To receive the following questions from members of the council under standing order 12.
1. Question from Councillor Bob Johnston to Councillor Charlotte Dickson, Chairman of the General Licensing Committee.
Could the Chairman please explain how council will reconsider and amend its Air Quality Management Area policies and actions in light of recent emissions-rigging scandal?
2. Question from Councillor Bob Johnston to Councillor Roger Cox, Cabinet member for housing.
Given the Government's stated desire to reduce family benefit to a maximum of £23,000 per annum, which will result in housing associations no longer being able to house them as social housing rents will be unaffordable, could the Cabinet member please explain what contingency arrangements the Vale (as a statutory housing body) is making to deal with the expected increase in social housing need?"
3. Question from Councillor Judy Roberts to Councillor Eric Batts, Cabinet member for technical services.
Please could the Cabinet member explain why the Vale is continuing to ignore repeated requests from residents and parish councils for a proper hydrology survey for the Cumnor Hill area?
4. Question from Councillor Judy Roberts to Councillor Elaine Ware, Cabinet member for corporate strategy.
Could the Cabinet member please confirm her intention to review the Grants Scheme in early 2016?
5. Question from Councillor Julia Reynolds to Councillor Matthew Barber, Leader of the council.
Letcombe Brook is a chalk stream which are globally rare. It is seven miles long, from Letcombe Regis, through Wantage, Grove and East Hanney. It is a key strategic environmental asset and its continual maintenance by the Letcombe Brook Project Officer is vital for flood mitigation and for ensuring the integrity of its habitats by conserving and enhancing the biodiversity and landscape. The Letcombe Brook Project arose from public concern about pollution, low water levels and years of neglect resulting in litter, erosion, poor bank treatments and frequent flooding. The Project officer works with a small team of volunteers, developers, residents who are riparian owners, and organises field visits for local schools, which forms part of the National Curriculum. Advice is given to the East Hanney flood group, tree and bank erosion management is ongoing, indigenous planting has been carried out and invasive species such as himalayan balsam is pulled out on a regular basis. The brook supports a healthy wild brown trout population and priority species such as otter and UK's most endangered species, the water vole. Funding from the Environment Agency was withdrawn three years ago. Will the Leader commit to additional funding for the Letcombe Brook Project in the forthcoming budget?
6. Question from Councillor Chris Palmer to Councillor Matthew Barber, Leader of the council.
Given that the first refugees are due to arrive in Oxford before Christmas, what plans are there locally for any refugees, and what can/ should the Churches in Abingdon do to help?
There are many different things that the Churches can and may well be willing to do to help out. But they need to know what is expected and how many people they would be expected to help?
Minutes:
1. Question from Councillor Bob Johnston to Councillor Charlotte Dickson, Chairman of the General Licensing Committee.
“Could the Chairman please explain how council will reconsider and amend its Air Quality Management Area policies and actions in light of recent emissions-rigging scandal?”
Councillor Dickson responded as follows:
“Local authority monitoring has always shown that central government predicted vehicle emissions reductions from cleaner vehicles, which was based on manufacturers’ data, were not being recorded in their areas.
This emission rigging scandal will not undermine any of the existing actions in the Vale Air Quality Action Plan because the actions look at the whole fleet and not individual car manufacturers. The actions focus on driving behaviour, traffic flows and improving the take up of electric cars. The fact that some cars are not meeting their predicted emissions standards will mean that the above actions will potentially take longer to achieve the required nitrogen dioxide reductions.”
In response to a supplementary question she undertook to provide a written update on the implementation of the council’s Air Quality Action Plan.
2. Question from Councillor Bob Johnston to Councillor Roger Cox, Cabinet member for housing.
“Given the Government's stated desire to reduce family benefit to a maximum of £23,000 per annum, which will result in housing associations no longer being able to house them as social housing rents will be unaffordable, could the Cabinet member please explain what contingency arrangements the Vale (as a statutory housing body) is making to deal with the expected increase in social housing need?"
Councillor Cox responded as follows:
“There are many factors that affect any increase in the demand for social housing, but I believe this council is in a good position to deal with the demands in the future. There are two parts in answering this question. Firstly, how will the decrease in benefit affect those households already in social housing? This is an issue for our housing association partners. Sovereign estimates around 60 households would be affected. So we are working strategically with them to assist those households. Initially, those households would qualify for discretionary housing benefit to assist them in paying the rent for a period of six months. Sovereign Housing Association will then work intensively with the household to try and get them back into work or training so that they can be exempted from the benefit cap. They will only need to work 16 hours per week to be exempt. Also we will encourage both Sovereign and SOHA to make best use of their housing stock and internal transfers to move households away from affordable properties to those that charge only social rent.
The changes made in the Housing Needs Service, will enable the council to assist households trying to access social housing. There is a real emphasis on preventing homelessness. In 2013/14 the Council prevented 245 households from becoming homeless, in 2014/15 this rose to 323. The trend this year shows that the council will exceed this figure again. The council runs a successful social lettings agency and in 2014/15 found 90 homes for families in the private sector. The majority of the rents were kept to the local housing allowance levels, but with incentives for landlords, many households on low incomes have accessed this accommodation.
Households who are subject to the benefit cap, who have a high priority through the housing register, will be given targeted assistance. A protocol has been agreed with both Sovereign Housing Association and SOHA, that if a household bids and is successful for an affordable home and their income is insufficient to meet their rent liabilities, then they will be offered a home with a social rent. We have also set up protocols with Citizens Advice and a variety of other agencies to also assist those households subject to the benefit cap or low incomes to assist them in maximising their income.
Therefore, as you can see the council has taken a strategic view, in partnership to help those households that require our assistance.”
In response to a supplementary question Councillor Cox confirmed that officers would work with housing associations to ensure families on modest incomes were not housed in bed and breakfast accommodation in high drug use areas.
3. Question from Councillor Judy Roberts to Councillor Eric Batts, Cabinet member for technical services.
“Please could the Cabinet member explain why the Vale is continuing to ignore repeated requests from residents and parish councils for a proper hydrology survey for the Cumnor Hill area?”
Councillor Batts thanked Councillor Roberts for her question and responded as follows:
“I recognise the potential benefit of a proper hydrology survey of the
Cumnor Hill area. However, this council is not the lead local flood authority. That responsibility lays with Oxfordshire County Council who would be the commissioning authority for such a survey. The county have given informal indication to suggest that they could carry out a survey. However, they would be looking for funding assistance from potential developers in the Cumnor Hill area in order to make a hydrology survey feasible.”
As a supplementary question Councillor Roberts asked that in light of the extensive number of planning permissions granted in this area what assurance could the Cabinet member give to residents of Dean Court and North Hinksey that there will not be serious flooding following future heavy rainfall?
Councillor Batts responded that he could not provide such an assurance. The appropriate authority, Oxfordshire County Council, was aware of the potential for flooding in the area and he suggested that Councillor Roberts raise her concerns with the ward member for the County Division.
4. Question from Councillor Judy Roberts to Councillor Elaine Ware, Cabinet member for corporate strategy.
“Could the Cabinet member please confirm her intention to review the Grants Scheme in early 2016?”
In response Councillor Ware confirmed that she will review the Grants Scheme in 2016. She referred to a meeting she had held with Councillor Roberts in August and to an email from the Grants Team Leader dated 25 August which states that she is keen to review the scheme in April 2016. She undertook to provide Councillor Roberts with a copy of the email following the meeting.
As a supplementary question Councillor Roberts referred to Article 13.2 in the council’s constitution which requires that actions taken should be proportionate to the desired outcome. She stated that the most appropriate way of distributing grant money would be on the basis of per head of population rather than by parish as had been the case in the previous four years and resulted in the Faringdon area receiving an extra £40,000. She asked for an assurance that the forthcoming review would assess the desired outcome of smaller parishes receiving extra grant money and that this be statistically assessed and the conclusions made public.
In response Councillor Ware confirmed that this issue would be considered as part of her review.
5. Question from Councillor Julia Reynolds to Councillor Matthew Barber, Leader of the council.
“Letcombe Brook is a chalk stream which are globally rare. It is seven miles long, from Letcombe Regis, through Wantage, Grove and East Hanney. It is a key strategic environmental asset and its continual maintenance by the Letcombe Brook Project Officer is vital for flood mitigation and for ensuring the integrity of its habitats by conserving and enhancing the biodiversity and landscape. The Letcombe Brook Project arose from public concern about pollution, low water levels and years of neglect resulting in litter, erosion, poor bank treatments and frequent flooding. The Project officer works with a small team of volunteers, developers, residents who are riparian owners, and organises field visits for local schools, which forms part of the National Curriculum. Advice is given to the East Hanney flood group, tree and bank erosion management is ongoing, indigenous planting has been carried out and invasive species such as himalayan balsam is pulled out on a regular basis. The brook supports a healthy wild brown trout population and priority species such as otter and UK's most endangered species, the water vole. Funding from the Environment Agency was withdrawn three years ago. Will the Leader commit to additional funding for the Letcombe Brook Project in the forthcoming budget?”
In response Councillor Barber stated that the 2016/17 capital base budget included provision of £6,000 for flood alleviation work.
6. Question from Councillor Chris Palmer to Councillor Matthew Barber, Leader of the council.
“Given that the first refugees are due to arrive in Oxford before Christmas, what plans are there locally for any refugees, and what can/ should the Churches in Abingdon do to help?
There are many different things that the Churches can and may well be willing to do to help out. But they need to know what is expected and how many people they would be expected to help?”
In response Councillor Barber responded that the council had not received a request from the Home Office to house refugees. The most appropriate option was to house refugees in areas where a support network existed and the Vale was unlikely to meet this criteria. However, the Vale was ready to share the burden and would work with partners, including the churches, to help any refugees.