Agenda item

Councillor Howson had given notice of the following question to Councillor Tilley:

“How many fixed penalties were issued by:

a] community

b] voluntary

c] academies in:

(i) the primary and (ii) the secondary and (iii) the special school sectors in Oxfordshire since September 2015 and for comparison purposes in the 2014-15 school year?

How many prosecutions with a view to court proceedings have the county started during the same two periods?”

The response from Councillor Tilley is set out in the Annex to the minutes.

Supplementary: Councillor Howson commented that Oxfordshire’s figures were above the national average and he asked what steps were being taken to ensure that the appropriate authorities helped to reduce the figures. Councillor Tilley replied that she would be raising it with the Regional Schools Commissioner.

Councillor Phillips had given notice of the following question to Councillor Nimmo Smith:

“Would the Cabinet Member for Environment give more detail about the commitment made by the Leader in Council on 16 February (as part of his budget statement) on the provision of a signalised crossing at the A40 junction at the bottom of Collinwood Road in Risinghurst? For example is the intention to include this crossing in the LTP4 Update given that this initiative aligns with the overarching LTP4 objectives and the A40 Long Term strategy?”

Councillor Nimmo Smith replied:

“At the February council meeting Cllr Hudspeth agreed to ask officers to investigate this crossing as part of the wider A40 strategy.

We are in the process of updating the Local Transport Plan (including the Oxford Transport Strategy - OTS) and have now included the following specific reference to this proposal in the latest draft update to the OTS:

“A crossing of the A40 east of Headington roundabout (linking Barton and Risinghurst) is also proposed, linked to future capacity improvements and bus priority measures at Headington roundabout and on the A40”.

The OTS does not identify specific timescales or costs for relatively small schemes such as this, and at this stage no funding has been identified to take this proposal forward.  However, once the proposal is part of council policy this will help to secure funding for it in future”

Supplementary: In response to a further question Councillor Nimmo Smith explained that the Local Transport Plan 4 was reviewed annually and would be updated at that time.

Councillor Fooks had given notice of the following question to Councillor Nimmo Smith:

“The proposed scheme to make use of the County’s fleet vehicles at times they are not currently in use is very welcome indeed.  Can you give the public, who are very worried indeed at the imminent loss of their bus services, a timetable for the introduction of the new scheme, assuming that the pilot scheme is successful?”

Councillor Nimmo Smith replied:

“We are still working up the detail of how the pilot will work, but subject to Cabinet approval on 24 May, we are looking to announce a launch date in June. 

We will start a publicity campaign in early June to make people aware of the pilot and how they can use it.  We will also be writing to all councillors, parishes and stakeholders at the end of May, to enable them to promote this service to their residents/members.”

Councillor Brighouse had given notice of the following question to Councillor Heathcoat:

“What will be the impact of a vote to leave the EU on the Health and Social Care workforce in Oxfordshire?”

The Leader replied:

“We do not know what would be the implications.  There is clear evidence that both social care and the NHS in Oxfordshire make extensive use of migrant labour.  However, we do not at this stage know what would be the implications of a vote to leave the EU.  It would depend on what restrictions would be in place to control immigration.  If both health and social care workers were not subject to controls then there might not be significant implications. 

Whatever happens we would want to continue to implement our strategy for encouraging people to opt for careers in social care.  The Adult Social Care workforce strategy has been developed in response to workforce challenges to meet the increasing complexity and demand for social care services in Oxfordshire. Adult Social Care has developed this strategy and implementation plan to address recruitment and retention in the social care sector, through a variety of activities which include working with Oxfordshire Association of Care Providers to deliver a rolling programme of recruitment fairs and delivering training for providers in the application of Values Based Recruitment.”

Supplementary: In response to a query as to whether there was awareness that providers had gone directly to Portugal to recruit care workers, Councillor Hibbert Biles suggested that this could continue. Councillor Hudspeth added that it was a matter of waiting until the end of June.