Agenda and decisions

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Phillips

- guidance note below

There were none

To approve the minutes of the meeting held on 18 April 2023 (CA3) and to receive information arising from them.

The minutes were approved and signed as a correct record.

See Annex

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 i.e., 9am on <<DATE>>.  Requests to speak should be sent to colm.ocaomhanaigh@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.

6 Cabinet response to report from People Overview and Scrutiny Committee– Home to School Transport Working Group

Annalisa Miller

Jo Evelyn

10 Air Quality Strategy

Peter West

Report by the Corporate Director for Children’s Services and the Corporate Director for Environment and Place

In February 2022 the authority set up a Home to School Transport Working Group to review OCC’s School Transport policies and to make recommendations to People’s Overview and Scrutiny Committee. The Committee received that report on 30 March 2023 and they in turn provided a report for Cabinet’s consideration on 18 April 2023. This report considers in detail each recommendation

RECOMMENDATION

The Cabinet is recommended to approve the approaches presented in paragraph 7 of the report.

Recommendations approved.

Cabinet will receive the following Scrutiny report:-

-        Place Overview and Scrutiny Committee of the Future of Retail and the High Street

Cabinet received the report and will respond in due course.

Cabinet Member: Finance

Forward Plan Ref: 2023/050

Contact: Kathy Wilcox, Head of Financial Strategy, Kathy.Wilcox@oxfordshire.gov.uk

Report by Director of Finance (CA8)

To note and seek agreement of the report and any recommendations.

The Cabinet is RECOMMENDED to

a)    agree the virements in Annex 1a and supplementary estimate request in Annex 1c and note the virements in Annex 1b.

b)    note the additional one-off funding of £5.0m in 2023/24, notified since the budget was agreed by Council on 14 February 2023.

c)    noting the inflation and demand pressures contributing to the forecast overspend of £14.4m set out in the Business Management & Monitoring Report to Cabinet in March 2023, agree to top up general balances to the 2023/24 risk assessed level of £30.2m depending on the year end position for 2022/23. 

d)    agree to transfer the remaining additional funding expected for 2023/24 to the corporate contingency budget.

e)    agree the update to High Needs DSG budgets following the Education and Skills Funding Agency’s approval of the transfer of £2.3m funding from the Schools Block to High Needs.

Recommendations approved.

Cabinet Member: Finance

Forward Plan Ref: 2023/081

Contact:Susannah Wintersgill, Director Strategy, Insight & Communications, susannah.wintersgill@oxfordshire.gov.uk

Report by Corporate Director Customers, Organisational Development & Resources (CA9).

Paper setting out final arrangements for engagement.

The Cabinet is RECOMMENDED to

(a)            Note the progress set out in the report below.

(b)            Note the feedback from the stakeholder meetings held during April and May (annex 1).

(c)             Amend the seven strategic priorities following stakeholder feedback as set out in paragraph 16 below.

(d)            Agree the approach to the second phase of public engagement as set out in annex 2.

Recommendations accepted.

Cabinet Members: Travel & Development Strategy; Climate Change Delivery & Environment; Highway Management

Forward Plan Ref: 2023/051

Contacts: Joe Kay, Strategic Transport Lead, joseph.kay@oxfordshire.gov.uk; Katharine Eveleigh, Health Improvement Practitioner, katharine.eveleigh@oxfordshire.gov.uk

Report by Corporate Director Environment & Place (CA10).

To seek approval of the OCC Air Quality Strategy.

Cabinet are RECOMMENDED to

Approve the Oxfordshire County Council Air Quality Strategy and Route Map for launch on Clean Air Day (15^th June 2023). 

Recommendations accepted.

Cabinet Member: Climate Change Delivery & Environment

Forward Plan Ref: 2023/049

Contact: Beccy Micklem, Principal Biodiversity Officer, beccy.micklem@oxfordshire.gov.uk

Report by Corporate Director Environment & Place (CA11).

To approve Oxfordshire County Council’s acceptance of its appointment as Responsible Authority for the Oxfordshire Local Nature Recovery Strategy, subject to the associated funding being considered by officers as sufficient and the Regulations and Guidance implementable and approve the Governance Structure for the Oxfordshire Local Nature Recovery Strategy.

The Cabinet is RECOMMENDED to

a)    note Oxfordshire County Council’s anticipated appointment as Responsible Authority for the Oxfordshire Local Nature Recovery Strategy

b)    approve the Governance Structure for the Oxfordshire Local Nature Recovery Strategy

Recommendations approved.

Cabinet Member: Leader

Forward Plan Ref: 2022/221

Contact: Colm Ó Caomhánaigh, Committee Officer, 07393 001096

Report by Director of Law & Governance (CA12).

To consider member appointments to a variety of bodies which in different ways support the discharge of the Council’s Executive functions.

RECOMMENDATION

The Cabinet is RECOMMENDED to agree the appointments to the bodies

set out in the Annex to this report.

The recommendations were amended as follows:-

a)    Future Oxfordshire Partnership Infrastructure Advisory Group – the appointee should read Duncan Enright instead of Liz Leffman” Councillor Leffman is Chair of the Advisory Group and therefore a member of the Group in that capacity. Councillor Enright will take the position of OCC representative.

b)    Additional appointment – “Champion for Future Generations” – Cllr Charlie Hicks.  Champion for Mental Health and Loneliness to be appointed.

c)     County Councils Network – Cllr Michael O’Connor to replace Cllr Mark Lygo

and approved.

Cabinet Member: Finance

Forward Plan Ref: 2023/005

Contact: Belinda Dimmock-Smith, Capital Programme Manager, belinda.dimmocksmith@oxfordshire.gov.uk

Report by Director of Finance (CA13).

The Cabinet is RECOMMENDED to:

a)                      approve the revised budget provision of £11.2m for Wantage Eastern Link Road (Section 3).

b)                      approve the addition £2.7m road safety works in the vicinity of RAF Barford St John and RAF Croughton to the capital programme.

c)                      approve the addition of £4.0m of the £5.0m pipeline funding agreed in February 2023 to the capital programme to support the Vision Zero Delivery Programme.

d)                      approve the revised budget provision of £23.1m for the delivery of the new secondary school at Grove Airfield.

e)                      approve the revised budget provision of £9.3m for the completion of works at Blessed George Napier School, Banbury.

f)                        approve the addition of £0.8m to the programme to create an Energy Efficiency Recycling Fund for Oxfordshire County Council Maintained Schools.

Recommendations approved.

Cabinet Member: All

Contact Officer: Colm Ó Caomhánaigh, Committee Officer Tel: 07393 001096

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 CA 14.  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.

Noted.

Cabinet Member: Travel & Development Strategy

Forward Plan Ref: 2022/012

Contact: Abdul Waraich, Project Manager,

abdul.wairaich@oxfordshire.gov.uk

Report by Corporate Director Environment & Place (CA15).

NB Annex A is published as a Supplementary Document due to its size.

To seek approval of the Statement of Reason and Orders, subject to delegation to officers and to make the Statutory Orders.

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

2. Information which is likely to reveal the identity of an individual.

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.

Annex B containing exempt information under the above paragraph is attached.

The Cabinet is RECOMMENDED to:

a)    Confirm that the acquisition of the land identified on the map attached to this report (Annex B) (“the Order Map”) being the map accompanying The Oxfordshire County Council (Highways Infrastructure – A40 Access to Witney) Compulsory Purchase Order 2023 (“the CPO”) is necessary for highway purposes;

b)    Approve the CPO, the Order Map, The Oxfordshire County Council (Highways Infrastructure – A40 Access to Witney) (Side Roads) Order 2023 (“the SRO”), the plan accompanying the SRO (“SRO Plan”) all substantially in the form annexed to this report but to delegate to the Director of Transport and Infrastructure following consultation with the Director of Law & Governance, authority to modify them as necessary;

c)    Authorise the Director of Law & Governance to make The Oxfordshire County Council (Highways Infrastructure – A40 Access to Witney) Compulsory Purchase Order 2023 pursuant to Sections 239, 240, 246 and 260 of the Highways Act 1980 (as amended) and Part II and III of Schedule 2 and Schedule 3 to the Acquisition of Land Act 1981 for the purpose of acquiring the land and interests shown on the Order Map and described in the Schedule to the CPO (or such lesser area of land should this in his opinion be appropriate) to facilitate the improvement of the A40 by the construction of two new west facing slip roads and other necessary related highway improvement works and mitigation on such land and to affix the Common Seal of the Council to the CPO and to the Order Map;

d)    Authorise the Director of Law & Governance to make The Oxfordshire County Council (Highways Infrastructure – A40 Access to Witney) (Side Roads) Order 2023 pursuant to Section 14 of the Highways Act 1980 (as amended) to enable the stopping up of highways and the alteration and improvement of existing highways, and giving authority to the acquisition of necessary land pursuant to the CPO and to affix the Common Seal of the Council to the SRO and to the SRO Plan;

e)    Authorise the Director of Law & Governance to remove from the CPO any plot (or interest therein) no longer required to be acquired compulsorily, to amend the interests scheduled in the CPO (if so advised) and to request that the Secretary  ...  view the full agenda text for item 15.

RESOLVED to:

a)    Confirm that the acquisition of the land identified on the map attached to this report (Annex B) (“the Order Map”) being the map accompanying The Oxfordshire County Council (Highways Infrastructure – A40 Access to Witney) Compulsory Purchase Order 2023 (“the CPO”) is necessary for highway purposes;

b)    Approve the CPO, the Order Map, The Oxfordshire County Council (Highways Infrastructure – A40 Access to Witney) (Side Roads) Order 2023 (“the SRO”), the plan accompanying the SRO (“SRO Plan”) all substantially in the form annexed to this report but to delegate to the Director of Transport and Infrastructure following consultation with the Director of Law & Governance, authority to modify them as necessary;

c)    Authorise the Director of Law & Governance to make The Oxfordshire County Council (Highways Infrastructure – A40 Access to Witney) Compulsory Purchase Order 2023 pursuant to Sections 239, 240, 246 and 260 of the Highways Act 1980 (as amended) and Part II and III of Schedule 2 and Schedule 3 to the Acquisition of Land Act 1981 for the purpose of acquiring the land and interests shown on the Order Map and described in the Schedule to the CPO (or such lesser area of land should this in his opinion be appropriate) to facilitate the improvement of the A40 by the construction of two new west facing slip roads and other necessary related highway improvement works and mitigation on such land and to affix the Common Seal of the Council to the CPO and to the Order Map;

d)    Authorise the Director of Law & Governance to make The Oxfordshire County Council (Highways Infrastructure – A40 Access to Witney) (Side Roads) Order 2023 pursuant to Section 14 of the Highways Act 1980 (as amended) to enable the stopping up of highways and the alteration and improvement of existing highways, and giving authority to the acquisition of necessary land pursuant to the CPO and to affix the Common Seal of the Council to the SRO and to the SRO Plan;

e)    Authorise the Director of Law & Governance to remove from the CPO any plot (or interest therein) no longer required to be acquired compulsorily, to amend the interests scheduled in the CPO (if so advised) and to request that the Secretary of State makes any modifications to the CPO prior to confirmation as may be appropriate;

f)      Approve the draft Joint Statement of Reasons (Annex A) for the CPO and the SRO, substantially in the form annexed to this report, but to Authorise the Director of Law & Governance to amend and finalise the draft Joint Statement of Reasons as necessary prior to its submission to the Secretary of State;

g)    Authorise the Director of Law & Governance to advertise the making of the CPO and the SRO and to submit the CPO and SRO to the Secretary of State for Transport for confirmation, together with authorising the Director of Law & Governance to take all other relevant action thereon to promote the confirmation and/or publication of the CPO and the SRO;  ...  view the full decision text for item 15.