Agenda item

Cllr Dan Levy, Cabinet Member for Finance, Property and Transformation, and Susannah Wintersgill, Director of Public Affairs and Policy Partnerships, have been invited to present a report on The Oxfordshire Strategic Plan.

 

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 Dan Levy, Cabinet Member for Finance, Property and Transformation, Kathy Wilcox, Head of Corporate Finance and Deputy Section 151 Officer, Susannah Wintersgill, Director of Public Affairs, Policy and Partnerships, and Carole Stow, Engagement and Consultation Manager, were invited to present a report on The Oxfordshire Strategic Plan.

 

The Cabinet Member for Finance, Property and Transformation introduced the draft strategic plan as a replacement for the previous, more complex version, explaining that the new plan aimed to simplify objectives, better align council actions with strategic goals, and improve communication with the public. The Director of Public Affairs, Policy and Partnerships added that the plan focused on three core themes: Greener, Fairer, and Healthier, with clear headline projects shaped by public feedback. It would be accompanied by an outcomes framework that included the new national measures being developed as part of the Local Government Outcomes Framework.

 

Councillors discussed a number of concerns they had with the strategy, such as public transport, climate planning, gully maintenance, and community banking. The Committee also discussed and questioned the following areas of the strategic plan:

 

• Seeking clarification on what a network of mobility hubs entailed and how the mobility hubs would function. The Cabinet Member and Officers explained that mobility hubs were intended as locations where people could switch between different modes of transport, such as hiring a bike, changing buses, taking a train, or using a scooter. The discussion also highlighted the practical need for facilities like shelter and toilets at these hubs, and it was suggested that the Place Scrutiny Committee could examine the current status, planning assumptions, and financial implications of mobility hubs.

 

• Whether the data on climate change impacts, such as excess deaths, could be updated and broadened to include other indicators like hospitalisations and the effects of heat on school performance. It was suggested that addressing these issues could lead to long-term savings for public services. Additionally, it was pointed out that the Council’s approach to flooding focused mainly on drain cleaning and flood wardens, but in some areas, the main issue was rapid water run-off into waterways. It was recommended that the Council’s role in managing run-off should be included as part of its flood prevention strategy.

 

The Director of Public Affairs, Policy and Partnerships also explained that the Council’s focus was now on both improving response to flooding and building resilience, as such extreme weather events were becoming more frequent. The importance of working closely with partners and preparing for these recurring challenges was emphasised.

 

• The committee considered the report of engagement activity which was designed to support the development of the Strategic Plan. Members questioned whether the council had engaged with a sufficiently wide range of residents as part of its engagement on the plan and whether face-to-face engagement could be used alongside online methods. Concerns were also expressed about the representativeness of the data, particularly regarding rural areas, pockets of deprivation outside Oxford, and the inclusion of hard-to-reach groups, and the readability of the resident research report.

 

The Engagement and Consultation Manager explained that the research had included nine focus groups covering rural, urban, and more deprived areas (as set out in the report: drawn from the 10 wards in Oxfordshire which include small areas ranked within the 20% most deprived in England), with participants from different demographics and life stages.

 

• In relation to the Council’s net zero target for 2030, specifically noting that the council’s emissions had been reduced by a third since 2008 and querying whether it was realistic to cut the remaining two-thirds in just five years. The Committee sought assurance and quantitative data on how this target would be achieved. The Director of Public Affairs, Policy and Partnerships provided reassurance that significant work was underway, including a programme of decarbonising council buildings and fleet. It was noted that the fleet, responsible for over a third of emissions, was being switched to electric vehicles.

 

• How the Council matched its decisions to its strategic plan and how this information was presented to residents, noting that it was often difficult to find clear links between actions, spending, and progress towards targets. The Director of Public Affairs, Policy and Partnerships acknowledged this issue and stated that work was underway to improve accessibility, including developing a citizens’ portal or dashboard to make data and progress more transparent and easier to understand. It was also mentioned that the outcomes framework would play a key role in this, and that councillors could be involved as a focus group to test these new tools.

 

• Councillors raised the poor condition of footways, with concerns that new cycleways were being built while existing pedestrian paths remained in disrepair, making them unsafe or inaccessible for wheelchair users, the elderly, and parents with prams. It was highlighted that this issue affected both rural and urban areas, and that lack of funding had historically limited upgrades.

 

• Members raised several detailed questions relating to the content in the strategic plan. They asked for a clear explanation of the process for reporting and rectifying poor highway works, including utility repairs, and sought information on the economics of different pothole repair strategies. They questioned how the Council was addressing declining primary school numbers and the impact of congestion charges and traffic filters on school staff. Members also asked about the balance between housing targets and protecting green spaces, the absence of references to improving diets, access to sports facilities in the health section, the lack of a reference to campaigns aimed at encouraging children to take regular exercise such as the "mile a day", the lack of mention of "Best Start in Life" as a successor to Sure Start, and the need to prioritise local renewable energy infrastructure.

 

In response, the Cabinet Member acknowledged that Members’ points were valuable, and that these issues should be considered for inclusion in the final strategy document.

 

The Director of Public Affairs, Policy and Partnerships responded by explaining that the strategic plan was not intended to be a comprehensive record of all Council activities, but rather to highlight a selection of key priorities and provide a flavour of broader work. She emphasised that there was a significant amount of work happening behind the scenes on issues such as child obesity and the green agenda, but the plan was a snapshot rather than an exhaustive list.

 

The Committee AGREED to the following actions:

 

• The Director of Public Affairs, Policy and Partnerships would seek further quantitative data from the climate team to provide assurances on how the council’s net zero targets would be met.

 

• The Director of Public Affairs, Policy and Partnerships would request more recent data on excess deaths related to climate change, such as heat and flooding.

 

• An all-councillor briefing on resident feedback from the focus groups alongside the annual residents’ survey results.

 

The Committee AGREED to recommendations under the following headings:

 

• To consider improving access to community banking and post office services as part of the strategic plan.

 

• The Council was advised to better explain the link between its green agenda and local resident concerns, using clearer language and relatable examples.

 

• The deliverability of the Council’s net zero ambitions was to be examined with qualitative data.

 

• Members to be engaged in the development of the Citizens portal for better accessibility and transparency.

 

• There was a recommendation to increase focus on improving footways to facilitate walking.

 

• Expanding access to bus services was suggested as a priority.

 

• It was requested that more resident feedback be included in future reports, including richer qualitative data.

 

• Improved accessibility in terms of terminology and the presentation of feedback from residents.

 

• Not only to focus on the Council’s deficits, but also their successes to date.

 

• Clarifying how the Council wishes to balance its competing desires to protect green spaces whilst also providing housing

 

• Raising the profile of Best Start as a successor to Sure Start within the plan

 

• Improving access to renewable energy infrastructure

 

The Committee also AGREED to make observations in relation to issues arising from the draft strategic plan around:

 

• Addressing highways issues: specifically poor repairs following utility works and the cost-benefit analysis of different approaches to types of repair.

 

• Plans to manage the reductions in demand for school places

 

• Concerns over the impact of the congestion charge on schools within the charging zone

 

• The fundamental importance of improving diet and exercise, particularly for young people, if a healthier Oxfordshire is to be delivered