Agenda, decisions and minutes

Cabinet - Tuesday, 21 July 2020 2.00 pm

Venue: Virtual

Contact: Sue Whitehead  Tel: 07393 001213; E-Mail:  sue.whitehead@oxfordshire.gov.uk

Link: video link to the meeting

Items
No. Item

51/20

Apologies for Absence

Minutes:

Apologies were received from Councillors Gray and Hudspeth.

52/20

Declarations of Interest

- guidance note opposite

Minutes:

Councillor Corkin declared an interest on Item 14 on the grounds of being a non executive director on the board of Graven Hill Village Development Co. Ltd, an arms length business owned by CDC

53/20

Minutes pdf icon PDF 378 KB

To approve the minutes of the meeting held on 16 June 2020 (CA3) and to receive information arising from them.

Minutes:

The Minutes of the meeting held on 16 June 2020 were approved and signed as a correct record.

54/20

Questions from County Councillors pdf icon PDF 326 KB

Any county councillor may, by giving notice to the Proper Officer by 9 am two working days before the meeting, ask a question on any matter in respect of the Cabinet’s delegated powers.

 

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.

Minutes:

Councillor Mathew had given written notice of the following question to Councillor Constance, Cabinet Member for Environment (including Transport):

“How many trees has Oxfordshire County Council cut down in the last five years and how many of those were replaced. How many new plantings were there all together?”

Councillor Constance replied:

“Oxfordshire County Council have had to remove 2297 trees on the highway verge it is responsible for as Highway Authority. This figure includes some trees that have failed during adverse weather conditions (but not necessarily all) or due to factors beyond our control. In that period, the council have planted 75 trees. There has been no funding for tree replacements or new planting.

Currently there is no budget allocation for tree planting. The only tree related budget is for Highway Tree Maintenance.”

 

Councillor Susanna Pressel had given written notice of the following question to Councillor Walker, Cabinet member for Highway Operations & Delivery:

“The east riverbank along the Thames towpath above Osney Bridge behind Abbey Road was beautifully reinforced by the County Council about 10 years ago. It is part of the Thames Path and classed as highway. Unfortunately, in some places the timber has rotted or been damaged, and the bank has eroded or been scoured out. It is now quite dangerous in places and I fear that an accident could happen any day. This stretch of towpath is now really popular and well-used, especially by people exercising or avoiding public transport. If the temporary bus gates go in, it will be even more heavily used.

Please can it be repaired urgently?”

Councillor Walker replied:

“This stretch of Thames towpath behind Abbey Road is being put forward as a potential scheme to be funded by the DfT Covid Recovery programme under Tranche 2. 

If funding is secured from the Tranche 2 allocation, work will commence as soon as possible. If not, it will be added to the Infrastructure Operations capital programme and its priority will be assessed alongside other pending schemes.

In the meantime, Officers will continue to monitor the situation and are working with Oxford City Council, who now own this land, and the Thames Path National Trail team to remove encroaching vegetation to move use away from the river edge and reduce the risk this poses to the public.  This section of Thames towpath is well known to us and as the Councillor notes, was repaired using a technique called willow spilling, which was promoted by the Environment Agency at the time but has had mixed results on this highly trafficked route”

55/20

Petitions and Public Address pdf icon PDF 181 KB

This Cabinet meeting will be held virtually in order to conform with current guidelines regarding social distancing. Normally requests to speak at this public meeting are required by 9 am on the day preceding the published date of the meeting. However, during the current situation and to facilitate these new arrangements we are asking that requests to speak are submitted by no later than 9am four working days before the meeting i.e. 9 am on Wednesday 15 July 2020. Requests to speak should be sent to sue.whitehead@oxfordshire.gov.uk together with 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 9 am 2 working days before the meeting.

 

Where a meeting is held virtually and the addressee is unable to participate virtually their written submission will be accepted

.

Written submissions should be no longer than 1 A4 sheet.

 

Minutes:

Item

Speaker

Item 7 – Didcot Garden Town Housing Infrastructure Fund

Councillor John Sanders, Shadow Cabinet Member for Environment (inc Transport)

Item 9 – Treasury Management Outturn 2019/20

Councillor Glynis Phillips, Shadow Cabinet Member for Finance

Item 10 – Financial Monitoring Report – July 2020

Councillor Glynis Phillips, Shadow Cabinet Member for Finance

Councillor Liz Brighouse, Chairman of the Performance Scrutiny Committee

Item 11a

Councillor John Sanders, Shadow Cabinet Member for Environment (inc Transport)

The following requests to address the meeting had been agreed by the Chairman:

56/20

Oxfordshire Growth Board Terms of Reference and Memorandum of Understanding pdf icon PDF 221 KB

Cabinet Member: Leader

Forward Plan Ref: 2020/097

Contact: Sue Halliwell, Director of Planning & Place Tel: 07500 109185

 

Report by Corporate Director – Place & Growth and Director of the Growth Board (CA6).

 

This report proposes a revised Terms of Reference (ToR) and Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the Oxfordshire Growth Board, which requires approval by each of the Oxfordshire Council Cabinet. These are presented for consideration following a recent public review of the Growth Board’s role and functions, which has helped to inform the revisions made.

 

The Cabinet is RECOMMENDED to

 

(a)  Approve the Terms of Reference and Memorandum of Understanding at Annexes 1 and 2 respectively

 

(b)  Delegate authority to the Chief Executive, in consultation with the Leader and the Growth Board, to make minor amendments to these documents as required to support the operational efficiency of the Growth Board’s work.

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Cabinet considered a report that proposed a revised Terms of Reference (ToR) and Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the Oxfordshire Growth Board.

 

Councillor Heathcoat in introducing the report and moving the recommendations commented that the proposals were also going to the Cabinets/Executives of the City and District Councils in Oxfordshire. It had been considered and endorsed by Cherwell District Council Executive on 6 July.

 

RESOLVED:            to

 

(a)  approve the Terms of Reference and Memorandum of Understanding at Annexes 1 and 2 respectively

 

(b)  delegate authority to the Chief Executive, in consultation with the Leader and the Growth Board, to make minor amendments to these documents as required to support the operational efficiency of the Growth Board’s work.

57/20

Didcot Garden Town Housing Infrastructure Fund: Preferred Scheme Alignments pdf icon PDF 4 MB

Cabinet Member: Highway Delivery & Operations

Forward Plan Ref: 2020/043

Contact: Aron Wisdom- Programme Lead (HIF 1) Tel: 07776 244856/Gavin Belcher, Senior Transport Planner Tel: 07557 082580

 

Report by Director of Growth and Economy (CA7).

 

The Didcot Garden Town Housing Infrastructure Fund (known as HIF1) project is a vital package of highway measures to enable sustainable growth in the South Oxfordshire and Vale of White Horse district areas as identified in relevant policy documents.  Officers undertook a public consultation on the preferred options that were identified during the feasibility design process and in response to a previous consultation exercise. Cabinet is requested to approve the preferred route alignment of the HIF1 project to allow the preliminary design to progress. A funding agreement as now been signed with Government securing £218m of the £234m project costs.

 

Preferred alignments for the four schemes that constitute the HIF1 programme have been informed by a detailed and multi-stage optioneering exercise to identify the appropriate interventions. 

 

A public consultation exercise was undertaken in March/April 2020 to seek the views of local people on these preferred alignments so that, where appropriate, these comments could be incorporated into the preliminary design process. The consultation yielded many comments to be considered and the schemes themselves are predominantly supported by those responding.

 

It is recommended that Cabinet approve the preferred alignment for HIF1. This approval is being sought as a political mandate is required to ensure that due process is undertaken and officers are given authority to proceed on this basis. 

 

The Cabinet is RECOMMENDED to:

(a)          Approve the identified preferred alignments as illustrated in Figure 1 as the basis to progress into the next stage of scheme design for the four schemes that constitute the Didcot Garden Town Housing Infrastructure programme.

(b)          Note the various optioneering exercises that have informed the preferred alignments set out in paragraphs 24 to 30.

(c)          Note the findings of the recent consultation exercise set out in paragraphs 31 to 36 which sought the views of local people and other stakeholders to be taken into consideration in the next stage of design, yielding a predominantly positive response to the preferred scheme alignments.

 

NB: Slight variations to alignments maybe required during the next design phase. Any significant changes would be brought back for decision or managed through the CPO process as necessary.

Minutes:

The Didcot Garden Town Housing Infrastructure Fund (known as HIF1) project is a vital package of highway measures to enable sustainable growth in the South Oxfordshire and Vale of White Horse district areas as identified in relevant policy documents.  Following a public consultation on the preferred options that were identified during the feasibility design process and in response to a previous consultation exercise. Cabinet considered a report seeking approval of the preferred route alignment of the HIF1 project to allow the preliminary design to progress.

 

Councillor John Sanders, Shadow Cabinet Member for Environment (including Transport) broadly welcomed the proposed investment but queried the level of infrastructure provision when compared to the numbers of houses planned. Councillor Sanders commented that although there was provision for affordable homes he was worried how affordable they would remain in a rising

Market. He asked whether there was a timetable for the funding. Finally Councillor Sanders queried whether there were plans for the developments to be zero carbon emission homes as it was easier and cheaper to build this in from the start.

 

Councillor Walker, Cabinet Member for Highway Delivery & Operations responded to the comments pointing out that the whole report was about the provision of infrastructure. He thanked Councillor sanders for his comments and advised that there would be an all councillor briefing on 29 July where councillors would be able to feed such comments in.

 

Eric Owens, Assistant Director, Growth & Place introduced the contents of the report highlighting the four projects set out in the report.

 

Eric Owens responded to questions and comments from cabinet members:

·         The timescales set out in the report were tight but achievable. There were margins built in but there were also risks as there would be with any major undertaking of this size: this was why officers were working hard to ensure robust programme control.

·         In relation to concerns expressed by Councillor Lindsay-Gale on the impact of the proposals on Nuneham Courtenay Eric Owens recognised that officers were alive to the need for future solutions to meet those concerns.

During discussion Cabinet:

 

·         Supported the proposals and commended officers for the considerable work done to bring it to this stage. .

·         Highlighted the importance of the proposals in achieving economic and social prosperity, particularly in the context of recovery from the  pandemic.

 

RESOLVED:            to:

 

(a)          Approve the identified preferred alignments as illustrated in Figure 1 as the basis to progress into the next stage of scheme design for the four schemes that constitute the Didcot Garden Town Housing Infrastructure programme.

(b)          Note the various optioneering exercises that have informed the preferred alignments set out in paragraphs 24 to 30.

(c)          Note the findings of the recent consultation exercise set out in paragraphs 31 to 36 which sought the views of local people and other stakeholders to be taken into consideration in the next stage of design, yielding a predominantly positive response to the preferred scheme alignments.

 

NB: Slight variations to alignments maybe required during the next  ...  view the full minutes text for item 57/20

58/20

Housing Infrastructure Fund - A40 (HIF2) Public Report pdf icon PDF 392 KB

Cabinet Member: Environment

Forward Plan Ref: 2020/059

Contact: Hannah Battye, Growth Manager, Central Tel: 07808 573932

 

Report by Assistant Director for Growth & Place (CA8).

 

N.B.  The report does not contain exempt information and is available to the public. Exempt information is contained in the confidential annexes at Item 12 below. In the event that any Member or Officer wishes to discuss the information set out in the Annex to Item 7, the Cabinet will be invited to resolve to exclude the public for the consideration of that Annex by passing a resolution in relation to that item.

 

Oxfordshire was successful in bidding for the Housing and Infrastructure Fund (HIF) for West Oxfordshire A40 Smart Corridor. The County Council has now met all the contract pre-conditions which enables the Grant Determination Agreement Heads of Terms to be agreed and the legal agreement drafted.

In agreeing the Head of Terms, the County Council will be signing up to receiving £102m to fund the improvements to the A40 corridor which will support additional housing within West Oxfordshire and wider economic benefits.

 

By accepting the funding and agreeing to deliver the infrastructure by April 2024, the Council will be taking on a level of financial risk if the programme goes off track or there is non delivery and these are outlined in the report. The County Council have forward funded the development of the HIF A40 scheme upto this point of approximately £800k which will be claimed from Homes England.

 

The scheme is also intrinsically linked to the Science Transit Local Growth Funded (LGF) scheme which is a business case being developed to be submitted to the Department of Transport. The County Council will have to fulfil a number of conditions relating to the LGF scheme to ensure that both elements are delivered together.

 

Cabinet is RECOMMENDED to:

 

(a)  Subject to the confirmation from Homes England that the contract pre-conditions have been met and due diligence has been completed to manage programme and financial risk to the Council, authorise the Chief Executive, in consultation with the Leader of the Council and the Cabinet Member for Environment to:

i)   approve any final detailed amendments of the drafted Heads of Terms.

ii)  approve the Grant Determination Agreement (GDA).

 

(b)  Subject to the satisfactory completion of recommendation (i) approve the inclusion of all three elements (identified in para. 4 and Appendix 1) of the programme into the Capital Programme and report the governance of these projects at a HIF2 programme level with an overall budget provision of £102m subject to the implementation of the grant determination agreement with Homes England.

 

(c)  Note the draft Heads of Terms (Annex 1) that form the basis of grant determination agreement between Homes England and Oxfordshire County Council for West Oxfordshire Housing Infrastructure Fund Grant Award.

 

(d)  Note the Assurance Framework (explained in para 27) which sets out the background to the Housing Infrastructure Funding process and establishes the approach to reporting and monitoring implementation.

 

 

Minutes:

N.B.  The report does not contain exempt information and is available to the public. Exempt information is contained in the confidential annexes at Item 12 of the agenda.

 

Oxfordshire was successful in bidding for the Housing and Infrastructure Fund (HIF) for West Oxfordshire A40 Smart Corridor. The County Council has now met all the contract pre-conditions which enables the Grant Determination Agreement Heads of Terms to be agreed and the legal agreement drafted.

 

Cabinet considered the report seeking authority for the Chief Executive to have delegated authority to progress the project.

 

Sue Halliwell introduced the contents of the report explaining the background to the current position reached following close working with Homes England.

 

Councillor Constance, Cabinet Member for Environment (including Transport) moved the recommendations.

 

RESOLVED:             to:

 

(a)  Subject to the confirmation from Homes England that the contract pre-conditions have been met and due diligence has been completed to manage programme and financial risk to the Council, authorise the Chief Executive, in consultation with the Leader of the Council and the Cabinet Member for Environment to:

i)    approve any final detailed amendments of the drafted Heads of Terms.

ii)   approve the Grant Determination Agreement (GDA);

 

(b)  Subject to the satisfactory completion of recommendation (i) approve the inclusion of all three elements (identified in para. 4 and Appendix 1) of the programme into the Capital Programme and report the governance of these projects at a HIF2 programme level with an overall budget provision of £102m subject to the implementation of the grant determination agreement with Homes England;

 

(c)  Note the draft Heads of Terms (Annex 1) that form the basis of grant determination agreement between Homes England and Oxfordshire County Council for West Oxfordshire Housing Infrastructure Fund Grant Award; and

 

(d)  Note the Assurance Framework (explained in para 27) which sets out the background to the Housing Infrastructure Funding process and establishes the approach to reporting and monitoring implementation.

 

 

 

59/20

Treasury Management 2019/20 Outturn pdf icon PDF 937 KB

Cabinet Member: Finance

Forward Plan Ref: 2020/027

Contact: Tim Chapple, Treasury Manager Tel: 07917 262935

 

Report by Director of Finance (CA9).

 

The report sets out the Treasury Management activity undertaken in the financial year 2019/20 in compliance with the CIPFA Code of Practice.  The report includes Debt and Investment activity, Prudential Indicator Outturn, Investment Strategy, and interest receivable and payable for the financial year.

 

Cabinet is RECOMMENDED to note the report, and to RECOMMEND Council to note the Council’s Treasury Management Activity in 2019/20.

Minutes:

Cabinet had before them a report that set out the Treasury Management activity undertaken in the financial year 2019/20 in compliance with the CIPFA Code of Practice.  The report included Debt and Investment activity, Prudential Indicator Outturn, Investment Strategy, and interest receivable and payable for the financial year.

 

Councillor Glynis Phillips, Shadow Cabinet Member for Finance highlighted aspects of the report commenting that there was little cause for concern overall.

 

Councillor Phillips went on to refer to the higher than average allocation to local authority deposits and queried what would happen in the event of one of those local authorities issuing a S114 Notice.

 

Councillor Phillips also commented that there was talk of devolution and it would be helpful to hear what would become of loans to a local authority that ceased under devolution arrangements

 

Councillor Phillips asked whether Cabinet was considering external borrowing. to reduce the scale of cuts to services.

 

Councillor Bartholomew responded to the points made.  He commented that if a council issued a S114 Notice it would preclude them from entering into any new arrangements but that existing arrangements would stand. Similarly, if a council ceased to exist due to devolution its commitments and undertakings would transfer to the new authority. There would be potential timing issues in both such circumstances, but the Treasury Management team would manage the liquidity risk internally as OCC had high liquid balances.

 

In response to the query on external borrowing Councillor Bartholomew commented that the Council had no need for external borrowing due to the very healthy cash reserves.

 

Councillor Bartholomew introduced the contents of the report thanking the Director of Finance and the Finance Management team for the production of the report.

 

Councillor Heathcoat thanked the  Director of Finance and her team as it had been a very challenging time.

 

RESOLVED:             to note the report, and to RECOMMEND Council to note the Council’s Treasury Management Activity in 2019/20.

 

60/20

Financial Monitoring Report - July 2020 pdf icon PDF 465 KB

Cabinet Member: Cabinet Member for Finance

Forward Plan Ref: 2020/091

Contact: Hannah Doney, Head of Corporate Finance Tel: 07584 174654

 

Report by Director of Finance (CA10).

 

The report is the first financial monitoring report of the 2020/21 financial year.  It builds on the ‘Estimated Impact of Covid-19 April 2020 to June 2020’ report which formed annex D of the Business Management Report to Cabinet in May.  The report sets out the financial monitoring position as at 31 May 2020 including the impact of Covid-19.  The report also sets out the additional funding received to date to manage the financial pressures arising from Covid-19. 

The Cabinet is RECOMMENDED to:

(a)          note the contents of this report

(b)          to ask officers to identify plans to address the potential overspend in 2020/21 arising from COVID-19 and report back to the next meeting with recommendations for action.

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Cabinet considered  the first financial monitoring report of the 2020/21 financial year, together with an addenda setting out additional information.  The report built on the ‘Estimated Impact of Covid-19 April 2020 to June 2020’ report which formed annex D of the Business Management Report to Cabinet in May.  The report set out the financial monitoring position as at 31 May 2020 including the impact of Covid-19.  The report also set out the additional funding received to date to manage the financial pressures arising from Covid-19. 

 

Councillor Glynis Phillips, Shadow Cabinet member for Finance thanked the finance team for all their additional work. It was important to remember the work of the back room staff alongside the front line workers who together had made such a positive contribution during this time of crisis. The report highlighted the ongoing uncertainty of the Council finances in this and future years. Whilst there were additional grants which were welcomed they came with conditions with increasing central government control. The report highlighted the estimated £20m funding gap and that  the council needed to start planning for ways to meet this gap. Councillor Phillips noted the recommendations for officers to identify palns to address the potential overspend  and the unusual step of a meeting in August to consider the way forward. Urge Council to meet to explore every possibility of meeting this shortfall before agreeing to even more cuts to services.

 

Councillor David Bartholomew, Cabinet Member for Finance responded to the the points made by Councillor Phillips. In particular he commented on her remarks around central government control, that central government by its very nature would have a centralised view and the Council was aware that local government must always shout to ensure its voice was heard because we know the local issues in far more detail. Councillor Bartholomew added that in terms of the support received by this Council, whilst always wanting more the support received so far had been satisfactory and there was more to come. Councillor Bartholomew, in response to Councillor Phillips final point gave an assurance that Cabinet would be exploring all opportunities to meet the shortfall without austerity.

 

Councillor Liz Brighouse, Chairman of Performance Scrutiny Committee, referred to the emergency Cabinet meeting on 18 August and the role played by the Performance Scrutiny Committee in the budget process. Councillor Brighouse hoped that Performance Scrutiny Committee would get the opportunity to consider any future revised budget. Lorna Baxter, Director of Finance confirmed that a meeting of Performance Scrutiny Committee would be scheduled prior to the Cabinet meeting.

 

Councillor Bartholomew commented that the meeting of Cabinet on 18 August was an extraordinary meeting rather than an emergency meeting. It was right and proper for Cabinet to make a considered and measured response  to the situation.

 

Councillor Bartholomew introduced the contents of the report and addenda

RESOLVED:             to:

(a)          note the contents of the report and addenda;

(b)          ask officers to identify plans to address the potential overspend in 2020/21 arising from COVID-19 and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 60/20

61/20

Forward Plan and Future Business pdf icon PDF 122 KB

Cabinet Member: All

Contact Officer: Sue Whitehead, Committee Services Manager Tel: 07393 001213

 

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 CA11.  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.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Cabinet considered a list of items for the immediately forthcoming meetings of the Cabinet together with changes and additions set out in the schedule of addenda.

 

RESOLVED:            to note the items currently identified for forthcoming meetings.

 

61/20a

Department of Transport Active Travel Emergency Fund - Tranche 2 pdf icon PDF 217 KB

Cabinet Member: Environment

Forward Plan Ref: 2020/108

Contact: Melanie Graham, Group Manager: Service & Business Improvement; Tel: 07741 607801

 

Report by Director for Planning & Place.

 

This report provides an overview of the Department of Transport's Active Travel Emergency fund and, in particular, sets out the requirements and arrangements for the production and approval of the Tranche 2 submission.

 

The Cabinet is RECOMMENDED to:

 

(a)          Note the criteria of Tranche 2 of the Department of Transport Active Travel Emergency Fund; and

 

(b)          Delegate to the Chief Executive, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Environment (and Transport), the final sign off of the Oxfordshire County Council’s bid for the Department of Transport Active Travel Emergency Fund Tranche 2 submission.

 

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Councillor Heathcoat, as Chairman for the meeting had agreed that this item be added an item of urgent business in order to meet the timetable for submission to the Department of Transport set by central Government.

 

Cabinet considered a report that provided an overview of the Department of Transport's Active Travel Emergency fund and, in particular, set out the requirements and arrangements for the production and approval of the Tranche 2 submission.

 

Councillor Constance, Cabinet Member for Environment and Sue Halliwell, Director of Planning & Place introduced the contents of the report highlighting the need for the recommended delegation given the tight timescales involved.

 

Sue Halliwell, responding to a query from Councillor Heathcoat, Deputy Leader of the Council, stated that there was much better information from central government on this second tranche with much greater clarity on requirements to ensure that the bid was ticking all the core criteria against the funding.

 

Councillor John Sanders, Shadow Cabinet Member for Environment, Hoped that some of the Tranche 2 money could go into the Low Traffic Neighbourhoods.

 

 

During discussion Cabinet expressed concern at the process and tight timescales involved. Responding to questions Sue Halliwell: confirmed that some of the examples of local schemes on the portal referred to in the introduction came from our own information but not all; explained the phased approach to the bidding process so that OCC was in a position to take advantage  of any additional monies that became available.

 

Responding to concerns that the measures would be urban centric and short term, Sue Halliwell and Councillor Constance explained the limitations of the process that meant that it was likely that city schemes and spade ready projects were likely to be successful. However, every effort would be made to have a balanced approach to urban and rural schemes.

 

RESOLVED:             to:

 

(a)          note the criteria of Tranche 2 of the Department of Transport Active Travel Emergency Fund; and

 

(b)          delegate to the Chief Executive, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Environment (and Transport), the final sign off of the Oxfordshire County Council’s bid for the Department of Transport Active Travel Emergency Fund Tranche 2 submission.

 

 

62/20

Exempt Item

 

Item 13

 

In the event that any Member or Officer wishes to discuss the information set out in the Annexes to Agenda Item 8 attached as Item 13, the Cabinet will be invited to resolve to exclude the public for the consideration of those  Annexes by passing a resolution in relation in the following terms:

 

"that the public be excluded during the consideration of the Annexes since it is likely that if they were present during that discussion there would be a disclosure of "exempt" information as described in Part I of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act, 1972 and specified below the item in the Agenda".

 

NOTE: The report does not contain exempt information and is available to the public.

 

THE ANNEXES TO THE ITEM NAMED HAS NOT BEEN MADE PUBLIC AND SHOULD BE REGARDED AS ‘CONFIDENTIAL’ BY MEMBERS AND OFFICERS ENTITLED TO RECEIVE THEM.

 

 

Item 14

 

It is RECOMMENDED that the public be excluded for the duration of item 14 (since it is likely that if they were present during that item there would be disclosure of exempt information as defined in Part I of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended) and specified below in relation to that item and since it is considered that, in all the circumstances of the case, the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information on the grounds set out in that item.

 

THE REPORT RELATING TO THE EXEMPT ITEM HAS NOT BEEN MADE PUBLIC AND SHOULD BE REGARDED AS STRICTLY PRIVATE TO MEMBERS AND OFFICERS ENTITLED TO RECEIVE THEM.

 

THIS ALSO MEANS THAT THE CONTENTS OF THE ANNEXES SET OUT AT ITEM 13 AND THE WHOLE REPORT AT ITEM 14 SHOULD NOT BE DISCUSSED WITH OTHERS AND NO COPIES SHOULD BE MADE.

 

Minutes:

RESOLVED:             that the public be excluded for the duration of items 13 and 14 (since it is likely that if they were present during that item there would be disclosure of exempt information as defined in Part I of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended) and specified below in relation to that item and since it is considered that, in all the circumstances of the case, the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information on the grounds set out in that item.

 

 

THE ANNEXES TO ITEM 13 HAS NOT BEEN MADE PUBLIC AND SHOULD BE REGARDED AS ‘CONFIDENTIAL’ BY MEMBERS AND OFFICERS ENTITLED TO RECEIVE THEM.

 

NOTE: The report (set out at Item 8 of the agenda) to the Annexes attached as Item 13 does not contain exempt information and is available to the public.

 

THE REPORT RELATING TO THE EXEMPT ITEM 14 HAS NOT BEEN MADE PUBLIC AND SHOULD BE REGARDED AS STRICTLY PRIVATE TO MEMBERS AND OFFICERS ENTITLED TO RECEIVE THEM.

 

THIS ALSO MEANS THAT THE CONTENTS OF THE ANNEXES SET OUT AT ITEM 13 AND THE WHOLE REPORT AT ITEM 14 SHOULD NOT BE DISCUSSED WITH OTHERS AND NO COPIES SHOULD BE MADE.

 

.

63/20

Housing Infrastructure Fund - A40 (HIF 2) - Exempt Annexes to Item 8

The information in this case is exempt in that it falls within the following prescribed categories:

 

3.    Information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information)

 

and since it is considered that, in all the circumstances of the case, the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information, in that a negotiation is ongoing and would prejudice the position of the authority in the process of that negotiation and the Council’s standing generally in relation to such matters in future, to the detriment of the Council’s ability properly to discharge its fiduciary and other duties as a public authority

 

The annexes containing exempt information under the above paragraph are attached.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The information in this case is exempt in that it falls within the following prescribed categories:

 

3.    Information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information)

 

and since it is considered that, in all the circumstances of the case, the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information, in that a negotiation is ongoing and would prejudice the position of the authority in the process of that negotiation and the Council’s standing generally in relation to such matters in future, to the detriment of the Council’s ability properly to discharge its fiduciary and other duties as a public authority

 

The annexes containing exempt information under the above paragraph were received and noted in conjunction with Item 8.

64/20

Bicester Garden Town Capital Funding - Junctions Improvement

Cabinet Member: Highway Delivery & Operations

Forward Plan Ref: 2020/060

Contact: Hannah Battye, Growth Manager, Central Tel: 07808 573932

 

Report by Assistant Director for Growth & Place (CA9).

 

To seek agreement to receive and spend funding related to Garden Town from Cherwell District Council.

 

The information in this case is exempt in that it falls within the following prescribed categories:

 

3.    Information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information)

 

and since it is considered that, in all the circumstances of the case, the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information, in that a negotiation is ongoing and would prejudice the position of the authority in the process of that negotiation and the Council’s standing generally in relation to such matters in future, to the detriment of the Council’s ability properly to discharge its fiduciary and other duties as a public authority

 

This proposal has been developed in partnership with Cherwell District Council (CDC) who will be taking a sister report through their formal governance process. For the purpose of this proposal CDC will be the accountable body for the funding, and OCC will be the delivery body for the schemes described.

 

The report details the proposed schemes and the current position on each.

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The information in this case is exempt in that it falls within the following prescribed categories:

 

3.    Information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information)

 

and since it is considered that, in all the circumstances of the case, the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information, in that a negotiation is ongoing and would prejudice the position of the authority in the process of that negotiation and the Council’s standing generally in relation to such matters in future, to the detriment of the Council’s ability properly to discharge its fiduciary and other duties as a public authority

 

Cabinet considered a report setting out a proposal developed in partnership with Cherwell District Council (CDC) who will be taking a sister report through their formal governance process. For the purpose of this proposal CDC will be the accountable body for the funding, and OCC will be the delivery body for the schemes described.

 

The report detailed the proposed schemes and the current position on each

 

Cabinet agreed the recommendations to enter into an agreement to receive and spend funding related to Garden Town from Cherwell District Council.