Agenda, decisions and draft minutes

There were none.

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.

Questions submitted prior to the agenda being despatched are shown below and will be the subject of a response from the appropriate Cabinet Member or such other councillor or officer as is determined by the Cabinet Member, and shall not be the subject of further debate at this meeting. Questions received after the despatch of the agenda, but before the deadline, will be shown on the Schedule of Addenda circulated at the meeting, together with any written response which is available at that time.

The questions and answers are published as an annex to these minutes.

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.

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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.

There was one request to address the meeting:

Item 5: Didcot Northern Perimeter Road (NPR3) Grant Funding Agreement:

-       Cllr Ian Snowdon

To approve the minutes of the meeting held on 16 July 2026 and for the Chair to sign them as a correct record.

The minutes of the meeting held on 16 July 2026 were approved and signed by the Chair as a correct record.

Cabinet Member: Highways Construction and Repair

Forward Plan Ref: 2026/088 

Key Decision 

Contact: Burhan Khan, Project Manager (Burhan.Khan@oxfordshire.gov.uk)

Report by Director of Environment and Highways (CMDHCR5). 

To consider accepting £6.2M of grant funding originally received by South Oxfordshire District Council under a Grant Determination from the Department of Communities and Local Government to contribute towards the delivery of the Didcot NPR3 scheme.

The Cabinet Member is RECOMMENDED to:

a)    Accept £6.2 million of Community Levy Grant (CLG) grant funding (originally received by South Oxfordshire District Council under a Grant Determination from the Department of Communities and Local Government to contribute towards the delivery of the Didcot NPR3 scheme.

b)    Delegate authority to the Director of Environment and Highways in consultation with the Head of Legal and Governance (Deputy Monitoring Officer) for the completion of a Grant Funding Agreement with South Oxfordshire District Council.

The Chair introduced the item to the meeting, invited speakers to address the meeting and responded to their points in turn.

The Chair noted the long-standing delays to the project across successive administrations and that some of the decisions taken were South Oxfordshire District Council as the planning authority, rather than the County Council, whilst sharing the frustrations of local councillors regarding the delays to the project.

Officers noted that construction dates proposed in 2025 were based off limited technical information available at the time. Further work had since been undertaken and the current estimate for the beginning of the construction of work was in 2028 based upon the technical, environment and planning requirements needed.

The Chair emphasised that the paper sought approval for the County Council to contribute to the scheme and was not about completing the entire scheme.

The Chair noted the difficulties working with developers and the planning authorities to deliver projects, such as Didcot NPR3.

The Chair thanked speakers for their contributions, officers for their work and agreed to the recommendations in the report.  

RESOLVED to:

a) Accept £6.2 million of Community Levy Grant (CLG) grant funding (originally received by South Oxfordshire District Council under a Grant Determination from the Department of Communities and Local Government to contribute towards the delivery of the Didcot NPR3 scheme.

b) Delegate authority to the Director of Environment and Highways in consultation with the Head of Legal and Governance (Deputy Monitoring Officer) for the completion of a Grant Funding Agreement with South Oxfordshire District Council.