Agenda and minutes

To approve the minutes of the meeting held on 10 February 2012 (CC1) and to receive information arising from them.

RESOLVED: that the Minutes of the meeting held on 10 February 2012 be approved and signed, subject to the following amendments:

(i)                  Present:  Councillor Alyas Ahmed to be deleted from the list of those present and added under Minute 129/12 (Apologies for Absence);

(ii)                Minute 134/12, 3^rd paragraph, substitute the text “Councillor Patrick” with “Councillor Brighouse”.

The Council observed a minute’s silence in Memory of the six fallen Servicemen being repatriated at the Memorial Gardens in Brize Norton.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors: Armitage, Atkins, Hutchinson, Jones, Malik, Purse, L Sanders, Skolar, R Smith and Stevens.

RESOLVED:  the Council agreed to send their thoughts and wishes for a speedy recovery to Peter Jones and his Family.

Members are reminded that they must declare their interests orally at the meeting and specify (a) the nature of the interest and (b) which items on the agenda are the relevant items. This applies also to items where members have interests by virtue of their membership of a district council in Oxfordshire.

Councillor Gearing declared a personal interst at Agenda Item 7, by virtue of his employment at Baxter Health Care.

Councillor Mallon declared a personal interst in Agenda Item 7, by reason of his role as private landlord.

RESOLVED:  to vary the order of business as indicated in these Minutes to facilitate the attendance of the Director for Public Health.

The Council's Medium Term Corporate Plan 2012/2013-2016/17 (CC6) sets out the challenges facing the County Council , the rationale for our objectives, and identifies the priority and activities on which we will focus.

The approach set out in last year’s directorate business strategies and the overarching Corporate Plan continue to provide the foundations for our strategy. The next twelve months will therefore be the second year of delivering the four year plan we set out last year.

The Strategy & Partnerships Scrutiny Committee reviewed the draft Plan and submitted comments to the Cabinet, who approved the draft on 17 January 2012.

A summary of the key elements of the Medium Term Financial Plan (MTFP) will be included once the Council has approved the budget, and the MTFP will form an annex to the plan.

The Cabinet RECOMMENDS Council to approve the Corporate Plan subject to the inclusion of a summary of the Medium Term Financial Plan and any changes in the text approved by the Chief Executive after consultation with the Leader of the Council.

The Council had before them a report by the Assistant Chief Executive & Chief Finance Officer (CC6) which set out the challenges facing the County Council, the rationale for our objectives, and identified the priority and activities on which it would focus.  It was also advised that the Strategy and Partnerships Scrutiny Committee had reviewed the draft Plan and had submitted comments to the Cabinet, who had approved the draft on 17 January 2011.

RESOLVED: (on a motion by Councillor Mitchell, seconded by Councillor Robertson and carried by 55 votes to 0, with 7 abstentions) to approve the Corporate Plan subject to the inclusion of a summary of the Medium Term Financial Plan and any changes in the text approved by the Chief Executive after consultation with the Leader of the Council.

The Localism Act 2011 requires all councils to agree and publish a pay policy statement by the end of financial year 2011-12.  The pay policy statement must as a minimum include details of the Council’s policy on the remuneration of its chief officers and of its lowest paid employees. It must also give details of the relationship between the remuneration of its chief officers and the Council's other officers.  The Pay Policy Statement at (CC8) Annex 2 brings together current Oxfordshire County Council policies into one document. It fulfils the requirements set down by the relevant legislation and codes. The report also proposes that a Remuneration Committee be established to make recommendations to the Council on future pay policy statements.

The Council is RECOMMENDED to approve:

(a)               the current Pay Policy Statement at Annex 2 to this report.

(b)              approve the creation of the Remuneration Committee as set out in paragraph 13 of the report which will make recommendations to Council regarding future Pay Policy Statements.

The Council had before them a report by the Head of Human Resources (CC8) which presented the Council’s pay policy statement in line with the requirement for all councils to agree and publish a pay policy statement by the end of the financial year 2011-12.  The reported also outlined proposals for a Remuneration Committee to be established to make recommendations to the Council on future pay policy statements.

RESOLVED:  (on a motion by Councillor Robertson, seconded by Councillor Mitchell and carried nem con) to approve:

(a)                the current Pay Policy Statement at Annex 2 to this report.

(b)               approve the creation of the Remuneration Committee as set out in paragraph 13 of the report which will make recommendations to Council regarding future Pay Policy Statements.

At its meeting in December 2011, the Standards Committee gave initial consideration to the standards implications of the Localism Act. At that time, the Committee was minded to recommend Council to retain a standards committee under the new regime. However, the Committee met on 5 March 2012 to consider the implications of the Act in more detail and is now making specific recommendations to full Council (CC9) about the arrangements for resolving local complaints against members.

 The Standards Committee RECOMMEND Council that:

(a)              a Standards Committee is not appointed under the Localism Act 2011;

(b)              The Audit Committee be renamed as the Audit & Governance Committee and its terms of reference expanded to include overview of member standards;

(c)               a member-officer working group be appointed to enable consideration of standards complaints against members of the Council reporting to the Audit & Governance Committee;

(d)              The Monitoring Officer to submit for Council’s approval an appropriate procedure for the handling of complaints.

The Council had before them a report by the head of Law and Governance (CC9) which set out proposals for future arrangements to resolve local complaints against members.

RESOLVED:  (on a motion by Councillor Mrs Fulljames, seconded by Councillor Robertson and carried nem con) that:

(a)               a Standards Committee is not appointed under the Localism Act 2011;

(b)               the Audit Committee be renamed as the Audit & Governance Committee and its terms of reference expanded to include overview of member standards;

(c)               a member-officer working group be appointed to enable consideration of standards complaints against members of the Council reporting to the Audit & Governance Committee;

(d)               the Monitoring Officer to submit for Council’s approval an appropriate procedure for the handling of complaints.

Report by Head of Law & Governance (CC10).

The Equality Policy 2012-2017 sets out how the Council is approaching its responsibilities for ensuring that all residents in Oxfordshire have fair access to services and equal life chances.  It also demonstrates how the Council is meeting the requirements placed on public bodies under the Equality Act 2010, including setting equality objectives for the next four years.

A draft of the policy has been out for public consultation since January, and the final policy has been amended to reflect feedback from internal and external stakeholders.

To fulfil our legislative requirements, the final policy will be published by 6 April 2012, and progress in implementing it will be monitored and reported as part of the council's overall performance management arrangements.

The Cabinet RECOMMENDS Council to receive the report.

The Council had before them a report by the Head of Law and Governance (CC10) which set out how the Council was approaching its responsibilities under the Equality Policy 2012-2017 for ensuring that all residents in Oxfordshire had fair access to services and equal life chances.  The report also set out how the Council was meeting the requirements placed on public bodies under the Quality Act 2010, including equality objectives for the next four years.

RESOLVED:  (on a motion by Councillor Mallon, seconded by Councillor Mitchell and carried nem con) to receive the report.

Council is RECOMMENDED to receive the report and note the recommendations.

The Council had before them the Annual Report by the Director of Public

Health for Oxfordshire (CC10).

The Chairman thanked the Director for Public Health for his report.

RESOLVED: (on a motion by Councillor Fatemian and seconded by

Councillor Skolar) to approve and adopt the recommendations contained in the report.