Agenda, decisions and minutes

Before nominations were invited for the office of Chair of the Council, Councillor Susanna Pressel (the retiring Chair) took the opportunity to reflect on her year in office as Chair of the Council, and in particular her work to raise the profile of local government and emphasise the importance of voting.  Through her attendance at events, she had also been able to thank many of the wonderful staff and community volunteers who give up their time to help other people.

Councillor Pressel thanked Members for electing her and thanked staff for their support throughout the year which had been an amazing and life-changing experience for her.

Councillor Brighouse paid tribute to the outgoing Chair, thanking her for chairing the meetings so well and for raising the profile of the Chair of the County Council all around the County.

The Monitoring Officer, Anita Bradley then invited nominations for the office of Chair of the Council for the 2023/24 Council Year.  Councillor Reeves moved and Councillor Ford seconded that Councillor Felix Bloomfield be elected as Chair of the Council for the 2023/24 Council Year. There being no other nominations and no dissent, Councillor Bloomfield was duly declared elected (nem con).

Upon election, Councillor Bloomfield signed the Statutory Declaration of Acceptance of Office.

RESOLVED: (nem con) that Councillor Felix Bloomfield be elected as Chair for the 2023/24 Council Year.

(Councillor Felix Bloomfield in the Chair.)

The Chair thanked Members for the great honour.  He thanked Councillor Pressel for supporting so many individuals and groups across Oxfordshire in her year as Chair.  He committed to promoting the best objectives and services of the Council and to foster community identity and pride in the County.

The Chair called for nominations for the office of Vice-Chair.

Councillor Leffman moved and Councillor Brighouse seconded that Councillor Alison Rooke be elected as Vice-Chair of the Council for the 2023/24 Council Year. There being no other nominations, Councillor Alison Rooke was duly declared elected Vice-Chair of the Council for the 2023/24 Council Year. Councillor Rooke signed the statutory Declaration of Acceptance of Office.

RESOLVED: (nem con) that Councillor Alison Rooke be elected Vice-Chair for the 2023/24 Council Year.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Banfield, Corkin, Gant, Ilott, van Mierlo, Walker and Webber.

There were no declarations of interest.

To approve the minutes of the meeting held on 28 March 2023 (CC1) and to receive information arising from them.

The minutes of the meeting held on 28 March 2023 were approved and signed as a correct record with the following amendments:

Added to the Attendance: Councillor Trish Elphinstone

Minute 11/23, on Page 3 at the end of the third paragraph:

Insert “Member” before “should resign.”

Minute 13/23, on Page 8 insert after the second paragraph:

“In response to a supplementary question from Mr Parnham, Councillor Gant said that he would provide a  written response giving the date that the Council first became aware that pollution levels on Hollow Way and Oxford Road / Between Towns Road may have been breached, according to provisional city data”.

The Chair announced that for the ninth year in a row, residents in Oxfordshire had topped the table nationally when it comes to recycling, reusing and composting.  Oxfordshire County Council had again been named the best performing county council waste disposal authority in England in that category. In 2021 - 22, residents recycled, reused or composted 58.2 per cent of their household waste, according to the latest government figures.

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

Requests to speak must be submitted no later than 9am one working day before the meeting i.e., 9am on Monday 15 May 2023.  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 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.

Petition

Themis Avraamides presented a petition with almost 500 signatures calling for restrictions on buses using narrow streets in Woodstock as a turning circle.  The double-decker buses posed a health and safety danger to pedestrians. For example, a lady on the footpath was hit by a wing mirror on one occasion.  Buses are often unable to get through causing an obstruction and the practice exposed town residents to higher levels of air pollution.

Speaker

Richard Parnham stated that the minutes of the last meeting omitted to record that the Chair directed Councillor Gant to circulate the response to Mr Parnham’s supplementary question to all councillors.  He had still not received a response to the question regarding air pollution levels around Hollow Way in Oxford and asked the Chair to direct Councillor Gant to circulate a response.

The Chair responded that it was normal practice to circulate written responses to all Members.  He would follow the matter up and ensure that a response is given.

Report of the Cabinet meetings held on 28 March 2023 and 18 April 2023.

Council received the report of the Cabinet.

In relation to a question from Councillor Eddie Reeves, Councillor Duncan Enright, Cabinet Member for Travel & Development Strategy, agreed to report to Council any amendments to the Terms of Reference or the Memorandum of Understanding in relation to the Future Oxfordshire Partnership.

Report from the Chair of the Audit & Governance Committee.

The Annual Report sets out the role of the Audit & Governance Committee and summarises the work that has been undertaken both as a Committee and through the support of the Audit Working Group in 2022/23.

Council is RECOMMENDED to note the contents of the Annual Report of the Audit & Governance Committee 2022/23.

Council had before it the Annual Report of the Audit & Governance Committee which summarised the work that had been undertaken both as a Committee and through the support of the Audit Working Group in 2022/23. Councillor Roz Smith, Chair of the Audit & Governance Committee, moved and Councillor Brad Baines, Deputy Chair of the Audit & Governance Committee, seconded that the Council receive the report.

In response to a question from Councillor Michael Waine, Councillor Smith stated that the Committee’s Governance Working Group had met and the issue of having an Education Scrutiny Committee was discussed and will continue to be considered as part of their work.

RESOLVED: (nem con) to note the contents of the Annual Report of the Audit & Governance Committee 2022/23.

Report by the Leader of the Council – to be published with the Schedule of Business.

Council is RECOMMENDED to note the names, addresses and electoral divisions of the people appointed to the Cabinet by the Leader of the Council for the coming year and their respective portfolios.

Under the Council’s constitution, the Leader of the Council was required to inform the Annual Meeting of the Council of the delegations she had made in relation to the functions of the Cabinet. Council had before it a report (appended to the Schedule of Business) which confirmed a change in the appointment to the Public Health & Equality portfolio.  The Leader also made a change in that title to “Public Health & Inequalities.”

The names of the people appointed to the Cabinet by the Leader of the Council for the coming year and their respective portfolios were as follows:

Leader – Liz Leffman

Deputy Leader – Liz Brighouse

Cabinet Member for:

Corporate Services – Glynis Phillips

Community Services and Safety – Jenny Hannaby

Climate Change Delivery and Environment – Pete Sudbury

Travel and Development Strategy – Duncan Enright

Highway Management – Andrew Gant

Finance – Calum Miller

Adult Social Care – Tim Bearder

Public Health & Inequalities – Michael O’Connor

Report by the Director of Law & Governance & Monitoring Officer.

The Council is RECOMMENDED to:

a)              note how the rules operate and approve necessary adjustments to achieve the balance across and within Committees to comply with the rules.

b)              appoint Councillors to the scrutiny and other committees of the Council listed in Annex 3 as required by any changes necessary as a result of applying the proportionality rules, and subject to any changes on the nomination of the political groups.

The Council was required by the Local Government & Housing Act 1989 to review the political balance on its committees on an annual basis. The Council had before it a report which set out how the rules operate and sought approval for adjustments which were necessary to achieve the balance across and within committees to comply with the rules.

The Council also had before it Annex 2 which set out the political balance on the committees and Annex 3 showing the membership of all committees, together with a number of additional changes set out in the Schedule of Business for the meeting.

The Chair noted that a revised report was included in the Schedule of Business at Page 9 along with revised Annexes 2 and 3.  Annexes 1 and 4 remained unchanged.

The Future Oxfordshire Partnership Scrutiny Panel should not have been included in the list of committees contributing to the calculations on political balance.  The change did not affect the final number of seats for each political group.   Also Annex 3 had been corrected to show Councillor Mallon as Chair of the Place Overview & Scrutiny Committee and the Corporate Parenting Committee as having 9 places.

Councillor Felix Bloomfield moved and Cllr Alison Rooke seconded that the recommendations set out in the report be adopted. Council noted the revised report and Annexes 2 & 3 and the recommendations were agreed.

RESOLVED (nem con) to:

a)              note how the rules operate and approve necessary adjustments to achieve the balance across and within Committees to comply with the rules.

b)              appoint Councillors to the scrutiny and other committees of the Council listed in Annex 3 as required by any changes necessary as a result of applying the proportionality rules, and subject to any changes on the nomination of the political groups.

Council also noted the following appointments notified by the political group leaders:

Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire, Berkshire West Health Overview & Scrutiny Committee:

Cllr Elphinstone to replace Cllr Edosomwan

Corporate Parenting Committee:

Cllr Brighouse and Cllr Lygo appointed

Future Oxfordshire Partnership Scrutiny Panel:

Cllr Hicks to replace Cllr Baines

Horton Joint Health Overview & Scrutiny Committee:

Cllr Levy has replaced Cllr van Mierlo

People Overview & Scrutiny Committee:

Cllr Edosomwan to replace Cllr O’Connor

Performance & Corporate Services Overview & Scrutiny Committee:

Cllr Hicks to replace Cllr O’Connor

Place Overview & Scrutiny Committee:

Cllr Coles to replace Cllr Baines

Oxfordshire County Council & Teachers' Joint Committee:

Cllr Pressel to replace Cllr Brighouse

Two further changes not in the Schedule:

Cllr Levy to replace Cllr van Mierlo on Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire, Berkshire West Health Overview & Scrutiny Committee and Horton Joint Health Overview & Scrutiny Committee

A schedule of meeting dates for the 2023/24 Council Year is attached. These were approved by Council at its meeting on 1 November 2022 and are reproduced here as a reminder to members.

Council is recommended to note the dates of meetings for the 2023/24 Council Year.

Council had before it a schedule of committee dates for the 2023/24 Council Year which had been approved at its meeting on 1 November 2022. The schedule had been drawn up to reflect the various rules regarding frequency of meetings set out in the Council’s Constitution.

Councillor Calum Miller moved and Councillor Liz Brighouse seconded that Council request officers to move the date of the February Council meeting from 13 February 2024 to 20 February 2024 to avoid it being held in the school mid-term break, unless any legal problems were identified with such a change.

RESOLVED (nem con) to note the schedule of dates of committees in 2023/24 subject to the following amendments:

a) the start time of Place Overview and Scrutiny Committee is 10.00am.

b) move the date of the February Council meeting from 13 February 2024 to 20 February 2024, unless any legal problems were identified with such a change.

Report of the Director of Law & Governance and Monitoring Officer

COUNCIL IS RECOMMENDED to approve the Scheme of Delegation as it relates to Council functions including the amendments to Part 7.1 and Part 7.2 of the Council Constitution annexed to this report.

The Council is required annually to agree the scheme of delegation of Council responsibilities to Officers for inclusion in the Constitution. 

Councillor Felix Bloomfield moved and Councillor Alison Rooke seconded the recommendations.

RESOLVED: to approve the Scheme of Delegation as it relates to Council functions including the amendments to Part 7.1 and Part 7.2 of the Council Constitution annexed to this report.