Return to Agenda

ITEM CC9

COUNTY COUNCIL – 4 NOVEMBER 2003

REPORT OF THE EXECUTIVE

Executive Member – Leader of the Council

1. Oxford’s West End

1. to receive the consultants’ report and thank them for their work;
2. to agree, in principle, to support the project of co-ordinating and taking forward a renaissance of the West End of Oxford;
3. to agree specifically at this stage:-

• the commissioning of the Development Framework and feasibility studies in the current financial year;
• the commissioning of further work by officers on the engagement of key project staff and the nature and form of an appropriate delivery agency, with a further joint report on the outcome of that work before agreeing to the engagement of staff or the establishment of any particular agency;
• the production of Supplementary Planning Guidance, at the appropriate time, on the key West End sites to help provide detailed development guidelines as specified in the Second Draft Oxford Local Plan Section 14;

4. on the assumption that SEEDA would contribute one third of the costs, to make financial provision to support the next stage of the project amounting to:

• £60,000 from each Council in 2003/04; and
• £150,000 from each Council in 2004/05;

5. to request the Steering Group to consider and establish appropriate consultative arrangements to include members, representatives of local residents, business organisations, other stakeholders and landowners in the West End;
6. to ask the Steering Group to oversee the project, commission further joint officer work and report back to the Executives of both Councils where appropriate.

2. Allocation of Capital Resources 2003/04

(Executive 2 September 2003)

When the Council agreed the Capital Programme in February the capital bids identified for 2003/04 were still unfunded because of a projected deficit on the programme in that year. However, as a result of further work on the funding position for both 2003/04 and 2004/05 £3.5m has been identified to deal with outstanding capital bids in those years. This has enabled the Executive to approve a number of outstanding bids for implementation commencing in 2003/04, including the development of the Oxford Castle Education Centre and much needed repairs and improvements in Council buildings.

The Executive has also agreed a number of projects for implementation within the available City schools reorganisation funding and a range of Social & Health Care self-funding bids in respect of Children’s Homes, Children’s Resource Centres and Learning Disabilities Day Services.

3. Financial Monitoring

(Executive 30 September & 28 October 2003)

The Executive on 30 September noted the budget monitoring position as at the end of July 2003 which showed projected carry forwards at year end of around £2m, although a number of uncertainties remained. The Executive on 28 October is due to consider an updated report which advises of an increase in predicted overspend in Learning & Culture and potential schools budget deficits of as much as £2.8m, with projected carry forwards reduced to around £75k. The potential situation is such that balances could reach nil or become negative. An update of the capital programme is to be submitted to the 11 November meeting, and the Head of Finance should then be in a position to judge the overall resources available to the Council this year. It is clear however that the Council needs to proceed with caution for the rest of this financial year.

4. Disposal of Windmill First School – Request by Iqra School Committee

(Executive 28 October 2003)

On 14 October, representatives of Oxford's Islamic community met a number of members at County Hall to discuss the Iqra School Committee’s aim to establish a full time Islamic school in Oxford for 200 pupils, with a primary and two single-sex secondary sections. It is the Committee’s stated ambition "to establish an impressive centre for learning where young Muslims will receive a balanced education in a truly Islamic environment, which will promote spiritual, moral, cultural, mental and physical development".

The Committee wish to secure the site of Windmill First School in Margaret Road, Headington, which is now surplus to the County Council’s requirements and is being disposed of as part of the overall Oxford Schools reorganisation package. The Executive on 28 October is due to consider a request from the Iqra Committee that the County Council give the Committee an exclusive option to acquire the site. It is anticipated that there may be issues of principle which the Executive will wish to refer to the Council to debate; in this case a supplementary report will be made to the meeting.

Executive Member – Deputy Leader of the Council

5. Oxfordshire Community Network in Schools

(Executive 2 September 2003)

The Executive has considered a report on the preparedness of schools to make full use of the OCN, due to be available to all schools, providing enhanced internet and e-mail services, by the end of September 2003. The report advised that schools are currently well resourced with ICT equipment and infrastructure, staff have received extensive training in exploiting the new technologies and schools have received considerable support in developing policies and approaches to make best use of the introduction of the OCN. A number of technical support issues have been raised by schools and the need for the development of ICT support has been recognised, and these are being addressed.

Executive Member – Children & Young People

6. Developing the Foundation Stage of Learning in Oxfordshire – Investing in Primary School Building and Facilities

(Executive 14 October 2003)

The Executive has supported, in principle, a proposal to establish an Early Years Investment Fund for a sustained programme of investment in early years and childcare provision on primary school sites over the next five to ten years. Where possible this would take into account the possibilities for working in partnership with private and voluntary sector providers.

Allocations from the proposed Early Years Investment Fund need to be governed by clear criteria. These should be part of an overall process which supports primary schools in planning and action to meet their own needs working in partnership with their local communities. The Fund would need to be set at a level which enables a sufficient and positive impact to be made on the needs identified but which is affordable in the context of the County Council’s overall financial pressures.

7. Children with Special Education Needs – Inclusion Strategy

(Executive 14 October 2003)

Following consultation on proposals set out in the Member Panel report on inclusion of children with special education needs in mainstream schools, the Executive has been advised of a very high level of support for the consultative proposals, with no section receiving less than 93% agreement. The Executive has now approved a draft SEN Strategy based on those proposals for formal consultation with interested individuals and bodies. The Executive has also approved the setting up of a SEN Partnership to co-ordinate the task groups proposed in the draft action plan produced by the Member Panel.

8. Children’s Residential Placement Services

(Executive 30 September)

In January 2002 the Executive considered and agreed strategies to reverse the declining numbers of local authority foster carers and reduce the numbers of places provided in the children’s home sector, the latter to be achieved by relocating Holme Leigh in North Oxford and Warwick House in Iffley Road in three smaller units. The Executive has considered a report on progress and changes within the placement service over the last 18 months with particular reference to the replacement of Holme Leigh, which is old, too big and not suitable for the task of providing care in smaller units.

The Executive has agreed that the relocation of Holme Leigh should now go ahead, the capital receipt from sale of the existing premises being used to buy and equip alternative accommodation with any balance applied to the proposed re-provisioning of the Thornbury House satellite unit.

Executive Member – Schools

9. Secondary Education in the Banbury Area

(Executive 14 October 2003)

In May 2003 the Executive agreed that feasibility work should be undertaken on a locally generated suggestion for reorganisation of secondary schools in Banbury (i.e. that Drayton and Blessed George Napier Schools should effectively swap sites, thus permitting the relocated Drayton School to amalgamate with Banbury School on one campus). Officers were instructed to make an initial report back to the Executive "by the end of the summer".

The Executive has endorsed the view that ‘no change in Banbury’ is not an option and has asked officers to:

1. investigate ways in which external funding could be drawn down to address the specific issues of deprivation in much of Banbury and under-achievement of pupils at Drayton School and to raise expectations and attainment across the Banbury area;
2. identify whether a different curriculum offer at Drayton that placed greater emphasis on vocational skills could lead to a more viable student population and how it might be delivered;
3. consider options for addressing the 14–19 agenda across the Banbury area, including collaborative work between schools and the local FE college, in partnership with the Local Learning and Skills Council, so as to enrich and diversify the 14–19 curriculum and better match the needs of pupils across the Banbury area with the physical resources available; and
4. consider carefully the community needs of the whole pupil population served by the four Banbury secondary schools (Banbury, Blessed George Napier, Drayton and Warriner) both now and over the next several decades; to match these needs against the available physical resources in and around Banbury; and to identify options for meeting them that recognised diversity and that are not tied to any specific model of provision.
   
   

The Executive has asked officers to report back to the Executive within 6 months with detailed options and costings. In the meantime the Executive has agreed to set up a Banbury Schools Reference Group comprising county councillors for the schools’ catchment areas together with District and Town Council representatives; and to ask the Executive Members for Schools and Learning & Culture to identify how the views of parents and of staff and governors can also be effectively represented in a group or groups of manageable size.

Executive Member – Learning & Culture

10. Library Opening Hours

(Executive 14 October 2003)

The Executive has agreed a second phase of proposals to meet the Public Library Standard, set down by the Department for Culture, Media & Sport, of 128 aggregate opening hours per thousand population per annum by April 2004. Following implementation of the first phase Oxfordshire was still an estimated 11 hours short of the Standard, the equivalent of 131 hours per week. A number of associated issues regarding opening hours are also addressed in the proposals including Sunday opening and single staffing.

An aspect of the proposals which has caused some concern is a reduction in the opening hours of some libraries in West Oxfordshire which at present have enhanced opening hours as a result of subsidy agreed by the District Council some years ago when the County Council was faced with making cuts in the library service. This subsidy is no longer paid and the relative advantage for these libraries will no longer apply. The proposals now agreed by the Executive, which are designed to commence in February 2005, seek to achieve a fair distribution across the County.

11. Public Library Position Statement

(Executive 30 September)

Library authorities are required to prepare and submit to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport an account of current performance and future prospects in the form of a Position Statement, replacing the old and much longer Annual Library Plan. The Executive has approved the draft Position Statement for Oxfordshire, incorporating changes arising from suggestions made by the Learning & Culture Scrutiny Committee.

12. Soldiers of Oxfordshire

(Executive 30 September)

In the light of a growing problem with the care and protection of a number of important military collections in Oxfordshire, an initial options appraisal has been carried out of 5 possible long term solutions, namely, the Oxfordshire Museum, Woodstock; the Museum of Oxford; a new museum at the former USAF site at Upper Heyford; Oxford Castle; and the Oxfordshire Museums Store at Standlake. The appraisal identified this last option as the most practical, although it is subject to approval, funding and implementation of the planned extension. The joint Soldiers of Oxfordshire group in general terms accepts this conclusion, especially if its implementation could be complemented by the establishment in central Oxford of a small permanent ‘Soldiers of Oxfordshire Centre’. Investigation of this possibility is proceeding.

The Executive has accepted the importance of caring for the collections and has agreed in principle that the Oxfordshire Museums Store option should be pursued, subject to funding and implementation of the Phase II development and has endorsed the proposal that, if it proves possible to proceed with this, staff time for care and maintenance of the collection be charged at cost and no charge be made for occupation of storage space.

Executive Member – Community Care & Health

13. Review of the Implementation of the Fairer Charging Policy

1. to approve an increase in the Benefits Advice service agreement with Age Concern, at an annual cost of £25,000, to be met from the additional income resulting from the service;
2. not to make changes to the fairer charging scheme in respect of the Severe Disability Premium but to ensure the waiver scheme is brought to the attention of everyone suffering exceptional financial hardship as a result of the existing arrangements and encourage Age Concern to ensure that their clients are aware of the waiver scheme;
3. detailed amendment of the charges for day care from 1 October 2003, on the basis of the level and costs of service provided but to be reviewed as part of future service level agreement re-negotiations;
4. the charges for the County Council’s own day centres for people with a learning disability being reduced to £3.50 per day, the net cost of £30,000 to be met from existing budget provision.

Executive Member – Transport

14. Review of Management and Operation of Park and Ride Car Parks

1. has requested the Oxford Transport Strategy Working Party to develop an Action Plan to improve the attractiveness of the Park & Ride facilities and services in the longer term, for consideration by the City and County Councils; and
2. (on the advice of the Environment Scrutiny Committee) has instructed officers, in collaboration with the City and other District Councils, to investigate the possibility of efficiency savings in having a single organisation to manage all park and ride sites.

KEITH R MITCHELL
Leader of the Council

Return to TOP