Any county councillor may, by giving notice to the Proper Officer by 9 am on the working day before the meeting, ask any question on any matter in respect of the Cabinet’s delegated powers.
This could include significant issues affecting the councillor’s division, which otherwise might be the subject of an address, petition or motion at council.
The number of questions which may be asked by any councillor at any one meeting is limited to two (or one question plus a supplementary) and the question time will be limited to 30 minutes in total. As with questions at Council, any questions which remain unanswered within that timescale will receive a written response.
Questions submitted after agenda despatch and by 9 am on the working day before the meeting will be placed on a schedule of Addenda and tabled at the meeting.
Minutes:
Question Councillor Jean Fooks
Parking restrictions on the Waterways estate off the Woodstock Road in my division are badly needed. There is a safety issue around vehicles parking on the bridge over the canal which block visibility and the police have supported the request for some restrictions here. Proposals have been agreed - they should have been on the agenda for today's meeting - but I now hear that the item has been withdrawn because no formal advertising could be done until the issue over the adoption of the bridge and the roads have been settled. This has been awaiting a decision for many months. When will the safety of residents be given the priority it deserves?
Councillor Hudspeth
Delays had been experienced because the roads concerned were not public roads and delays in signing S38 agreements to enable the roads to be adopted. One possible way forward would be to hold discussions with Barclay Homes to explore the possibility of putting in some informal yellow lines in the interim.
Supplementary question from Councillor Fooks
Could Barclay Homes be pushed to progress this.
Councillor Hudspeth
Moves were being made to secure adoption but there was likely to be difficulties in securing funds from developers in current times in order to bring the bridge up to standard.
Question - Councillor John Tanner
Would Councillor Hudspeth and Councillor Rose accept my congratulations and heart-felt thanks for excluding Iffley Fields from the proposed Magdalen Road Controlled Parking Zone? Will they explain why they believe that the rest of the CPZ, where residents will have to pay an extra £55 a year without no guarantee of a parking place for them or their visitors, will be an improvement? Do they agree that the absence of on-street parking for bicycles, the threat to local businesses and the sanctioning of pavement parking, will actually make matters worse for pedestrians, cyclists and for car owners?”
Councillor Hudspeth
Accepted.
Controlled Parking Zones were a means of controlling parking. Nobody was entitled to park on the highway. Furthermore CPZs would provide an opportunity to formalise a lot of informal pavement parking and enforcement where that occurred. In my view cycle on street cycle parking would increase the pressure on the parking situation.
Councillor John Sanders
It is little comfort to residents that the Residents' Parking Charge will provide enforcement. The responsibility of enforcement is that of the County Council and the cost of enforcement should properly be borne by the Council and paid for out of the general exchequer. Wouldn't the committee agree with me that this charge is an extra council tax on the hard working people of Oxford and is a negation of the Council's responsibility?
Councillor Hudspeth
I would not agree.
Councillor Sanders
We are told that the Council's Bus Subsidy budget represents "a stand-still budget". Can the Committee advise whether there has been any incease or decrease in bus subsidy in actual or in real terms over the period since 2005 and how does this compare with the increase in Council Tax over the same period? Will this mean that the service 105/106 (contract S81) which serves my division will suffer a reduction in subsidy?
Councillor Hudspeth
The Council’s bus subsidy budget (that part paid from Council Tax) was £3,155,800 in 2005/06, and £3,200,000 in the current year (2009/10). Decisions on subsidised bus services are each taken individually on the merits of that service, at the time when that service is scheduled for review. The basis for the decision is set out in 23.7 of the Bus Strategy and takes account of the usage of the service, the tender price received from operators, alternative services available, the comments of consultees and the contribution which the service makes to accessibility, as well as the the total funding available for bus subsidy. I would also like to take the oppourtunity to congratulate the County Council’s Public Transport team on their work on bus subsidy reviews.