Agenda and draft minutes

To receive any opening announcements from the chair.

The chair opened the meeting.

To record apologies for absence and the attendance of substitute members. 

Apologies were received from Councillors Kate Gregory and Katherine Foxhall.

To adopt and sign as a correct record the Joint Scrutiny Committee minutes of the meeting held on 18 November 2024.

Resolved:

The minutes of the meeting on 18 November 2024 were agreed as a correct record, and the chair would sign them as such.

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. 

None

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.

None

To receive any questions or statements from members of the public that have registered to speak. 

None

To review the attached scrutiny work schedule. Please note, although the dates are confirmed, the items under consideration are subject to being withdrawn, added to or rearranged without further notice.

The committee reviewed their work programme.

Joint Scrutiny Committee is asked to consider the revised Terms of Reference and Memorandum of Understanding for the Oxfordshire Leaders Joint Committee and provide comments to Cabinet. These documents will take effect following approval by each of the six Oxfordshire councils.

The South Oxfordshire District Council (SODC) Leader introduced this report. The Vale of White Horse District Council (VWHDC) Leader was present online. Senior officers present were the Deputy Chief Executive – Place, the Deputy Chief Executive – Corporate and Communities, and the Head of Legal and Democratic Services.

A new Terms of Reference (ToR) for an Oxfordshire Leaders Joint Committee (OLJC) was presented to the committee. This committee was previously called Future Oxfordshire Partnership (FOP). The revised committee terms were created to remain as a joint committee, as discussion was still needed on the remaining funding related to the Oxfordshire Growth Deal. Oxfordshire Leaders still needed a mechanism to discuss cross county issues so this ToR had been produced as per Leader requirements.

Membership of the previous FOP had been reduced to voting members only for the new OLJC. Advisory groups had been removed as they created added work and potentially off-scope discussion, but the OLJC maintains the ability to set up task and finish groups for specific county-wide topics.

Regarding the scrutiny function for the OLJC, scrutiny would need to occur in partner councils’ individual scrutiny functions. Small savings would be achieved and recycled into standing projects, like the Oxfordshire Inclusive Economy Partnership. Senior officers and Leaders had contributed to drafts, and the Deputy Chief Executive – Place and the Head of Legal and Democratic Services both considered that the new ToR was an improvement for the time being.

Members asked questions to the Leaders and provided their thoughts on the new ToR. In terms of legacy matters, it was explained that the Oxfordshire Growth Deal (OGD) was a County Council responsibility to conclude, but projects such as Local Nature Partnership (LNP) and Oxfordshire Inclusive Economy Partnership (OIEP) were still ongoing but weren’t a large workload. On the net zero work, we will get half yearly reports on the delivery of the Net Zero Route map and Action plan and on the development of Local Area Energy Plans (LAEP), which required some steering work from the new OLJC.

It was confirmed to members that strategic planning as part of the OJLC was not long-term due to local government reorganisation over the next few years. The SODC Leader felt that the new OLJC would be a public forum for neighbouring Leaders to collaborate.

A member questioned section 9.3 – planning for six meetings per year. The response provided was that on funding the OLJC, £100k had been budgeted per council, split between administration of OLJC, LNP and OIEP. The SODC Leader considered six meetings a year was important for partnership building. The VWHDC Leader agreed, and despite wanting to reduce the funding, she considered that it wasn’t possible at the moment.

A member queried section 5, regarding the duty to cooperate. In relation to Oxford housing number, it was asked whether we can say that decisions need a unanimous agreement? Why was it a majority vote for a forum, shouldn’t it be unanimous? Can members  ...  view the full minutes text for item 53.

To consider whether to exclude members of the press and public from the meeting for the following items of business under Section 12A of the Local Government Act 1972 as amended on the grounds that:

(i)     It is likely that there will be disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraph 3 of Schedule 12A, and

(ii)    the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.

The committee agreed that a confidential session was not required.

Resolved:

Joint Scrutiny Committee agreed the confidential section of the minutes of 16 November 2024 to be a correct record, and the chair would sign them as such.

If required, committee shall consider exempt minutes of the meeting on 18 November 2024.

A confidential discussion was not required.