Agenda and draft minutes
PDF 56 KBVenue: Committee Room 1, Woodgreen, Witney
Contact: Democratic Services
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Minutes of Previous meeting To approve the minutes of the meeting held on 2 December 2021. Minutes: The minutes of the meeting held on 2 December 2021 were approved and signed by the Chairman as a correct record, with the following amendment to the wording on page one of the minutes under item 31, paragraph five, last sentence insert the word waste:“ .. As for the recycle bins, these were not being issued anymore as they were not properly used, and were mixed waste contaminated.
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Apologies for Absence and Temporary Appointments Minutes: Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Harry Eaglestone. Councillor Maxine Crossland substituted for Councillor McBride, and Councillor Duncan Enright substituted for Councillor Owen Collins. |
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Declarations of Interest To receive any declarations of interest from Councillors relating to items to be considered at the meeting, in accordance with the provisions of the Council’s Local Code of Conduct, and any from Officers.
Minutes: There were no declarations of interest received. |
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Participation of the Public Purpose: To receive any submissions from members of the public, in accordance with the Council’s Rules of Procedure.
Minutes: The following members of the public had registered to attend the meeting and address Members on Item 5. WP1 and WP2 – Review Witney Flood Investigation Report:
· Mr Tony Stark – Witney resident · Mr William Wareing – Witney Flood Mitigation Group · Councillor Andrew Prosser – Ward Councillor by discretion of the Chair
Mr Stark addressed the Committee and a copy of his speech is attached to the original copy of these minutes. Mr Stark concluded that he was encouraged by the report and he wanted to work collaboratively with whomever took ownership to progress the recommendations.
Mr William Wareing addressed the Committee on behalf of the Witney Flood Mitigation Group and a copy of Mr Wareing’s submission is attached to the original copy of these minutes. Mr Wareing concluded that he looked forward to continued collaboration and expected to see substantial coordination amongst the groups involved, and he reminded Members that flood risk management and the delivery of appropriate mitigation action was in the Council’s ability.
Councillor Andrew Prosser addressed Members under the Committee Work Programme as agreed by the Chairman’s discretion.
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Committee Work Programme 2020/2021 Purpose: To provide the Committee with an updated Work Programme for 2020/2021, and these following items will be considered at this meeting:
WP1 and WP2 – Review Witney Flood Investigation Report WP3 - Ubico 22/23 Business Plan – Presentation from Ubico WP4 – Service Performance Report 2021 Q2 – Review Report WP5 – Air Quality, verbal update from Phil Measures
Chairman’s update on Carbon Action Plan Working Group
Recommendation: That the Committee notes the work programme, provides comment where needed and makes amendments where required.
Additional documents:
Minutes: The Chairman announced that he was going to bring forward the Work Programme 3 item (WP3), Presentation from Ubico, so that the guest presenters could have the opportunity to leave the meeting before the review of the Witney Flood Investigation Report, as this was likely to be a lengthy item. He explained that he would then return to Item 4 Participation of the Public and the Flood Report.
WP3 – Ubico 22/23 Business Plan.
The Chairman introduced Mr Chris Urwin, Ubico’s Finance Director and Rob Heath, Ubico’s Operations Director. Mr Urwin and Mr Heath addressed the Committee and shared a presentation on Ubico’s Business Plan for 2022/2023. The presentation focussed on the business Plan timeline and their five year vision. The Chairman thanked both presenters and invited Councillors to comment or ask questions, remembering to focus on the Ubico Business Plan and not local issues. Councillor Postan asked if Ubico took Gloucester City on board, what compensation would West Oxfordshire gain. Mr Urwin explained that the Council had been consulted about Gloucester City joining Ubico, all parties would have an equal share and felt it would give a business benefit by strengthening the depth of the contract with the geography being more progressive. The Group Manager – Commercial Development, Bill Oddy clarified that the Ubico contract had started in 2012 with only Cotswold and Cheltenham District Council’s being members, followed by West Oxfordshire. Each Council is costed separately. The data journey with collaborating, means no risk to one Council, but all Councils see the benefits. Councillor Postan suggested that a mechanical engineer on board would be a good asset on deciding the specification of vehicles to be used. Mr Heath confirmed that they had a Fleet Engineer who was an expert in this field. Councillor Dent asked if there were any figures that determined the value of the contract. Mr Heath stated that 7million was a snapshot in time, with the most costly items being vehicles and staff. Mr Oddy clarified that this was the biggest contract the Council had and covered: · Waste and recycling · Grounds maintenance · Street cleansing Mr Oddy also confirmed that the breakdown in figures were now in the Council Budget and could be shared with the Councillors. The Chairman asked why the contract had increased by so much. Following a question from the Chairman, Mr Urwin explained that the costs had increased so much despite them trying to contain costs as much as possible and staff costs had seen a significant rise. He advised that Ubico linked their people costs to the governments pay structure, which was still being worked through at the moment, with at least a 1.8% increase plus a plan for a further 2% increase but it could potentially be more. Mr Unwin advised that driver retention was a priority, with Ubico utilising a pay increase, plus soft local staff benefits, as a way to retain drivers. It was noted that driver shortage was a national issue, as well as the increased in ... view the full minutes text for item 39. |
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Local Plan Annual Monitoring Report 2020-2021 Purpose: To note the Council’s Local Plan Annual Monitoring Report for 2020-2021, agreed by Cabinet on 15 December 2021.
Recommendation: That the content of the Local Plan Annual Monitoring Report be noted Additional documents: Minutes: Resolved that the Local Plan annual Monitoring Report 2020 - 2021 be noted. |
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Cabinet Work Programme Purpose: To give the Committee the opportunity to comment on the Cabinet Work Programme February to May 2020. Recommendation: That the Committee decides whether to express a view to the Cabinet on relevant issues in its Work Programme.
Minutes: Resolved that the Cabinet Work Programme be noted. |
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Members' Questions
Purpose: To receive questions from Members relating to the work of the Environment Overview and Scrutiny Committee. In order to ensure that appropriate information is to hand at the meeting, Members may wish to give notice of any questions through the Committee Officer. Recommendation: That Members’ questions be dealt with as appropriate.
Minutes: Councillor Coles announced the sad passing of former District Councillor Eve Coles and who had been a member of this Committee. The Chairman wanted to pass on the Environment Overview and Scrutiny Committees sincere condolences. |