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ITEM CA7
CABINET
- 22 JUNE 2005
IMPLEMENTING THE MANIFESTO PLEDGES
Report by
the Leader of the Council
Introduction
- I have been privileged
to be elected as Leader of the Council again and to head up a Cabinet
of many talents. The platform on which we stood is one of low taxes,
real choice and value for money and the new Cabinet portfolios reflect
our determination to improve the quality of services, to make the Council
more customer focused and to hold down Council tax rises.
- It is vital that
the Administration keeps its election promises to the people of Oxfordshire
and in this report I have set out the way in which our manifesto pledges
will be taken forward in the short and medium term.
- In doing so I
am mindful that we want to ensure that the County Council has a "can
do" philosophy and is seen as delivering effective services. We will
know that we have succeeded if people’s perceptions of us are that:
"
The County Council makes good use of our money and provides good services"
"The
County Council stands up for our interests"
(And,
as the biggest employer in the County) "The County Council is a great
place to work"
Our Vision
for Oxfordshire
- Appendix 1
(download as .doc file) sets out
our vision for Oxfordshire. If we are to deliver this vision, we need
to work in partnership with many Oxfordshire organizations and a close
working relationship with our District Council colleagues is an important
priority for us. We know that we will not always agree completely on
every issue but we are committed to an open and ongoing dialogue and
seeing to find ways of serving our electorate well.
Low taxes
- The current medium
term financial plan includes provision for £5m efficiency savings in
each of the next three years and currently assumes an annual 4.5% Council
tax rise throughout the life of the administration. This will be reviewed
in order to enable a reduction in the level of increase to be achieved
each year.
- I have asked the
Strategic Director for Resources, under the guidance of the Cabinet
member for Finance, to bring forward revised proposals in September.
For illustrative purposes, each 0.1% reduction in the rate of Council
Tax increase costs about £200k, and we will seek to ensure that reductions
are achieved without prejudicing our ability to deliver effective services.
- I am mindful that
there are also potential major changes proposed in the way in which
local government is financed and that the Government currently plans
to report its conclusions from the Balance of Funding Review in December,
with Council tax revaluation planned for implementation in 2007. In
formulating our proposals, we will need to consider the consequences
of these changes for the County Council.
Real choice
- We intend to listen
to the communities of Oxfordshire. It is a diverse County and we will
not seek to impose a single solution to any issue but to reflect the
varying needs and circumstances of different parts of the County. This
comes back to our increasing emphasis on customer focus.
Transport
- Arrangements are
already in hand to introduce free parking at County Park and
Rides. This has already been raised with Oxford City Council to give
them the opportunity to do the same for their car parks so there is
a combined approach.
- Proposals are
being developed to pilot free on-street parking in Oxford in the evenings
and on Sundays from the autumn. In the meantime options are being considered,
alongside related decisions on City parking charges and residents’ parking
charges.
- The philosophy
of providing traffic calming where it is wanted is broadly the Council’s
existing position, subject to scheme appraisal and funding limits. Under
the new Government funding rules for the Local Transport Plan, assessment
will be more rigorous and funding more limited.
- The needs of car
drivers and the importance of rural bus services have already been reflected
in the Local Transport Plan and bus strategy, which were agreed by the
Cabinet on 7 June and which will be considered at Council on 21 June.
Our opposition to congestion charging is also reflected in the Local
Transport Plan, which explains why this would be inappropriate in Oxfordshire.
Environment
- Retention of green
fields and open spaces reflects existing County Council policy, which
is reflected in the Structure Plan and in our position on the South
East Plan and the Central Oxfordshire sub-regional strategy.
- The promotion
of affordable housing, particularly shared ownership schemes, to help
people onto the house owning ladder is largely existing policy and is
reflected in our Structure Plan requirements and our PSA target. We
will be developing our strategy in this area through the Oxfordshire
community partnership, in conjunction with our District Council colleagues.
- We wish to work
closely with District Council colleagues to help the homeless off the
streets and into work, and will particularly focus on developing adult
basic skills to help equip individuals with the means to be able to
succeed at work. We will also ensure that the Supporting People programme
is targeted at appropriate schemes.
- A fresh attempt
could be made to vote for the abolition of SEERA to reflect the
Administration’s opposition to the Regional Assembly and the imposition
of housing numbers. However this is likely to be blocked by the social
and economic partners on the Assembly. In the meantime we have relayed
to SEERA the strong feelings on the South East Plan consultation that
SEERA do not have a legitimate role.
Sustainable
development
- The promotion
of the Oxfordshire economy and jobs will be supported through the Oxfordshire
Economic Partnership’s Review of our Economic Strategy and through our
own Economic Development Action Plan. The Chairman’s theme of supporting
local businesses will provide additional opportunities for promotion.
- Scrapping the
red tape and bureaucracy that holds back growth needs to be balanced
against the Administration’s wish to preserve green fields and open
spaces. In practice the Council has been very pragmatic on particular
planning applications where there is a specific economic/employment
need (eg BMW in Oxford, Owen Mumford in Chipping Norton) and it is envisaged
that this approach would continue.
Schools
- The Executive
agreed in April 2005 to provide £25m for school building improvements.
Full delivery is dependent on schools agreeing to fund part of the borrowing
costs in recognition of the benefits that they will achieve. This is
being discussed with schools.
- A report will
be going to the Cabinet on 19 July dealing with the recommendations
of the "Faith in our Schools" Scrutiny Report, and we will provide strong
support to schools to help them develop an appropriate range of faith
specific facilities, where required.
- Work with schools
to provide additional vocational teaching will be supported by the Secondary
Adviser who took up post in February with a remit to lead the 14 – 19
Strategy across both the County Council and the Learning and Skills
Council. The 14 – 19 Strategy will extend learning opportunities, particularly
vocational options, for all young people. The Cabinet will consider
this on 22 June.
- This pledge will
also be supported by the Raising Attainment Campaign which will provide
opportunities for a greater range of work and skills-based teaching
and learning, including re-designing the curriculum to make it relevant
for all young people, developing extended schools and extending business/enterprise
links.
- Much of the red
tape that stifles teachers is a result of statutory requirements. However,
we will ensure that our own policies and forms are simplified wherever
possible, with increasing use of plain English and user-friendly formats.
- Improved support
to schools to improve exam results is being taken forward through the
Raising Attainment Campaign. This is designed to achieve increased participation,
raised aspirations and shared responsibility for raising attainment
and was launched by the previous Executive in February 2005. The priorities
are being developed through the Shadow Children and Young People’s Plan,
which will be considered by the Cabinet on 22 June.
- The New Relationship
with Schools requires a review of the way services are provided to schools
and the way schools are monitored. A current review within the School
Development Service is focusing on increasing schools’ leadership capacity
and their capacity for improvement through sharply focused monitoring
and challenge and the improved use of data to target resources effectively.
A key decision for the Cabinet will be the extent to which, from 2005/06,
the County Council operates traded services and/or acts as a commissioner
of services which it quality assures.
- A Best Value Review
of Catering and Cleaning is currently taking place and the outcome will
take into account the Administration’s wish to encourage healthy, locally-sourced
school meals. The responsibility for the provision of school meals lies
with individual governing bodies and one of the possible solutions being
explored in the Review is a move away from central provision to a consultancy
arrangement whereby the Council would provide support and advice to
schools on fulfilling their responsibilities. Local sourcing can be
difficult to reconcile with statutory tendering requirements, but a
group of officers is currently investigating how this can best be achieved.
Children’s
Services
- Officers have
been asked to develop proposals for a new scheme to provide grants for
community youth facilities through a new Youth Activities Fund to support
(a) small building improvements and additional equipment in youth centres
and (b) part-time youth work hours to provide summer and other holiday
activities for young people. I expect this to be agreed later this year
so that bids can be sought well in time to be approved for the start
of the new financial year.
Community
Safety
- We will work closely
with the Thames Valley Police on proposals to introduce a suitable Neighbourhood
Policing model, which addresses our desire to see more police on the
streets. The introduction of Local Area Agreements will give us the
opportunity to consider how best to strengthen the partnership between
the Police, Community Safety Officers and District Council Neighbourhood
Wardens.
- The Council works
with other agencies to tackle drugs through the multi-agency Drugs and
Alcohol Action Team and is involved in its groups focusing on (a) the
supply of drugs, (b) treatment and (c) young people. Learning &
Culture have responsibility for a comprehensive drugs education programme.
The Youth Offending Service screens all young offenders for substance
misuse and has dedicated drugs workers to respond to identified problem
usage. It also undertakes targeted "diversionary" work to provide positive
alternatives to drugs and crime and reduce the likelihood of young people
becoming future adult drug offenders.
Health
and Community Services
- A Day Services
Strategy is in place, which addresses measures to support older people
to remain independent, and in their own home.
- Several strands
of work are already in place to deliver high quality personal care for
older people with security and dignity. These include the Home Support
Strategy and re-tendering exercise; improved response times; and the
User/Carer Involvement and Consultation Strategy.
- We have opposed
the government’s plans to build Asylum Seekers Centres in rural areas.
Value
for money
- The Administration
is committed to improving the performance of the Council and we would
stress that low taxes need not lead inexorably to service cuts. We expect
to be able to work more smartly and to deliver better services for the
same or less expenditure. Our aim will be top quality performance from
a really efficient base and we will support staff to develop the skills
and flexibility necessary to achieve this.
- We want to see
a much more integrated process for financial and service planning, that
clearly links our vision and policy targets with our corporate plan.
There needs to be a "golden thread" running through all our plans so
that staff can clearly see where they fit in and how their individual
objectives contribute to our overall aims. Officers are already working
on this so that we can take a more integrated approach to next year’s
budget and corporate plan.
- Our approach is
expressed very simply:
- we intend to
strengthen accountability, starting with the Leader and Cabinet
but enhancing a strong culture of ownership and accountability throughout
the organisation.
- we expect the
Council to be more customer-focused, with elected members,
managers and staff placing themselves in the position of their customers
to ensure the service is accessible, helpful and supportive as well
as efficient.
- To achieve this
we also need to pay attention to the culture of the organisation, that
is, the way in which we do things to develop our themes of a "can do"
philosophy with a strong accountability culture, a customer-friendly
Council and joined-up governance. This will require officers to bring
forward proposals for an organisational development plan, under the
guidance of the Cabinet member for Change Management.
RECOMMENDATIONS
- I RECOMMEND
that the Cabinet:
- endorse
the report;
- receive
further reports on the specific items for implementation.
KEITH
R MITCHELL
Leader of the
Council
Background
Papers: Conservative County Group Manifesto
June
2005
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