ITEM CA3CABINETMINUTES of the meeting held on 20 March 2007 commencing at 2.00 pm and finishing at 3.42 pmPresent: Voting
Members: Councillor
Roger Belson The
Cabinet considered the matters, reports and recommendations contained
or referred to in the agenda for the meeting, together with a schedule
of addenda tabled at the meeting and decided as set out below. Except
insofar as otherwise specified, the reasons for the decisions are contained
in the agenda, reports and schedule, copies of which are attached to the
signed Minutes. 29/07 MINUTES The Minutes of the meeting held on 20 February 2007 were approved and signed, subject to amending Minute 03/07 as follows: Page 1 - Officers: Part of meeting – delete I. Kirkman and add J. Morris. Page 3 – Minute 21/07 (The Future of Dunmore Infant and Junior Schools): Paragraph 3, 1st bullet point – delete the text “Junior and”. 30/07 ORDER OF BUSINESS It was AGREED to vary the order of business as indicated in these Minutes. 31/07 FINANCIAL MONITORING (Agenda
Item 5) RESOLVED: to: (a) note the report; (b) approve the supplementary estimate to the legal services budget in Resources of £0.056m for the cost of two legal cases; (c) approve a revenue/capital switch of £0.083m to fund the Oxford Castle Project overspend using part of the budget for the Castle Education Centre; and, (d) approve the changes to the Capital Programme. 32/07 TRANSPORT CAPITAL PROGRAMME (Agenda
Item 6) Councillor Bob Johnston, speaking as Shadow Cabinet member for Transport, generally welcomed the Programme as having many positive outcomes, particularly with regard to Access to Oxford, premium bus routes and the £900,000 allocation for Abingdon as part of the Towns Programme. He expressed concern at the lack of provision for cyclists and pedestrians and in his view a stronger statement of necessity for the East-West rail link was needed. Councillor David Turner, speaking as a local Member, drew attention to the effects of the LTP2 on his constituency and highlighted the removal of several safety schemes from the Plan. He expressed concern that considerable time, effort and resources had been wasted, with many schemes on the verge of commencement when they were discontinued. In response to the Councillors comments, Councillor David Robertson stated that the Council’s LTP had been assessed as good and was subsequently awarded an extra £418,000 in funding. However, the Council’s Transport funding allocation had been reduced by £2m per year and the Council was set on spending this entire allocation on transport schemes. As a result of strict new criteria set by government, it was necessary to discontinue many schemes and reassess the remainder. RESOLVED: to approve the 2007/08 Transport Capital Programme and note the revised programme for the remainder of the Local Transport Plan programme. 33/07 COMPREHENSIVE PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT - ANNUAL UPDATE (Agenda Item 7) The Cabinet considered a report (CA7) which summarised the Audit Commission’s Comprehensive Performance Assessment of the Council for 2006. The assessment showed that the Council had demonstrated 4 star overall performance, which was highest level that could be achieved. This rating was achieved by improvements in both the use of resources and environment elements of the CPA framework. The Leader of The Council acknowledged that this achievement was a team effort, which had required hard work from the Cabinet and management teams, who had provided strong strategic direction, through to all staff members, who were recognised for their efforts via a range of methods. The Cabinet undertook to continue to work hard to ensure that this rating was maintained. RESOLVED: to note the report. 34/07 ESTABLISHMENT MONITORING (Agenda Item 8) The Committee considered a report (CA8) which gave an update on activity since the implementation of the new Establishment Review and associated Recruitment Approval process on 1 August 2005. Details of the agreed establishment figure at 31 December 2006 in terms of Full Time Equivalents was provided, together with the detailed staffing position at 31 December 2006. These were shown in the report by directorate and service area. In addition, information was provided on grant funded posts and those vacancies which are being covered by agency staff and at what cost. RESOLVED: to: (a) note the report; (b) note the action proposed in relation to vacancies; and, (c) confirm that the Establishment Review continued to meet requirements in reporting and managing staffing numbers. 35/07 OXFORDSHIRE CARE PARTNERSHIP (Agenda Item 13) The Cabinet makes appointments to those Outside Bodies which have been designated as ‘strategic’. Councillor Don Seale had been the County Council representative on the Board of the Oxfordshire Care Partnership since the contract was signed in December 2001. Councillor Jim Couchman had taken over the portfolio for Adult Social Care and it had therefore been agreed that Councillor Couchman would be proposed as the representative for the County Council in place of Councillor Don Seale. The contribution made by Councillor Seale to the work of the Oxfordshire Care Partnership was recognised by The Cabinet and fellow Trustees and he had contributed to a very productive relationship. RESOLVED: to appoint Councillor Jim Couchman as the Oxfordshire County Council’s representative on the Board of the Oxfordshire Care Partnership. 36/07 CARE HOME AND PRIMARY CARE CENTRE DEVELOPMENT IN CHIPPING NORTON (Agenda Item 9) The Cabinet considered a report (CA9) which outlined proposals for a 50 bed registered residential and nursing care home at Chipping Norton and a separate but closely located and linked community health facility that would be built on Rockhill Farm, a site owned by the County Council. The report outlined final details for the purchase of 20 beds at the new Chipping Norton care home facility by the Council. The Primary Care Trust Board had considered the Chipping Norton scheme and confirmed its purchase of 14 beds in the new care home. Councillor Hilary Hibbert-Biles, speaking as a County Councillor for Chipping Norton, generally welcomed the proposals and endorsed the fact that nurses could be seconded to this facility. She requested clarification as to the criteria for the provision of elderly care beds and in her view the facility did not have capacity if increased provision of care was required in the future. Councillor Jim Couchman thanked the officers involved in this piece of work and responded that a lot of effort had been put in to assure the success of the scheme. He hoped that the planning stage would proceed as envisaged and that the individual nature of this scheme meant it would be used as a model for other developments. Councillor Seale endorsed Councillor Couchman’s comments and added that when the scheme was first agreed in 2001 there were no plans for a care home facility in Chipping Norton. This was revised following consultation and he provided an assurance that a hospital would also be developed in the area in future. RESOLVED: to: (a) agree to confirm the Council’s commitment of the purchase of 20 places in the new Chipping Norton care Home; and (b) authorise the Cabinet Member for Social Care & Policy Coordination to agree to Head of Terms for the scheme, subject to any advice from the County Solicitor. 37/07 FUNDED TRANSPORT SERVICES - BEST VALUE REVIEW (Agenda Item 10) The cabinet considered a report (CA10) on the Best Value Review of Funded Transport Services in the Council’s ‘Value for Money Programme for 2005 and Beyond’. The Review examined three service areas: Schools Transport, Subsidised Public Transport and The Special Transport Service. Councillor David Turner, speaking as Shadow Cabinet Member for Schools Improvement, welcomed attempts to enhance working between schools and public transport providers. He believed that judging travel on the basis of maximum cost per journey was discriminatory towards rural travel, which generally covered longer distances and asked whether Parish Councils had been consulted yet. Councillor David Robertson endorsed the recommendations contained within the review and agreed that enhanced working and good progress had been made so far. He stated that Parish councils were not involved at this stage but would be consulted if this were appropriate. Councillor Waine added that caution needed to be taken when transferring responsibility
to for implementation of the recommendations to the Environment and Economy
Directorate and he preferred that this was done in Autumn, although this
was a management matter. He was aware of parental concern at the lack
of seatbelt use on school buses. RESOLVED: to: (a) approve the findings of this review and its recommendations with further work to be carried out and reported separately: and, (b) agree that Directorates jointly drew up action plans now to deliver the recommendations of this review. Plans should include pilot schemes in 2007-09 to validate proposals for school- and community-based transport, and to validate passenger usage data for subsidised public transport services identified as offering poor value. 38/07 HIGHWAY MAINTENANCE PROGRAMME 2007/08 (Agenda Item 11) The Cabinet considered a report (CA11) which identified the proposed capital and revenue expenditure for highway maintenance in 2007/08, an estimate by Oxford City Council for maintenance works for 2007/08 and a new policy on ‘Decluttering and the Public Realm’. Councillor Bob Johnston, speaking as Shadow Cabinet member for Transport, generally welcomed the proposals but expressed concern that the large cost of repairing recently heat damaged roads would mean many other important road projects would be sacrificed. Councillor David Robertson thanked the officers for their work on the Programme commenting that there was a considerable backlog of work totalling approximately £100m - 150m and therefore maintenance work had to be carried in order of priority. RESOLVED: to: (a) approve the details of the 2007/08 Highway Maintenance programme subject to confirmation of the capital funding for structural maintenance; (b) approve Oxford City Council’s Section 42 estimate; (c) approve the Detailed Project Appraisal; and (d) approve the implementation of the Decluttering and the Public Realm Policy. 39/07 CONSULTATION ON NEW PRIMARY SCHOOLS IN BICESTER AND BODICOTE/ BANBURY (Agenda Item 12) The Cabinet considered a report (CA12) which outlined
proposals on the need for new Primary schools as a result of new housing
growth in Banbury and Bicester. RESOLVED: (a) to agree the publication of statutory notices for new community schools in Bodicote/Banbury and Gavray Drive, Bicester and the final decision to be made by the Cabinet Member for School Improvement or through the school organisation arrangements in place at the time; and, (b) that Officers ensure that the long-term needs of the Catholic Community were fully appraised and recognised as part of the Primary Review of Banbury provision in summer 2007. 40/07 FIRE AUTHORITY INTEGRATED RISK MANAGEMENT YEAR 4 ACTION PLAN 2007-08 (Agenda Item 14) The Cabinet considered a report (CA14) on proposals for a number of projects to be included within the Fire Authority’s Integrated Risk Management (IRMP) – Action Plan for the fiscal year 2007–08. RESOLVED: to: (a) note the progress that had been made in implementing the IRMP Action Plan 2006/07; and, (b) ask the Director for Community Safety and Chief Fire Officer to liaise with the Leader and Cabinet Member for Community Safety to publish the Fire Authority’s IRMP Action Plan 2007/08 for implementation from 1 April 2007. 41/07 FORWARD PLAN AND FUTURE BUSINESS(Agenda Item 15) The Cabinet RESOLVED: to note the items currently identified for forthcoming meetings. ................................................................................... in the Chair Date of signing.................................................................. 2007 Return to TOP
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