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Agenda item

Questions by Members

The following questions have been submitted by Members of Council to Members of the Executive, in accordance with the Council Procedure Rules (Constitution Part 5A, Rule 12).

Oral responses will be provided at the meeting. Following receipt of the answer to their question, Members are entitled to ask one supplementary question at the meeting.

The Questions and Answers will be detailed in the minutes of the meeting.

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Q1. Councillor Thomas Ashby to Councillor Lidia Arciszewska, Executive Member for Environment:

Can the Executive Member for the Environment, let us know how many Garden Waste Licences were sold in the following years: 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 & 2023?

Q2. Councillor Harry St. John to Councillor Andy Graham, Leader of the Council:

In the light of the possible changes to Publica, and employment of staff directly by WODC recently circulated, can the cost implications in relation to Pension contributions be highlighted at an early stage if such employees (new or existing) will become members of the LGA /OCC pension scheme?

This is so that Members can compare the current position with the new scenario. There is a mention of £1m pa extra contributions made in a recent report – How much might it cost WODC?

Q3. Councillor Harry St. John to Councillor Andy Graham, Leader of the Council:

I notice the Executive approved the process of Trade Union recognition of WODC staff – Has any Union previously been recognised by WODC?

Are there any cost implications for WODC and how many Members, if any, of the Executive are themselves Union members, particularly members of GMB or Unison, which are likely to be the main Unions involved?

Q4. Councillor Harry St. John to Councillor Andy Graham, Leader of the Council:

Last year, at the March Council, you replied to a member of the public's question regarding the Blenheim Solar Power Station, and I quote: -

"We wish to make a fully informed judgement as to whether the harms of the proposal outweigh the benefits.

“We will carry out any assessment as considered necessary to inform our response to the Planning Inspectorate."

Our Planning Officers are about to report to the Development Control Committee being held on Monday 5 February 2024.

Can you confirm why, despite being Leader of this Council, and County Councillor for Woodstock, which Division includes a number of parishes that are currently blighted by the scheme, and in light of our Council organising a bus tour of the whole site (to better inform every member of what is involved) plus a number of walkabouts at key view points within the site, you decided not to join the 11 members (on a 40 seater bus hired, one assumes at some public expense) who did come on the tour; neither did you encourage your Executive colleagues (or indeed all Members) to all come along too.

Given the sheer scale of this proposal - roughly 2500 acres stretching over 7 miles long in our District and Cherwell, let alone more in the Vale of White Horse, this absence does seem an oversight – would you agree?

Do you think your constituents will be happy that you missed the opportunity to view the whole site and hear what your officers were saying on site? Isn't that what Leadership is about?, taking the lead on a key issue? (I fully realise that the final decision on this proposal is not going to be ours, but our initial response will carry a lot of weight hopefully – given most of the site is in our domain!).

Do you agree that you and some of your/our colleagues could well be at a disadvantage when this matter comes to be debated at WODC's Development Control Committee, having not made your/themselves available for the tour?

As they say, I think we should be told and welcome your response.

 

Q5. Councillor Michele Mead to Councillor Andy Graham, Leader of the Council:

Does he feel it’s appropriate for his Deputy Leader to be now working for a communications company that is involved in work between this Council and developers given his role in the Council?

Q6. Councillor Michele Mead to Councillor Alaric Smith, Executive Member for Finance:

How much is the new interim programme director costing, and is this cost coming from the £200,000 set aside for the Publica transition?

Q7. Councillor Michele Mead to Councillor Alaric Smith, Executive Member for Finance:

While presenting the Draft Budget, Councillor Smith alluded to the cost of vehicle hire for waste lorries due to the ageing fleet. Can he tell us how much it has cost this council this year?

Q8. Councillor Liam Walker to Councillor Lidia Arciszewska, Executive Member for Environment:

Can the Executive Member confirm when the A4095 between Witney and North Leigh will have a visit from the street cleaning team to collect rubbish?

Q9. Councillor Liam Walker to Councillor Duncan Enright, Deputy Leader of the Council and Executive Member for Economic Development:

Can the Executive Member confirm what funding was used for the purchase of the Marriott’s Walk shopping centre?

Q10. Councillor Liam Walker to Councillor Tim Sumner, Executive Member for Leisure and Major Projects:

Can the Executive member update Council as to what progress has been made to secure sites in or around Witney for new 3G pitches?

Minutes:

Questions by Members, as listed on the agenda, and the responses to those questions, which were circulated in advance, were taken as read.

The Chair invited the questioners to ask a supplementary question if they wished and then invited the relevant Executive Members to respond.

The Written Questions, Written Answers, Verbal Supplementary Questions and Verbal Supplementary Answers are detailed in a separate document appended to the Minutes of the Meeting.

Supporting documents:

 

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