Agenda and minutes

To approve the minutes of the meeting held on 10 September 2013 (CC1) and to receive information arising from them.

The Minutes of the Meeting held on 9 July 2013 were approved and signed.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Godden, Hannaby, Hoare, Phillips and Sibley.

The Chairman reported as follows:

(1)               The death of Rob Evans, who was a County Councillor for the Chipping Norton Division 1997 – 2005, died on Sunday 1 September 2013.  Councillors Brighouse, Patrick and Hibbert-Biles paid tribute to the former County Council.  The Council then observed a Minute’s Silence in his memory;

(2)               Council congratulated Gerry Flahive, Hall Keeper at Speedwell House on attaining a Bachelor Degree in History.

Petition

Mr Peter Emery presented a Petition on behalf of Eynsham Parish Council regarding the collapse of the wall Conduit requesting that the Cabinet Member with responsibility for that area look into the case as a matter of urgency.

The Chairman received the Petition on behalf of the Council.

Public Address

Mr Ian Leggett, Chairman of Bike Safe spoke in support of the Motion from Councillor Jean Fooks (Agenda Item 15), requesting that the Council develop a comprehensive County-wide Strategy to which the whole Council was committed; which enjoyed high level leadership and which would be sustained for years to come.

Ms Sue Moon spoke on behalf of the School Bus Action Group regarding Home to School Transport (Agenda Item 18, Motion from Councillor Charles Mathew) outlining 8 recommendations to include in the future consultation on Home to School Transport around cost savings and the effect on children across the County.

Report by Assistant Chief Executive & Chief Finance Officer (CC8).

The report sets out the Treasury Management activity undertaken in the financial year 2012/13 in compliance with the CIPFA Code of Practice.  The report includes Debt and Investment activity, Prudential Indicator Outturn, changes in Strategy, and interest receivable and payable for the financial year.

Council is RECOMMENDED to note the Council’s Treasury Management Activity in 2012/13.

The Council had before them a report by the Assistant chief Executive & Chief Finance Officer (CC8) which set out the Treasury management activity undertaken in the financial year 2012/13.

RESOLVED: (on a motion by councillor Fatemian, seconded by Councillor Hudspeth and carried nem con) to note the Council’s Treasury Management Activity in 2012/13.

Report by the Assistant Chief Executive & Chief Finance Officer (CC9).

The report provides an update on the Oxfordshire-wide partnerships which are critical in progressing key countywide priorities and which have support from our partners.

Council is RECOMMENDED to note the report.

The Council had before them a report by the Chief Executive (CC9) which provided an update on all Oxfordshire-wide partnerships.

RESOLVED: (on a motion by Councillor Hudspeth, seconded by Councillor Rose and carried nem con) to note the report.

The report of the Monitoring Officer containing the schedule of meeting dates proposed  for the 2014/15 Council Year is attached (CC10).

The schedule has been drawn up to reflect the various rules about frequency of meetings set out in the Council’s Constitution. Council agreed that the Health & Wellbeing Board meet 3 times per year and attention is drawn to the suggested dates that follow last year’s meeting pattern. The due date under the Constitution for Council in July 2014 would be 8 July 2014 which clashes with the Local Government Conference and you are asked to agree to waive Council Procedure Rule 2.1 to allow the meeting to go ahead on 1 July 2014.

Council is RECOMMENDED to agree the schedule of meeting dates for the 2014/15 Council Year and to waive Council Procedure rule 2.1 with regard to the full Council meeting in July 2014.

The Council had before them a report by the Monitoring Officer (CC10) which set out a schedule of proposed meeting dates for the 2014/15 Council Year 2014/15.

RESOLVED: (on a motion by Councillor Hallchurch, seconded by Councillor Purse and carried nem con) to agree the schedule of meeting dates for the 2014/15 Council Year and to waive Council Procedure Rule 2.1 with regard to the full Council Meeting in July 2014.

Report by County Solicitor & Head of Law and Culture (CC11).

The Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 made changes to the regime of vetting and barring individuals from working with children and vulnerable adults.  This had the effect of significantly reducing the number of positions and circumstances in which persons would need to be the subject of a criminal records check.  This has significance for County Councillors. Prior to the change in legislation on 10 September 2012, it had been the Council’s policy that all County Councillors should undergo a criminal records check following their election unless they had had such a check in the 12 months prior to their election.

Changes to the legislation now mean that there is no legal requirement for any councillor to undergo such checking by virtue only of their position as an elected member. This therefore becomes a policy matter for determination by the Council itself. This report therefore sets out the current legal position and invites the Council formally to decide its policy on criminal records checks for councillors and to determine which (if any) posts should be the subject of a check.

Council is RECOMMENDED to:

(a)         note that criminal records checks should continue to be made in any case for members of Fostering and Adoption Panels;

(b)        agree the approach for criminal record checking for Councillors having regard both to the options at paragraph 13 and the Monitoring Officer’s comments at paragraph 16 to the report.

The Council had before them a report by the County Solicitor & Head of Law & Culture (CC11) which sought Council to agree an approach for Criminal Record Checking for Members of the County Council.

The Chairman made a statement regarding the importance of Criminal Record Checking in the current climate.

Councillor Hallchurch moved and Councillor Purse seconded the recommendations set out in the report and on the face of the Agenda as amended with Council’s agreement by Councillor Brighouse in strikethrough and bold italic:

Council is RECOMMENDED to:

(a)         note that criminal records checks should will continue to be made in any case for members of Fostering and Adoption Panels;

(b)         agree the approach for criminal record checking and for all Councillors. having regard both to the options at paragraph 13 and the Monitoring Officer’s comments at paragraph 16 to the report.

The motion, as amended in bold italic/strikethrough was put to the vote and it was:-

RESOLVED: (nem con) to:

(a)               note that criminal records checks will continue to be made for members of Fostering and Adoption Panels and for all Councillors.

Report of the Cabinet Meeting held on 16 July 2013 (CC12).

The Council received the Report of the Cabinet.

The Council had before them a number of questions received with notice from members of the Council (Annex 2 of the Schedule of Business).

26 Questions with notice were asked.  Details of the questions and answers and the supplementary questions and answers (where asked) is set out in Annex 1 to the Minutes.

“This Council recognises that it is important to be accessible to all residents of Oxfordshire either physically or by electronic methods. To avoid wasting taxpayers money on an electronic system that might not prove acceptable, this Council wishes to try a system already in place.

This Council would welcome the opportunity to hold the April Council meeting at Bodicote House and therefore asks the Director for Environment & Economy to conduct a feasibility study into this possibility with a report back to Council with a recommendation in terms of a trial and to consider whether this requires a suspension  of the Council Procedure Rules.”

Councillor Mallon moved and Councillor Atkins seconded the following Motion:

“This Council recognises that it is important to be accessible to all residents of Oxfordshire either physically or by electronic methods. To avoid wasting taxpayers money on an electronic system that might not prove acceptable, this Council wishes to try a system already in place.

This Council would welcome the opportunity to hold the April Council meeting at Bodicote House and therefore asks the Director for Environment & Economy to conduct a feasibility study into this possibility with a report back to Council with a recommendation in terms of a trial and to consider whether this requires a suspension  of the Council Procedure Rules.”

Following debate, the motion was put to the vote and was carried by 43 votes to 13.

RESOLVED: (43 votes to 13)

This Council recognises that it is important to be accessible to all residents of Oxfordshire either physically or by electronic methods. To avoid wasting taxpayers money on an electronic system that might not prove acceptable, this Council wishes to try a system already in place.

This Council would welcome the opportunity to hold the April Council meeting at Bodicote House and therefore asks the Director for Environment & Economy to conduct a feasibility study into this possibility with a report back to Council with a recommendation in terms of a trial and to consider whether this requires a suspension  of the Council Procedure Rules.

“Council notes that many Oxfordshire roads suffer from congestion, which causes serious delays and inflicts pollution on residents. As one of the best and simplest ways to reduce congestion would be to encourage more cycling to replace car journeys where possible, also bringing health benefits to the cyclists, Council calls upon the Cabinet to consider the following:

(a)               that  a high quality bid is submitted every time the government, the EU or other organisations make money available for cycling measures;

(b)               whether to require cycle-friendly measures to be incorporated into all new road schemes and new housing developments;

(c)               whether to draw up and consult on a new Cycling Strategy, to be appended to the LTP, which will work closely with partners (district councils, hospitals, the universities and others) and will have ambitious targets and timescales.”

Councillor Fooks moved and Councillor Pressel seconded the following motion as amended with Council’s agreement by Councillor Nimmo-Smith in bold italic/strikethrough:

“Council notes that many Oxfordshire roads suffer from congestion, which causes serious delays and inflicts pollution on residents. As one of the best and simplest ways to reduce congestion would be to encourage more cycling to replace car journeys where possible, also bringing health benefits to the cyclists, Council calls upon the Cabinet to consider the following: Council calls upon the Cabinet to support this aim of encouraging cycling and to consider the following (subject to sufficient finances or funding streams being available or identified):

(a)    that a high quality bid is submitted every time the government, the EU or other organisations make money available for cycling measures;

(b)    whether to require cycle-friendly measures to be incorporated into all new road schemes and new housing developments;

(c)     whether to draw up and consult on a new Cycling Strategy, to be appended to the LTP, which will work closely with partners (district councils, hospitals, the universities and others) and will have ambitious targets and timescales.”

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

RESOLVED:

Council notes that many Oxfordshire roads suffer from congestion, which causes serious delays and inflicts pollution on residents. As one of the best and simplest ways to reduce congestion would be to encourage more cycling to replace car journeys where possible, also bringing health benefits to the cyclists, Council calls upon the Cabinet to support this aim of encouraging cycling and to consider the following (subject to sufficient finances or funding streams being available or identified):

(a)    that a high quality bid is submitted every time the government, the EU or other organisations make money available for cycling measures;

(b)    whether to require cycle-friendly measures to be incorporated into all new road schemes and new housing developments;

(c)     whether to draw up and consult on a new Cycling Strategy, to be appended to the LTP, which will work closely with partners (district councils, hospitals, the universities and others) and will have ambitious targets and timescales.

"This Council, in demonstrating its commitment to fulfilling its legal duty to advance Equality of Opportunity under the Equality Act 2010, will respect the use by Councillors of gender neutral and inclusive titles in addressing and referring to those who chair meetings of the Council and its Committees.

Council therefore requests the Monitoring Officer to bring a report back to the next meeting of the Council outlining proposals to amend the Constitution accordingly.”

Councillor Christie moved and Councillor Price seconded the following motion:

"This Council, in demonstrating its commitment to fulfilling its legal duty to advance Equality of Opportunity under the Equality Act 2010, will respect the use by Councillors of gender neutral and inclusive titles in addressing and referring to those who chair meetings of the Council and its Committees.

Council therefore requests the Monitoring Officer to bring a report back to the next meeting of the Council outlining proposals to amend the Constitution accordingly.”

Councillor Patrick moved and Councillor Fawcett seconded the following amendment shown in bold italic:

"This Council, in demonstrating its commitment to fulfilling its legal duty to advance Equality of Opportunity under the Equality Act 2010, will respect the use by Councillors of gender neutral and inclusive titles in addressing and referring to those who chair meetings of the Council and its Committees.

Council therefore requests the Monitoring Officer to bring a report back to the next meeting of the Council outlining proposals to amend the Constitution accordingly.”, bearing in mind this should be a matter of personal choice”.

The amendment proposed by Councillor Patrick was put to the vote and was lost by 42 votes to 9.

Following debate, the substantive Motion was put to the vote and was lost by 30 votes to 16, with 8 abstentions.

RESOLVED: Accordingly.

“Given that youth unemployment is now an extremely serious issue with damaging long term social and personal consequences, Oxfordshire County Council  should  seek to establish from its suppliers that they have employees drawn from all age cohorts and do not neglect young people.

Numerous themes for contract compliance already exist but the County Council as a part of its financial and budgetary and social responsibility asks the Cabinet to strengthen its commitment to youth employment by considering ways by which the County Council can secure that any contracting organisation or company has a firm commitment to ensuring a reasonable proportion of the its workforce are under the age of 23. (applicable to all concerns with a workforce of 25 or more) and to seek ways to achieve a performance of at least 5% by those contractors.”

Councillor Williams moved and Councillor Coates seconded the following motion:

“Given that youth unemployment is now an extremely serious issue with damaging long term social and personal consequences, Oxfordshire County Council  should  seek to establish from its suppliers that they have employees drawn from all age cohorts and do not neglect young people.

Numerous themes for contract compliance already exist but the County Council as a part of its financial and budgetary and social responsibility asks the Cabinet to strengthen its commitment to youth employment by considering ways by which the County Council can secure that any contracting organisation or company has a firm commitment to ensuring a reasonable proportion of the its workforce are under the age of 23. (applicable to all concerns with a workforce of 25 or more) and to seek ways to achieve a performance of at least 5% by those contractors.”

Following debate, the motion was put to the vote and was lost by 52 votes to 2, with 1 abstention.

RESOLVED: Accordingly.

“This Council will need to make significant further savings in very many areas and directorates, in order to balance the Budget from 2014/5.  This Council believes that it is therefore reasonable to review all expenditure, including our Home to School Transport Policy” in achieving this unenviable task.”

Councillor Mathew moved and Councillor Stratford seconded the following motion:

“This Council will need to make significant further savings in very many areas and directorates, in order to balance the Budget from 2014/5.  This Council believes that it is therefore reasonable to review all expenditure, including our Home to School Transport Policy” in achieving this unenviable task.”

Following debate, the motion was put to the vote and was carried by 40 votes to 2, with 11 abstentions.

RESOLVED: 40 votes to 2, 11 abstentions)

This Council will need to make significant further savings in very many areas and directorates, in order to balance the Budget from 2014/5.  This Council believes that it is therefore reasonable to review all expenditure, including our Home to School Transport Policy” in achieving this unenviable task.

“Our highway engineers are always consulted by the district council planning officers regarding the highway implications and views on new planning applications for building and development.  Officers usually visit the application site for all major developments, and thereafter submit their report back to the planning authority.  Frequently County Council members can come under scrutiny by public & Parish Councils within their wards. It is frequently the case that the local member has not been advised of the officers recommendation until after the event.

This Council requires all highway officers to submit a copy of the  email they return to the local relevant planning authority also directly to the local member for that members information on all applications. This is easily done by inserting the Councillors email in the "cc" address at the head of our email page. By this simple method of communication, the local elected member is aware of local issues for which he/she may be confronted or questioned, or may not have previously been aware. Communication is a key part of this Councils directives and effectiveness."

Councillor Lilly moved and Councillor Greene seconded the following motion:

“Our highway engineers are always consulted by the district council planning officers regarding the highway implications and views on new planning applications for building and development.  Officers usually visit the application site for all major developments, and thereafter submit their report back to the planning authority.  Frequently County Council members can come under scrutiny by public & Parish Councils within their wards. It is frequently the case that the local member has not been advised of the officers recommendation until after the event.

This Council requires all highway officers to submit a copy of the  email they return to the local relevant planning authority also directly to the local member for that members information on all applications. This is easily done by inserting the Councillors email in the "cc" address at the head of our email page. By this simple method of communication, the local elected member is aware of local issues for which he/she may be confronted or questioned, or may not have previously been aware. Communication is a key part of this Councils directives and effectiveness."

The motion was put to the vote and was carried nem con.

RESOLVED: (nem con)

Our highway engineers are always consulted by the district council planning officers regarding the highway implications and views on new planning applications for building and development.  Officers usually visit the application site for all major developments, and thereafter submit their report back to the planning authority.  Frequently County Council members can come under scrutiny by public & Parish Councils within their wards. It is frequently the case that the local member has not been advised of the officers recommendation until after the event.

This Council requires all highway officers to submit a copy of the  email they return to the local relevant planning authority also directly to the local member for that members information on all applications. This is easily done by inserting the Councillors email in the "cc" address at the head of our email page. By this simple method of communication, the local elected member is aware of local issues for which he/she may be confronted or questioned, or may not have previously been aware. Communication is a key part of this Councils directives and effectiveness.

“That the Director for Environment and Economy  carries out a full evaluation as to the economic advantages, or otherwise, of installing solar panels to create electricity on Council owned/leased properties in an demonstration not only of its green credentials, but in its continuing drive to economise on its electrical consumption and thus drive down costs to the Council wherever possible. A full cost evaluation is then presented to the Cabinet for full debate and decision.”

Councillor Lilly moved and Councillor Howson seconded the following motion as amended with Council’s agreement by Councillor Howson in bold italic/strikethrough:

“That the Director for Environment and Economy carries out a full evaluation as to the economic advantages, or otherwise, of installing solar panels appropriate forms of renewable energy generation such as solar and photo-voltaic panels, heat pumps, ground source heating, and other types of micro-generation schemes as appropriate in order to reduce energy bills and  to create electricity on Council owned/leased properties in an demonstration not only of its green credentials, but in its continuing drive to economise on its electrical consumption and thus drive down costs to the Council wherever possible. A full cost evaluation is then presented to the Cabinet for full debate and decision.”

The motion, amended in bold italic/strikethrough was put to the vote and was carried nem con:

RESOLVED: (nem con)

That the Director for Environment and Economy carries out a full evaluation as to the economic advantages, or otherwise, of installing appropriate forms of renewable energy generation such as solar and photo-voltaic panels, heat pumps, ground source heating, and other types of micro-generation schemes as appropriate in order to reduce energy bills and  to create electricity on Council owned/leased properties in an demonstration not only of its green credentials, but in its continuing drive to economise on its electrical consumption and thus drive down costs to the Council wherever possible. A full cost evaluation is then presented to the Cabinet for full debate and decision.