Agenda item

To debate the following motions which have been submitted with advance notice, in accordance with the Constitution (to be debated in the order submitted).

Please note that the deadline to submit motions has passed. The deadline for Members to submit amendments to motions is noon on Thursday 17 July. No amendments will be permitted after this deadline.

Any amendments submitted will be published as a supplement to the agenda on the afternoon of Friday 18 July. Amendments for motions will be dealt with in the order submitted. 

Resolved

(1)            That the following motion, as amended by a friendly amendment, be agreed:

“The Office for National Statistics data suggests that the average house price in Cherwell is £362,000 in December 2024, a 9% rise in cost since December 2023.

The cost of housing means that for many young people the costs are too high to realistically get on the housing ladder. Rents in the District are also extremely high, in December 2024 the average cost was £1215 up from £1121 in December 2023, making even renting in the district unaffordable for many residents

Cherwell District Council has an ever-increasing housing waiting list, which has increased by 10% in the last year alone. The waiting times are significant ranging from 243 days for 1-bedroom properties to 991 days for 4-bedroom properties, leaving many families waiting up to several years for appropriate accommodation.

In the last financial year alone, the council has spent £332,800 on housing residents in temporary accommodation. The need for housing in Cherwell is greater than ever.

This Council resolves that Cherwell District Council declares it has an affordable and social housing emergency and recognizes that the way forward is to focus on housing delivery in the context of the emerging Local Plan 2042, the approved housing strategy 2025-30 and the housing delivery action plan.”

For information, having been proposed, seconded and responded to by the Leader, the motions “Primary Care Facilities in North Oxfordshire” and “Government Review of Local Authority Funding” were referred to Executive.  

The Chair advised that three motions had been submitted. The motion “Cherwell Affordable Housing Emergency” was deferred from the cancelled March Council meeting. One amendment had been accepted as a friendly amendment by the proposer. A further amendment had been submitted. In line with the Constitution no further amendments were now permitted.

The motions “Primary Care Facilities in North Oxfordshire” and “Government Review of Local Authority Funding” would be dealt with in accordance with Procedure Rule 4.18, the revised procedure agreed at the May Annual Council meeting. In accordance with the procedure, the proposer of the motion would propose the motion and address Council, the seconder would confirm their seconding, and the Leader, Councillor Hingley, would respond to the motion. They would then be referred to Executive for consideration as the detail of the motions fell within the remit of Executive.

Motion One: Cherwell Affordable Housing Emergency

It was proposed by Councillor Creed and seconded by Councillor Crichton that the following motion, as amended by a friendly amendment, be adopted.

“The Office for National Statistics data suggests that the average house price in Cherwell is £362,000 in December 2024, a 9% rise in cost since December 2023.

The cost of housing means that for many young people the costs are too high to realistically get on the housing ladder. Rents in the District are also extremely high, in December 2024 the average cost was £1215 up from £1121 in December 2023, making even renting in the district unaffordable for many residents

Cherwell District Council has an ever-increasing housing waiting list, which has increased by 10% in the last year alone. The waiting times are significant ranging from 243 days for 1-bedroom properties to 991 days for 4-bedroom properties, leaving many families waiting up to several years for appropriate accommodation.

In the last financial year alone, the council has spent £332,800 on housing residents in temporary accommodation. The need for housing in Cherwell is greater than ever.

This Council resolves that Cherwell District Council declares it has an affordable and social housing emergency and recognizes that the way forward is to focus on housing delivery in the context of the emerging Local Plan 2042, the approved housing strategy 2025-30 and the housing delivery action plan.”

The Monitoring Officer advised that the further amendment to the motion had been withdrawn by the amendment proposer and would therefore not be debated by Council.

The motion, as amended by the friendly amendment, was debated. On being put to the vote, the motion was carried.

Motion Two: Primary Care Facilities in North Oxfordshire

Councillor Rogers proposed and presented the following motion, which was duly seconded by Councillor Reeves. Councillor Hingley, Leader of the Council, responded to the motion.

“This Council considers that more needs to be done to expand and improve Primary Care facilities across North Oxfordshire.

Following a productive cross-party meeting between members and representatives of the Integrated Care Board (ICB), together with a careful review of representations from local stakeholders in recent weeks, this Council resolves to request that the Executive facilitates the expansion of Primary Care provision via any reasonable means, which may include, where appropriate and reasonable, the following:

i.                 issuing standing advice on planning matters to the ICB to assist it in its place and facilities planning;

ii.                producing evidence to the ICB to support the well understood assertion that Primary Care is now at capacity across this district;

iii.              supporting the ICB to create a plan for the delivery of new and expanded primary care facilities across North Oxfordshire;

iv.              requesting that the ICB estates team better supports its ‘drive to digital’ by encouraging developer contributions into, inter alia, Information and Communications Technology (ICT), and Artificial Intelligence (AI) projects; and

v.               review, in conjunction with the ICB, why the proposed facilities at Longford Park, Hanwell Fields and Graven Hill have proven unsuccessful in recent years to avoid failures in new developments elsewhere.

vi.              consider Primary Care needs as widely as reasonably possible in future supplementary planning documents to encourage a greater number of capital projects coming forward and encouraging the ICB to request developer contributions on all applications of 10+ homes without limiting such bids to bricks-and-mortar projects alone.”

Motion Three: Government Review of Local Authority Funding

Councillor Reeves proposed and presented the following motion, which was duly seconded by Councillor Rogers. Councillor Hingley, Leader of the Council, responded to the motion.

“This Council regrets the consequences of the government’s plans to:

(i)              end the Business Rates Retention scheme that has contributed to the strength of local public finances since its introduction in 2013/14; and

(ii)             institute a Fair Funding model for local government that redistributes wealth from districts like Cherwell to other parts of the country.

This Council notes that the government’s consultation on its Business Rates Reset policy has now ended and further notes that the government’s Fair Funding consultation ends soon on 15 August 2025.

Moreover, a report to this Council’s Budget Planning Committee meeting on 8 July 2025 concluded that:

“The impact of these changes is expected to reduce the council’s funding by up to 40%.”

Such a cumulative impact would reduce this Council’s expenditure to such an extent that it could be forced to end all discretionary funding and revert to providing statutory services only.

Given the disastrous impact of such cuts, this Council requests as a matter of urgency that the Leader:

(i)              writes to our Members of Parliament with a view to their raising these concerns with Ministers;

(ii)             works through the District Councils Network, the Local Government Association and/or other relevant organisations to ensure that there is the strongest possible lobbying of the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, highlighting the plight of a high-growth district like Cherwell;

(iii)           issue as strong an individual submission to the government’s Fair Funding consultation as possible with a view to mitigating the effects of these cuts.”

Resolved

(1)            That the following motion, as amended by a friendly amendment, be agreed:

“The Office for National Statistics data suggests that the average house price in Cherwell is £362,000 in December 2024, a 9% rise in cost since December 2023.

The cost of housing means that for many young people the costs are too high to realistically get on the housing ladder. Rents in the District are also extremely high, in December 2024 the average cost was £1215 up from £1121 in December 2023, making even renting in the district unaffordable for many residents

Cherwell District Council has an ever-increasing housing waiting list, which has increased by 10% in the last year alone. The waiting times are significant ranging from 243 days for 1-bedroom properties to 991 days for 4-bedroom properties, leaving many families waiting up to several years for appropriate accommodation.

In the last financial year alone, the council has spent £332,800 on housing residents in temporary accommodation. The need for housing in Cherwell is greater than ever.

This Council resolves that Cherwell District Council declares it has an affordable and social housing emergency and recognizes that the way forward is to focus on housing delivery in the context of the emerging Local Plan 2042, the approved housing strategy 2025-30 and the housing delivery action plan.”