Appendix 1

Growth Board Draft response to recommendations of the Growth Board Scrutiny Panel

Recommendations made on 16^th March 2021

The Growth Board is requested to provide a response to the recommendations of the Scrutiny Panel for decision at its meeting on 22 March 2021.

Recommendation	Agree?	Comment
Recommendation 1: That the Growth Board ensures the Oxfordshire Growth Needs Assessment work is published as soon as that work is completed; or clarify the reasons and timescale for publishing it as part of the Oxfordshire Plan 2050 Regulation 18 Part 2 public consultation.
Recommendation 2: That the Growth Board clarifies how it intends to increase the consideration of environmental issues through the development of the Oxfordshire Plan 2050 and wider programmes of work.
Recommendation 3: That the Growth Board undertake further work to understand the impact that changes in local rail services do and may have in the future on modal shift, particularly with regards to personal car use, to help inform the 2022 Local Transport and Connectivity Plan (LTCP) and future business cases for rail investment. There should be cross referencing between the rail study and the LTCP. i. Especially the A40 Oxford – Witney rail corridor should be considered since traffic in these areas will continue to rise with the reduction of services in northwest of the Cotswolds railway line bringing in traffic from areas such as Charlbury. ii. In addition, consideration should also be given to the building of new stations on existing lines especially in areas such as Kidlington-Begbroke-Yarnton where there are large scale development plans.
Recommendation 4: That the Growth Board take steps to ensure that the Strategic Vision is supported by a communications strategy containing appropriately concise and engaging literature especially summarising the vision in a one-page format and user-friendly language.
Recommendation 5: That the Growth Board recognise that the following statement contained within the Strategic Vision could be misunderstood as a justification for using a narrow definition of growth: “Growth can be defined narrowly in terms of expansion in numbers of homes and jobs and economic output.” The Panel recommends that this is revised to assert that growth can and should be defined in a more holistic way, as intended through the “good growth” definition set out in the Vision. Consideration should also be given to whether the definition of Good Growth can be moved to an earlier position in the document, and whether mentions of prosperity and clean growth can be more frequently referenced throughout the document.
Recommendation 6: That the Growth Board makes clear through the Oxford to Cambridge Arc Executive Group that local planning decisions should remain as a matter for local planning authorities through the plan making process. Any proposal from HM government to reduce local democratic accountability and oversight with respect to planning would be strongly opposed. Similarly, any future proposals concerning HM Government’s plans for the emerging Arc “Growth Body” and the Arc Spatial Framework must have local accountability, oversight and engagement built into its structure.