Meeting documents
County Council
Tuesday, 4 November 2008
To All Members of the County Council
|
The Cabinet RECOMMENDS Council to approve:
(a) the addition to the approved credit matrix of any nationalised bank which has a government guarantee for wholesale deposits, with maturities up to the period of the guarantee, up to a limit of £15m;
(b) the increase to the lending limit for the Debt Management Account Deposit Facility to 100% of the investment portfolio;
(c) an increase to the level of funds placed externally with Investec by £20m. These additional funds will be held in a sub-fund which invests in UK Sovereign Issues, Government Gilts and European Supranationals (traded in Sterling);
(d) the revised tables of specified and non-specified investments as set out in the Annex to CC8;
(e) any further changes required to the credit matrix be delegated to the Chief Finance Officer after consultation with the Cabinet Member for Finance and leaders of the Opposition and other groups.
|
9. Member Champion - Role (CC9)
The Cabinet has considered, at its meeting on 21 October 2008, draft guidance (CC9) in relation to the role of ‘Member Champions’, including a person specification/role description and reporting framework.
The Cabinet RECOMMENDS Council to agree that the Constitution be amended to include the role of Member Champion on the basis of the duties and the means of appointment as set out in paragraph 11 of the report (CC9) and the guidance at Annex 1 to CC9.
|
10. New Executive Arrangements
The Cabinet has considered, at its meeting on 21 October 2008, a report in order to make recommendations to Council on what executive arrangements the Council should operate after the 2009 Elections. In line with the legislation, the recommendations on the executive arrangements will be considered at an extraordinary meeting of the Council.
The Cabinet has also considered proposals in relation to the calling of extraordinary meetings of the Council and agreed to recommend to Council amendments to the Constitution for approval.
The Cabinet RECOMMENDS Council to amend Section D, Council Procedure Rules, rule 4 of the Constitution as follows:
(i) Add the words “or in the case of an extraordinary meeting such other appropriate venue as the Chairman may determine after consultation with Group Leaders” after the first bullet point “be held at County Hall, Oxford”;
(ii) After “at 10:00 am” in the second bullet point, add “or in the case of an extraordinary meeting such other time as the Chairman may determine after consultation with Group Leaders”.
|
(a) Report of the Cabinet meetings on 9 September and 21 October 2008 (CC11(a)).
(b) Report on Partnership Working in Oxfordshire (CC11(b)) (download as .doc file)
12. Questions with Notice from Members of the Council
Motions with Notice from Members of the Council
WOULD MEMBERS PLEASE NOTE THAT ANY AMENDMENTS TO MOTIONS WITH NOTICE MUST BE PRESENTED TO THE PROPER OFFICER IN WRITING BY 9.00 AM ON MONDAY 3 NOVEMBER 2008
13. Motion from Councillor Armitage
“Council notes recent events in global financial markets, and that its officers have followed Treasury advice and invested its capital within the guidance, like many other authorities. This Council has been fortunate in being one of the least exposed in the country but its investments have still been affected by the recent problems.
Council welcomes the government’s commitment to support local authorities and its aim to recover as much money as possible from banks on behalf of public sector investors, but recognises that there is an uncertain prospect of the full capital and anticipated interest being returned.
Council calls on government to:
(a) work with local government to protect tax payers and front-line services;
(b) ensure that DCLG and the Treasury are working together to advise and support local authorities who have investments at risk;
(c) support the capitalisation of such losses as occur to ensure that in-year front-line service cuts do not become necessary; and
(d) liaise closely with the Local Government Association to ensure that all councils are able to benefit from the freezing of the UK assets of foreign banks.
Council asks officers to report to Cabinet on cash holdings, investments and cash flow in the context of the collapse of some banks.
Council asks the Cabinet
Member for Finance to write to the Secretary of State for Communities and Local
Government to lay out the specific situation facing this authority and to keep
Council informed of developments as they occur.”
14. Motion from Councillor Liz Brighouse
"This Council:
(a) reaffirms its support for the Sustainable Communities Act;
(b) notes that the Act resulted from campaigning by a coalition of over 90 national citizens organisations called Local Works and was supported in parliament by all the main English parties;
(c) notes that the Act provides a process designed to allow local authorities and their communities to drive the help that central government gives in reversing community decline and promoting thriving, sustainable communities;
(d) asks the Cabinet to explore the possibility of using the Act to make, following consultation with one or more panels of representatives of local people, proposals to the Secretary of State that would contribute to the promotion of sustainability in Oxfordshire (and which could include requests for transfers of functions from one body to another);
(e) further asks the Cabinet to inform the local media and local MPs about this motion and about the opportunities the Act could provide for local groups.”
15. Motion from Councillor Zoé Patrick
“Oxfordshire County Council:
(a) supports the bottom up process in the Sustainable Communities Act designed to allow local authorities and their communities to drive the help that central government gives in reversing community decline and promoting thriving, sustainable communities;
(b) notes that the Act gives local authorities the power to:
(i) make proposals to government on the action and assistance government must take or give to promote sustainable communities; and
(ii) argue for a transfer of public money and function from central to local control; and
(c) further notes that the Act defines the work of creating sustainable communities as:
(i) improvement of the local economy;
(ii) protection of the environment;
(iii) promotion of social inclusion; and
(iv) participation in civic and political activity.
Council resolves to ask the Cabinet to:
(a) use to the full its powers under the Act by preparing and submitting proposals to central government; and
(b) seek to establish a representative panel of residents to consult with the Council in deciding on which local issues are submitted to the Communities and Local Government Minister;
(c) inform MPs,
other local partners and the media of this decision.”
16. Motion from Councillor Barbara Gatehouse
"This Council:
(a) notes that blind residents face additional costs as a result of their difficulty in accessing their community, including Council and other services, without practical help to get around;
(b) supports the campaign of the Royal National Institute of Blind People on securing the Higher Rate Mobility Component of Disability Living Allowance for blind people;
(c) notes that the RNIB has been lobbying the Department for Work and Pensions about giving blind people access to this component;
(d) welcomes the support for the RNIB campaign from Andrew Smith, MP for Oxford East, who has written to the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions on the issue and put down a parliamentary question about it;
(e) notes that the government has committed itself to continue to look at this issue and asks the Leader of the Council to write to the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions explaining why Oxfordshire residents who are blind should have access to this component.”
Pre-Meeting Briefing There will be a pre-meeting briefing at County Hall on Monday 3 November 2008 at 10.00 am for the Chairman, Vice-Chairman, Group Leaders and Deputy Group Leaders. |