Meeting documents
County Council
Tuesday, 13 January 2009
To All Members of the County Council
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The Cabinet RECOMMENDS Council to approve the Oxfordshire 2030: A partnership plan for improving quality of life in Oxfordshire. |
10. Appointment to South East England Councils
The Cabinet has considered, at its meeting on 16 December 2008, a report on the South East England Councils (SEEC). This body has been set up to work with the South East England Development Agency (SEEDA) on developing the Single Integrated Regional Strategy for the South East.
SEEC came into being on Friday, 12 December 2008 following a meeting of the Leaders of the 74 principal councils in the South East region, constituted on the basis that a member is nominated from each of the 74 principal councils in the South East region.
Under Section H of the Constitution, the Cabinet is responsible for appointments to those outside bodies which have been identified by the Cabinet as "strategic” and “noted as such on a list of all relevant offices and bodies from time to time presented to and endorsed by the Council". (The Democracy & Organisation Committee has responsibility for appointments to other outside bodies.)
Since SEEC is a new body, it does not currently appear on the Council’s list of Outside Bodies and so no appointment to it has been made.
The Cabinet RECOMMENDS Council to add South East England Councils to the list of ‘strategic’ Outside Bodies to which the Cabinet makes appointments. |
11. Report of the Cabinet
Report of the Cabinet meetings on 18 November and 16 December 2008 (CC11).
12. Questions with Notice from Members of the Council
Motions with Notice from Members of the Council
WOULD MEMBERS PLEASE NOTE THAT ANY AMENDMENTS TO MOTIONS WITH NOTICE MUST BE PRESENTED TO THE PROPER OFFICER IN WRITING BY 9.00 AM ON MONDAY 12 JANUARY 2009
13. Motion from Councillor Armitage
“Council notes that the Government has approved a further six per cent increase in First Great Western's regulated train fares from Oxfordshire stations with effect from January 2009.
Council further notes that rail fares from Oxford and Didcot are already among the highest per mile in the South East of England, and is concerned that the effects of another above-inflation increase will include increased use of private cars, at a time when Oxfordshire's councils and their partners are working to reduce carbon emissions and to improve air quality. Increases in traffic on the on the local highway network at peak times could have a particularly serious effect on the implementation of the Local Transport Plan, business costs, pollution, serious accidents and quality of life for many in the county.
Council considers that with local residents feeling the effects of the financial crisis, it is unfair and short-sighted to increase the cost of rail fares, which the majority of rail users cannot avoid paying.
Council therefore asks the Leader to write to First Great Western and to the Secretary of State for Transport to protest at these increases, and to ask for an assurance that further above-inflation increases will not be introduced while the recession continues.”
14. Motion from Councillor Zoé Patrick
“Council notes that the worsening financial downturn is likely to hit Oxfordshire along with other parts of the country. This requires the council to use its community leadership role, to be at the forefront of actions to help keep the economy moving and assist those who could lose their jobs, along with young people seeking their first job, as well as other vulnerable people, families and businesses.
Council therefore asks the Cabinet, working with other partners in the Oxfordshire Economic Partnership, to come up with an action plan for how the County Council and the Partnership can offer practical help to local residents and businesses.
Council suggests the full range of issues to be addressed will include:
(a) A re-evaluation of public spending priorities
(b) Actions to keep public and private sector capital projects going
(c) Income maximisation programmes for residents, including take up of benefits
(d) Implementation of programmes for young people to gain work experience
(e) Debt advice to residents and businesses
(f) Advice and assistance for older people, including on fuel poverty.”
15. Motion from Councillor Jean Fooks
“Council notes the public concern about possible risks to public health and to the environment from the proposed waste-to-energy plants in Oxfordshire. Although the statutory bodies for assessment of this risk are the Health and Safety Executive and the Environment Agency, rather than the Council itself, Council feels that it would be wise to request an independent assessment of these risks before deciding to proceed with the procurement of either plant.
Council therefore asks the Cabinet to commission such an assessment so that the public can have confidence that their fears are being taken seriously before any final decision is taken.”
16. Motion from Councillor Liz Brighouse
"This Council
(a) expresses deep concern about the possibility that Oxford citizens could be left without a community hospital while community hospitals continue to be provided in areas of lower population density and social need;
(b) asks the Chairman of the Oxfordshire Joint Health Overview & Scrutiny Committee to write to the Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals Trust and the Oxfordshire Primary Care Trust:
(i) expressing the Council’s concern,
(ii) asking them to advise the Scrutiny Committee whether other hospitals affected by Clostridium Difficile infection have had to be closed down,
(iii) asking them to advise the Scrutiny Committee whether it is their intention to use the Churchill site primarily for the direct provision of health care or, alternatively, to expand research facilities on the site,
(iv) requesting an assurance that they will provide a community hospital in Oxford, for example on the Churchill site or (through negotiation with the University) on the Old Infirmary site;
(c) asks that, if the trusts do not provide the Scrutiny Committee with the information requested in accordance with (b)(ii) and (b)(iii) and the assurance requested in accordance with (b)(iv), it should summon their Chief Executives to its March meeting to explain why.”
17. Motion from Councillor John Sanders
"This Council:
(a) shares the Cabinet’s ambition to make Oxford a more pleasant city for pedestrians;
(b) notes, however, that Oxford residents living east of The Plain – including older people, people with disabilities and parents with pushchairs – need access to the city centre so that they can work, shop and enjoy their city’s heritage;
(c) asks the Cabinet to explain how its proposals to transform the city centre can be implemented without forcing people to take two buses rather than one, making people walk long distances to bus stops and turning The Plain into a bus station.”
18. Motion from Councillor Liz Brighouse
"This Council asks the Cabinet to review the Fair Funding Formula for schools in the light of the following statement in the Annual Performance Assessment of the council’s children’s services published by Ofsted on 17 December 2008: “Delegated school funding does not fully reflect the council’s priorities for areas of disadvantage.” (p. 7).”