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ITEM EN3

ENVIRONMENT SCRUTINY COMMITTEE –
2 JULY 2003

Minutes of the Meeting commencing at 10.00 am and finishing at 1.25 pm

Present:

Voting Members:

Councillor Jean Fooks - in the chair (for Agenda Item 1)

Councillor Lesley Sibley - in the chair (for Agenda Item 2 onwards)
Councillor Alan Bryden
Councillor Mrs Dee Bulley
Councillor Julian Cooper
Councillor Dickie Dawes
Councillor Patrick Greene
Councillor Mrs M. Hastings (in place of Councillor Mrs C. Fulljames)
Councillor Brian L. Hook
Councillor Biddy Hudson
Councillor Terry Joslin
Councillor Mrs Diana Ludlow (in place of Councillor Steve Hayward)
Councillor Roy Mold
Councillor Chris Robins

Other Members in Attendance:

Councillor Anne Purse

Officers:

Whole of meeting: D. Mitchell (Chief Executive’s Office).

Part of meeting: Director for Environment & Economy, C. Cousins, R. Dix, P. Gerrish and R. O’Neill; M. Bramall, J. Hehir, M. Lloyd (Chief Executive’s Office).

The Scrutiny Committee considered the matters, reports and recommendations contained or referred to in the agenda for the meeting and agreed as set out below. Copies of the agenda and reports are attached to the signed Minutes.

    20/03. ELECTION TO CHAIR

    Councillor Lesley Sibley (Labour) was elected to chair the Committee for the remainder of the current Council Year.

    21/03. APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE AND TEMPORARY APPOINTMENTS

    Apologies for absence and temporary appointments were received as follows:

    Apology from

    Temporary Appointments

    Councillor Mrs Fulljames

    Councillor Mrs Hastings

    Councillor Hayward

    Councillor Mrs Ludlow

    Councillor Crawford

    -

    22/03. DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

    Councillor Hook declared a personal interest in Agenda Item 8(c) – Highway Consultation on Planning Applications by virtue of his being a practising architect.

    23/03. MINUTES

    The Minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 7 May and 16 May 2003 were approved and signed.

    24/03. SCRUTINY COMMISSIONED WORK PROGRAMME

    (Agenda Item 6)

    At their meeting on 11 April 2003, the Scrutiny Co-ordinating Group had agreed to accept a draft programme of Scrutiny Development. During this round of Scrutiny Committee meetings, each Director presented to the relevant Scrutiny Committee what they saw as the key issues and drivers facing their areas of responsibility over the next 2-3 years. All Directors would also attend at least one other Scrutiny Committee to look at cross-cutting themes.

    The Director for Environment & Economy gave a presentation to the Scrutiny Committee and outlined the key issues and drivers facing Environment & Economy. The Scrutiny Committee questioned the Director on the key themes and issues identified in the presentation including issues relating to the development of policies, road safety, recycling, affordable housing, GTE, priorities and strategies within the Oxfordshire Plan and issues around future reviews planned by the Directorate.

    During the September round of meetings each Scrutiny Committee would undertake a fundamental review of its work programme, taking into account the key drivers identified at their previous meeting, to ensure that it was added value to the Council’s work, was outline focused and the best method of work to achieve that.

    The Scrutiny Committee AGREED to note the Director’s presentation and set up a panel comprising the Chair, Deputy Chair and third Group Spokesperson of the Committee and Scrutiny Review Officers, to explore options for future work programmes arising from the key themes outlined in the presentation and report back on their findings to the next meeting of the Scrutiny Committee.

    25/03. SCRUTINY AND THE BUDGET

(Agenda Item 7)

At their meeting on 11 March 2003 the Learning & Culture Scrutiny Committee had considered the paper ‘Scrutiny and the Budget’ (EN7) which was produced by Councillor Andrew Brown. The Scrutiny Committee agreed the recommendations set out in the paper, which was forwarded to the Scrutiny Co-ordinating Group as part of its ongoing consideration of budget scrutiny.

On 11 April 2003, the Scrutiny Co-ordinating Group in their turn, had endorsed the general principles within the paper and agreed that:

    1. the paper should be considered by all Scrutiny Committees at their next meetings;

    2. the Scrutiny Committees should consider how the principles outlined in the paper could be adopted within their own work programmes for the next year; and

    3. it would be beneficial for Committees to approach service areas as outlined in the paper.

The Scrutiny Committee were asked to consider how the principles outlined in the paper could be adopted. Also attached at Annex 1 was the report produced by the Leader and Deputy Leader of the Council entitled "Improving Member Access to Budget Performance & Planning Information."

The Scrutiny Committee welcomed the concepts outlined in Councillor Andrew Brown’s paper and AGREED to ask the Director for Environment & Economy to report on the findings of the Highway Management Base Budget Review to the next scheduled meeting of the Scrutiny Committee.

    26/03. SCRUTINY REVIEWS

    (Agenda Item 8)

    The Scrutiny Committee received updates on the various Reviews underway as follows:-

    1. Corporate Environmental Policy and Energy Saving Scrutiny Review

      2. (Lead Members: Councillors Biddy Hudson; Jean Fooks and Patrick Greene)

      The Scrutiny Committee received an update from Councillor Hudson on the Scrutiny Review of the Corporate Environmental Policy and Energy Savings. It was reported that the Review Group had identified five areas to look at in depth for now, but that the review might be extended in the future to include further issues.

    2. Highway Quality of Repairs and Drainage:

      3. (Lead Members: Councillors Alan Bryden and Roy Mold)

      The Scrutiny Committee received an update from Councillor Alan Bryden on the Scrutiny Review of Highway Drainage and Quality of Repairs. He reported that copies of the draft report had been circulated to all members of the Committee. He urged members to offer any comments/advice to assist the Review Group in preparing the final report for submission to the next meeting of the Committee.

      The Scrutiny Committee AGREED to forward any comments/ advice to the Lead Member Review Group to assist the review group in preparing the final report for the next meeting of the Committee.

    3. Final Review Report – Highway Consultations on Planning Applications

      4. (Lead Members: Councillors Roy Mold and Terry Joslin)

      On 13 March 2002, the Committee appointed a Lead Member Review Group to lead a review on Highway Consultations on Planning Applications on its behalf. Having collected a wide variety of evidence the review panel now presented its findings in a report (EN8) to be agreed (or otherwise) by the whole Committee and signed off before being submitted by the Proper Officer to the Executive for it to consider its response.

      The Review group members introduced the report, outlining the key findings and recommendations contained in the report. They then responded to members’ questions and comments.

      The Scrutiny Committee considered the review report and reached consensus on the following amendments:

      1. to substitute the word "Standardisation" with "Harmonisation" on page 4 of the report;

      2. to request that District Council Officers include all Highway advice in their reports;

      3. to remove paragraph (vi) from page 19 of the report;

    Having reached consensus on above amendments it was AGREED (by 5 votes to 3) to refer the Scrutiny Review of Highway Consultations on Planning Applications, as amended, to the Executive.

    27/03. LOCAL TRANSPORT PLAN – ANNUAL PROGRESS REPORT 2003

(Agenda Item 9)

The Scrutiny Committee agreed to ask that the Executive consult the Committee, prior to consideration by the Executive where possible before any final decision is made on the Local Transport Plan.

The Government required each transport authority in England to submit an Annual Progress Report to its Local Transport Plan. The report outlined the programme that was intended should form the basis of submission and set out a number of issues on which the advice was sought before the text of the APR could be finalised.

The report concluded that the County Council had made significant progress towards implementing its LTP in 2002/03 and that similar progress looked likely for 2003/04. The APR would reflect this and hopefully this should result in a good financial settlement for 2004/05.

Having considered the report, the Scrutiny Committee AGREED to forward the following advice to the Executive:

    • the Scrutiny Committee welcomed the opportunity to contribute to the Local Transport Plan Working Group;

    • the Scrutiny Committee expressed concern at the failure to meet targets on school trips by non-car modes under the better ways to school section of the Local Transport Plan and asked the Executive to consider whether more staff were needed to enable further progress on the Better Ways to School Scheme;

    • the Scrutiny Committee expressed concern as some members felt that congestion was indeed a countywide problem.

    28/03. TRACKING SCRUTINY OUTCOMES

(Agenda Item 10)

To inform the Committee of the outcomes of their advice/recommendations:-

    • Call-In of Planning Regulation Decision: Construction of Nine-Hole Golf Course using already Deposited Material at Waterstock Golf Course, Planning Application: P02/N0837/CM

    • Structure Plan Review

    • Biodiversity in Oxfordshire

The Scrutiny Committee noted the outcomes of its advice/recommendations and AGREED to ask the Director for Environment & Economy to give an oral report on the implementation of the Parking of Bus Routes Scrutiny Review recommendations.

    29/03. AIR QUALITY MANAGEMENT AREA

    (Agenda Item 11)

    Item included at the request of Councillor Jean Fooks

    To receive an oral report from Councillor Fooks on the possibility of joint working with the City Council on the above issue.

    The Scrutiny Committee AGREED to defer consideration of this item to the next meeting of the Committee.

    30/03. FORWARD PLAN

(Agenda Item 12)

The Scrutiny Committee AGREED to identify the following items for consideration:

241/2002 – Review of operation of Park and Ride Car Parks

115/2003 – Transport Capital Programme

116/2003 – Cow Lane, Didcot

117/2003 – Uffington Area CountryWays (Rural Traffic Management) Pilot

in the Chair

Date of signing 2003

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