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Agenda and minutes

Contact: Democratic Services 

Items
No. Item

CL.1

Election of Chairman

To elect a Chairman of West Oxfordshire District Council for the Civic Year 2021/22.

Minutes:

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

Having asked for nominations, Councillor Mead proposed that Councillor Martin McBride be elected as West Oxfordshire District Council Chairman.  This was seconded by Councillor Harvey.

There were no further nominations.

Therefore, it was

 

Resolved that Councillor Martin McBride be elected as Chairman.

CL.2

Chairman to make declaration of Acceptance of Office

Minutes:

The Chairman, Councillor McBride signed the declaration and took receipt of the chain of office.  He thanked Councillor Eaglestone for seeing the Council through a particularly challenging twelve months.

CL.3

Appointment of Vice-Chairman

To appoint a Vice-Chairman for the Civic Year 2021/2022.

Minutes:

It was proposed, duly seconded and

 

Resolved that Councillor Alex Postan be elected as Vice-Chairman of the District Council.

CL.4

Vice-Chairman to make declaration of Acceptance of Office

Minutes:

The Vice-Chairman signed the declaration and took receipt of the chain of office.  Councillor Postan thanked the retiring Vice-Chairman, Councillor Doughty for her work and support to the Chairman and wished her well in her new Cabinet role.

CL.5

Minutes of Previous Meeting

To approve the minutes of the meeting held on 28 April 2021.

Minutes:

The minutes of the meeting held on 28 April 2021 were approved and signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

 

CL.6

Apologies for Absence

To receive any apologies for absence.

Minutes:

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Jake Acock, Rosa Bolger, Steve Good, Andy Goodwin, Richard Langridge and Geoff Saul.

CL.7

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.8

Receipt of Announcements

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

Minutes:

Councillor McBride addressed the meeting and welcomed all newly elected and returning Councillors.  He introduced the new Members and advised which Wards they represented. 

 

Councillor Mc Bride 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, Toby Morris who had contributed a great deal as Deputy Leader and Portfolio Holder for Finance.

 

Finally, Councillor McBride reiterated his thanks to the previous Chairman, Councillor Eaglestone for his leadership over the past year, which had been difficult for everyone. 

 

Councillor Graham addressed the meeting and also expressed his thanks to Councillor Eaglestone and Councillor Doughty for their dedication to the civic roles during their term.

 

The Leader, Councillor Mead, welcomed all Members and advised of the following changes to the Group Leaderships:

 

Councillor Laetisia Carter – Leader of the Labour Group;

Councillor Owen Collins – Deputy Leader of the Labour Group; and

Councillor Nathalie Chapple – Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group.

 

Congratulations were also expressed to Councillor Liz Leffman who had been elected as Leader of Oxfordshire County Council.

CL.9

Participation of the Public

To receive any submissions from members of the public, in accordance with the Council’s Rules of Procedure.

Minutes:

There was no participation of the public.

CL.10

Returning Officer's Report on Elections held 6 May 2021 pdf icon PDF 110 KB

Purpose:
To consider the Returning Officer’s report on the results of the elections held on 6 May 2021.

Recommendation:
That the report be noted.

Minutes:

Members received the Returning Officers report detailing the results of the elections held on 6 May 2021.

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

Councillor Coles moved a motion of thanks to the Election Team for the smooth running of the most complicated election in recent history.

Councillor Doughty Seconded the Proposal.

Agreed by assent.

Having considered the report, Council

 

Resolved that the report be noted.

CL.11

Appointment of Deputy Leader and Cabinet Members

The Leader of the Council to announce her appointment of the Deputy Leader and her appointments to the Executive.

 

Minutes:

The Leader, Councillor Mead, addressed the meeting and announced her appointment of the Deputy Leader, Councillor David Harvey.  She went on to outline her Cabinet Members and the portfolio areas they would take responsibility for, as follows:

 

Councillor Suzi Coul – Finance

Councillor Norman MacRae – Environment

Councillor Merilyn Davies –Communities and Housing

Councillor Jeff Haine – Strategic Planning

Councillor David Harvey – Climate Change

Councillor Jane Doughty – Customer Delivery

 

CL.12

Appointment of Committees 2021-2022 pdf icon PDF 81 KB

Purpose:

To appoint the Committees of the Council, in accordance with the Constitution and, where applicable, the rules relating to political balance.

Recommendations:    

(a)     That the Committees indicated in paragraph 1.2 be appointed, with the specified membership, for the period to the next annual meeting of the council;

(b)    That seats on those Committees be allocated to the political groups and the non-grouped members in accordance with the rules relating to political balance, and as indicated in the Table under paragraph 2.3 subject to the Council deciding (i) on which two of the three Overview and Scrutiny Committees the Conservative Group should be allocated an additional seat; and (ii) on which of those two Committees the Liberal Democrats and non-grouped members respectively should surrender a seat;

(c)     That, as a consequence of the political balance figures and the foregoing decisions, Council determines which of the non-aligned members is allocated: (i) a seat on the Audit and General Purposes Committee; (ii) two seats on the Development Control Committee; (iii) a seat on the Urgency Committee; and (iv) a seat on the two Overview and Scrutiny Committees as approved by Council under recommendation (b) above;

(d)    That in accordance with, and subject to the exceptions in, Rule 4 of the Council Procedure Rules, all Members of each political group not appointed to a committee or sub-committee be named as alternate members for the member or members of that group who have been appointed to that committee or sub-committee;

(e)    That the Licensing Committee be re-constituted for 2021-2022, with a membership in the range of 10-15; and

(f)      That seats on the Licensing Committee be allocated to the political groups in accordance with the principles of political balance and, having regard to the information in paragraphs 2.6 and 2.7 below, be filled in accordance with their wishes.

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 Councillor Mead proposed this, as laid out.

 

This was seconded by Councillor Harvey.

 

Resolved that

(a)     That the Committees indicated in paragraph 1.2 of the report be appointed, with the specified membership, for the period to the next annual meeting of the council;

(b)    That seats on those Committees be allocated to the political groups and the non-grouped members in accordance with the rules relating to political balance, and as indicated in the revised Table circulated prior to the meeting;

(c)     That Members be appointed to each of the Committees in accordance with the wishes of the political groups as shown in the Appendix to these minutes, and with resolution (d) below;

(d)    That, as a consequence of the political balance figures and the foregoing decisions, the non-grouped members be allocated seats as follows:

Audit and General Purposes Committee – Councillor Richard Langridge

Development Control Committee – Councillor Richard Langridge

Urgency Committee – Councillor Richard Langridge

Economic and Social Overview and Scrutiny Committee – Councillor Andrew Prosser

Environment Overview and Scrutiny Committee – Councillor Mike Cahill

Finance and Management Overview and Scrutiny Committee – Councillor Andrew Prosser

(e)    That in accordance with, and subject to the exceptions in, Rule 4 of the Council Procedure Rules, all Members of each political group not appointed to a committee or sub-committee be named as alternate members for the member or members of that group who have been appointed to that committee or sub-committee;

(f)      That the Licensing Committee be re-constituted for 2021-2022, with a membership of 11;

(g)     That seats on the Licensing Committee be allocated to the political groups in accordance with the principles of political balance, and having regard to the information in paragraphs 2.6 and 2.7 of the report, and be filled in accordance with their wishes; and

(h)    That, from the non-grouped members, Councillor Mike Cahill be appointed to serve on the Licensing Committee.

 

CL.13

Appointment of Chairman and Vice-Chairman of Committees pdf icon PDF 75 KB

Purpose:

To appoint a Chairman and Vice-Chairman to each of the Council’s Committees as per the list at Annex A.

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

Minutes:

It was then proposed, duly seconded and

 

Resolved that the following Chairmen and Vice-Chairmen be elected for each of the Council’s Committees for the municipal year 2021/2022:

 

Audit and General Purposes Committee

Councillor Alex Postan, Chairman

 

Councillor Dan Levy, Vice-Chairman

Licensing Committee

Councillor Norman MacRae, Chairman

 

Councillor Steve Good, Vice-Chairman

Miscellaneous Licensing Sub-Committee

Councillor Norman MacRae, Chairman

 

Councillor Steve Good, Vice-Chairman

Standards Sub-Committee

Councillor Norman MacRae, Chairman

 

Councillor Andrew Beaney, Vice-Chairman

Development Control Committee

Councillor Jeff Haine, Chairman

 

Councillor Ted Fenton, Vice-Chairman

Lowlands Planning Sub-Committee

Councillor Ted Fenton, Chairman

 

Councillor Joy Aitman, Vice-Chairman

Uplands Planning Sub-Committee

Councillor Jeff Haine, Chairman

 

Councillor Julian Cooper, Vice-Chairman

Urgency Committee

Councillor Michele Mead, Chairman

 

Councillor David Harvey, Vice-Chairman

Economic & Social Overview and Scrutiny Committee

Councillor Andrew Beaney, Chairman

 

Councillor Andy Graham, Vice-Chairman

Environment Overview and Scrutiny Committee

Councillor Alaa Al-Yousuf, Chairman

 

Councillor Andrew Coles, Vice-Chairman

Finance & Management Overview and Scrutiny Committee

Councillor Derek Cotterill, Chairman

 

Councillor Geoff Saul, Vice-Chairman