Agenda item

Public participation

Asking a questionand addressing the Board

Questions or requests to make an address (in full and in writing) must be received by 5pm on Monday 26 October 2020.  

 

Questions and addresses should be no longer than one side of A4 paper in Ariel 12 font. The address or question will be circulated to the Panel and public speakers will be invited to speak at the virtual meeting, subject to technical arrangements being in place. Written submissions may also be read out by the Chair or Democratic Services Officer where requested or if the person making the request for public speaking is not able to attend the meeting.  A response may be given at the meeting or a written answer supplied. The Chair will have discretion to manage the public participation procedure as they see appropriate.

 

Questions and notice of addresses must be submitted to democratic.services@oxfordshiregrowthboard.org

 

Minutes:

Michael Tyce on behalf of CPRE Oxfordshire made an address referring to the Oxford to Cambridge Arc and Oxford to Cambridge Economic Prospectus which asked the Growth Board to not endorse the Prospectus. Mr Tyce expressed the view that the Arc was an organisational fiction without formal status and that contrary to the Prospectus, Oxfordshire was a rural county and not a unique home of technology. The Prospectus did not contain enough financial information or explain the investment required to secure return on investment.

 

Concerns were expressed that if the Prospectus was endorsed by the Board, governance structures would be required, which it was argued, would be top-down, leading to a reduction in local accountability and decision making. In the view of CPRE, this was not what the public wanted and ran counter to the aims of the Draft Oxfordshire Vision to develop an approach that is more Oxfordshire specific.

 

The Prospectus had been submitted to HM Government prior to Board consideration and without consultation with the public. It contained references to climate change and the protection of countryside, but the view was expressed that these were felt to be superficial. With the withdrawal of Buckinghamshire Council from the Arc Leadership Group, he said this demonstrated that a rethink was necessary.

 

In response, with the support of officer advice, the Chair commented that there were several comments made in the address that needed to be factually challenged. She said the Oxford to Cambridge Arc had been identified as a region of economic significance by HM Government in response to work undertake by the National Infrastructure Commission. It was a construct, but not one that was fictional or without merit and there were many benefits of working in collaboration with neighbouring areas. The Arc with its links to Oxford, Cambridge and other universities was of international significance and capacity.

 

The Prospectus did not present itself as attempting to capture the entire economic value of the Arc, but it did make appropriate references to other sources of information such as the Joint Local Industrial Strategy work and the Local Enterprise Partnerships within the Arc geography. Buckinghamshire Council in withdrawing from the Arc Leadership Group had been incorrect to state that decision making for the Arc Spatial Framework rested with the Group because the Arc Spatial Framework was being developed, funded and delivered by HM Government. The Arc continued to be a forum where members could choose to work collaboratively together to positively influence national decision makers. The principles of the Arc had already been established by HM Government and the Prospectus did not attempt changes these, what it hoped to gain was better outcomes for Oxfordshire.

 

It was expressed to be misleading to refer to the Arc as lacking in democratic accountability given that HM Government had established the Arc concept and locally elected Leaders were engaging with it. No statutory decisions had been taken and accountability would be served through those organisations. Finally, the development of the Prospectus had been a bottom up process involving many local stakeholders.

 

It was noted a full copy of the address and response was available from this link.

 

Supporting documents:

 

Contact us - Democratic services

Phone icon

01235 422520
(Text phone users add 18001 before dialing)

Address icon

Vale of White Horse District Council
Abbey House, Abbey Close,
Abingdon
OX14 3JE