Agenda and draft minutes
PDF 62 KBVenue: Council Chamber, Council Offices, Woodgreen, Witney, Oxfordshire OX28 1NB. View directions
Media
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Apologies for Absence and Temporary Appointments To receive any apologies for absence and to note any temporary appointments. Minutes: Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Joy Aitman, Carl Rylett, Steve Cosier and Mark Walker. Councillor David Jackson substituted for Councillor Carl Rylett.
Apologies for lateness were received from Councillor Natalie King.
Councillor Liam Walker left at 18:40. Councillor Elizabeth Poskitt left at 18:57. Councillor Liz Leffman left at 19:02. Councillor Michele Mead left at 19:47.
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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 from Members of the Committee. |
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Minutes of Previous Meeting To approve the minutes of the meeting held 2 October 2024. Minutes: Councillor Elizabeth Poskitt proposed that the minutes of the previous meeting, held on Wednesday 2 October 2024, be approved by the Committee as a true and accurate record.
This was seconded by Councillor Alex Wilson, was put to a vote and it was unanimously agreed by the Committee. |
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Chair's announcements To receive any announcements from the Chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee. Minutes: The Chair welcomed Members to the meeting and explained what to do in case of a fire and any further procedure rules. |
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Participation of the Public To receive any submissions from members of the public, in accordance with the Council’s Rules of Procedure, anyone who lives in the district or who pays council tax or business rates to the Council is eligible to read a statement or express an opinion at this meeting. You can register to speak by sending your written submission of no more than 750 words to [email protected] by no later than 10.00am on the working day before the meeting. Minutes: There was no participation of the public. |
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Infrastructure Funding Statement 2023/24 Purpose: To note the West Oxfordshire Infrastructure Funding Statement (IFS) for 2023/24.
Recommendations: That the Committee resolves to: 1. Agree any recommendations it wishes to submit to the Executive on 20 November 2024.
Invited: Councillor Hugo Ashton, Executive Member for Planning Chris Hargraves, Planning Policy Manager Jasper Lamoon, Infrastructure Delivery Lead
Additional documents: Minutes: The Executive Member for Planning introduced the Head of Planning and the Infrastructure Delivery Lead. The report provided greater clarity on the receipt and use of developer contributions including Section 106 planning obligations to fund new and enhanced infrastructure in support of planned growth. As such, the IFS helped to support several aims and objectives of the Council Plan.
It was to be noted that the Section 106 annual report was not included as details could not be shared due to not being contractually determined; however, £13m was held and £8.9 was unallocated and most were earmarked to specific projects.
S106 was to mitigate impacts of development on a locality that was specifically earmarked in a legal agreement to meet a specific identified need and was applied when delivering development once the impact of development could be seen. There was a very specific process for allocating it for projects needed a request. There was a breakdown in table 7 and there was evidence that sports play and leisure were very good at proving need and requesting money.
It was to be noted that the 2006 scheme became unviable and needed further funding and money was received much later on. There were no spend deadlines, however; it was used on long-term projects. Monies were being received from 2014-2021 and all instalments were needed before it could be spent. The council were actively working on projects for 2025 to 2026 and nothing would be lost.
The following points and suggestions were noted by the Committee: · CIL money was not always index linked and the Council did not sit on the money for long. · S106 money was project specific and if it could not go to a specific project the it would go to a department and work would be done with the local community on how to allocate it and legal agreements would be looked at as part of that process. · CIL would be introduced and submitted to an examiner before Christmas. CIL could be more flexible and capture smaller developments. West Oxford District Council (WODC) could define how it was spent and as part of the IFS which would be used to set out priorities and a list of schemes would be drawn out of it. · Any contribution to a community needed to be evidence based and would need to requested at the application stage internally. Once the money was received the Parish Council would be informed and the council would work with them on delivering it to a specific project or area on infrastructure which could be flexible on needs. · There would be a review of if CIL could be used for sustainable transport etc. if proper evidence base that were defendable at appeal could be set up. There will be aim to ensure no money was lost by working with internal teams, tracking and chasing and ensure good accountancy procedures to actively manage it. However, it could not be guaranteed that schemes would not fail to unviability.
· CIL ... view the full minutes text for item 60. |
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West Oxfordshire Local Plan 2041 Update Purpose: To provide an update on the emerging draft West Oxfordshire Local Plan 2041, with particular regard to proposed national planning policy changes, and to agree a revised timetable for taking the plan through to adoption.
Recommendations: That the Committee resolves to: 1. Agree any recommendations it wishes to submit to the Executive on 20 November 2024.
Invited: Councillor Hugo Ashton, Executive Member for Planning Chris Hargraves, Planning Policy Manager Additional documents: Minutes: The Executive Member for Planning introduced the Head of Planning. The report provided an update on the emerging draft West Oxfordshire Local Plan 2041, with particular regard to proposed national planning policy changes ,and to agree a revised timetable for taking the plan through to adoption.
It was explained that the District Council was in the process of producing a new Local Plan covering the period up to 2041. Good progress was being made with preferred policy options currently being drafted and supporting technical evidence being prepared. However, significant national planning policy changes were announced in July and these would have a direct bearing on the new local plan and therefore a revised timetable for taking the new local plan forward needed to be agreed.
Work on the new West Oxfordshire Local Plan 2041 was now well underway. To date, there had been two main periods of public consultation which have been interspersed with focused engagement with key stakeholders. The anticipated structure of the plan was now agreed and was expected to comprise a series of cross-cutting District-wide strategic policies, a number of geographically specific ‘place based’ policies and a suite of development management policies. Preferred policy options were currently being drafted, the intention being to set out the Council’s preferred approach and in doing so, to explain why other approaches have been ruled out. The purpose of the preferred options consultation is to firm up on the overall content of the plan ahead of it being formally published.
The Executive Member for Planning suggested that the final National Policy Planning Framework (NPPF) later this year with a new standard for housing requirement which was 65% higher than planned for and meant there would be 7,500 extra homes required above the current plan. The delayed production of the NPPF meant that it would be brought to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee and Executive in March 2025 with a possible Member workshop beforehand and then a consultation after the Oxford County Council election in May/June. The Regulation 19 draft would give more protection and March 2026 was a realistic timeframe for the completed Local Plan.
There would also be a housing and employment land availability assessment with a long list of potentially suitable sites. Salt Cross was currently being assessed by the Inspector and his assessment would be completed by the end of this month.
The following points and suggestions were noted by the Committee: · The Head of Planning confirmed that neighbourhood discussions were ongoing with various forums taking place and West Oxford District Council were awaiting information from Oxford City Council on how they would proceed. · It was explained that the Infrastructure Delivery Plan was not listed as not all the plans were listed in the update; only those that formed part of the evidence base. · The Statement of Community Involvement (SCI) was out of date; an updated SCI would be considered in the Regulations 18 consultation with further policy and Development Management (DM) input provided. · There was also ... view the full minutes text for item 61. |
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Purpose: For the Committee to consider the strengthening and clarification of established criteria for Westhive civic crowdfunding platform.
Recommendations: That the Committee resolves to: 1. Agree any recommendations it wishes to submit to the Executive on 20 November 2024.
Invited: Councillor Alaric Smith, Executive Member for Finance Phil Martin, Director of Place Janine Sparrowhawk - Community Funding Officer
Additional documents: Minutes: The Community Funding Officer introduced the report that asked the Committee to consider the strengthening and clarification of established criteria for Westhive civic crowdfunding platform.
It was explained that Westhive was a ‘movement’ on Spacehive, set up to support community projects in West Oxfordshire. Westhive was launched in October 2023. The Civic Crowdfunding platform provided a new and accessible way that West Oxfordshire residents could be at the heart of civic change and provided a springboard for locally led ideas to attract funding more easily. The report served to confirm the established criteria and strengthen elements which have been noted as requiring clarification.
The following points and suggestions were noted by the Committee: · There has been six funding rounds over three years. · There was no change to the criteria it was just being organised into one place. There would be a review and analysis after round four toward the spring/summer 2025. The technical process and supporting residents remained and there was a variety of projects and Officers were working through residents experiences and would bring back the lessoned learned at a later date. · There was 1 application that was not successful because it did not meet the crowdfunding target out of 6 applications to date. 9 applications in this round. · Officers would come back to the Committee on whether the Council could make a proportionate contribution. · There were 2 pots of funding £125k and £175k. Current expenditure, Round 1 £14k, ££ UKSPF, Round 2 £5k, £28k UKSPF Round 3 not confirmed yet. Not hitting £120k this year because UKSPF had a time limit but it was only on capital and there was less demand on Council’s own allocation. · £120k was funded from revenue contribution to capital. It had not been rolled over or lost. For 2025/26 this would be added in to the revenue account and whatever was left would be unspent capital. The spend for 2023/24 was not known. · Members requested that there be more understanding provided in the next report as there were misgivings. It was proposed that be an audit that compared old grants impacts and impacts spend with the scheme. It was felt the Council should vote on whether it was rolled over. And an ideological debate on whether there should be an insistence on crowdfunding. · It was explained this was not a grant and it gone through Executive and was agreed after a long period of review. The council used to give grants to the same groups every year and it was not necessary to roll it over. There was still £458k per year in total. Rolling over was not a great accounting approach and there could be a setup of an earmarked reserve with unspent funds. Earmarked reserves would then be approved at outturn time. · The Cabinet Member for Finance explained that he was interested to hear feedback and this was about making Council funding go further. If this was approach was not working then other ways could be found to make it ... view the full minutes text for item 62. |
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Financial Performance Report 2024-25 Quarter Two Purpose: To detail the Council’s financial performance for Quarter Two 2024-2025.
Recommendations: That the Committee resolves to: 1. Agree any recommendations it wishes to submit to the Executive on 20 November 2024.
Invited: Councillor Alaric Smith, Executive Member for Finance Madhu Richards, Director of Finance Georgina Dyer, Chief Accountant Additional documents: Minutes: The Executive Member for Finance introduced the report that detailed the Council’s financial performance for Quarter Two 2024-2025Overall overspend.
It was explained that the considered the significant variances in revenue income and expenditure against the approved revenue budget set by Full Council on 28th February 2024 which anticipated a contribution of £5,107 to General Fund reserves. The report also included progress in delivering the approved Capital Programme. A year end revenue forecast was also included based on the data available in Q2. The forecast did not include any potential variances in funding i.e. Interest on external borrowing, Minimum Revenue Provision, Retained Business Rates income and General Government Grants. These items made a significant impact on the 2023/24 outturn position, but at this stage in the year it was not possible to accurately predict their final position for the year.
At quarter 2 (Q2) there was an overall overspend of £96,821 against the profiled budget for the period. At quarter 1 there was an overall overspend of £257,013 against the profiled budget. The key factors driving the revenue position were income shortfalls in garden waste and development management, the delayed Elmfield office letting, the empty Carterton Industrial Estate units and increased expenditure on waste and recycling container replacement. Development management income had struggled in the first half of the year but may yet recover should a major application be received. The recycling contract with Suez expired at the end of September and the cost centre was showing a temporary underspend of £126,000 against the contract as officers and Suez were negotiating the final two months invoicing cost. The new contract, approved at the Executive meeting on 11th September 2024, was expected to deliver a budget saving of £300,000 from 2025/26 (£62,000 in 2024/25). The Elmfield offices have been empty since August 2023 and required capital investment before the new tenant occupies the building in January 2025. The tenant would undertake the work and had scheduled it to take 12 weeks. Rent would be paid from mid- January, irrespective of whether the construction works had been completed.
The following points and suggestions were noted by the Committee: · There were many moving parts and it was unknown if there would be an underspend and the outcome of the Publica review would be seen. · In terms of planning projects, there fortnight meetings to ensure all work streams were working efficiently. · Working on opportunities for partnership working across Oxfordshire.
RESOLVED that the Committee noted the report and it was agreed that there were no recommendations to the Executive on 20 November 2024.
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Report back on recommendations There were no recommendations arising from the previous meeting of the Committee. Minutes: There were no recommendations to the Executive arising from the previous Committee meeting. |
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Executive Work Programme Purpose: To give the Committee the opportunity to comment on the Executive Work Programme.
Recommendation: That the Committee agrees which items on the Executive Work Programme should be subject to pre-decision scrutiny and the priority order of those items. Minutes: The Executive Work Programme was noted. |
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Committee Work Programme Purpose: To provide the Committee with an updated Work Programme for 2024/25.
Recommendation: That the Committee notes and comments on the work programme. Minutes: It was requested that the report on the Addition of purchase of a waste vehicle be added to the Committee Work Programme.
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