Agenda and decisions

To approve the minutes of the meeting held on 1 November 2022  (CC1) and to receive information arising from them.

The minutes of the meeting held on 1 November 2022 were amended as follows:-

81/82 Minutes

Item 9 - Report of the Cabinet

In relation to a question from Cllr Liam Walker, Cllr Calum Miller explained the reasons why the programme for LED street lighting has been delayed but he had been assured that it would be completed by 2025.

86/22 – Petitions and Public Address

Petitions

Mary Totman–“……….. many children were receiving inadequate educational provision. She refuted the suggestion that all of these problems were the result of national issues and said that the County Council’s policies were a contributory factor.”

Olivia Johnson – “………could thrive and requested that the Council replaced its adversarial practices with collaboration with parents. She requested that the Council adhered to……

and approved as a correct record.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Ash, Bulmer, Champken-Woods, Gant, Ilott, Hanna, Leverton, Paule and Reynolds.

The Chair read out the reply from His Majesty the King to the letter of condolence sent by the Council following the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.

The Chair reported on her recent and forthcoming engagements and congratulated the recipients of the following recent awards:-

·       The Zero Emission Zone was the winner of the ‘Clear Air Projects’ category at the inaugural City Transport and Traffic Innovation (CiTTi) Awards (see press release)

·       The North Oxford Corridor improvements programme won a silver International Green Apple Environmental award

·       The A40 Oxford North scheme won a silver International Green Apple Environmental award

·       The Benson Relief Road scheme received the International Green Apple Environmental award ‘Green Champion of the year 2022’

·       Catering Services – “Most Improved Service”

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 are submitted by no later than 9am four working days before the meeting i.e., 9am on Wednesday 7 December 2022. Requests to speak should be sent to chris.reynolds@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 2 working days before the meeting. Written submissions should be no longer than 1 A4 sheet.

Petitions

Satareh Campbell – 250 bus route from Bicester to Oxford

John Tanner - Ban private vehicles from Abingdon Rd whilst Botley Rd is closed and make the P&R free

Public address

Naomi Waite and Caspar Henderson (Abingdon Road petition)

Joanne Gilder (Items 13 and 16)

Mr Sajjad Malik to Councillor Andrew Gant

Mr Richard Parnham to Councillor Andrew Gant

Mr Peter West to Councillor Andrew Gant

Mr John Skinner to Councillor Andrew Gant

Ms Susanne McIvor to Councillor Calum

Miller

Ms Victoria Shepherd to Councillor Duncan Enright

Mr Gregory O’Broin to Councillor Pete Sudbury

Ms Judith Harley to Councillor Andrew Gant

Ms Victoria Campbell to Councillor Calum Miller

37 questions with Notice were asked. Details of the questions and answers and supplementary questions and answers will be set out in the Annex to the minutes

In relation to question 3 (Councillor David Bartholomew to Councillor Andrew Gant) Councillor Enright undertook to liaise with Councillor Gant to provide further details on how responses to statutory highways consultations were considered by the Council.

In relation to question 17 (Councillor Nick Field-Johnson to Councillor Andrew Gant) Councillor Enright undertook to price a written response on the bus services to be funded or part-funded in West Oxfordshire in 2022/23 and was step the Council take to prevent services such as the S1 from being withdrawn.

In relation to question 20 (Councillor Brad Baines to Councillor Andrew Gant) Councillor Enright undertook to provide a written response on the bus prioritisation measures to be considered at the workshop on 15 December 2022.

In relation to question 26 (Councillor Liam Walker to Councillor Duncan Enright) Councillor Enright undertook to provide a written response on the cost of the compulsory land purchase agreements for the A40 Access to Witney at Shores Green scheme.

Report by Director of Human Resources and Organisational Development 

The Council is RECOMMENDED to approve

1.1           The appointment of Chief Executive and Head of Paid Service position to Dr Martin Reeves with a start date to be confirmed.

1.2           A spot salary designation of £225,000 following a process of external benchmarking. The County Council pay policy should be amended to reflect this.

1.3           The designation of Dr Martin Reeves as Returning Officer for all elections with effect from the post holder commencing their role.

RESOLVED to

1)    approve:

(a) The appointment of Chief Executive and Head of Paid Service position to Dr Martin Reeves with a start date to be confirmed.

(b) A spot salary designation of £225,000 following a process of external benchmarking. The County Council pay policy should be amended to reflect this.

(c) The designation of Dr Martin Reeves as Returning Officer for all elections with effect from the post holder commencing their role.

2)    record the Council’s appreciation to Mr Stephen Chandler for his work as Interim Chief Executive prior to the appointment of the permanent postholder

Report of the Cabinet meetings of 15 and 29 November 2022

Council received the report of the Cabinet.

In relation to a question from Councillor Liam Walker, Councillor Duncan Enright said that a written response would be provided on the costs of compulsory purchase associated with the HIF 2 scheme.

Report by Director of Law and Governance and Monitoring Officer

RESOLVED to agree to the Council Size submission attached to this report which recommends to the Local Government Boundary Commission for England (LGBCE) that

a)    The number of elected members should be increased by 6 from 63 to 69 (36 voting in favour, 16 abstentions and 0 against)

b)    There should be single-member Divisions if possible (51 voting in favour, 2 abstentions and 0 against))

Report by the Director of Law and Governance and Monitoring Officer

The Council debated and agreed the following motion on 1 November 2022:

‘This Council has considered a change of Governance in the past from Leader and Cabinet to having a more inclusive Committee structure. The Oxfordshire Fair Deal Alliance wishes to review the decision-making structures of the County Council, with the aim of operating in a much more inclusive way that can involve all the talents of the Council.

The Council now requests the Director of Law and Governance to institute a Full Governance Review of the County Council as soon as practicable, with any recommended changes to the Council's Executive and Governance structure to be decided by Full Council and fully implemented by May 2024”

The Council is RECOMMENDED

a)      To undertake a review of the Council’s governance arrangements as proposed in Annex 1.

b)     To establish a ‘Future Council Governance Working Group’ comprising a minimum of 9 members (4 Liberal Democrat Green Alliance, 3 Conservative Independent Alliance and 2 Labour & Cooperative Party) that reports to the Audit and Governance Committee which will make any recommendations to Council.

c)      To request Group Leaders to nominate members to the working group

RESOLVED (43 voting in favour and 10 against):

a)      To undertake a review of the Council’s governance arrangements as proposed in Annex 1.

b)     To establish a ‘Future Council Governance Working Group’ comprising a minimum of 9 members (4 Liberal Democrat Green Alliance, 3 Conservative Independent Alliance and 2 Labour & Cooperative Party) that reports to the Audit and Governance Committee which will make any recommendations to Council.

c)      To request Group Leaders to nominate members to the working group

This Council acknowledges the difficulties experienced by certain parents and students in the delivery of its SEND service and pays tribute to the testimonies of parents heard at Full Council on 1 November 2022.

This Council places on public record the importance of delivering timely assessments, reviews and information-sharing to parents and resolves to improve its service delivery and working practices as soon as reasonably practicable.

This Council resolves to recommend the Cabinet to  include as wide a range of consultees as possible in drawing up such improvement plans which may include a politically proportionate, cross-party advisory group of Councillors, together with parent-guardian delegates with direct experience of the Council's SEND service. 

To ensure that this matter is kept front of mind, Council resolves to ask, via the Chairman of the People Overview and scrutiny committee, that said committee make it a priority of the utmost importance and urgency to place this as standing item on the agenda.

The amendment by Councillor Richard Webber, as set out in the Schedule of Business, was carried by 28 votes to 20 with 2 abstentions.

The substantive motion, as amended, was carried by 32 votes to 0 with 17 abstentions.

RESOLVED

This Council acknowledges the difficulties experienced by certain parents and students in the delivery of its SEND service and pays tribute to the testimonies of parents heard at Full Council on 1 November 2022.   

This Council places on public record the importance of delivering timely assessments, reviews and information-sharing to parents and resolves to improve its service delivery and working practices as soon as reasonably practicable.   

This Council resolves to recommend the Cabinet to include as wide a range of consultees as possible in drawing up such improvement plans which may include a politically proportionate, cross-party advisory group of Councillors, together with parent-guardian delegates with direct experience of the Council's SEND service.    

To ensure that this matter is kept front of mind, Council resolves to ask, via the Chairman of the People Overview and scrutiny committee, that said committee make it a priority of the utmost importance and urgency to place this as standing item on the agenda.

This Council recalls its motion, adopted on 7 October, that noted the systemic underfunding of SEND by national government. It renews its call for adequate funding of these essential services.

Banbury is working currently towards joining the Global Network of Age-friendly Cities and Communities led by a partnership group coordinated by Age UK Oxfordshire. This council looks to support this initiative through the following actions: 

Promote positive images of ageing in all of our communications to tackle the narrative around ageing. We call on people, services and partners to recognise the need to change both the language and images used when talking about (and with) older people.

Support ongoing activity to raise awareness of the benefits of older workers, encouraging employers to change their approaches to recruiting, reskilling and retaining older employees. Council further supports the need for innovative and radically new ideas and options to support people aged 50-64 who are out of work, to enable them to age well, live well and improve their overall quality of life.

Champion more age-friendly activity and infrastructure in our neighbourhoods, so more older residents can age well in their local communities, with access to the right services, housing, information, infrastructure and opportunities - social, cultural or economic. The voice of older people must be heard to ensure that they continue to contribute to and take a leading role where they live.

We ask that these actons are referred to Cabinet for implementation

The motion was carried unanimously (49 votes to 0)

Council notes that:

1.     Thames Water discharged raw sewage into Oxfordshire rivers 5,028 times in 2021. All 10 Oxon based works discharged into the rivers in 2021;

2.     Calculations indicate Oxford and Witney treatment works can only cope with 62% of the capacity need, and in Banbury for just 49% of requirements;

3.     Discharges have become routine, rather than emergency response to exceptional conditions.

This council believes that:

1.     The rules on sewage discharges must be tightened and enforcement improved, in conjunction with the Environment Agency;

2.     The Government must make capital funding urgently available to address these issues;

3.     Solutions cannot be local, as sewage output in one geographic area affects other areas.

Council recommends the Cabinet:

1.     the Leader to write to Rt Hon Therese Coffey MP, requesting an acceleration in the capital programme to lower risks of untreated sewage discharges into our rivers, and an assurance that housing developers will be expected to fund water infrastructure to meet needs of new housing;

2.     the Leader and Chief Executive to work with other local authorities to call on the Government to provide guidance and funding to local planning authorities to challenge water companies to deliver the urgent upgrades required to water treatment capacity.

Council resolves:

·        to set up a county-wide water resilience working group that will develop appropriate policy to guide planning application determination and enforcement in areas where sewage treatment is insufficient, policy which incorporates legislation, integration, prevention, rectification at source, and the polluter pays principle.

The motion was carried by 48 votes to 1.

This Council welcomes the changes to its scrutiny function generally and the creation of dedicated People, Place and Performance & Corporate Services committees offering more targeted scrutiny of specific workstreams. 

Notwithstanding the successes of the People committee in providing effective scrutiny of the very significant challenges facing Adult Social Care and Children’s Services, Education and Schools issues have, at times, appeared to be marginalised. 

Accordingly, Council resolves to ask Audit & Governance to consider the question of whether the Education Scrutiny Committee should be re-established as part of its review of the Council's scrutiny function in any governance review so as to ensure that Education policy issues can be more fully addressed by members on a deliberative and cross-party basis.

The motion was carried by 26 votes to 15 with 3 abstentions

This Council notes with concern that highways and transport spend now accounts for only 8% of its revenue spend. 

Given the comparatively small expenditure on keeping our roads safe and in good repair, it is vital that the Council’s service  is properly staffed and that such staff strike a reasonable balance between the needs of our City, towns and parishes.  

In certain areas of its highways service, this Council acknowledges that there are significant staffing challenges in the timely provision of Traffic Regulation Orders, in particular, and in dealing with the needs of our rural communities in general.  

This Council recommends the Cabinet to commission a report into the staffing, recruitment and retention challenges facing its highways service for consideration by Cabinet as soon as practicable, with a response published by Cabinet and made available to members no later than its meeting on 28 March 2023.

The time being 3.35 pm, this Motion was considered dropped in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 15.1