Agenda item

Report from Leader of the Council.

The report summarises the decisions from the Cabinet meetings on 14 May 2024 and 18 June 2024.

Council received the report of Cabinet covering the Cabinet meetings on 14 May 2024 and 18 June 2024.

In response to questions on Item 1 Oxfordshire Councils Charter, Councillor Leffman responded as follows:

·         The Charter focussed on the relationships between the Town and Parish Councils and the County Council.  The Parish Councils’ relationships with the City and District Councils were already robust.

·         It had not yet been worked out how the un-parished areas of the city will be included but that will likely be through the Neighbourhood Forums.

·         The Charter will be a living document and will be developed further over time.

On Item 2 Appointments, Councillor Leffman agreed to consider appointing a Small Business Champion, confirmed that Cabinet would shortly fill the vacant Public Transport Champion position and reported that she meets regularly with the Champions to discuss their roles.

On Item 3 Oxfordshire County Council’s Productivity Plan, Councillor Leffman agreed that a multi-year funding agreement for local authorities would be very welcome and confirmed that she was working with the Chief Executive on a list of powers that they would like to request be devolved to the County Council.

In response to a question from Councillor Pressel on Item 4 Council of Sanctuary, Councillor Leffman confirmed that the Council was following the lengthy process to become a Council of Sanctuary and was keen to line up with Oxford City Council and the University of Oxford who have made similar applications.

On a question from Councillor Saul on Item 5 Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking Statement, Councillor Leffman agreed that it was important that Council staff be trained to identify possible cases and confirmed that the Council works closely with other organisations to tackle the problems.

On item 6 Period Poverty Scheme Trial, Councillor Leffman agreed to a request from Councillor Povolotsky to write to the Secretary of State for Education to urge the continuation of the schools period product scheme due to end in July 2024.

Councillor Leffman agreed to provide a written response to a question from Councillor Phillips on Item 7 Customer Experience Strategy as to what the key performance metrics will be.

On Item 8 Workforce Report and Staffing Data, Councillor Levy agreed to provide a written response to a question from Councillor Baines on the plans to save £4 million on staffing costs in 2024/25 and if he can avoid staffing cuts in the 2025/26 budget.

Councillor Leffman agreed to discuss with officers a suggestion from Councillor Phillips to include information on the transformation programme in future Workforce Reports including a running total on savings.

On Item 9 Financial Monitoring Report, in response to a question from Councillor Baines, Councillor Levy stated that the expectation was that investing in the pump priming reserve would give a higher return than treasury bonds as well as providing additional benefits in putting money into the economy.

On Item 12 Capital Programme Approvals, Councillor Levy responded to a number of questions around the time taken to complete projects and the effects of inflation on the funding of these projects.  He stated that all projects proceed as fast as possible but had to be designed properly and had to go through planning processes.  He hoped that the new government would help local authorities address this problem.

Councillor Levy agreed to provide a written response to Councillor Brighouse on the issue of the reducing demand for school places in some areas and the use of property that may be freed up.

Councillor Levy agreed to meet with Councillor Povolotsky regarding the A4130 Rowstock Roundabout to Steventon Lights and other projects to discuss costs.

On Item 13 Oxfordshire Bus Service Improvement Plan, in response to a question from Councillor Hicks, Councillor Gant committed to looking at the options for ownership of buses but stated that there was a question over whether that should be done now before the plans of the new government are known.

On Item 14 Cost of Living Programme, Councillor Ley agreed to meet with Councillor Elphinstone regarding applications for help purchasing white goods to ensure they are not incorrectly refused.