Agenda and draft minutes

To receive any apologies for absence and temporary appointments.

Apologies were received from Cllr Brant, substituted by Cllr Overton, and Cllr Gordon.  Cllr Thomas had sent apologies that she would arrive late.

See guidance note on the back page.

Cllr Kerr declared that she was a Bike Ability instructor.

The Committee is recommended to APPROVE the minutes of the meeting held on 12 November 2025 and to receive information arising from them.

The Committee APPROVED the minutes of the meeting held on 12 November 2015 as a true and accurate record.

Members of the public who wish to speak on an item on the agenda at this meeting can attend the meeting in person or ‘virtually’ through an online connection.

Requests to speak must be submitted no later than 9.00 a.m. three working days before the meeting, i.e., Friday, 30 January 2026.

Requests should be submitted to the Scrutiny Officer at 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, then your views can still be taken into account. A written copy of your statement can be provided no later than 9am on the day of the meeting. Written submissions should be no longer than 1 A4 sheet.

Where there are a number of requests from persons wishing to present similar views on the same issue, the Chair may require that the views be put by a single spokesperson. It is expected that only in exceptional circumstances will a person (or organisation) be allowed to address more than one meeting on a particular issue in any period of six months.

Danny Yee spoke on behalf of Oxfordshire Liverpool Street regarding the Vision Zero strategy. He emphasised the importance of addressing injury hotspots but argued that limited resources required cost-effective, area-wide measures. Mr Yee advocated for speed limit reductions and changes to motor traffic volumes and routing, highlighting the need to remove sources of danger through network design. He suggested shifting traffic from side streets to main roads and implementing low traffic neighbourhoods and bus gates. Mr Yee also noted that the strategy should focus more on equitable mobility, citing specific locations where lower speed limits would improve walking and cycling connectivity.

Peter Barnett addressed the Committee with key statistics from the Vision Zero reports, noting that Oxfordshire’s killed or seriously injured (KSI) figures had risen by 11%, while the draft budget for Vision Zero had decreased by 6%. He highlighted that the projected fatality figures for 2024 and 2025 remained around 20, suggesting the budget should be increased rather than reduced. Mr Barnett referenced cost-benefit studies supporting greater investment in road safety. He also raised questions about the progress of direct vision standards and construction safety measures and pointed out the low rate of prevention of future deaths reports following inquests, advocating for improvement.

The Committee is recommended to NOTE the progress of previous recommendations and actions arising from previous meetings, having raised any questions on the contents.

The Committee NOTED the action and recommendations tracker.

The Committee discussed the proportion of recommendations accepted, partially accepted, or rejected over recent years, with data available in the scrutiny annual report. The Committee was informed their acceptance rate was among the highest. 

Cllr Thomas joined the meeting at this stage.

Attached are the Cabinet responses to the Place Overview and Scrutiny Committee reports on:

·       Part Night Lighting

·       Verge and Vegetation Management

·       LGR – One Oxfordshire Proposal

·       OxRail 2024

The Committee is asked to NOTE the response.

The Committee NOTED the Cabinet responses to the Committee’s reports on:

• Part Night Lighting
• Verge and Vegetation Management
• LGR – One Oxfordshire Proposal
• OxRail 2024

The Committee is recommended to AGREE its work programme for forthcoming meetings, having heard any changes from previous iterations, and taking account of the Cabinet Forward Plan and of the Budget Management Monitoring Report.

The Committee reviewed its forward work plan and AGREED to upcoming topics including the illegal waste dump near Kidlington, with plans to invite the Environment Agency and District Council. The Committee confirmed that it wished to consider items on bus services and rural transport, and minerals and waste planning.

The Committee also AGREED to add school streets to the April agenda, partly as a result of concerns about poor signage and enforcement at a local school.

The Committee also discussed the need to monitor changes to Household Waste and Recycling Centre bookings and address verification, agreeing to include this as a future agenda item. 

The Committee has requested a report on road safety in Oxfordshire.

Cllr Andrew Gant, Cabinet member for Transport Management, Paul Fermer, Director of Environment and Highways, Sean Rooney, Head of Service – Highway Maintenance and Road Safety, and Andrew Ford, Road Safety Education Team Manager at Oxfordshire Fire & Rescue Service have been invited to present the report.  The Committee has also invited a representative of Thames Valley Police.

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 Andrew Gant, Cabinet member for Transport Management, Paul Fermer, Director of Environment and Highways, Sean Rooney, Head of Service – Highway Maintenance and Road Safety, Andrew Ford, Road Safety Education Team Manager at Oxfordshire Fire & Rescue Service, and Anthony Kirkwood, Team Leader – Vision Zero, were invited to present the report.

The Committee had also invited a representative of Thames Valley Police (TVP), who sent apologies and a short statement in response to questions raised in advance. The statement explained that a dedicated roads policing team would work within communities to engage, educate, and enforce in areas with high casualty rates, targeting persistent offenders and collaborating with other agencies to address road safety issues. Written questions were welcomed for the TVP to address.

The Cabinet member for Transport Management opened the item by emphasising that safety sat at the centre of all transport policy. Vision Zero had been presented as the overarching framework guiding the Council’s decisions, with the ambition to eliminate all road deaths and serious injuries. The principle that deaths and serious injuries should not be seen as an acceptable cost of economic or environmental functioning had been reiterated throughout the discussion.

Recent and ongoing initiatives were highlighted, including the countywide 20mph programme, the expansion of school streets, and the delivery of segregated active‑travel infrastructure. The Cabinet member stressed that safety should take precedence across the transport network.

The Head of Service – Highway Maintenance and Road Safety noted that maintenance and safety must be managed together and prioritised, with Vision Zero at the forefront as a collaborative system involving multiple teams. The Head of Service highlighted the necessity for unified strategies across engineering, operations, and engagement.

The Road Safety Education Team Manager at Oxfordshire Fire & Rescue Service outlined how road safety education had moved into the Fire & Rescue Service’s Prevention team, which already worked extensively with schools and communities. The longstanding “three Es” - Environment, Education and Enforcement - continued to shape the programme. Vision Zero had helped to bring these elements closer together operationally. Officers highlighted a range of successful education programmes, including pedestrian training and cycle training reaching more than 6,000 children each year. There was an ambition to reach all schools, although instructor capacity had remained a limiting factor. Work with young drivers included advocacy for graduated licensing, behavioural‑change campaigns and advanced driver training opportunities. Officers had also delivered targeted engagement with motorcyclists and continued joint operations with TVP, offering equipment, safety advice and enforcement.

The Director of Environment and Highways acknowledged the recent publication of the national Road Safety Strategy and confirmed that Oxfordshire’s Vision Zero strategy would be reviewed to ensure alignment with the revised national framework. This review was seen as an opportunity to update priorities, strengthen partnership work, and reflect emerging best practice.

The Committee considered the organisational structure of road safety functions and discussed why Bikeability delivery sat within Fire & Rescue rather than Highways. Officers explained that several years earlier, when national road safety funding had  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8/26

The Committee has requested a report providing an overview of pothole repairs and superusers.

Cllr Andrew Gant, Cabinet member for Transport Management, Paul Fermer, Director of Environment and Highways, and Sean Rooney, Head of Service – Highway Maintenance and Road Safety, have been invited to present the report.  The Committee has also invited Richard Lovewell, Business Director for MGroup Highways, Andrew Vidovic, Team Leader – Inspections, Nigel Clark, Team Leader – Volunteer Coordination, and Paul Wilson, Operational Manager (Operations).

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.

The Committee’s attention is drawn to the report of the Performance and Corporate Services Overview and Scrutiny Committee on Fix My Street which was submitted to Cabinet on 27 January 2026: https://mycouncil.oxfordshire.gov.uk/documents/s80451/FixMyStreet.pdf

Cllr Andrew Gant, Cabinet member for Transport Management, Paul Fermer, Director of Environment and Highways, and Sean Rooney, Head of Service – Highway Maintenance and Road Safety, were invited to present a report providing an overview of pothole repairs and superusers.

The Committee also invited Richard Lovewell, Business Director for MGroup Highways, Andrew Vidovic, Team Leader – Inspections, Nigel Clark, Team Leader – Volunteer Coordination, Paul Wilson, Operational Manager (Operations), Dale Stevens, Insurance Manager, Steven Fitzgerald, Operational Manager (Highways Maintenance.

The Committee NOTED the report of the Performance and Corporate Services Overview and Scrutiny Committee on FixMyStreet, submitted to Cabinet on 27 January 2026.

The Cabinet Member for Transport Management introduced the item and set out a strategic overview of the position on highway defects. He emphasised the standards expected of the contractor, MGroup, including responsibility for non‑chargeable defects, and noted that although the transition to the new contract had been successful, it was not free of imperfections. The report deliberately presented an unvarnished picture of outstanding repairs; the date on the underlying data had been corrected for accuracy. He stressed that he and the team had been leading a process of continuous improvement and that the timing of the report was appropriate given the unprecedented operational challenges seen locally and nationally.

The Head of Service – Highway Maintenance and Road Safety followed by confirming the report’s purpose as a candid overview rather than a claim of perfection. He highlighted collaborative work with MGroup to pinpoint and address areas for improvement, describing an intelligence‑led, data‑rich approach to prioritising a significant volume of defects. He also paid tribute to the Superusers volunteer scheme, with around 230 volunteers had been signed up, though activity varied seasonally, and reiterated the service’s commitment to transparency and continual improvement.

Members of the Committee expressed strong concern on behalf of residents about recurring potholes, the perceived inadequacy of some repairs, and a compensation process seen as complex and slow. They felt a recent Council press release attributing problems to winter conditions failed to acknowledge that similar issues recurred annually and that the current backlog was unacceptable.

Officers recognised the frustration and set out how the service had been moving to an asset‑management approach to break the cycle of winter‑driven spikes: larger and more durable structural patches, an expanded surface‑dressing and resurfacing programme, and greater investment in drainage to prevent water‑related failures. They also described improved forward planning, including earlier publication of multi‑year programmes so contractors could secure resources in advance. At the same time, they cautioned that resource constraints meant deterioration could not be eliminated entirely.

Councillors sought explanation for the contrast between stronger performance reported in 2023/24 and the sharp rise in potholes during 2024/25. Officers explained that the 2023/24 figures reflected the very large number of defects generated by a wet and cold winter, which allowed crews to plan and respond to a predictable, gradually rising pattern. In 2024/25, by contrast, there had been an unexpected  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9/26