Issue - meetings

Cabinet Member: Leader

Forward Plan Ref: 2016/156

Contact: Robin Rogers, Strategy Manager Tel: 07789 923206

Report by Chief Executive (CA6).

In September 2016, Cabinet considered reports from Grant Thornton and PwC and a recommendation from the Performance Scrutiny Committee on options for reorganisation of local government within Oxfordshire. Cabinet directed officers to engage with stakeholders and the public to prepare proposals for a new unitary council to cover the whole county.

A discussion document was published in January 2017 to inform an extensive stakeholder and public engagement process. This process has now been completed.

This report introduces the full proposal that has subsequently been developed and recommends that the proposals are submitted to the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government.

In addition to the report there are a number of annexes:

Annex 1: Bid document

Annex 2: Social and Community Impact Assessment

Annex 3: Summary of the engagement report

Annex 4: Letter of 20^th February from Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government

Annex 5: Full engagement report (to follow)

The Cabinet is RECOMMENDED to:

(a)              Note and commend the approach taken by the Leaders of Vale, South Oxfordshire, and the County Council in putting the interests of residents, business and communities first in bringing forward these proposals.

(b)            Consider the proposals, in particular taking note that 70% of those responding to the representative household survey supported the proposal for a new single unitary council for Oxfordshire

(c)             Respond to the recent letter from the Secretary of State and submit the proposals for a new unitary council for Oxfordshire, subject to any minor amendments required

(d)             Delegate the power to make such amendments to the Chief Executive in consultation with the Leader of the County Council and with South Oxfordshire and Vale of White Horse District Councils

(e)             Ask officers to seek local support from key stakeholders and the wider public to promote the proposals to Government, and respond to any subsequent consultation undertaken by the Secretary of State

(f)               Agree that the further development of the Area Executive Board model, through the establishment of a Joint Committee, open to all Districts and City Councils across Oxfordshire and the County Council, should be formed as early as possible.  This Joint Committee should work with the existing County Council advisory group, local communities, Town and Parish Councils, and key delivery partners to develop detailed proposals that articulate the role, powers, format, scale and responsibilities of the Area Executive Boards which will be submitted to the Implementation Executive for inclusion with the proposed constitution of the new council.

(g)             Ask officers to take steps to establish the City Convention to work with residents and local stakeholders to design the new model of governance in Oxford.

(h)             Authorise the Director of Law and Governance to agree the terms of reference of the Joint Committee, which will include making recommendations regarding the initial functions of the Implementation Executive, and to make this council's appointments to the Joint  ...  view the full agenda text for item 27

Recommendations agreed.

In September 2016, Cabinet considered reports from Grant Thornton and PwC and a recommendation from the Performance Scrutiny Committee on options for reorganisation of local government within Oxfordshire. Cabinet directed officers to engage with stakeholders and the public to prepare proposals for a new unitary council to cover the whole county.

A discussion document was published in January 2017 to inform an extensive stakeholder and public engagement process. This process has now been completed.

Cabinet considered a report setting out the full proposal that has subsequently been developed and recommending that the proposals are submitted to the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government.

Councillor Hudspeth, Leader of the Council made a statement setting out the context and events leading to the report before Cabinet and summarising in brief the reasons for the bid.

Ian Green, on behalf of the Civic Society commented that they had thoroughly reviewed the original proposals and submitted comments. Having considered the Better Oxfordshire proposals the Civic Society was still of the view that it was not ready for public consultation and was certainly not ready for submission to the Secretary of State. In particular Mr Green highlighted that they considered the governance aspects were too vague to enable assessment of the effectiveness of Oxford City governance. They believed that more could be learnt from Wiltshire. Mr Green also referred to the lack of consensus from all six councils in Oxfordshire and felt that this meant it would not be agreed by the Secretary of State. He hoped that Cabinet would agree to more efforts to achieve a consensus.

Dr Barbara Hammond, spoke against the proposals on three grounds. Firstly she believed that there was no mandate as there had been no formal consultation. People in her neighbourhood were confused. The removal of public consultation from the transition stage was deeply worrying. Secondly she stated that there was no evidence that the move to a single unitary would meet the four objectives set out in the documents. Finally Dr Hammond commented that it was the wrong time to introduce something as disruptive as this in a region that was facing uncertainty due to Brexit.

Councillor Jean Fooks, local councillor for Wolvercote & Summertown spoke in support of the proposal which she pointed out had the support of the three main parties on Oxfordshire County Council. She expressed disappointment that the City Council and other district councils had refused to sit round the table. Councillor Fooks referred to the leaflet produced by the City Council which she believed should be rebutted as it made false claims. She would welcome greater detail and felt that the revised bid before Cabinet today was an improvement. It was essential going forward to involve local people.

Councillor Harris commented that it was an inevitable part of the process of forming a new unitary council that there would need to be rationalisation of staff. From his experience of this type of process strong political decision making would be needed to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 27