Agenda and decisions

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Dan Levy.

- guidance note below

There were none.

To approve the minutes of the meetings held on 20 March and 22 April 2025 and to receive information arising from them.

The minutes of the meetings held on 20 March and 22 April 2025 were approved as a correct record.

Any county councillor may, by giving notice to the Proper Officer by 9 am three working days before the meeting, ask a question on an item on the agenda.

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.

See annex.

Members of the public who wish to speak on an item on the agenda at this meeting, or present a petition, can attend the meeting in person or ‘virtually’ through an online connection.

Requests to present a petition must be submitted no later than 9am ten working days before the meeting.

Requests to speak must be submitted no later than 9am three working days before the meeting.

Requests should be submitted to committeesdemocraticservices@oxfordshire.gov.uk

If you are speaking ‘virtually’, you may submit a written statement of your presentation to ensure that if the technology fails, then your views can still be taken into account. A written copy of your statement can be provided no later than 9am on the day of the meeting. Written submissions should be no longer than 1 A4 sheet.

7 – Report from Scrutiny Committee - Place OSC report to Cabinet - Transport Working Group

Amanda Chumas

Danny Yee

9 – Traffic Filter Trial Delay – Mitigation Proposals

City Councillor Lubna Arshad

Ian Loader

City Councillor Katherine Miles

John Center

Luke Marion

Sajad Khan

Becky Carlyle

Jeremy Mogford

Danny Yee

Patrick Lingwood

Robin Tucker

Aeron Buchanan

Anne Gwinnett

Emily Scaysbrook

Duncan Parkes

Chris Hanson

Councillor Emily Kerr

Councillor David Henwood

Councillor Emma Garnett

Councillor James Fry

Cabinet Member: Leader

Forward Plan Ref: 2025/030

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

Report by Director of Law and Governance and Monitoring Officer

The Annex provided in the agenda pack contains the list of the bodies to which appointments will be made.  The nominations will be circulated in advance of the meeting.

The Cabinet is RECOMMENDED to agree the appointments to the bodies set out in the Annex to this report.

Recommendations approved.

Cabinet will receive the following Scrutiny reports:-

Education and Young People Overview and Scrutiny Committee reports on:-

a)    Report of the Virtual School – to follow

b)    Update of Children's Homes – to follow

c)    Home to School Transport Policy – to follow if the Committee makes recommendations on Friday

Performance and Corporate Services Overview and Scrutiny Committee reports on:-

d)     Local Enterprise Partnership Integration – to follow

e)    Business Management and Monitoring Report – to follow

Place Overview and Scrutiny Committee reports on:-

f)     Report of the Transport Working Group - attached

g)    s.106 Improvement Project - attached

h)    Rail Strategy – to follow

Cabinet received the reports and will respond in due course.

Cabinet Member: Children and Young People

Forward Plan Ref: 2025/076

Contact: Stephen Good, Home to School Transport Programme Manager

Stephen.good@oxfordshire,gov.uk

Report by Director of Children’s Services

The existing Home to School Transport Policies were last consulted upon in 2014 (Compulsory School Age) and 2018 (Post 16). DfE Guidance was last updated in 2019 for Post 16 Travel and in 2023 and 2024 for Compulsory School Age.

Local authorities should keep their school travel policy under regular review to ensure it continues to meet local needs and comply with statutory requirements. Due to the significant time that had passed since the previous consultations, a review of the policies was undertaken in 2024. The purpose of the review was to ensure alignment with the Council’s statutory obligations and identify existing areas of discretionary provision.

The Cabinet is RECOMMENDED TO

a)            ENDORSE the recommendations following analysis of the public consultation feedback in relation to the Home to School Travel and Transport Policy 2025/26 onwards for Reception to Year 11.

b)           AGREE to the adoption of the proposed Post 16 Transport Policy Statement Academic Year 2026/27, which reflects the consultation analysis recommendations to not introduce a contribution charge for those eligible for support under this policy.

Recommendations approved.

Cabinet Member: Transport Management

Forward Plan Ref: 2025/113

Contact: Aron Wisdom, Programme Lead – Central

Aron.wisdom@oxfordshire.gov.uk

Report by Director of Environment and Highways

Network Rail’s ongoing closure of Botley Road at Oxford station means Cabinet’s November 2022 decision to introduce six trial traffic filters in Oxford cannot be implemented until at least August 2026.

Officers have reviewed a range of potential options to mitigate this situation, and the recommended options to pursue (subject to consultation and development) have been identified.  This report outlines the background, the need for intervention, and the options considered.

Cabinet is RECOMMENDED to

a)           Authorise officers to carry out a public consultation on a proposal to temporarily implement a congestion charging scheme using the systems and infrastructure developed for the traffic filter trial, to mitigate the impact of the delay of the traffic filter trial while Botley Road remains closed.

b)           Authorise officers to develop the minor schemes as outlined in paragraph 13 (e) to (i)

c)           Request officers to develop an ‘income spending strategy’ which will focus the net surplus income on reducing the costs of bus travel, including potential park and ride incentives, in accordance with relevant legislation.

Recommendations approved.

Cabinet Member: Cabinet Member for Resources and Deputy Leader

Forward Plan Ref: 2025/042

Contact: Cherie Cuthbertson, Director of HR and Cultural Change

Cherie.cuthbertson@oxfordshire.gov.uk

Report by Executive Director of Resources and Section 151 Officer

This report provides an overview of the progress towards delivering the Our People and Culture Strategy (as measured by the achievement of its key performance indicators) and summarises the main employee-related trends for Q4 2024/25.

Cabinet is RECOMMENDED to note the report.

Recommendations approved.

Cabinet Member: Finance, Property and Transformation

Forward Plan Ref: 2025/098

Contact: Kathy Wilcox, Head of Corporate Finance

Kathy.wilcox@oxfordshire.gov.uk

Report by Executive Director of Finance and Section 151 Officer

This report presents the year-end position for 2024/25 performance, risk, and finance position for the council.

The Cabinet is RECOMMENDED to:

a)    Note the report and annexes including the council’s Annual Report for 2024/25 (Annex D).

b)   Note the summary of the provisional year-end financial position for 2024/25 along with the year-end position on general balances and earmarked reserves (Annex B).

c)    Approve the following proposals relating to reserves and the use of general balances:

                       i.                Add the £1.8m underspend against budgeted funding for investments in 2024/25 to the Budget Priorities reserve for use in 2025/26 (Annex B Paragraph 12).

                     ii.                Agree that the £1.2m 2024/25 On-Street Parking Account surplus, that has not yet been applied to fund eligible expenditure in accordance with Section 55(4) of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984, is carried forward to 2025/26 as set out in Annex B-3c (Annex B Paragraph 64).

                    iii.                Approve the use of one - off funding from General Balances to support Innovate Oxfordshire (£0.5m) and the Business and Intellectual Property Centre (£0.1m) (Annex B Paragraph 14).

Recommendations approved.

Cabinet Member: Finance, Property and Transformation

Forward Plan Ref: 2025/079

Contact: Natalie Crawford, Capital Programme Manager

Natalie.crawford@oxfordshire.gov.uk

Report by Executive Director of Resources and Section 151 Officer

The ten-year Capital Programme sets out the agreed capital investment to deliver the priorities identified in the council’s Capital and Investment Strategy.  This report updates on the performance against the programme shown in the latest monitoring report for2024/25 and also compares back to the capital programme agreed by Council in February 2024.  Figures shown reflect those to be included in the Council’s Statement of Accounts for 2024/25.

The Cabinet is RECOMMENDED to:

a)    note the performance against the capital programme for 2024/25 as set out in the report.

b)   note the Capital Programme Provisional Outturn Summary for 2024/25 as set out in:

Annex 1a: Strategy Programmes Expenditure

Annex 1b: Capital Financing

Annex 1c: Strategy / Programme Level Reporting during the year

Recommendations approved.

Cabinet Member: Finance, Property and Transformation

Forward Plan Ref: 2025/124

Contact: Natalie Crawford, Capital Programme Manager, natalie.crawford@oxfordshire.gov.uk

Report by Executive Director of Resources and Section 151 Officer

The Capital Programme was approved by Council in February 2025 and will be updated during the year through the capital programme and monitoring reports.  This report sets out change requests requiring Cabinet approval that will be incorporated into the agreed programme and included in the next update to the Capital Programme in July 2025.

The Cabinet is RECOMMENDED to:

a)               to approve the inclusion of a programme of work into the capital programme with an indicative budget of £5.906m to be funded from the Traffic Congestion Improvement Fund (TCIF), agreed through Council in February 2024.

b)              to note the proposed schemes to be delivered under the TCIF programme of work.

c)               approve a budget increase of £1.800m for the Access to Witney Scheme from £25.025m to £26.825m to be funded by incorporating £1.800m from the Traffic Congestion Improvement Fund.

d)              approve the inclusion of the Benson Lane Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP) into the capital programme, with an indicative budget of £1.232m, to be funded by a combination of developer contributions, Transport Provision funding, BSIP programme funds and the Traffic Congestion Improvement Fund.

Recommendations approved.

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 CA13.  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.

There are two Cabinet responses provided:

• Network management (Place Overview and Scrutiny Committee)

• Local Area Partnership SEND Update (Education and Young People Overview and Scrutiny Committee)

Noted.