Decisions

To approve the draft plan for public consultation

(Special Executive, 19 July 2021)

Resolved

(1)          That the Regulation 18 (Part 2) consultation document (annex to the Minutes as set out in the Minute Book) be approved for public consultation.

(2)          That an updated Statement of Community Involvement (SCI) (annex to the Minutes as set out in the Minute Book), which will become the formal basis for the forthcoming Regulation 18 Part 2 consultation be adopted.

(3)          That the Assistant Director be authorised to make any necessary editorial corrections and minor amendments to the documents, and to agree the final publication style, in liaison with the Lead Member for Planning and subject to agreement with their counterparts in the other four partner Local Planning Authorities. 

Resolved

(1)           That the following change of Conservative Group committee membership be noted:

Overview and Scrutiny Committee

Remove: Councillor Maurice Billington

Add: Councillor David Hughes

Resolved

(1)           That responsibility be delegated to the Standards Committee to agree the process for and to undertake the recruitment of three Independent Persons for recommendation to the 13 December 2021 Council meeting.

(2)           That the appointments of Mr Graham Matthews, Mr Tom Edwards and Mr Stuart Green as Independent Persons be extended to the 13 December 2021 Council meeting.

Resolved

(1)           That it be agreed to establish a Parliamentary Boundary and Community Governance Review (PBCGR) Working Group.

(2)           That authority be delegated to the Chief Executive, in consultation with Group Leaders/ Spokesperson, to appoint three members from the Conservative Group, two members from the Labour Group, two members from the Progressive Oxfordshire Group and one member from the Independent Group to the Working Group. 

(3)           That it be agreed that Cherwell District Council submit a response to the Parliamentary Boundary Review and authority be delegated to the Chief Executive, in consultation with the Member Working Group, to finalise the Council’s first consultation submission on the Parliamentary Boundary review to the Boundary Commission for England.

(4)           That it be agreed to undertake a district wide Community Governance Review and the next steps be endorsed

Resolved

(1)           That the contents of the 2020-21 Treasury Management Outturn Report be noted.

Resolved

(1)           That the inclusion of the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme into the Capital Programme at a cost of £5.987m funded by Government grant be approved.

(2)           That the inclusion of the Garden Town scheme for Banbury Road Roundabout into the Capital Programme at a cost of £4.550m funded by Government grant be approved.

(3)           That it be agreed to vire £75k from the Finance System Project to the iTrent payroll project.

On being put to the vote the motion was lost and subsequently fell

Resolved

(1)       That the Minutes of the meetings of the Committee held on 16 March and 19 May 2021 be confirmed as correct records and signed by the Chairman.

Resolved

(1)       That the verbal updates regarding suggested topics for scrutiny be noted.

(2)       That the Management Companies subject be removed from the topic sheet.

(3)       That the update on items previously submitted to Overview and Scrutiny be noted.

(4)       That the indicative work programme for 2021-2022 be noted.

Resolved

(1)       That the draft Executive report and the Regulation 18 (Part 2) consultation document for public consultation be noted

(2)       That the following observations of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee be reported to the Executive:

a.      A feeling of discontent amongst the Committee regarding the volume of information relating to the consultation, and the length of time Members had to go through it (acknowledging that it was within statutory legal timescales for agenda publication but not ideal). The Committee felt unable to sufficiently scrutinise the documentation in the available time. 

b.      A request for a clear communications strategy, and for progress updates and further involvement of both the Overview and Scrutiny Committee specifically, and more general briefings for all Members during the course of work on the plan following the Regulation 18 consultation

c.      A request for an understanding as to how the plan will address the estimated annual cost to the economy in relation to Mental Health, as detailed in the table in paragraph 248 of the consultation document (Committee supplement part 1, page 87).

d.      A request for the later stages of the Plan process to focus on the Affordable Homes aspect, specifically social housing and social rented housing, acknowledging the explanation from the Assistant Director – Planning and Development that in planning terms ‘affordable’ does include social rented housing.

e.      A request for clarity regarding how the preferred and alternative options will be presented in the final consultation document, to avoid possible confusion for those reading it.

f.        In relation to Policy Option 01: Sustainable Design and Construction, the removal of caveats such as ‘this policy would be subject to viability and deliverability testing’ (Committee supplement part 1, page 52) as they could be used as ‘get outs’ by land owners/developers later in the plan process

g.      Concerns around the Oxfordshire Growth Needs Assessment documents and the accuracy of the figures

h.      Natural growth is not referred to through the document, trajectory graphs provided are all straight lines and do not seem to take account for natural growth to decrease as well as increase.

i.        Within Policy Option 10 – Green Belt (Paragraph 258, Committee supplement 1 page 89),  National Planning Policy Framework guidelines are frequently referred to but the messages are mixed. In some cases there seems to be a suggestion of making it easier to build on Green Belt, and in others discussion is around enhancing Green Belt. 

Resolved

(1)       That the performance aspects of the monthly Performance, Risk and Finance Monitoring report be noted.

Resolved

(1)       That Councillor Doug Webb be appointed Vice-Chairman of the Committee for the remainder of the 2021-2022 Municipal Year.

Resolved

(1)       That Councillor Tom Wallis be appointed Chairman of the Committee for the remainder of the 2021-2022 Municipal Year.

Approved, conditions to be set out in the minutes.

Approved, conditions to be set out in the minutes.

Approved, conditions to be set out in the minutes.

Approved, conditions to be set out in the minutes.

Approved, conditions to be set out in the minutes.

Deferred to allow for a site visit.

Approved, conditions to be set out in the minutes.

Approved, conditions to be set out in the minutes.

Approved, conditions to be set out in the minutes.

Approved, conditions to be set out in the minutes.

Resolved

(1)      That the position on planning appeals contained within the report be noted.

Resolved

(1)      That the review of the 2021-2022 Budget and Business Planning Process be noted.

(2)      That Executive be recommended to incorporate the following proposed improvements into the 2022-2023 Budget and Business Planning Process;

·       Review how the Council allocates its resources to ensure they are aligned with the Council’s priorities;

·       Carry out additional engagement with residents on the Council’s priorities and services it provides to inform savings proposals;

·       Look to ensure that the Capital Budget proposals are developed to the same timeline as the revenue budget proposals and that these are considered earlier in the financial year;

(3)      That it be recommended to Executive that a process be introduced for urgent Capital Bids to be considered outside of the normal budget planning process.

Resolved

(1)      That the finance elements of the report be noted.

Resolved

(1)      That the contents of the report and any financial implications to the Council be noted.

(2)      That it be recommended to Executive that the current Council Tax Reduction Scheme be retained for 2022-2023.

(3)      That no consultation take place, due to the recommendation to retain the current scheme

Resolved

(1)      That the verbal update be noted.