To All
Members of the County Council
Notice of a Meeting of
the Council
Tuesday 9 September 2008 at 10.00 am
County Hall, Oxford
Joanna
Simons
Chief
Executive
29
August 2008
Contact
officer: Sue Whitehead
(Tel: 01865 810262; E-mail: sue.whitehead@oxfordshire.gov.uk)
In order to comply with
the Data Protection Act 1998, notice is given that Items 3, 7 and 13 will be
recorded. The purpose of recording proceedings is to provide an aide-memoire to assist the clerk of the meeting in the drafting of minutes.
AGENDA
(Schedule of Business) (download as .doc file)
(Addenda)
1. Minutes
To approve the Minutes of the meeting held on 9 July 2008 (CC1)
and to receive for information any matters arising therefrom.
2. Apologies for Absence
3. Declarations of Interest – see
guidance note
Members
are reminded that they must declare their interests orally at the meeting and
specify (a) the nature of the interest and (b) which items on the agenda are
the relevant items. This applies also to items where members have interests by
virtue of their membership of a district council in Oxfordshire.
4. Official Communications
5. Appointments
(b) To make any other changes in membership of the Cabinet,
scrutiny and other committees on the nomination of political groups.
6. Petitions And Public Address
7. Questions with Notice from Members of the Public
8. The
Youth Justice (Capacity & Capability) Plan 2008/09
The Cabinet has
considered a report on the Youth Justice (Capacity & Capability) Plan
2008/09. The Plan (CC8) highlighted positive outcomes for young people
in Oxfordshire.
The report noted that the
performance of the service was significantly better than the national trend in
all major indicators relating to reducing new entrants, re-offending rates and
overall offence levels. There was a clear link between early intervention and
longer-term positive outcomes. The report also highlighted the success and
benefits of the Diversion Scheme and the budgetary pressures for the scheme.
The Youth Justice Plan is listed as a Policy & Framework
Document in the Constitution and thus requires approval by the Council.
The Cabinet has noted the budget pressure for the Diversion Scheme from April
2009 and RECOMMENDS Council to approve the Youth Justice (Capacity &
Capability) Plan for 2008/09, at Annex 1 to this report.
9. Review
of Bus Strategy (Chapter 3)
10. Crime
and Disorder Reduction Partnership Strategies
The Crime & Disorder Act 1998
(and subsequent amendments) requires the county council (including the Fire
& Rescue Service) to work with district councils, the police, police
authority and primary care trusts as "responsible authorities" to
work in partnership to reduce crime and disorder in their local area.
The Cabinet has
considered a report that presented the three-year rolling strategies to tackle
crime and disorder for each of the five Crime & Disorder Reduction
Partnerships (Cherwell, Oxford City, South Oxfordshire, Vale of White Horse and
West Oxfordshire).
The Crime and Disorder Reduction
Partnership Strategies (CC10 a-e) are listed as Policy & Framework
Documents in the Constitution and thus require approval by the Council.
(CC10 - CDRP Strategies Overview 2008-11 - download as .doc file)
(CC10a - download as .pdf file)
(CC10a - Annex 1 - download as .pdf file)
(CC10b - download as .pdf file)
(CC10c - download as .doc file)
(CC10d - download as .doc file)
(CC10e - download as .pdf file)
The Cabinet RECOMMENDS Council to Approve the Crime and Disorder
Reduction Partnership strategies.
11. Financial
Monitoring
The Cabinet has considered, as part of the Financial Monitoring
report, the allocation of Local Authority Business Growth Incentive grant. The
total sum that Oxfordshire will receive is £0.981m. The County Council
Management Team has considered bids for use of some of the funding and
recommended bids totalling £0.672m to the Cabinet, set out in an annex (CC11) (download as .xls file) to the report to Cabinet. The remaining allocation will be held in balances
pending further agreement on use of the funding.
The Cabinet RECOMMENDS Council to approve the allocation of Local Authority
Business Growth Incentive grant, set out in the annex to the Cabinet report
12. Reports of the Cabinet
(a) Report of the Cabinet meetings on 24 June and 15 July
2008
(CC12(a))
(b) Report on Partnership Working in
Oxfordshire (CC12(b))
13. 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 8 SEPTEMBER 2008.
14. Motion
from Councillor Jean Fooks
“Council was dismayed to
read in the recent Joint Area Review of Children’s Services that:
‘Strategic planning for 14-19 provision across Oxfordshire is inadequate.
Progress on the recommendations of the 14-19 area-wide inspection in 2003 has
been slow. While outcomes are satisfactory overall with good participation
rates post-16, the range of provision and quality of impartial advice 14-19
have not improved sufficiently.’
As one of this Council’s
key aims is to improve the quality of education in Oxfordshire and in
particular it recognizes the need for a better skilled workforce to meet the
needs of local employers, Council is very disappointed in this judgment. It
therefore asks the Cabinet to publish its Action Plan to extend the curriculum
for 14-19 year-olds, including more work-based learning, as a matter of
urgency.
Council asks the Cabinet
Member for Schools Improvement to report on progress to the next Children’s
Services Scrutiny Committee in July and to Council in September. Council thinks
Oxfordshire’s young people deserve better.”
15. Motion
from Councillor Larry Sanders
“It is reported that the
Secretary of State for Health has required that Oxfordshire PCT establish a
'polyclinic' in Oxfordshire and that the PCT has identified a site in the
Banbury area. This creates the possibility that a commercial company will
replace existing NHS GP services.
The British Medical
Association has urged the Government "to halt its plans to promote the use
of commercial companies in general practice because this risks destabilising
our local surgeries and threatens the comprehensive, high quality care we
receive from our GPs."
The provision of County
Council Community Care services would be made more difficult and more expensive
should GP surgeries in the Banbury area and the Horton Hospital be
destabilised.
This Council asks the
Oxfordshire Joint Health Overview & Scrutiny Committee to consider the
proposal for a ‘polyclinic’ in Oxfordshire at its next meeting.”
16. Motion
from Councillor Surinder Dhesi
"This Council asks the Cabinet to consider a moratorium on the
placing of any new mobile telephone masts on any land or building owned by the
Authority in the vicinity of schools or residential accommodation pending
further research on the possible health risks, especially for children, the
elderly and other vulnerable people.”
17. Motion
from Councillor Liz Brighouse
"This Council:
(a) expresses grave disappointment at the criticisms
in the Joint Area Review of the strategy for 14-19 provision and the lack of
progress in raising educational attainment;
(b) notes that the Council was told in June 2007
that the issue of educational attainment of the most economically deprived
children would be included on the agenda for the Children’s Services Scrutiny
committee “to enable the Committee to consider whether to include the issue in
its work programme”;
(c) asks that a scrutiny review on this issue should
take place as a matter of urgency so that another group of children do not go
through Oxfordshire schools without reaching their full potential.”
18. Motion
from Councillor John Sanders
"This Council:
(a) notes
that there are sometimes good reasons for the Council to subsidise an
infrequent bus service where the subsidy per passenger is very high but the
overall subsidy is low;
(b) agrees
that the acceptable level of subsidy per passenger should be determined on a
case by case basis rather than fixed in advance;
(c) therefore
urges the Cabinet to reaffirm in the revised Bus Strategy the Council’s
existing policy of having “no fixed upper limit on subsidy per passenger”.
19. Motion
from Councillor Norman Bolster
“Does this Council agree that, following
the House of Commons Committee of Public Accounts Report of "The
cancellation of Bicester Accommodation Centre", there is absolutely
nothing to show for the £29m taxpayers money that was wasted? This council also regrets that the money paid by Environment & Economy Directorate for
Counsel to represent them at the enquiry was a waste of taxpayers’ money.“
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