Agenda item

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 Cabinet’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 Cabinet Member or such other councillor or officer as is determined by the Cabinet Member, and shall not be the subject of further debate at this meeting. Questions received after the despatch of the agenda, but before the deadline, will be shown on the Schedule of Addenda circulated at the meeting, together with any written response which is available at that time.

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

“Has the county council any views on the idea of creating ‘Home Zone’ streets as defined by the Department for Transport in their design guidelines?”

Councillor Constance replied:

“The Oxfordshire Street Design Guide, on which work is ongoing, will seek to provide guidance on the design of developments from master planning stage to detailed design. We envisage the guide will promote various types of design which are appropriate for different street types. Therefore, we expect to include guidance on the use of shared surfaces and space which may be more appropriate for streets from which properties are directly accessed and are lightly trafficked. Shared surfaces and space, encourage motorists to give way to other users of the street and encourage the use of the street for play and social interaction, which is what Home Zones seek to achieve.  The aim of the design guide is to help create successful places where people want to live, work and play and to encourage walking, cycling and use of public transport. We hope to undertake stakeholder consultation over the summer months and conclude the project in autumn 2019. “ 

Supplementary: Councillor Howson highlighted a proposed development in his local area of a hotel without parking provision and noted that schemes such as Home Zones would enable areas to remain as communities. It was an additional tool in addition to Controlled Parking Zones (CPZs). Councillor Constance thanked Councillor Howson for the question and agreed that there were occasions when CPZs would be appropriate and other times when Home Zones could be used.

Councillor Pressel had given notice of the following question to Councillor Hudspeth:

“At our budget meeting, the Leader quite rightly said that ‘we must target our resources to provide vital services to those vulnerable adults and children who require them most’. In the light of this, please can you tell us exactly what criteria will be used for deciding how the new £1 million fund for youth services will be allocated? Can we assume that the data from the Joint Strategic Needs Assessment will be used to inform our decisions?”

Councillor Hudspeth replied:

“I was delighted to propose and vote for a budget that was caring and compassionate as it:

Increased the funding on Adult Social Care by £8.8 million

Increased the funding on Children’s Social Care by £9.0 million

Increased the funding on Education by £3.0 million

Provided £1 million for Youth provision across the county.

These measures will help the most vulnerable adults and children across Oxfordshire.

By contrast I noted that Cllr Pressel voted:

AGAINST increasing the funding on Adult Social Care by £8.8 million

AGAINST increasing the funding on Children’s Social Care by £9.0 million

AGAINST increasing the funding on Education by £3.0 million

AGAINST providing £1 million for Youth provision across the county

The criteria for allocating the £1 million for youth provision will ensure that all areas across the county will be able to benefit”

Supplementary: Responding to a comment that the question was unanswered and asking again what criteria would be used and whether the JSNA would be used Councillor Hudspeth, referred to his original answer.

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

“The Growth Deal is funding a feasibility design project for a pedestrian crossing at the bottom of Collinwood Road in Risinghurst to be completed by the end of March 2019. 

Will this work be completed on time and will it be made available to the local member? What is your assessment of the likelihood of funding becoming available to deliver this crossing?”

Councillor Constance replied:

“The feasibility report and design for a pedestrian crossing at Collinwood Road is on schedule to report by the end of March 2019.  The outputs from this work will be made available to the local member.  Whilst feedback on these outputs would be welcome we do wish to advise that there is currently no plan to undertake wider consultation at the current time.  At the current time there is no committed funding to undertake further design work and delivery of this scheme.  Through undertaking the feasibility design work however, the council has advanced opportunities to bid for or negotiate funding opportunities for a scheme in the future” 

Supplementary:  Councillor Phillips welcomed the feasibility study but sought clarification whether following the report there would be a costed delivery plan available, ready to bid should funding become available. Councillor Constance replied that this was sometimes done but that she was not sure in this case as there was not the expectation that funding would be available. However, the scheme was one where the elements were common to many projects and she would not expect that it would take long to produce a costed plan should it be required. She declined a request to visit the site explaining that it was not possible to visit every site.