions to the Plan as appropriate during its lifetime.

Recommendations approved.

Cabinet received a report which presented the Get Oxfordshire Working Plan developed in response to the Department of Work and Pensions requirement for local plans to tackle economic inactivity.  The County Council was leading on the plan with formal sign-off required from key partners including the Integrated Care Board and Jobcentre Plus.

Councillor Ben Higgins, Cabinet Member for Future Economy and Innovation, presented the report.

During discussion, members referred to the county’s high employment rate, the challenge of economic inactivity among specific cohorts, and the need to address entrenched inequalities and barriers to employment, such as disability, gender gaps, and transport issues.

RESOLVED to:-

a)    approve the Get Oxfordshire Working Plan on behalf of Oxfordshire County Council.

b)    note that other partner organisations (including the Jobcentre Plus and NHS Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire West Integrated Care Board) will be taking the Plan through their own approval processes.

c)    delegate authority to the Director of Economy & Place, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Future Economy & Innovation, to make any amendments arising from the Cabinet discussion and to account for feedback from partner organisations, and sign off the final plan.

d)    delegate authority to the Director of Economy & Place, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Future Economy & Innovation, to refresh and/or make revisions to the Plan as appropriate during its lifetime.