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To All Members of the County Council

Notice of a Meeting of the Council

Tuesday 18 June 2002 at 10.30 am

County Hall, Oxford

Chris Impey
Assistant Chief Executive 10 June 2002

Contact officer: Ann Lowe (Tel: 01865 815384; E-mail)

AGENDA

1. Minutes

To approve the Minutes of the meeting held on 2/9 April 2002 and to receive for information any matters arising therefrom.

2. Apologies for Absence
3. Declarations of Interest
4. Official Communications

1. To receive the following report from the County Returning Officer on the outcome of the by-election held on 2 May 2002 in the Wolvercote Division:-

No of Votes

DENNIS, John Alan 1063
DREYDEL, Ursula Anne Lindsay 530
GOODALL, Christopher Frank William 769
TAYLOR, Michael Robert 271

John Alan Dennis was accordingly elected county councillor for the Wolvercote Division.

2. Any other official communications.
   
   
5. Petitions and Public Address
6. Questions with Notice from Members of the Public
7. Additions to the Council’s Constitution

To agree additions to the Council’s Constitution on the recommendation of the Member/Officer Working Group on Organisation & Democracy. (CC7)

8. Review of Political Balance on and Appointments to Committees

Following the by-election held on 2 May 2002 in the Wolvercote Division, Councillor John Dennis has given formal notice requesting that a review be undertaken of the allocation of seats on committees to political groups.

The Council is asked to make the following appointments on the nomination of the political groups:-

Best Value Committee

Tompkins in place of Hodgson

Planning & Regulation Committee

Power in place of Evans

Social & Health Care Scrutiny Committee

Ferriman in place of Power

The Council is asked to:

1. review the allocation of seats on committees and to determine any changes; and
2. make any consequential/other changes in membership on the nomination of the political groups.

9. Adult Learning Plan 2002/03

A report was submitted to the Executive on 19 March 2002 which presented the draft Adult Learning Plan (ALP) 2002/03.(download as .rtf file) The Executive adopted the ALP as its initial proposals for the Plan and instructed that the Plan be referred to the Learning & Culture Scrutiny Committee in time to report to the Executive’s meeting on 14 May. The Executive also agreed that, in the meantime, the draft be sent to the Learning & Skills Council, but on the basis that the Plan would need to be ratified subsequently by full Council, in order to comply with government regulations.

The Learning & Culture Scrutiny Committee considered the Plan on 7 May. The following key points arose from the Scrutiny Committee’s discussion and were reported to the Executive on 14 May:-

General

The inclusion in the Plan of a glossary of acronyms and terms was essential

Outreach

References to the outreach strategy in the Plan could be enhanced to indicate how and where it is undertaken, targeting of groups/geographical areas, and include objectives/indications of success

Learning disabilities

Funding for, and the provision of facilities for students with learning disabilities could be developed in the Plan

English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL)

The Scrutiny Committee welcomed the European funding for the project linking Banbury learners with others, including travellers

Fees and fee policies

The Scrutiny Committee were concerned that the outcome of any harmonisation of fees/policies should not affect adversely poorer learners

Harmonisation of fees/policies should enable the practice of well supported courses supporting less well supported, but worthy, courses to continue

Fee policies should recognise/encourage the important roles and contributions of volunteers

The Executive welcomed the comments of the Learning & Culture Scrutiny Committee and agreed to incorporate them, together with additional information that had been requested by the Learning & Skills Council, in the revised Plan before its formal submission. Those changes have now been made and a copy of the revised Plan is attached (CC9).(download as .rtf file)

The Executive RECOMMEND the Council to approve the Adult Learning Plan 2002/03.

10. Report of the Executive
    
    (CC10)
    
11. Report of the Pension Fund Committee
    
    (CC11)
    
12. Questions with Notice from Members of the Council (CC12 annex)

Motions with Notice from Members of the Council

13. Motion from Councillor Power

This Council resolves that Control Plus should adhere to the terms of its contract with the Council when enforcing parking regulations.

14. Motion from Councillor Power

This Council resolves that the local member should always be involved when divisional visits are made by Councillors Mitchell, Margaret Godden and the Chief Executive

15. Motion from Councillor Brian Hodgson

This Council supports the Government’s objectives of eliminating fuel poverty by 2010; this includes Oxfordshire. We therefore call on all Oxfordshire MPs to support the Home Energy Conservation Bill, which resumes its Report Stage in the House of Commons on 14 July. This will be the last opportunity to enable it to become law this session.

(Note: the main parts of the Bill – promoted by Des Turner MP – relate to making targets under the Home Energy Conservation Act 1995 a statutory duty; and the introduction of a national licensing scheme for houses in multiple occupation, setting minimum energy efficiency standards.)

16. Motion from Councillor Brian Hodgson

This Council supports the elimination of food poverty in this County and country. Following the Joseph Rowntree Foundation 1999 report showing that over 4 million people in the UK do not have access to healthy food, a campaign was launched on 14 November 2001 by "Food Justice". We therefore call on our local MPs to back Early Day Motion No. 607 supporting the Food Poverty (Eradication) Bill which will require the drawing up and implementation of local and national strategies to end this problem. These strategies should include measures that will promote more equitable access to food which has been produced to high environmental and animal welfare standards.

(Note: The Bill has already been introduced into Parliament by Alan Simpson MP (Labour), David Amess MP (Conservative) and Don Foster MP (Liberal Democrat). The campaign’s background briefing document notes that up to 5,000 people in each constituency may be malnourished and that 1 in 7 people over 65 are malnourished or at serious risk of malnourishment, affecting up to 2 million people in the UK.)

17. Motion from Councillor Brian Hodgson

This Council invites the Executive to set up a Working Party to investigate the possibility of following Liverpool City Council’s example, by lobbying the government to allow it to raise a Land Tax

18. Motion from Councillor Shereen Karmali

This Council agrees:

1. that a representative of the Oxfordshire Governors’ Association will be invited to participate in, but not to vote on, all items on the agenda of the Learning & Culture Scrutiny Committee that deal with education; and
2. to ask the Executive Members for Schools and Learning & Culture and the Chair of the Learning & Culture Scrutiny Committee to draw up a protocol to implement this agreement.
   
   
19. Motion from Councillor Brian Hodgson

 ADDENDA

Oxfordshire Economic Partnership

The Oxfordshire Economic Partnership is a key organisation in steering economic policies in the County and initiating partnership projects both between its members and with other agencies such as SEEDA. Its membership includes the chambers of commerce and other representative business organisations, local businesses, voluntary sector bodies, the universities and the Oxfordshire local authorities. The Partnership’s vision is of "Oxfordshire as a pioneering world class economy that fulfils the potential of its inhabitants through continually developing its capacity for innovation, business, personal development, research and education, and through the effective management of its high quality environmental resources."

The OEP is about to be constituted as a company limited by guarantee, and the Council has a right of board representation – as do the five district Councils. The Executive considers it important to take up this right in order that when the company is formed the Council is represented from the outset. The Executive considers moreover that the OEP should be designated as "strategic" under paragraph 1(h) in Section H of the Constitution. Subject to Council agreeing this status, the Executive has nominated the Deputy Leader of the Council to represent the Council on the OEP board, as her responsibilities include economic development matters.

The Council is RECOMMENDED to endorse the Oxfordshire Economic Partnership as a Strategic Outside Body.

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