Agenda and decisions

Cabinet - Tuesday, 25 February 2025 2.00 pm

Venue: Room 2&3 - County Hall, New Road, Oxford OX1 1ND. View directions

Contact: Chris Reynolds  Tel: 07542 029441; E-Mail:  chris.reynolds@oxfordshire.gov.uk

Link: video link https://oxon.cc/Cabinet2502025

Items
No. Item

1.

Apologies for Absence

Decision:

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Tim Bearder and Dr Nathan Ley.

2.

Declarations of Interest

- guidance note below

Decision:

There were none.

3.

Minutes pdf icon PDF 301 KB

To approve the minutes of the meetings held on 9, 21 and 28 January 2025 (CA3) and to receive information arising from them.

Additional documents:

Decision:

The minutes of the meetings held on 9, 21 and 28 January 2025 were approved as a correct record.

4.

Questions from County Councillors

Any county councillor may, by giving notice to the Proper Officer by 9 am two working days before the meeting, ask a question on any matter in respect of the Cabinet’s delegated powers.

 

The number of questions which may be asked by any councillor at any one meeting is limited to two (or one question with notice and a supplementary question at the meeting) and the time for questions will be limited to 30 minutes in total. As with questions at Council, any questions which remain unanswered at the end of this item will receive a written response.

 

Questions submitted prior to the agenda being despatched are shown below and will be the subject of a response from the appropriate Cabinet Member or such other councillor or officer as is determined by the Cabinet Member, and shall not be the subject of further debate at this meeting. Questions received after the despatch of the agenda, but before the deadline, will be shown on the Schedule of Addenda circulated at the meeting, together with any written response which is available at that time.

Decision:

There were none received.

5.

Petitions and Public Address pdf icon PDF 86 KB

Members of the public who wish to speak at this meeting can attend the meeting in person or ‘virtually’ through an online connection. 

 

To facilitate ‘hybrid’ meetings we are asking that requests to speak or present a petition are submitted by no later than 9am four working days before the meeting.  Requests to speak should be sent to committeesdemocraticservices@oxfordshire.gov.uk

 

If you are speaking ‘virtually’, you may submit a written statement of your presentation to ensure that your views are taken into account. A written copy of your statement can be provided no later than 9am 2 working days before the meeting. Written submissions should be no longer than 1 A4 sheet.

 

Decision:

8 Badger Culling

 

Cllr Ian Middleton

 

6.

Appointments

Decision:

There were no appointment to report to this meeting.

7.

Reports from Scrutiny Committees pdf icon PDF 391 KB

Cabinet will receive the following Scrutiny reports: -

 

Place Overview and Scrutiny Committee reports on S.106 and City Centre Accommodation Strategy

Additional documents:

Decision:

Cabinet received the reports and will respond in due course.

8.

Badger Culling pdf icon PDF 229 KB

Cabinet Member: Deputy Leader of the Council with Responsibility for Climate Change, Environment and Future Generations

Forward Plan Ref: 2024/374

Contact: Teresa Kirkham, Head of Countryside and Waste (Teresa.Kirkham@oxfordshire.gov.uk)

 

Report by Director of Environment and Highways (CA8)

 

The Cabinet is RECOMMENDED to

 

a)    Re-affirm the Councils opposition to badger culling

 

b)    Note that a specific policy about badger culling not being permitted on Council-owned land will be presented for adoption in due course

 

c)    Note that the Leader has written to DEFRA making clear the council’s  continued opposition to the cull and any extension in size and scope.

 

 

Decision:

Recommendations approved.

9.

Councils for Fair Tax Declaration pdf icon PDF 224 KB

Cabinet Member: Finance

Forward Plan Ref: 2024/353

Contact: Ian Dyson, Director of Financial and Commercial Services (Ian.Dyson@oxfordshire.gov.uk)

 

Report by Executive Director of Resources and Section 151 Officer (CA9).

 

Cabinet is RECOMMENDED to approve the Councils for Fair tax Declaration

 

 

Decision:

Recommendations approved.

10.

Enhanced Pathways Business Case - Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) Strategic Early Intervention Team pdf icon PDF 455 KB

Cabinet Member: Children, Education and Young People’s Services & SEND Improvement

Forward Plan Ref: 2025/020

Contact: Jane Elvidge, Interim Manager – SEND Strategic Early Intervention Team (Jane.Elvidge@oxfordshire.gov.uk)

 

Report by Director of Children’s Services (CA10).

 

The Cabinet is RECOMMENDED to

 

a)    Approve Oxfordshire County Council (“the Council”) continuing to fund 20 existing Enhanced Pathways to enable the Council to meet the increasing numbers and complexities of children and young people with Special Educational Needs in mainstream schools and to realise probable savings through this spend to save model. 

 

b)    Approve the Council to fund a further 20 Enhanced Pathways to double to reach of the project to enable the Council to offer a more equitable offer across the county to meet the increasing numbers and complexities of children and young people with Special Educational Needs in mainstream schools and to realise probable savings through this spend to save model.

 

c)    Approve the Council’s budgetary commitment for a period of 3 years for each Enhanced Pathway (barring significant changes to central government funding of SEND during that period).

 

d)    Commit to consider and review opportunities to upscale the Enhanced Pathways programme over the coming years in line with the impact evidence provided.

 

Additional documents:

Decision:

Recommendations approved.

11.

Oxfordshire Climate Adaptation Route Map & Oxfordshire County Council Climate Adaptation Delivery Plan pdf icon PDF 410 KB

Cabinet Member: Deputy Leader of the Council with Responsibility for Climate Change, Environment and Future Generations

Forward Plan Ref: 2024/365

Contact: Tom Layzell, Climate Adaptation Policy and Project Lead (Tom.Layzell@oxfordshire.gov.uk)

 

Report by Director of Economy and Place  (CA11).

 

Cabinet is RECOMMENDED to:

 

a)             Note the recent endorsement of the Oxfordshire Climate Adaptation Route Map by the Future Oxfordshire Partnership (FOP).

b)             Approve the adoption of the Oxfordshire Climate Adaptation Route Map and OCC Delivery Plan.

 

 

Additional documents:

Decision:

Recommendations approved.

12.

Civil Enforcement Procurement Model pdf icon PDF 369 KB

Cabinet Member: Transport Management

Forward Plan Ref: 2025/007

Contact: Keith Stenning, Head of Network Management (Keith.Stenning@oxfordshire.gov.uk) and Cathy Champion, Operations Manager – Civil Enforcement (Cathy.Champion@oxfordshire.gov.uk). 

 

Report by Director of Environment and Highways (CA12).

 

The Cabinet is RECOMMENDED to

 

 

a) Approve the preferred service model and procurement strategy (enhanced multi contractor) for the Civil Enforcement and Zero Emission Zone (ZEZ) operation.

 

b) Support progression to the next stage of the project, that being the development and drafting of the specification, contract, and other tender documents required for procurement.

 

 

Additional documents:

Decision:

Recommendations approved.

13.

Household Waste Recycling Centre Service Delivery Model pdf icon PDF 510 KB

Cabinet Member: Deputy Leader with Responsibility for Climate Change, Environment and Future Generations

Forward Plan Ref: 2024/331

Contact: Teresa Kirkham, Head of Countryside and Waste

Teresa.kirkham@oxfordshire.gov.uk

 

Report by Director of Environment and Highways (CA13).

 

The Cabinet is RECOMMENDED to

 

a)    Approve the commencement of work to explore and consider options for the household waste recycling centre management service delivery provision, noting that the current contract is coming to an end in September 2027.

 

b)    Endorse the proposed approach for developing the options and key procurement stages as set out in this paper. 

 

c)    To approve the use of Extended Producer Responsibility funding for consultancy work to support the future household waste recycling centre model development.

 

Decision:

Recommendations approved.

14.

Workforce Report and Staffing Data - Quarter 3 2024-25 pdf icon PDF 280 KB

Cabinet Member: Corporate and Community Services

Forward Plan Ref: 2025/041

Contact: Cherie Cuthbertson, Director of HR and Cultural Change

Cherie.cuthbertson@oxfordshire.gov.uk

 

Report by Executive Director of Resources and Section 151 Officer (CA14)

 

Cabinet is RECOMMENDED to note the report.

Additional documents:

Decision:

Recommendation approved.

15.

Capital Programme Approvals - February 2025 pdf icon PDF 207 KB

Cabinet Member: Finance

Forward Plan Ref: 2024/226

Contact: Natalie Crawford, Capital Programme Manager

Natalie.crawford@oxfordshire.gov.uk

 

Report by Executive Director of Resources and Section 151 Officer (CA15)

 

The Cabinet is RECOMMENDED to:

 

a)    approve the inclusion of a new one-form-entry primary school -East Carterton - into the Capital Programme with an indicative budget of £10.227m, to be funded from S106 developer contributions and basic need funding.

b)    note that £7.500m of the remaining Housing and Growth Deal funding is to be allocated to Grove Airfield School in 2024/25.

 

 

 

Decision:

Recommendations approved.

16.

Forward Plan and Future Business pdf icon PDF 276 KB

Cabinet Member: All

Contact Officer: Chris Reynolds, Senior Democratic Services Officer, chris.reynolds@oxfordshire.gov.uk

 

The Cabinet Procedure Rules provide that the business of each meeting at the Cabinet is to include “updating of the Forward Plan and proposals for business to be conducted at the following meeting”.   Items from the Forward Plan for the immediately forthcoming meetings of the Cabinet appear in the Schedule at CA16.  This includes any updated information relating to the business for those meetings that has already been identified for inclusion in the next Forward Plan update.

 

The Schedule is for noting, but Cabinet Members may also wish to take this opportunity to identify any further changes they would wish to be incorporated in the next Forward Plan update.

 

The Cabinet is RECOMMENDED to note the items currently identified for forthcoming meetings.

Decision:

Noted.

17.

For Information only: Cabinet response to Scrutiny items pdf icon PDF 110 KB

Local Transport and Connectivity Plan Progress Report

Flood Event Response

Community Asset Transfer Policy

Commercial Strategy Update

 

Additional documents:

Decision:

Recommendations approved.

18.

City Centre Accommodation Strategy - Proposed Disposal of New and Old County Hall pdf icon PDF 325 KB

Cabinet Member: Finance

Forward Plan Ref: 2024/294

Contact: Michael Smedley, Head of Estates Assets and Investments

Michael.smedley@oxfordshire.gov.uk

 

 

Report by Director of Property and Assets (CA18)

 

The information in this case is exempt in that it falls within the following prescribed categories: 

 

3. Information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information) 

 

and since it is considered that, in all the circumstances of the case, the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information. 

 

The annexes containing exempt information under the above paragraph are attached. 

 

The Cabinet is RECOMMENDED to

 

a)    Agree to the freehold disposal of New and Old County Hall, on the terms set out in exempt Annex 4.

b)    Delegate authority to the Executive Director of Resources and Section 151 Officer, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Finance, to negotiate and agree the final heads of terms which will be substantially in accordance with the details set out in exempt Annex 4.

c)    Delegate authority to the Executive Director of Resources and Section 151 Officer, in consultation with the Director of Law and Governance and Monitoring Officer, to conclude negotiations and complete all necessary legal documentation to implement the disposal.

 

 

Additional documents:

Decision:

Recommendations approved.

 

This item is not subject to Scrutiny call-in.