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Agenda and minutes

Venue: Council Chamber

Contact: Democratic Services 

Items
No. Item

CL.1

Election of Chair of the Council for the year 22/23

To appoint the Chair of the Council for the 2022-23 civic year.

 

Following the election, the Chair will make the Declarations of Acceptance of Office and address the Council.

Minutes:

The Chair, Councillor Martin McBride, welcomed everyone to the meeting and announced that there would be an adjournment whilst officers amend documentation that is required at the meeting. A forty minute break occurred.

The Chair resumed the meeting, welcomed everyone to the meeting and took the opportunity to thank everyone for their support during his time in office.  He wished the future Chair and Vice Chair the best of luck for their term.

Having asked for nominations, Councillor Graham proposed that Councillor Julian Cooper be elected as West Oxfordshire District Council Chair.  This was seconded by Councillor McRae.

There were no further nominations.

Therefore, it was

Resolved that Councillor Julian Cooper be elected as Chair of Council for the civic year 2022/23.

The Chair, Councillor Julian Cooper, signed the declaration and took receipt of the chain of office.  He thanked Councillor McBride for his due diligence and his honour in the way he carried out his duties as Chair. He then invited Councillor McBride to say a few words.

Councillor McBride said it had a privilege to represent the Council. He went on to say that at his first civic event he was introduced to His Royal Highness Prince Charles, and they shook hands. Last week at his last civic event at a Garden Party he was again introduced to Prince Charles and he again shook hands, he thought it was a nice way to end his civic year, as it began.

 

 

 

CL.2

Appointment of Vice-Chair of the Council for the year 22/23

To appoint the Vice-Chair of the Council for the 2022-23 civic year.

 

Following the election, the Vice-Chair will make the Declarations of Acceptance of Office and address the Council

 

Minutes:

The Chair, Councillor Cooper, asked for nominations for the position of Vice-Chair.

Councillor Enright proposed Councillor Andrew Coles, it was duly seconded by Councillor Andy Graham and it was

Resolved that Councillor Andrew Coles be elected as Vice-Chair of the District Council.

The Vice-Chair signed the declaration and took receipt of the badge.  Councillor Coles thanked the retiring Vice-Chair, Councillor Postan for his work and support to the Chair and wished him well.

 

 

CL.3

Apologies for Absence

To receive any apologies for absence.

Minutes:

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Dan Levy, Ben Woodruff and Harry St John.

 

 

 

CL.4

Declarations of Interest

To receive any declarations from Members of the Committee on any items to be considered at the meeting.

Minutes:

There were no declarations of interest received.

CL.5

Announcements by the Chair and / Chief Executive

To receive any announcements from The Chair, Leader, Members of the Cabinet or the Head of Paid Service.

Minutes:

The Chair, Councillor Julian Cooper, addressed the meeting and welcomed all newly elected and returning Councillors.  He introduced the new Members and advised which Wards they represented. 

The Chair also thanked all those Councillors who had either not stood for re-election or had not been re-elected.  In particular, he expressed his gratitude to former Councillor David Harvey, who had contributed a great deal as Deputy Leader, and Cabinet Member for Climate. He also thanked Councillor Postan for his many years’ service, and Councillors Davies and Councillor Dent. He confirmed that he would be writing to each of them to thank them for their service.  He also wanted to thank Councillor Mead for her past service and wished her well.

 

 

CL.6

Motion - Leader of West Oxfordshire District Council

The following motion has been received in the name of Councillor Andy Graham.  A seconder will be sought at the meeting.

 

“That the Council resolves to remove Councillor Mead as Leader of West Oxfordshire District Council, and give further consideration to the appointment of the Leader at the 2022 Annual Council meeting”.

Minutes:

Councillor Graham introduced the motion, and wanted to express his apologies that it seemed a blunt instrument, but was purely a mechanical function.

Councillor Graham moved the motion which was seconded by Councillor Leffman.

The votes cast for the motion was 26, and 19 against.

Resolved the motion was carried.

 

CL.7

Election of Council Leader

If the motion at Item 8 is passed, the Council will need to move to appoint a new Leader.

Minutes:

The Chair asked for nominations, Councillor Leffman proposed Councillor Andy Graham for the post of Leader of the Council, this was seconded by Councillor Enright.

After being put to the vote it was

resolved that Councillor Andy Graham was elected as Leader of the Council.

 

 

CL.8

Announcement of the Leader on Cabinet appointments

In accordance with the Constitution, to receive the appointments made by the Leader of the Council in respect of Cabinet Members for 2022-23.

 

Minutes:

Councillor Graham thanked Councillor Mead for a particularly difficult year having to deal with the pandemic, and thanked her for reaching out to all the other political Leaders.

Councillor Graham informed the Committee that with the new alliance formed it has led to a new partnership of opportunity to work together and act on solutions, to ensure they support the Council and its residents in times when challenges are great. The cabinet will be announcing a series of new polices, and look to improve on communications and how we connect with residents. The new Cabinet of nine Councillors has been formed.

The new Deputy Leader will be Councillor Duncan Enright (Leader of the Labour group and who will also take on the Economic Development portfolio in Cabinet).

The rest of the Cabinet for the Council will be:

·         Cllr Dan Levy (Lib Dem) Cabinet Member for Finance 

·         Cllr Carl Rylett (Lib Dem) Cabinet Member for Planning and Sustainable Development

·         Cllr Mathew Parkinson (Lib Dem) Cabinet Member for Customer Delivery

·         Cllr Joy Aitman (Labour) Cabinet Member for Stronger, Healthy Communities

·         Cllr Geoff Saul (Labour) Cabinet Member for Housing and Social Welfare

·         Cllr Lidia Arciszewska (Lib Dem) Cabinet Member for Environment

·         Cllr Andrew Prosser (Green) Cabinet Member for Climate Change

CL.9

Returning Officer's Report on Elections held 5 May 2022 pdf icon PDF 101 KB

Purpose

To consider the returning Officer’s report on the results of the election held on 5 May 2022.

 

Recommendation

That the report be noted.

Minutes:

Members received the Returning Officer’s report detailing the results of the elections held on 6 May 2022.

The report advised of the total number of votes received for each candidate in the individual Wards, along with the electorate and turnout percentage.

Having considered the report, Council

Resolved that the report be noted.

 

CL.10

Political Composition of the Council and Formation of Political Groups pdf icon PDF 152 KB

Purpose

To advise the Council of the notifications received under Regulation 8 of the Local Government (Committees and Political Groups) Regulations 1990 giving the composition of political groups and note the impact on the proportionality of allocated seats to Committees.

 

Recommendations

a)    Note Annex A: Political Composition of West Oxfordshire District Council May 2022;

b)    Approve the structure and number of seats of the Council committees, as defined within the Council’s constitution and as set out in Annex B: Committee structure 2022/23, and delegate authority to the Monitoring Officer to amend the Council’s Constitution to reflect this resolution ; and

c)    Approve the methods, calculations and conventions used in determining political representation on committees as outlined in the report and shown in Annex C: Political proportionalities on Council committees 2022/23 and agree the representation on those committees.

Minutes:

Councillor Graham proposed that the recommendations in the report be accepted, this was duly seconded by Councillor Enright and therefore

Resolved to accept the recommendations.

 

CL.11

Appointment to Council Committees

To consider the report and allocate committee seats to political groups and determine appointments to committees.

 

 

Minutes:

Members received a report outlining the appointments to the Committees of the Council, in accordance with the Constitution and, where applicable, the rules relating to political balance.

Members noted that a revised membership of committees document had been circulated prior to the meeting and the Monitoring Officer announced two amendments:

·         Councillor Andrew Coles - an addition to the Finance Management Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

·         Councillors Michele Mead and Norman MacRae – additions to Performance and Appointments Committee.

Motion to increase the area balance on Uplands Area Planning Sub Committee was proposed by Councillor Mead, this was seconded by Councillor Graham, was then put to the vote and carried unanimously.

Councillor Parkinson proposed that the Non-grouped Independent, be added to Uplands area planning sub Committee, this was seconded by Councillor Fenton, was then put to the vote and was carried unanimously.

The Committees were duly read out and it was

Resolved that Councillors were appointed to the Committees as noted :

Audit and Governance Committee

Councillors: Luci Ashbourne, Andrew Beaney, Jill Bull, Nathalie Chapple, Owen Collins, Julian Cooper, Colin Dingwall, Jane Doughty, Gill Hill, David Jackson, Richard Langridge, Norman MacRae, Michele Mead, Elizabeth Poskitt, Andrew Prosser, Alaric Smith and Ruth Smith.

Licensing Committee

Councillors: Joy Aitman, Michael Brooker, Mike Cahill, Julian Cooper, Jane Doughty, Ted Fenton, David Jackson, Norman MacRae, Lysette Nicholls, Mathew Parkinson, and Dean Temple

Miscellaneous Licensing Sub-Committee

Councillors: Michael Brooker, Ted Fenton, David Jackson, Norman MacRae, and Mathew Parkinson,

Performance and Appointments Committee

Councillors: Duncan Enright, Andy Graham, Dan Levy, Norman MacRae and Michele Mead.

Standards Sub-Committee

Councillors: Luci Ashbourne, Andrew Beaney, Andy Graham, Norman MacRae and Elizabeth Poskitt

Development Control Committee

Councillors: Joy Aitman, Alaa Al-Yousuf, Lidia Arciszewska, Hugo Ashton, Andrew Beaney, Michael Brooker, Mike Cahill, Colin Dingwall, Harry Eaglestone, Ted Fenton, Andy Goodwin, Jeff Haine, David Jackson, Richard Langridge, Nick Leverton, Charlie Maynard, Lysette Nicholls, Rizvana Poole, Elizabeth Poskitt, Andrew Prosser, Geoff Saul, Alaric Smith, Dean Temple and Alex Wilson.

Lowlands Planning Sub-Committee

Councillors: Joy Aitman, Michael Brooker, Colin Dingwall, Harry Eaglestone, Ted Fenton, Andy Goodwin, Richard Langridge, Nick Leverton, Charlie Maynard, Lysette Nicholls,  Andrew Prosser, and Alaric Smith.

Uplands Planning Sub-Committee

Councillors: Alaa Al-Yousuf, Lidia Arciszewska, Hugo Ashton, Andrew Beaney,  Mike Cahill, Jeff Haine, David Jackson, Rizvana Poole, Elizabeth Poskitt, Geoff Saul, Dean Temple and Alex Wilson

Urgency Committee

Councillors: Alaa Al-Yousuf, Joy Aitman, Andrew Beaney, Duncan Enright, Ted Fenton, Andy Graham, Natalie King, Dan Levy, Norman MacRae and Michele Mead.

Economic & Social Overview and Scrutiny Committee

Councillors: Luci Ashbourne, Andrew Beaney, Jill Bull, Nathalie Chapple, Owen Collins, Jane Doughty, Natalie King, Liz Leffman, Nick Leverton, Charlie Maynard, Lysette Nicholls, Rosie Pearson, Rizvana Poole, Harry St John and Alex Wilson.

Climate and Environment Overview and Scrutiny Committee

Councillors: Alaa Al-Yousuf, Hugo Ashton, Michael Brooker, Andrew Coles, David Cooper, Harry Eaglestone, Ted Fenton, Andy Goodwin, Natalie King, Norman MacRae, Charlie Maynard, Martin McBride, Rosie Pearson, Alaric Smith and Rosie Smith.

Finance & Management Overview and Scrutiny Committee

Councillors: Alaa Al-Yousuf, Hugo Ashton, ,  Michael Brooker, Andrew Coles,  ...  view the full minutes text for item CL.11

CL.12

Appointment of Chairs and Vice-Chairs of Committees

Purpose:

To appoint a Chair and Vice-Chair to each of the Council’s Committees.  Each Committee will be invited to stand, a proposal sought and agreed before moving on.

Recommendation:
That a Chair and Vice-Chair be agreed for each of the Council’s Committees.

 

Minutes:

The Chair announced that this agenda item would not be actioned during the meeting.

Resolved that this agenda item was not considered during the meeting.