Agenda, decisions and draft minutes

The Senior Democratic Services Officer invited nominations for the position of Chair of the Shareholder Committee for the 2026/27 council year. Councillor Fawcett proposed Councillor Bearder and Councillor Epps seconded the nomination.

With there being no other nominations, Councillor Bearder was ELECTED as Chair of the Shareholder Committee for the 2026/27 council year.  

Having taken the Chair, Councillor Bearder invited nominations for the position of Deputy Chair of the Shareholder Committee for the 2026/27 council year. Councillor Fawcett proposed Councillor Gordon and Councillor Epps seconded the nomination.

With there being no other nominations, Councillor Gordon was ELECTED as Deputy Chair of the Shareholder Committee for the 2026/27 council year.

There were none.

To approve the minutes of the meeting held on 24 February 2026 and to receive any information arising from them.

The minutes of the meeting held on 24 February 2026 were approved and signed by the Chair as a correct record.

See guidance note below.

Councillor Levy declared an interest in respect of item 8 as he was a non-Executive Director of Enterprise Oxfordshire and therefore left the meeting at this point.

Any county councillor may, by giving notice to the Proper Officer by 9 am two working days before the meeting, ask a question on any matter in respect of the Shareholder Committee’s delegated powers.

The number of questions which may be asked by any councillor at any one meeting is limited to two (or one question with notice and a supplementary question at the meeting) and the time for questions will be limited to 30 minutes in total. As with questions at Council, any questions which remain unanswered at the end of this item will receive a written response.

Questions submitted prior to the agenda being despatched are shown below and will be the subject of a response from the appropriate Committee Member or such other councillor or officer as is determined by the Committee Member, and shall not be the subject of further debate at this meeting.

There were none.

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

To facilitate ‘hybrid’ meetings we are asking that requests to speak or present a petition are submitted by no later than 9am four working days before the meeting. Requests to speak should be sent to committeesdemocraticservices@oxfordshire.gov.uk

If you are speaking ‘virtually’, you may submit a written statement of your presentation to ensure that your views are taken into account. A written copy of your statement can be provided no later than 9am 2 working days before the meeting. Written submissions should be no longer than 1 A4 sheet.

There were none.

Cabinet Member: Future Economy and Innovation

Forward Plan Ref: 2026/098

Non-Key Decision

Contact: Sadie Patamia, Corporate Governance Manager – Enterprise Oxfordshire (Sadie.Patamia@oxfordshire.gov.uk)

Report by Director of Economy and Place (SC8). 

This paper asks the Shareholder Committee to agree to the appointment of External Auditors for Enterprise Oxfordshire for 2025/26.

The Shareholder Committee is RECOMMENDED to:

a)    Agree the proposed appointment of Richardsons as External Auditors for Enterprise Oxfordshire (formally OxLEP) for financial Year 2025/26, as recommended by the company board.

The Chair introduced the item to the meeting and invited officers to present the report.

Officers noted that the proposed appointment of Richardsons as External Auditors was because the appointment of auditors for Enterprise Oxfordshire was a matter reserved to the Shareholder Committee. It had been approved by the Enterprise Oxfordshire Board and confirmed that, to follow good practice, the auditors were different to those of the County Council.

Councillor Fawcett moved and Councillor Gordon seconded the recommendations and they were approved.

RESOLVED to:

a)    Agree the proposed appointment of Richardsons as External Auditors for Enterprise Oxfordshire (formally OxLEP) for financial Year 2025/26, as recommended by the company board.