Agenda, decisions and minutes

To approve the minutes of the meeting held on 18 December 2018 (CA3) and to receive information arising from them.

The Minutes of the meeting held on 18 December 2019 were approved and signed as a correct record.

Councillor Howson had given notice of the following question to Councillor Lindsay-Gale

‘With the introduction of the new 16-18 railcard, announced by the Secretary of State for Transport, how much would a monthly pass to travel to college in Oxford be for a 17 year old, either by train from Radley Station to Oxford Station using the new railcard or by bus from anywhere in central Abingdon to central Oxford?’

Councillor Lindsay-Gale replied:

‘I researched the question below to find that the new railcard announced by Secretary of State isn’t effective until September and the benefits of it are not going to be announced until August 2019. With this in mind, I can’t make the calculations that are requested by Cllr Howson as no train websites are set up for this as of yet.

However, I have made the calculations using what is existing currently.  A Railcard for 16-25 year old costs £30 annually. Using this Radley to Oxford would be £6.50 return daily. Having a monthly card would be £69.20.

Bus travel from Abingdon to Oxford with a key card aged 18 and under would cost £42.75 monthly.’

Supplementary: Responding to a further question Councillor Lindsay-Gale undertook to speak with Councillor Howson about the possibility of writing jointly to the Secretary of State to point out the dependence on bus services for children travelling to school in rural areas and seeking a similar scheme for buses to the 16-18 railcard scheme.

Councillor Johnston had given notice of the following question to Councillor Constance:

‘Further to the motion on East to West Rail passed at the last Full Council meeting could the Cabinet Member for Transport explain how she intends to monitor the progress of the project and in particular can she tell us when she meets with those responsible for the project, at what time intervals and who does she meet with?’

Councillor Constance replied:

As Cabinet Member for the Environment I am our Council’s nominated representative on the East West Rail Consortium Board, which oversees the progress of the project on behalf of all the partner authorities.  The Department for Transport, Network Rail and the East West Rail Company are all represented on this forum.  The Board meets quarterly, with the next meeting in March, John Disley also attends as the Oxfordshire Lead Officer.

Councillor Johnston had given notice of the following question to Councillor Constance:

‘In the absence of a firm route for the Oxford to Cambridge Expressway, can she explain how the Council will manage the transition from LTP4 to LTP5 given the range of possible knock on effects of the Expressway?’

Councillor Constance replied:

‘We do not yet have a confirmed project plan and timescale for LTP Update, but it clearly needs to reflect the latest position on the Expressway and other strategic work programmes, including for example East West Rail, our Housing Infrastructure Fund Bids and the Oxfordshire 2050, the county’s Joint Statutory Spatial Plan.’

The Leader had agreed the following requests to speak:

Cabinet Member: Finance

Forward Plan Ref: 2018/130

Contact: Katy Jurczyszyn, Strategic Finance Manager (Finance, Strategy & Monitoring) Tel: 07584 909518

Report by Director of Finance (CA6).

This report is the final report to Cabinet in the series on the service & resource planning process for 2019/20 to 2022/23, providing councillors with information on budget issues for 2019/20 and the medium term. The report sets out the draft council tax precept for 2019/20, the revenue budget for 2019/20, the Medium Term Financial Plan (MTFP) to 2022/23, the Capital Programme to 2028/29 as well as supporting strategies.  Information outstanding at the time of the Cabinet meeting will be reported to Council when it considers the budget on 12 February 2019.

Cabinet’s budget proposals take into consideration the latest information on the council’s financial position outlined in this report; comments from the Performance Scrutiny Committee meeting on 13 December 2018 as well as 10 January 2019; and comments from the public consultation on the budget.  As final notification of some funding streams is awaited, some further changes may be made to the budget proposals ahead of full Council on 12 February 2019.

Cabinet is RECOMMENDED to approve:

·         The Review of Charges for 2019/20

·         The Financial Strategy for 2019/20

·         The Earmarked Reserves and General Balances Policy Statement 2019/20.

Cabinet is RECOMMENDED to RECOMMEND Council to approve:
 

·                in respect of revenue:

·                a budget for 2019/20 and a medium term plan to 2022/23, based on the proposals set out in Section 4.2;

·                a council tax requirement (precept) for 2019/20;

·                a 2019/20 council tax for band D equivalent properties;

·                virement arrangements to operate within the approved budget;

·                in respect of capital:

·                the Capital & Investment Strategy for 2019/20 - 2028/29 including the Prudential Indicators and Minimum Revenue Provision Methodology Statement;

·                a Capital Programme for 2018/19 to 2028/29 as set out in Section 4.9.1 including:

(i)        the new capital proposals as set out in Section 4.9.2;

(ii)       the Highways Structural Maintenance Programme 2019/20 and 2020/21 as set out in Section 4.9.3;

·                in respect of treasury management:

·                the Treasury Management Strategy Statement and Annual Investment Strategy for 2019/20 incorporated in the Capital & Investment Strategy in Section 4.9;

·                to continue to delegate the authority to withdraw or advance additional funds to/from external fund managers to the Treasury Management Strategy Team;

·                that any further changes required to the 2019/20 strategy be delegated to the Director of Finance in consultation with the Leader of the Council and the Cabinet Member for Finance;

·                the Treasury Management Prudential Indicators;

·                The Specified Investment and Non Specified Investment instruments as set out in Appendix A and B of Section 4.9;

·                to delegate authority to the Leader of the Council, following consultation with the Director of Finance and the Cabinet Member for Finance, to make appropriate changes to the proposed budget.

Cabinet considered the final report in the series on the service & resource planning process for 2019/20 to 2022/23, providing councillors with information on budget issues for 2019/20 and the medium term. The report set out the draft council tax precept for 2019/20, the revenue budget for 2019/20, the Medium Term Financial Plan (MTFP) to 2022/23, the Capital Programme to 2028/29 as well as supporting strategies. Cabinet noted that information outstanding at the time of the Cabinet meeting would be reported to Council when it considers the budget on 12 February 2019.

Cabinet’s budget proposals took into consideration the latest information on the council’s financial position outlined in the report; comments from the Performance Scrutiny Committee meeting on 13 December 2018 and 10 January 2019 as well as comments of the Transformation Sub-Committee held on 17 January 2019; and comments from the public consultation on the budget.  As final notification of some funding streams is awaited, some further changes may be made to the budget proposals ahead of full Council on 12 February 2019.

Councillor Brighouse, Chairman of Performance Scrutiny Committee and Joint Audit & Governance and Performance Scrutiny (Transformation) Sub-Committee referred to the comments from those meetings included in the papers before Cabinet. She commented that members had spent over 8 hours over three meetings in scrutinising the budget proposals. Members had done a magnificent job as seen by the changes in the papers today. Councillor Brighouse highlighted issues that would be a continuing focus for scrutiny including the need to understand third party spend and the changed public service and local democracy landscape. No-one could consider the savings that were necessary to be a good thing, so it was important to ensure that we as a Council understood that we are getting value for money for our most vulnerable people and that the public are able to understand how services are being provided. On transformation a real concern had been about keeping staff during the change process.

Councillor Bartholomew, Cabinet Member for Finance responded to Councillor Brighouse thanking her for her diligence. The issue of third party spend was one that would be looked at. He noted that the proposals relating to mental health had been proposals and that following comments they had been amended. He agreed that everyone was concerned for the vulnerable and disadvantaged and that the transformation programme was not just about savings but was about doing things better to help those people. Councillor Reeves, Cabinet Member for Transformation added that staff were front and centre of the transformation programme and the aim was to have better motivated, better franchised staff.

Dr Judith Wardle, Carers Voice, spoke against the proposals affecting carers and care packages for the elderly living at home. Dr Wardle asked Cabinet to consider whether they were meeting the requirements of the Care Act Guidance 2018, stressing the obligation for a person-centred approach. Dr Wardle questioned the Community Impact Assessment that did not mention family carers, many of whom had gone through reassessment last  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4/19

Cabinet Member: Deputy Leader of the Council

Forward Plan Ref: 2019/002

Contact: Ben Threadgold, Policy & Performance Service Manager Tel: 07867 467838

Report by Chief Executive (CA7).

The Corporate Plan 2018-2021 has been reviewed and updated to ensure it continues to accurately reflect the Council’s future direction, strategic priorities, and key outcomes and indicators by which progress can be measured and reported.

A summary of the  changes from the previous version of the plan is attahced as appendix 1. An amended version of the Corporate Plan to cover the period 2019-2022 is attached as appendix 2.

his has been a light touch review, given the most recent version of the Corporate Plan was agreed by full Council on the 5th of July 2018. The plan has been amended to reflect key areas of focus to achieve each of the council’s priorities throughout 2019-20, and has been updated with any changes to key facts within the document. The exception to this is the finance information, which will be updated as it becomes available and in time for agreement by Council in February.

Cabinet is RECOMMENDED to:

(a)    note the Draft Corporate Plan 2019- 2022;

(b)    RECOMMEND that the Draft Corporate Plan be agreed by Council;

(c)     Delegate authority for final additions and changes to be agreed by the Leader and the Chief Executive on behalf of Cabinet.

Cabinet had before them a report setting out the revised Corporate Plan 2018-2021 that had been reviewed and updated to ensure it continued to accurately reflect the Council’s future direction, strategic priorities, and key outcomes and indicators by which progress can be measured and reported.

Councillor Heathcoat, Deputy Leader of the Council, introduced the contents of the report, commenting that it had been considered by the Performance Scrutiny Committee and she had been in attendance to hear their comments. In moving the recommendations Councillor Heathcoat stated that following a thorough review for 2018/19 the current review for 2019/20 was not extensive. The document highlighted key issues, the vision, priorities and future direction of travel. Ben Threadgold, Policy and Performance Service Manager advised that the foreword and financial section was still to be completed and the final version so far as possible would go to Council. Work was ongoing on detailed targets and these would come back to Cabinet as part of the monitoring report.

Cabinet was advised of a typo on page 38 of the Plan where it should refer to 21,000 houses having been built since 2011.

RESOLVED:                        to:

(a)    note the Draft Corporate Plan 2019- 2022;

(b)     RECOMMEND that the Draft Corporate Plan be agreed by Council;

(c)     Delegate authority for final additions and changes to be agreed by the Leader and the Chief Executive on behalf of Cabinet.

Cabinet Member: Environment

Forward Plan Ref: 2018/172

Contact: Peter Day, Minerals Principal Officer Tel: 07392 318899

Report by Director for Planning & Place (CA8).

The County Council must prepare and maintain a Minerals and Waste Development Scheme, setting out the programme for production of the Oxfordshire Minerals and Waste Local Plan. The most recent revision of the Oxfordshire Minerals and Waste Development Scheme was approved in December 2017. Part 1 of the Plan, the Core Strategy was adopted in September 2017. Part 2, the Sites Plan, was commenced in September 2017 but consultation on issues and options was delayed and consequently the timetable for the Sites Plan in the December 2017 Development Scheme is now out of date and needs to be revised. In addition, changes in legislative requirements for Statements of Community Involvement mean that the Oxfordshire Statement of Community Involvement should be revised and a timetable needs to be set for this. A further revision of the Development Scheme is therefore now required.

The revised programme for the Sites Plan, taking into account the engagement of consultant support on technical work, maintains the target for adoption by the end of 2020, involving the following key stages: consultation on a draft plan in June 2019; publication in January 2020; submission for examination in March 2020; and adoption of the plan in December 2020.

The Cabinet is RECOMMENDED to:

i.          approve the Oxfordshire Minerals and Waste Development Scheme (Ninth Revision) 2019 at Annex 1, subject to final detailed amendment and editing, to have effect from 5 February 2019;

ii.         authorise the Director for Planning & Place to:

(a)     carry out any final detailed amendment and editing of the Oxfordshire Minerals and Waste Development Scheme that may be necessary, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Environment;

(b)    take the necessary steps to bring the revised Scheme into effect from 5 February 2019 and publish the revised Scheme, in accordance with Sections 15 and 16 of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 (as amended).

The County Council must prepare and maintain a Minerals and Waste Development Scheme, setting out the programme for production of the Oxfordshire Minerals and Waste Local Plan. The most recent revision of the Oxfordshire Minerals and Waste Development Scheme was approved in December 2017. Part 1 of the Plan, the Core Strategy was adopted in September 2017. Part 2, the Sites Plan, was commenced in September 2017 but consultation on issues and options was delayed and consequently the timetable for the Sites Plan in the December 2017 Development Scheme is now out of date and needs to be revised. In addition, changes in legislative requirements for Statements of Community Involvement (SCI) mean that the Oxfordshire SCI should be revised and a timetable needs to be set for this. A further revision of the Development Scheme is therefore now required.

Cabinet considered a report setting out the revised Oxfordshire Minerals and Waste Development Scheme (Ninth Revision) 2019.

Councillor John Sanders, Shadow Cabinet Member for Environment, referred to the previous delays and the current timetable, seeking assurances that the Secretary of State would accept the SCI and that the Council was committed to providing sufficient resources to ensure adoption in the current timeframe.

Councillor Constance, Cabinet Member for Environment stated that the commitment was there with consultants in place. Peter Day added that the Secretary of State was no longer involved in the SCI

RESOLVED:             to:

(a)      approve the Oxfordshire Minerals and Waste Development Scheme (Ninth Revision) 2019 at Annex 1, subject to final detailed amendment and editing, to have effect from 5 February 2019;

(b)      authorise the Director for Planning & Place to:

(a)     carry out any final detailed amendment and editing of the Oxfordshire Minerals and Waste Development Scheme that may be necessary, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Environment;

(b)     take the necessary steps to bring the revised Scheme into effect from 5 February 2019 and publish the revised Scheme, in accordance with Sections 15 and 16 of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 (as amended).

Cabinet Member: Deputy Leader of the Council

Forward Plan Ref: 2018/185

Contact: Colm Ó Caomhánaigh, Committee Officer Tel: 07393 001096

Report by Director of Law & Governance (CA9).

Following a Council motion to consider changing to a committee structure of governance, Cabinet set up a Governance Review Task Group to examine this as well as considering potential improvements to the current system.

The Cabinet is RECOMMENDED to:

(a)      endorse the proposal to move to a ‘hybrid’ system of governance;

(b)      request the Governance Review Task Group to draw up a specific proposal for Cabinet’s consideration based on the following design features:

(i)        Cabinet Committees –The membership of the Committees should be politically proportional;

(ii)      Cabinet Members should attend Cabinet Committee meetings when issues in their portfolio are on the agenda.  The Cabinet and Cabinet Members would still need to make the final decisions;

(iii)     The Chairman and Deputy Chairman of each Cabinet Committee will be elected by the members of the Committee as usual but political group leaders should try to ensure that the Chairman and Deputy Chairman come from different political groups;

(iv)     The proposal should address any improvements required in the Forward Plan process to ensure that sufficient lead time is allowed for Cabinet Committees to discuss issues at an early stage;

(v)      The proposal should take into account the partnership arrangement with Cherwell District Council and the County Council’s relationships with all local authorities and partners in Oxfordshire;

(vi)     The proposal should include an estimate of any changes in the overall number of Committee meetings in the new system as well as any changes to the costs in supporting meetings.

(c)      request the Task Group to draw up a timetable to implement the changes within six months of a Cabinet decision on the final proposals.  The change programme should include training for Members and Officers and specific training for Chairmen to ensure that the new committees encourage inclusive debate;

(d)          request the Task Group to include a review mechanism 12 months after the introduction of the new system.  The review should include asking Members to complete the same questionnaire that they were given at the start of this process in order to measure any improvements;

(e)          request the Task Group to explore further the idea of establishing Area Committees with budgets addressing how they would relate to City and District Councils;

(f)           request the Chairmen of Scrutiny Committees to ensure that time is allowed in their work programmes to discuss policy matters;

(g)          request Facilities Management to draw up plans to reformat the rooms on the Members’ corridor to provide more shared Members’ facilities in the place of political group rooms.

Following a Council motion to consider changing to a committee structure of governance, Cabinet set up a Governance Review Task Group to examine this as well as considering potential improvements to the current system. Cabinet had before them a report setting out the recommendations of the Task Group.

Councillor Laura Price, Opposition Deputy Leader, welcomed the proposals before Cabinet and indicated that Labour had brought the motion to Council and had supported the introduction of a committee system that they believed would bring about greater engagement and savings. However, everyone in the Task Group had agreed to consider options with an open mind. As a group they had visited other councils and been willing to listen and discuss various options. The recommendations were a positive move for Oxfordshire. The hybrid model would build on the positive aspects around the budget discussions and was part of transformation as it would embed that understanding of service. Councillor Price did not believe that a cross-party approach would undermine the opposition role as it would encourage informal debate.

Councillor Richard Webber spoke as Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group and member of the Task Group. He had unfortunately missed one meeting which had been the meeting that pulled together the recommendations. He was concerned that this had been done in haste. He was concerned that a hybrid model would lead to a great deal of work and please no-one. Councillor Webber expressed concern over whether the Group could be said to be genuinely independent when there were vested interests. Councillor Webber acknowledged the unhappiness with the current system and that the proposal is very much an improvement. He liked the flexibility being proposed. However, Councillor Webber felt that the recommendations were far from getting it right and more time was needed to get the new model right

Councillor Judith Heathcoat, Deputy Leader of the Council introduced the work of the Governance Review Task Group detailing the context for the Review and noting that members had committed a considerable amount of time to the work of the Group. The work had included surveys and workshops with all members and had been an open and transparent piece of work, resulting in a unanimous set of recommendations. Councillor Heathcoat thanked everyone involved in the Task Group. Councillor Heathcoat detailed the general agreement that Councillors should be more involved and engaged in the decision-making process and noted that although there were recommendations relating to structures it was clear that some aspects could be achieved through a change of culture rather than through structural change. She commended particularly the work and proposals around localities. Councillor Heathcoat also recognised that there was a greater role for councillors in developing policy for Cabinet to consider. Done correctly this would engage all councillors in the formulation of a common approach to problems. She believed that this was already beginning to be seen in the work of the Cabinet advisory Groups and the Cherwell partnership Working Group.

Councillor Heathcoat commented that since the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7/19

Cabinet Member: Deputy Leader of the Council

Forward Plan Ref: 2018/131

Contact: Steven Jones, Corporate Performance & Risk Manager Tel: 07392 318890

Report by Policy & Performance Service Manager (CA10).

The report and its two annexes demonstrate the state of Oxfordshire County Council’s progress towards Corporate Plan priorities at the end of Quarter 2 2018-19.

The Cabinet is RECOMMENDED to note the performance reported.

Cabinet considered a report that demonstrated the state of Oxfordshire County Council’s progress towards Corporate Plan priorities at the end of Quarter 2 2018-19.

Councillor Heathcoat, Deputy Leader of the Council, in moving the recommendations stated that this was the second report using the new format. She noted that there had been some positive movement with items moving from amber to green: the numbers of children subject to protection plans, the level of energy used and developments secured through Section 106. Paragraph 6 set out where there had been a decline. Councillor Heathcoat added that for 2019/20 the Business Management & Monitoring Report would be joined with the quarterly staffing report to take on board the work in transformation. Ben Threadgold, Policy and Performance Service Manager added that the timeliness of these reports was also being looked at.

RESOLVED:             to note the performance reported.

Cabinet Member: Leader

Forward Plan Ref: 2018/132

Contact: Sue Whitehead, Principal Committee Officer Tel: 07393 001213

Cabinet Member: All

Contact Officer: Sue Whitehead, Committee Services Manager Tel: 07393 001213

The Cabinet Procedure Rules provide that the business of each meeting at the Cabinet is to include “updating of the Forward Plan and proposals for business to be conducted at the following meeting”.   Items from the Forward Plan for the immediately forthcoming meetings of the Cabinet appear in the Schedule at CA12.  This includes any updated information relating to the business for those meetings that has already been identified for inclusion in the next Forward Plan update.

The Schedule is for noting, but Cabinet Members may also wish to take this opportunity to identify any further changes they would wish to be incorporated in the next Forward Plan update.

The Cabinet is RECOMMENDED to note the items currently identified for forthcoming meetings.

The Cabinet considered a list of items for the immediately forthcoming meetings of the Cabinet together with changes and additions set out in the schedule of addenda.

RESOLVED:            to note the items currently identified for forthcoming meetings.