Return to AgendaITEM CA3
CABINET
MINUTES of the meeting held on 17 February 2009 commencing at 2.00 pm and finishing at 2.45 pm
Present:
Voting Members: Councillor Keith R Mitchell CBE – in the chair
Councillor Louise Chapman Councillor Jim Couchman Councillor Mrs J. Heathcoat Councillor Melinda Tilley Councillor Ian Hudspeth Councillor David Robertson Councillor C.H. Shouler Councillor Michael Waine
Officers:
Whole of meeting: Chief Executive and A.R. Cloke (Legal & Democratic Services).
Part of meeting:
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,/the following additional documents and decided as set out below. Except insofar as otherwise specified, the reasons for the decisions are contained in the genda, reports and schedule/additional documents copies of which are attached to the signed Minutes.
12/09 APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE
Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Belson.
13/09 DECLARATION OF INTEREST
Councillor Shouler declared a personal and prejudicial interest in Agenda Item CA6 as he had a close association with a person who could benefit financially should the development of an eco-town take place at Weston-on-the-Green.
14/09 MINUTES
The Minutes of the meeting held on 20 January 2009 were approved and signed.
15/09 PETITIONS AND PUBLIC ADDRESS
No requests to address the meeting had been received.
16/09 FINANCIAL MONITORING (Agenda Item 5)
This Cabinet considered a report sets (CA5) that set out the Council’s forecast financial position for the 2008/09 financial year based on nine months of actuals to the end of December 2008. It includes projections for revenue, balances, reserves and capital. The report sets out explanations where the forecast outturn is significantly different from the budget with action plans to recover the position where appropriate.
The Cabinet Member for Finance drew attention to the amended Annex 2a in the schedule of addenda; he also referred to the current forecast position for each Directorate compared to the savings built into the agreed 2008/09 budget, as set out in the table at paragraph 51 of the report (CA5).
The Cabinet Member for Children, Young People & Families reported that she would like to give greater prominence to the support available through the Fund and asked that she be authorised to take delegated decisions on Chill Out Fund grants, through the proposed arrangements set out in paragraph 72 of the report (CA5).
RESOLVED: to:
(a) note the report;
(b) approve the Supplementary Estimate as set out in paragraph 46 and note the deferral of the repayment of the temporary supplementary estimate of £0.101m from Adult Learning to 2009/10 (paragraph 48);
(c) approve the virements as set out in Annex 2a in the Schedule of Addenda, in addition to those in Annex 2a of the main report;
(d) approve the bad debt write-off as set out in paragraph 54 and 55; and,
(e) approve that the Cabinet Member for Children, Young People & Families be authorised to take decisions in respect of requests for grants made under the Chill Out Fund.
17/09 ECO-TOWNS : RESPONSE TO DRAFT PLANNING POLICY STATEMENT AND SUSTAINABILITY APPRAISAL; AND PROGRESS REPORT ON ECO-TOWN PROPOSALS AT WESTON OTMOOR AND NORTH WEST BICESTER (Agenda Item 6)
Councillor Shouler withdrew from the meeting during consideration of this item.
In June and September 2008 the Cabinet had considered reports on the Department for Communities and Local Government (CLG) initial proposals for eco-towns, including the proposed eco-town at Weston on the Green – Weston Otmoor. The Government had now published for consultation a draft Planning Policy Statement (PPS) on Eco-towns together with an initial sustainability appraisal (SA) of the shortlisted proposals. The draft PPS included a revised shortlist of 12 potential locations including Weston Otmoor and one of the alternatives, suggested by Cherwell District Council for the appraisal process – North West Bicester.
A joint response to the PPS and draft SA, together with comments on the results of the assessments of the Weston Otmoor proposal, was being prepared with Cherwell District Council and the Cabinet considered a draft of the proposed joint report which attached as an annex to the main report (CA6 - Annex 1).
The Leader of the Council and the Cabinet Member for Transport, as well as other Members of the Cabinet, thanked the team in Environment & Economy Directorate for their hard work in preparing a comprehensive document rebutting the case for an eco-town at Weston-Otmoor.
RESOLVED:
(a) to endorse the comments in paragraphs 12 to 25 of the report (CA6) and in the attached draft joint report (Annex 1), and reiterate that on the information available the County Council would object strongly to the inclusion of the “Weston Otmoor” eco-town proposal in the final list of eco-towns locations; and
(b) delegate to the Head of Sustainable Development in consultation with the Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Sustainable Development, finalisation of the joint report (Annex 1) with Cherwell District Council for submission to the Secretary of State as this Council’s response to the eco-towns consultation.
18/09 CYCLE HIRE SCHEME (Agenda Item 7)
The Cabinet considered a report (CA7) the purpose of which was to update Members on progress with the feasibility of a cycle hire scheme for Oxford and to seek approval for the next stages in the project.
The report identified the potential for such a scheme in Oxford, including a summary assessment of the main benefits and risks (CA7 - Annex 1). It then summarised discussions which had taken place with potential partners involved in delivering this project, which included the rail industry, the health sector and both of Oxford's Universities. The intial views of the City Council, cycling groups and the police were also covered.
The report also looked at the different types of community cycle hire schemes in operation in the UK and elsewhere, with more detail on the main systems available (Annex 2), and provisional locations for cycle hubs in Oxford and potential locations in the city centre (Annex 3).
Some initial conclusions were drawn about the way forward, which proposed the setting up of a Steering Group, with the purpose of undertaking further work, securing funding and, feasibility and approvals permitting, introducing a pilot scheme in the spring of 2010. The report also covered the likely scale (in terms of approximate numbers of hubs/cycles), cost and duration of a potential pilot scheme. The next steps were set out, including the proposed timetable for taking the project forward. Finally, the financial implications were identified, which included consideration budgets available for this project and potential contribtions from project partners.
RESOLVED: to:
(a) authorise officers to proceed with establishing a Project Partnership / Steering Group and for the Cabinet Member for Transport to represent the Council on this project partnership;
(b) seek necessary commitments and financial contributions from partners to help finance the pilot scheme;
(c) subject to (b) above, for the partnership to commence the procurement process (with a view to selecting a system provider to operate the pilot scheme) and to report back to Cabinet for a decision on whether and how to proceed with the scheme; and
(d) invite Oxford City Council to nominate a representative to the Steering Group.
19/09 OPPORTUNITIES IN THE COUNCIL (Agenda Item 8)
On 13 November 2008 the Committee conducted a select committee question and answer session concerning “Opportunities within the Council”.
The aim of the select committee question and answer session was to:
· Assess the success of current policies and make recommendations on how they might be more effectively implemented. · Identify best practice and make recommendations where appropriate.
The Committee at its meeting on 10 January 2009 approved the proposals for recommendation to Cabinet. Recommendation 1 within the report was considered by Cabinet as part of the Service and Resource Planning report 2009/10 –2013/14
The Cabinet considered the recommendations from the Corporate Governance Scrutiny Select Committee (CA8) and
RESOLVED: to respond to the recommendations as set out in the Annex (download as .doc file).
20/09 FORWARD PLAN AND FUTURE BUSINESS
The Cabinet considered a list of items reported orally for the immediately forthcoming meetings of the Cabinet
RESOLVED: to note amendments to the Forward Plan reported orally and as set out in the Forward Plan published on 16 February 2009.
................................................................................... in the Chair
Date of signing.................................................................. 2009
|