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ITEM EX3

EXECUTIVE – 2 SEPTEMBER 2002

EXECUTIVE – 19 AUGUST 2002

Minutes of the Meeting commencing at 10.30 am and finishing at 11.25 am

Present:

Voting Members:

Councillor Keith R Mitchell – in the chair


Councillor Tony Crabbe
Councillor John Farrow
Councillor Neil Fawcett
Councillor Margaret Godden
Councillor Anne Purse
Councillor David Robertson

Other Members in Attendance:

Councillor Brian Hodgson (for Agenda Items 5 and 7)
Councillor Mrs Diana Ludlow (for Agenda Item 8)

Officers:

Whole of meeting: J. Leverton and D. Mitchell (Chief Executive’s Office);

Part of meeting: E. Luck (Environmental Services) and N. Welch (Social Services).

The Executive considered the matters, reports and recommendations contained or referred to in the agenda for the meeting, and decided as set out below. Except insofar as otherwise specified, the reasons for the decisions are contained in the agenda and reports, copies of which are attached to the signed Minutes.

    303/02. APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

    Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Janet Godden and Don Seale.

    304/02. MINUTES

    The Minutes of the meeting held on 23 July 2002 were approved and signed.

    305/02. CORNMARKET STREET, OXFORD

(Agenda Item 5)

The Executive considered a report EX5) which considered action to be taken by the County and City Councils in response to the failure of the granite block paving in Cornmarket Street. There was now a common view between the two Councils on the optimum engineering solution – an asphalt surface with a coloured finish and York stone footways.

The City Council's Executive Board, at a meeting immediately preceding the meeting of the Executive and attended by members of the Executive, had agreed in the light of inter-authority discussions in the preceding weeks to maintain the City Council's contribution of £1.855m subject to:

    • verification of the currently estimated costing for the work;

    • the extension of the York stone footway treatment to a point at the southern end of Cornmarket adjoining Carfax;

    • the cash amount specified being accepted as the ceiling of the City Council contribution;

    • a start being made on the work as soon as possible; and

    • any savings on the net total outturn cost being shared between the two authorities pro rata.

In response to questions by Councillor Hodgson, Mr Luck advised that the sums expected to be borne by the County Council had already been largely defrayed from uncommitted Supplementary Credit Approval, leaving a relatively small sum to be funded from the transport capital programme in 2003/04, on which he would be reporting further in the Autumn. He confirmed that recovery of contract costs in respect of abortive work was being actively pursued.

Councillor Margaret Godden referred to concern expressed by the City Council’s Environment Overview & Scrutiny Committee about the poor state of repair in the southern end of Cornmarket. Mr Luck reported that a temporary asphalt carriageway surface would be laid along the whole length of Cornmarket before the Christmas shopping period in the event that the permanent scheme could not be implemented by then.

Councillor Robertson congratulated officers and members of both Councils for their co-operation and hard work on the scheme.

RESOLVED: to:

    1. welcome the City Council's Executive Board's decision to make a contribution of £1.855m towards an amended environmental enhancement scheme for Cornmarket, based on the option of an asphalt surface with a coloured finish and York stone footways but with additional York stone paving at the southern end of Cornmarket as shown on plan 1669LP/01/P1, and accordingly agree in principle to increase the total County Council contribution to £884k to enable the amended scheme (total cost £2.739m) to go ahead in the current financial year;

    2. ask the Director of Environmental Services to submit a revised Project Appraisal for the Cornmarket Scheme at the earliest opportunity;

    3. authorise the Director of Environmental Services, in consultation with the Executive Members for Transport and Strategic Planning & Waste Management and a nominated officer of the City Council, to make a final decision on the choice of the new carriageway surface following advice from the scheme designers and consultation with the members of the Cornmarket Project Advisory Group;

    4. to agree (in line with the points raised in discussion with the City Council's Executive Board) that:

        1. there should be consultation with local traders on the timing of the work, but subject thereto the scheme should be pursued as a matter of urgency;

        2. the level of the City Council contribution identified above should be regarded as a ceiling figure; and

        3. any savings which might be realised on the net total outturn cost should be shared pro rata between the two authorities.

    306/02. REGIONAL WHITE PAPER

    (Agenda Item 6)

    The Executive considered a report (EX6) which outlined the government White Paper Your Region, Your Choice – Revitalising the English Regions, and proposed a response on the part of the County Council.

    The Leader of the Council reported that the response to the consultation had been drawn up in consultation with the Deputy Leader of the Council and the Leader of the Opposition and that the Chair of the Corporate Governance Scrutiny Committee, had expressed her satisfaction with the response.

    RESOLVED: to endorse the response set out in the report for submission to the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister.

    307/02. LOCAL GOVERNMENT BILL

    (Agenda Item 7)

    The Executive considered a report (EX7) which outlined the draft provisions of the Local Government Bill and proposed responses on the part of the County Council.

    Councillor Hodgson urged support in the context of the draft Bill for the representations made by the Local Government Information Unit (LGIU) on Building Capacity and Support for Elected Members, ie.

    "We welcome the White Paper’s recognition of the need to improve training and development, but are concerned at the absence of measures which would tackle the disincentives to public service as a councillor. We believe that additional measures are needed to tackle this. This would increase the range of candidates for office. Changes should include a scheme to compensate employers who give time off for public duties; attention to the interrelation of member’s allowances and benefits; pensions to be available for non-executive councillors; reform of the disqualification of council officers standing for council elections introduced by the Local Government & Housing Act 1989; the requirement, rather than discretion, for childcare and dependant care allowances to be paid, all of which will require prior legislation."

    Councillor Purse proposed the adoption of this suggestion.

    In relation to paragraph 15 of the report Councillor Hodgson asked the Executive to consider the following alternative response:

    "The Council welcomes confirmation of powers to increase the number of council tax bands, and urges ministers to increase them as soon as possible – without waiting for the proposed revaluation in 2007; or ministers should allow councils to increase them themselves, if required."

    The Leader of the Council, supported by other members of the Executive, indicated that they would not be agreeable to the alternative response. Councillor Fawcett indicated his opposition to the basic principle of Council tax.

    RESOLVED: to:

    1. (by 5 votes to 0) endorse the responses set out in the report for submission to the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister;

    2. (by 4 votes to 1 Councillor Crabbe dissenting) incorporate in the response comments on the lines of the LGIU representations on Building Capacity and Support for Elected Members.

    308/02. THE SUPPORTING PEOPLE PROGRAMME

    (Agenda Item 8)

    The Executive considered a report (EX8) which sought authorisation for setting up a "commissioning body" which under recent government advice would be responsible for approving a Supporting People strategy and annual plan.

    RESOLVED: (subject to review in the event of further amendment by the government of the present guidance and draft directions) to:

    1. approve the setting up of an Oxfordshire Supporting People Commissioning Body in accordance with directions issued by the Deputy Prime Minister under Section 93 of the Local Government Act 2000 and otherwise as set out in the report;

    2. request one representative each from the following to sit on the Commissioning Body:

    • each of the Oxfordshire district councils;

    • the Thames Valley Probation Board; and

    • the Thames Valley Health Authority and Oxfordshire primary care trusts;

    1. RECOMMEND the Council to agree the inclusion of the Oxfordshire Supporting People Commissioning Body in the list of strategic outside bodies for the purpose of Section H of the Constitution;

    2. subject to (c) above, appoint Councillor Don Seale as the administering authority’s representative on the Commissioning Body;

    3. note that a more detailed report on Supporting People, including details of the proposed Strategy for Oxfordshire, would be submitted to the Executive in September.

in the Chair

Date of signing 2002

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