Council Agenda
Contact: Steven Corrigan, Democratic Services Manager Telephone number 07717 274704 Email: steven.corrigan@southandvale.gov.uk Date: 3 October 2022 Website: www.whitehorsedc.gov.uk
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Summons to attend
a meeting of Council
to be held on Wednesday 12 October 2022 at 7.00 pm
The Ridgeway, The Beacon, Portway, Wantage, OX12 9BY
Patrick Arran
Head of Legal and Democratic
Alternative formats of this publication are available on request. These include large print, Braille, audio, email and easy read. For this or any other special requirements (such as access facilities) please contact the officer named on this agenda. Please give as much notice as possible before the meeting.
Agenda
Open to the public including the press
1. Apologies for absence
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To record apologies for absence.
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2. Declarations of interest
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To receive declarations of disclosable pecuniary interests, other registrable interests and non-registrable interests or any conflicts of interest in respect of items on the agenda for this meeting.
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3. Minutes
(Pages 9 - 15)
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To adopt and sign as a correct record the Council minutes of the meeting held on 13 July 2022.
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4. Urgent business and chair's announcements
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To receive notification of any matters which the chair determines should be considered as urgent business and the special circumstances which have made the matters urgent, and to receive any announcements from the chair.
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5. Public participation
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To receive any questions or statements from members of the public that have registered to speak.
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6. Petitions
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To receive any petitions from the public.
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7. Treasury outturn 2021/22
(Pages 16 - 36)
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The report of the head of finance, which the Joint Audit and Governance Committee considered on 27 September 2022 and Cabinet considered on 30 September, is attached.
RECOMMENDATION: to 1. approve the treasury management outturn report for 2021/22;
2. approve the actual 2021/22 prudential indicators within the report.
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8. Adoption of powers from Oxfordshire County Council under Land Drainage Act
(Pages 37 - 43)
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The report of the head of head of development and corporate landlord, which Cabinet considered, is attached. Cabinet resolved to:
(a) support the request from Oxfordshire County Council for Vale of White Horse District Council to adopt powers under the Land Drainage Act, as set out in paragraph 8 of the head of development and corporate landlord’s report to Cabinet on 30 September 2022;
(b) subject to Council approving the adoption of powers in (c) below, that Cabinet authorises the head of development and corporate landlord, in consultation with the head of legal and democratic, to negotiate and finalise the agreement with Oxfordshire County Council and enter into agreement to adopt the powers from Oxfordshire County Council;
RECOMMENDATION: to approve the adoption of powers under an agency agreement with Oxfordshire County Council.
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9. Review of the council's constitution
(Pages 44 - 144)
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To consider the report of the head of legal and democratic on proposed changes to the council’s constitution.
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10. Report of the leader of the council
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To receive the report of Councillor Emily Smith, Leader of the council.
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11. Questions on notice
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To receive questions from councillors in accordance with Council procedure rule 33.
1 Question from Councillor Amos Duveen to Councillor Helen Pighills, Cabinet member for Health Communities
Thinking ahead about the looming winter crisis, is the council looking into providing warm spaces, so called ‘warm banks’, for people who cannot afford their energy bills?
And, if so, what options are being considered?
2 Question from Councillor David Grant to Councillor Debby Hallett, Cabinet member for Corporate Services and Transformation
With the ending of the sale of new petrol and diesel cars just over seven years away, electric vehicle charging points are now becoming a welcome condition on many planning permissions. At a local new estate, I was disappointed to see developers had installed the bare minimum to meet this condition, using a three-pin socket. Charging a car on these could take up to 20 hours making it impractical to rely on for daily use and preventing residents taking advantage of cheaper electricity rates at night, which the national grid needs them to do to balance electricity demand. These are likely to be ripped out and replaced by anyone who is considering making the switch.
The council has been
farsighted enough to install much faster public charging points in
our local car parks, but home charging is still the most
cost-effective option for residents. Is there anything we can
do to insist on a minimum charging speed for new chargers where
they are being insisted on as part of the planning
conditions? 3 Question from Councillor Bob Johnston to Councillor Neil Fawcett, Cabinet member for Strategic Partnerships
Following the news that the OxPlan 2050 process has come to an end, what will the council do to ensure that our agreed priorities continue to influence planning policy across Oxfordshire?
4 Question from Councillor Ron Batstone to Councillor Emily Smith, Leader of the Council
Can the leader give an update on any response to her letter and the outcome of the bid to the Restoring Your Railways Fund?
5 Question from Councillor Paul Barrow to Councillor Judy Roberts, Cabinet member for development and infrastructure
We continue to have an increasing number of incidents of untreated sewage being discharged into our rivers with all the risks to public health from enteric infections and spread of antibiotic resistance. This was discussed at the Full Council meeting in July 2020. It is a problem for the Environment Agency, but much could be done by Thames Water through improved infrastructure to support new housing development.
I would like to know, first, what is being done to ensure that new housing developments incorporate sufficient sewerage (infrastructure) capacity and that this is associated with improved treatment capacity and, second, can we be assured that for all new housing development surface water is separated from foul water and discharged or treated separately?
6 Question from Councillor Diana Lugova to Councillor Emily Smith, Leader of the council
As the planning authority, when making decisions about planning applications we must comply with national planning policy and regulations to ensure that development is not harmful to nature and wildlife. I believe our council has ambitions to strengthen local policy to protect and enhance wildlife when planning new development, but I am very worried that recent announcements from the national government about scrapping of environmental laws will make this even harder.
The laws the government have said they would get rid of include the Habitat Regulations which protect some of our most vulnerable wildlife and green places across England. They also defend our clean water, clean air, and clean rivers.
Would the government's new stated approach mean that our ambitions as a council to strengthen protection and enhancement of wildlife and biodiversity though stronger policies in our emerging Joint Local Plan be undermined?
7 Question from Councillor Elaine Ware to Councillor Sally Povolotsky, Cabinet member for Climate Change and Environment
Across the Vale of White Horse, we now have 62 Electric vehicle chargers in the council car parks, thanks to work at all levels of government. Would the Cabinet Member for Climate Change and Environment please provide the information as to: 1. The total usage of EV Chargers from each car park since installation 2. Loss of income from parking bays now occupied by EV charger instillations 3. Income received by the council from the use of the chargers.
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12. Motions on notice