ITEM CA3CABINET – 2 NOVEMBER 2005Minutes of
the Meeting commencing at 2.00 pm and finishing at 2.50 pm Present: Voting Members: Councillor
Keith R Mitchell – in the chair Other
Members in Attendance: Officers: Whole of meeting: Chief Executive, J. Leverton and M. Bayliss (Chief Executive’s Office) Part of meeting: M. Hanaway, R. Harmes, J Phipps (Learning & Culture); I. Connick, P. Day (Environment & Economy).
The Cabinet 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.
217/05. APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE
Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Louise Chapman and Ray Jelf.
218/05. DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST
Item 6 – Warriner School, Bloxham Councillor Mitchell declared a personal interest on the grounds that he was a Governor of Warriner School. Item 7 – Regional Planning Guidance Councillor Howell declared a personal interest on the grounds that he was Chair of PAGE (Parishes Against Gravel Extraction).
219/05. MINUTES
The Minutes of the meeting held on 18 October 2005 were approved and signed.
220/05. YOUTH GREEN PAPER: "YOUTH MATTERS"
(Agenda Item 5) The Cabinet considered a report (CA5) which proposed a response to the Youth Green Paper "Youth Matters". Councillor Fooks generally welcomed the Green Paper and the proposed response, but drew the Cabinet’s attention to specific issues which she hoped could be incorporated in the response including: facilities in rural areas, especially adequate transport provision to access them; facilities for young women, for young people not interested in sport and for science-based leisure; objections to the proposed opportunity cards; the advantage of diversion and intervention over punishment; the desirability of placing more emphasis on enjoyment and on democracy and citizenship; the need to address the needs of disabled young people; and the uncertainty surrounding funding. Councillor Waine spoke on Councillor Chapman’s behalf about her concerns regarding the opportunity cards system and the rewards offered for relatively low standards of behaviour, noting that young people who had expressed views at the recent Green Paper seminar had shared these reservations. He suggested that the scheme needed to be piloted before Oxfordshire County Council should consider adopting it. He generally endorsed Councillor Fooks’ comments and undertook to review whether the needs of disabled young people were adequately represented in the response to the Green Paper. He emphasised the need for adequate funding to secure the future of services. Councillor Shouler expressed concern that Oxfordshire County Council should receive a sufficient allotment of funding from the £40m national allocation reflecting actual need, including an element recognising the particular problems of rural areas. RESOLVED: to approve the response to the Youth Green Paper set out at Annex 2 to the report, for submission to the Department for Education & Skills.
221/05. WARRINER SCHOOL, BLOXHAM
(Agenda Item 6) The Cabinet considered Project Appraisal ED628 (CA6) which related to the provision of a new dedicated assembly hall and the provision of dedicated shower and changing facilities to the existing sports hall at Warriner School, Bloxham. RESOLVED: to
approve Project Appraisal ED628. (Agenda Item 7) The Cabinet considered a report (CA7) on proposed changes to the Waste and Minerals sections of Regional Planning Guidance for the South East (RPG9). Councillor Purse agreed with the general content of the report and expressed disappointment with Oxfordshire’s apportionment. She was pleased to see the apportionment of targets for recycled and re-used aggregates and suggested that this should offset the apportionment for new-won material. If this was not happening then pressure should be put on Government to do so. Councillor Purse also expressed concern at the large quantities of wasted material on building sites. Mr Day responded that it was difficult to assess the latter problem, which he suggested might best be approached through building control. He confirmed that authorities throughout the region supported the principle of netting off new-won and recycled material allocations. Councillor Howell referred to the regional examination in public’s failure to deal adequately with shortcomings in the apportionment methodology. It had recognised Oxfordshire as a special case but had nevertheless recommended apportionment on a pro rata basis. He expressed particular concerns over the message conveyed by the EIP recommendation in relation to policy M2 against the increase in recycling targets which had been proposed by SEERA; and pointed out that the effects of this coupled with the Policy M3 provisions undermined the objective of Policy M1 to encourage sustainable construction practices. RESOLVED: to:
The Cabinet considered a report (CA8) on the findings from market research on various transport information issues requested by the Executive on 1 March 2005. Councillor Robertson spoke in favour of maintaining a commitment to minimum levels of funding for the area guides and stated that the future of public transport information should focus on utilisation of a more comprehensive internet-based system. RESOLVED: to:
224/05. FORWARD PLAN AND FUTURE BUSINESS
(Agenda Item 9) RESOLVED: to: (a) note the items currently identified for forthcoming meetings; (b) confirm that the Cabinet would return to the matter of the production of Identity Cards in relation to Council services when the liabilities under any legislation which might be enacted were clear. in the Chair Date
of signing 2005
|