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 Member’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 John Howson
“Will the Cabinet member consider reviewing with coach operators and the City Council where tourist coaches could be encouraged to drop passengers once such services restart, and specifically away from St Giles with its proximity to a large number of bus stops, perhaps to Speedwell Street with its easy access to Christ Church Meadow and the 'dreaming spires' of Oxford?”
Cabinet Member for Environment
. “A
joint Oxfordshire County Council and Oxford City Council working
group was established in 2019 to look holistically at coach
strategy for Oxford. A strand of this work focussing on immediate
needs reviewed the coach drop off/pick up in Oxford and the
pressures placed on St. Giles. A comprehensive survey of
alternative pick up and drop off locations for coaches was
completed and in consultation with bus operators it was identified
that stop S4 on Speedwell Street could be used as an alternative
drop off/pick up location in order to relieve pressure on the St.
Giles area. Officers are currently in the final stages
investigating the appropriate legal means by which to implement
this proposal with the aim to have the work completed in time for
late summer should tourist numbers increase later in the
season
As part of work to support shops and business to start re-opening,
the St. Giles area improvements for cycling and pedestrian
facilities may also help encourage coaches away from this
area.”
Councillor Howson
“Thank you for the response. Might it now be possible to open up a dialogue with the City Council to explore the possibility of using the car park in Oxpens if the Speedwell Street change does go ahead for layovers for bus drivers with access through the bus gates if required?”
Cabinet Member for Environment
“That seems an eminently sensible suggestion pending any development of the site and I will take that issue up with the City Council.”
Councillor John Sanders
“The Government is providing funds for fast tracking safe travel in response to the Covid-19 Pandemic. Will the Cabinet Member please advise to what extent the plans to spend this money have been updated since she published the document "Tranche 1 Priorities for Inclusion in DFT Submission", and in particular the proposed £50,000 for the introduction of modal filters in residential streets in my division?”
Cabinet Member for Environment
Oxfordshire has been allocated £597,000 as tranche 1 of the Government’s Emergency Active Travel Fund. Our plans for spending that have been set out in correspondence provided to councillors and also in recent press releases. Officers continue to work very hard to bring forward those measures within the timescales outlined by Government; work is required to have started within four weeks and have been completed within eight weeks. Councillors will be kept updated on works that impact on their division, including the measures in Councillor Sanders’ division. In addition a dedicated webpage has been established which will include regular updates on progress; https://www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/residents/roads-and-transport/active-travel
We are currently awaiting further information regarding tranche 2. The indicative tranche 2 allocation for Oxfordshire is £2,388,000.
Councillor Sanders
“Is there anything more that councillors and residents can do to get all these improvements done having regard to the tight timetables involved?”
Cabinet Member for Environment
“Nothing really as officers are aware of all requests and there are a lot of them. They will be considering these with a view to achieving value for money and an equitable spread county wide. With regard to Tranche 2 we will in a position to provide more answers when we have the information from government.”