Decisions

Councillor George Reynolds elected (unanimously) as Deputy Chairman. There were no other nominations.

No decision required.

Approved

MW.0012/21

MW/0013/21

MW.0014/21

All approved subject to the following additional conditions:

·      Hours of HGV movements for each application Mon – Fri 7 am to 7pm and 7am – 1 pm Sat

·      348 vehicle movements – 174 in and 174 out

·      Air quality monitoring to be undertaken in appropriate places

Approved

None

The Chairman tanked the outgoing Chairman Councillor Jeannette Matelot for her work on the Committee and to members of the Committee past and present who were standing down as Councillor at the May elections.

Item 6 and 7

County Councillor Hannah Banfield

Malcolm Lawer (supported by Andy Shepley) for the applicants

Item 8

County Councillor Dr Pete Sudbury

Monika Gogol for the applicants

Approved for publication

Mention was made under Item 8 of sites in the Faringdon area. Councillor Heathcoat declared that the sites mentioned were in her division.

Councillor Ted Fenton (Councillor Charles Mathew)

Councillor Dan Sames (Councillor Judith Heathcoat)

To consider approving the development of a clear vision and strategic framework for the planning and delivery of libraries and heritage services to strengthen the contribution they make to wider community outcomes. 

Recommendations approved.

Noted.

Item 6 – Councillor Glynis Phillips

Item 7– Councillor Damian Haywood

Item 8 – Councillor Damian Haywood

Item 9 – Councillor Emma Turnbull

Item 10 – Councillor Gill Sanders

To note and seek agreement of the report.

Joint Responsibility: Deputy Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Finance.

Recommendation agreed.

To seek agreement of the Vision.

Recommendations agreed.

To report on a quarterly basis any executive decisions taken under the specific powers and functions delegated under the terms of Part 7.1 (Scheme of Delegation to Officers) of the Council’s Constitution – Paragraph 6.3(c)(i).  It is not for Scrutiny call-in.

Noted.

To seek approval of the proposal to change the design specification of the new build children’s home from six to four beds.

Recommendations agreed as amended in the addenda and set out below in bold:

RESOLVED:   to approve the proposal to change the design specification of the new build children’s home from six to four beds; and

1.          To ensure that the design of the property is future-proofed for wider Council uses.

2.          Council confirms its commitment to high quality residential child care within the County

To seek approval as to whether to extend the contract by two years from end March 2023 to end March 2025.

Recommendations agreed.

See attached annex.

Approved.

None

Councillor Eddie Reeves

To seek approval of the CRMP document and the Projects prescribed within as the activities being undertaken for the subsequent 12 month period.

None

None

Council noted the statement from the Chairman concerning the business to be conducted.

Councillor Jenny Hannaby declared a personal interest in relation to Motion 7 as Chairman of the Wantage Hospital League of Friends in the event that there was discussion on hospitals.

Councillor Fatemian sought advice from the Monitoring Officer on whether in relation to Motion 8 he had a non-pecuniary prejudicial interest by reason of his employers being based in the Eastern Arc. The Monitoring Officer advised that Councillor Fatemian was not affected to any greater degree than any other member and in her opinion at this time it did not constitute a prejudicial interest. It was for Councillor Fatemian to decide whether he should abstain or not.

With the consent of Council Councillor Webber moved his motion amended at the suggestion of Councillor David Bartholomew as shown below in strikethrough and bold italics:

The Council’s Procurement procedures have been the subject of concern for some time. At the latest Audit and Governance Committee meeting, the subject of a claim made over a breach of Procurement procedures by the Council was considered. This breach of procedure has cost the Council, and hence Oxfordshire taxpayers, £1.6 million in compensation and legal costs.

Council notes that the role of the Audit & Governance Committee is to ensure that the Council's procedures are robust, that taxpayer's money is controlled properly and that it is spent wisely.

The timeline provided to the Audit and Governance Committee meeting on this matter shows that the Portfolio Holder and the Chair of Audit and Governance were both aware of the breach and cost of out of court settlement in February 2020, but and as an independent report was in progress, the Audit Working Group Committee was only informed in December 2020. January 2021. Council believes that by withholding this information from the Audit and Governance Committee for 11 months, the Executive failed to act in the interest of Oxfordshire taxpayers.

Council commits to ensuring that, in future, in the interests of transparency and good governance, any breaches of procedure are made known to members of the Audit and Governance Committee as soon as they are known to the Executive, and that committee members are allowed to see any reports relating to such breaches of procedure (redacted as necessary), following any reasonable request from members of that committee and assuming there is no legal reason why such documents should be with-held.

Following a vote the Motion as amended was agreed unanimously.

(Recorded vote in the minutes)

The motion was lost by 25 votes against to 23 votes for.

The amendment by Councillor Cherry as set out in the schedule of business was lost by 29 votes to 27 with 3 abstentions.

The substantive motion was carried by 47 for with none against and 12 abstentions.

The motion was carried by 43 votes for, none against and 7 abstentions.

The Motion was lost by 30 votes against to 29 votes for.

With the consent of Council, Councillor Gawrysiak moved his motion as amended at the suggestion of Councillor Hibbert-Biles as shown below in bold italics:

The County Council will consider environmental weight restrictions across the County, particularly areas which are subject to significant levels of HGV traffic, prioritising the towns of Burford, Chipping Norton and Henley-on-Thames. However, the county council is very unlikely to have any funding available for this in the coming years so any schemes would need to be funded through development and/or by local communities, businesses and town/parish councils.

This policy clearly states that Henley is subject to significantly high levels of HGV traffic. Henley is also an AQMA area which means we have significant pollution.

Council calls upon the Corporate Director for Environment and Place to complete the necessary studies for an environmental weight restriction for Henley, in the event that funding to cover the whole cost is secured through development and/or by local communities, businesses and town/parish councils and would not fall on the OCC.

The motion as amended was carried by 40 votes for, with 3 against and 15 abstentions.

Councillors Hannah Banfield and Laura Price.