(1) Urgent cabinet decisions
In accordance with the overview and scrutiny procedure rules, a cabinet decision can be taken as a matter of urgency, if any delay by the call-in process would seriously prejudice the council’s or the public’s interest. Treating the decision as a matter of urgency must be agreed by the chairman of the Scrutiny Committee and must be reported to the next meeting of the council, together with the reasons for urgency.
To receive any details of urgent cabinet decisions taken since the last ordinary meeting of the council, (if any).
(2) Delegation of cabinet functions
To receive details of any changes to the leader’s scheme of delegation.
(3) Matters affecting the authority arising from meetings of joint committees, partnerships and other meetings
To receive the report of the leader (if any).
Minutes:
(1) Urgent cabinet decisions
Council noted that no cabinet decisions had been taken as a matter of urgency since the last meeting of the council.
(2) Delegation of cabinet functions
Council noted that the Leader had not changed his scheme of delegation.
(3) Matters affecting the authority arising from meetings of joint committees, partnerships and other meetings
The Leader of the Council gave thanks to all those who had helped tackle the recent flooding events. He believed that the hard work of the council’s staff and contractors had been remarkable, and had helped to protect a large number of properties in the district that would otherwise have been flooded. Staff had been dealing with the unprecedented rainfall since last year, and continued to assist residents on a daily basis. He was grateful to the many volunteers across the district who had not only been active over the past few months, but had spent many more months and years clearing watercourses and building defences, all of which had helped to protect the Vale’s residents.
Sadly, a number of properties were flooded, with devastating consequences for householders. The council would continue to support residents and help with the clean up where it could. The nature of the flooding was such that in many places, ground water appeared in areas that would not normally be at first risk of flooding. There were a number of cases that the council was investigating to see if there was a remedy.
Once again South Hinksey was the community hardest hit in the Vale and following the floods in January, the Leader had met the parish council to look at how the Vale could work with the parish council and other agencies to implement a defence scheme for this small, but badly affected community. After significant pressure from the council, the County Council, and Nicola Blackwood MP, the Army were deployed to build flood defences last weekend. Local troops from the Royal Logistic Corp descended in numbers last Friday and worked alongside the Environment Agency and private contractors to erect an 800 metre flood barrier. The Leader expressed his gratitude for the resources and effort put into this project. The council would continue to support South Hinksey and other communities in finding a long-term solution, and the council was willing to pursue flood protection measures.
The Leader would be attending the County Council’s Flood Summit on 21 March, at which long-term options would be considered. The most prominent of these was the Western Conveyance, now known as the Oxford ReliefRiver. There would naturally be some concerns about how this would affect Abingdon but he asked councillors to act responsibly and not stoke those concerns, as the council should take this matter seriously. The Environment Agency was confident that the increase in river levels at Abingdon would be less than 5mm; the Leader saw no evidence to contradict that. Nevertheless, he was meeting representatives from the Environment Agency to look at possible flood protection measures for Abingdon, and seeking to have these incorporated into the wider scheme for the Oxford Relief River proposal. Schemes of this scale would take time to implement so the council would continue to look at small schemes to protect the most vulnerable communities, and the council could only do that with the hard work of our staff and volunteers.