Agenda item

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.

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

In view of the importance to a number of rural schools of  a 'sparsity' factor being included in the DSG what briefing of councillors was conducted as a part of the consultation on changes to the funding formula advised by County officers, and were these suggested changes highlighted to councillors ahead of the Schools Forum meeting so that councillors could discuss the possibility of a sparsity factor being included with the governors and heads responsible for voting on the change to the DSG formula?

Councillor Melinda Tilley replied:

The has been no briefing for all Councillors as part of the consultation, nor have all Councillors been alerted to suggested changes prior to the Schools Forum meeting, indeed it would not be our normal practice to do so in relation to a decision which is proper to the Forum and which, through its representational membership, is able to come to a view which takes account of the interests of all schools.  

Having said that, I must point out that there was no recommendation in the consultation about introducing a new sparsity factor.  However, potentially eligible schools were asked to provide evidence of significant additional costs they faced as a result of their rural location before a final recommendation is made to Schools Forum. Of the 20 potentially eligible primary schools and 2 secondary schools, only three provided some evidence of additional costs.

Councillor Nimmo-Smith undertook to provide Councillor Fooks with a written response to her Question.

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

How many unfilled places in Year 7 were there across the County in September 2013, and what is the estimate for 2014 for unfilled places at both Year 7 and Year 10 in view of the new 'direct grant' school places imposed on the County by the DfE in the secondary sector?

Councillor Melinda Tilley replied:

The number of unfilled Year 7 places will not be known until the October pupil census returns have been analysed which will probably be nearly complete in time for the November Cabinet. At the time of the first allocation round in March 2013 there were 1022 places not allocated but not all of these will have been taken up and, in the meantime, there have been applications for places for children moving into the County.

The Heyford Park Free School, which opened in September 2013 added a further 60 Year 7 places to the Oxfordshire schools' capacity. The Banbury Space Studio School will, if it opens on schedule, add a further 75 places at year 10.

The current Year 9 cohort (Year 10 in September 2014) is approximately 5800 and the number of Year 7 places initially allocated for September 2013 was about 50 larger. Therefore, if the Banbury Space Studio School opens there are likely to be similar numbers of spare places in Year 10 in September 2014 as there are in the current Year 7.

Councillor Jean Fooks had given written notice of the following question to Councillor:

How much money is held by the County Council as S106 contributions to ‘cycling measures’ and how will its spending be decided?

Councillor David Nimmo-Smith replied:

I apologise for not being able to get a response to you in time for this meeting.  I will send a written reply to you as soon as possible.