Decision details

Resolved

(1)            That the following motion, as amended, be adopted:

“The Council notes that clarity on potential routes is due but if any road route is likely to have serious environmental implications which is incompatible with the council’s climate change emergency priorities then we’ll seek to stay consistent with our Council’s commitment to combating Climate Change.

The Council therefore requests Officers to assess the implications for Cherwell and the Oxon 2050 Plan with due consideration to our climate change emergency motion and to provide recommendations for Members via Scrutiny and the Executive. In the meantime, the Council will maintain an open mind.”

(2)            That the following motion be adopted:

“This Council deplores the decision of the Oxfordshire Clinical Commissioning Group (‘CCG’) on 26 September to downgrade maternity provision at the Horton General Hospital to a midwife-led unit for the foreseeable future.

The decision follows public consultation and evidence-gathering exercises in which neither the public, nor this Council, have confidence. Public trust in the CCG and in Oxfordshire University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (‘OUHFT’) was damaged when the temporary downgrade was enforced, without consultation, in August 2016 and has since been further eroded by the persistent lack of meaningful engagement, which speaks to their Oxford-centric agenda.

Council endorses the recent conclusions of the Horton Joint Health Overview & Scrutiny Committee (‘Horton HOSC’), in bringing OUHFT and CCG shortcomings to the fore and resolves to fully support Horton HOSC’s efforts to continue to hold the CCG and OUHFT to account and pursue an appropriate course of action.

This Council recognises the vital importance of the Horton General Hospital in providing first-class care to patients across Oxfordshire, Northamptonshire and Warwickshire and welcomes the commitment from OUHFT and the CCG to invest significantly in the Horton site. After years of talk and hollow promises, now is the time for action and that commitment needs to be tangibly demonstrated. Council also notes the pledge of OUHFT and the CCG to “regularly review” the viability of reinstating an obstetric-led maternity unit in Banbury. The real-life birthing experiences of local mothers cannot continue to be overlooked and Council will do all it can to ensure their voices are heard.”

(For information: as the motion on the Oxford-Cambridge Expressway submitted by Councillor Wood was agreed as set out at (1) above, the motion submitted by Councillor Tyson on the same topic was not debated. The motion submitted by Councillor Middleton on Oxford Pension Fund Divestment was not agreed by Council. Full details will be included in the minutes).