Issue - meetings

Report from Leader of the Council.

The report summarises the decisions from the Cabinet meetings on 17 December 2024, 21 and 28 January 2025 and 25 February 2025.

Council received the report of Cabinet.

Council received the report of Cabinet covering the Cabinet meetings on 17 December 2024, 21 and 28 January 2025, and 25 February 2025.

Under Item 2, Councillor Bearder asked if he could raise Councillor Johnston’s question in his stead. The Chair declined the request.

Under Item 3, Councillor Edosomwan and Councillor Elphinstone asked the Leader why bus gates, traffic filters, and low traffic neighbourhoods (LTNs) were not included in the Citizens’ Assembly. Councillor Leffman said that they were included on the recommendation of a cross-party advisory committee and 15 hours were added specifically for the Assembly to talk about these issues. Councillor Smith asked whether those 15 hours were well spent, and Councillor Leffman said that they were.

Councillor Enright asked the Leader whether the Assembly had gone well in general and, secondly, whether Citizens’ Assemblies would be pursued by the Council as a model in the future, especially with respect to controversial issues such as traffic filters.  Councillor Leffman stressed that traffic filters were going ahead but reiterated that questions about them were included in the Assembly. She said that she attended the final session of the Assembly. Citizens’ Assemblies were something she wanted to see again in the future as this Assembly had gone well and had been especially well-recruited. Nevertheless, she said that Citizens’ Assemblies should be reserved for big issues such as transport because they are expensive and take time to implement. She added, other options such as Citizens’ Juries were available to hear the people’s voice.

Councillor Baines noted the success of the Assembly in bringing the public into the heart of decision making. He asked the Leader, if her administration were re-elected, what steps would be taken to change how the Council operated to regain trust of communities and to ensure public buy-in for ambitious new transport schemes. Councillor Leffman said there were several ways the Council engaged with the public, including regular consultation that would continue into a second term.

Councillor Brighouse asked for clarity on why the contract for the Assembly did not initially include the Central Oxfordshire Traffic Plan. Councillor Leffman said that the purpose of the Assembly had been to look forward to 2050, not back. She said that LTNs and traffic filters were included in the discussions of the Assembly because of representations by the Labour Group. She said that it was now clear that people endorsed those measures in Oxford to reduce traffic, make walking and cycling safer, and reduce air pollution.

Councillor Leffman mentioned the budget containing LTNs in her response to Councillor Brighouse and noted that the administration that included the Labour Group at the time had approved that budget. Councillor O’Connor raised a point of order: Under 3.2, s.1 of the Constitution, the budget was the responsibility of the whole Council, not just the administration.

Under Item 7, Councillor Baines asked whether the Cabinet Member welcomed the decision by the new Labour government to extend the Warm Home Discount to a further 2.7 million eligible  ...  view the full minutes text for item 20