Agenda item

For action: To consider a report which summarises the steps required to be undertaken to change the name of the Board. The report also presents the opportunity to resolve to adopt a new name, should the voting membership of the Board wish to do so.

The Chair invited Andrew Down, Growth Board Director, to introduce the report. He explained that during the review of the Growth Board – undertaken in 2019/20 – several suggestions were made about the Board changing its name. This issue resurfaced at the June 2021 Board meeting and it was requested that it be added to the agenda for this meeting. Officers had since consulted with members and the renaming option that had received the most support was the Future Oxfordshire Partnership. Mr Down confirmed that the Growth Board had the ability to change its own name and that it did not necessarily need to be the one suggested in the report. 

Councillor Smith said that she advocated for changing the name as it did not accurately reflect the Board’s role. As a body it made very few decisions and, therefore, the word Board was inaccurate. She argued that Partnership would be a much more suitable title. In addition, changing the name would show that the Board was listening and also that it was trying to be more open and transparent about its work. Nevertheless, it would have to be made clear to both HM Government and the public that a change in name did not mean an alteration to our terms of reference.  

Councillor Leffman agreed. She explained that there had been a shift in emphasis in recent years away from economic growth and housing towards climate change and the environment. She stated that the Board needed to have a broader approach to planning for the future and that the proposed name change reflected that.

Councillor Brown explained that she supported using the word Partnership. She said that decisions at the Board were rare but that the name (and the perceptions of what it does) had caused challenges for communication. Moreover, since its creation the emphasis of the Board’s work had changed. There was now an increased focus on working partnership. Councillor Brown did, however, highlight the need for the Board to not lose focus on addressing the big challenges, such as affordable housing and creating an inclusive economy, facing Oxfordshire.  

Councillor Wood also mentioned the continued misapprehension about the role of the Board. He stated that although votes were rarely held, the perception was that they made numerous important decisions regarding the future of the county. He made clear that if the Board could continue to support progress on key issues around housing, the economy and climate change, then he was not concerned what name it used. 

Alistair Fitt, Universities Representative, commented that the Growth Board was positively recognised by HM Government and that there was the potential to lose this if the name was changed. He also suggested that may be scope to reassess the name of the Board in conjunction with HM Government’s potential review of the title of the emerging Arc Growth Body.

Adrian Lockwood, Skills Board Chair, supported Professor Fitt’s comments. He expressed concerns about the potential to lose identity traction with HM Government.

Andrew Down commented that it was his belief that the name change could be manged with HM Government and would have a limited impact

Councillor Cooper supported many of the comments already made. She said that as the change in name was a communications exercise it was important to manage this with stakeholders. Further, as the alteration was for the benefit of local residents, she was happy to support it.

Although several members agreed that the Future Oxfordshire Partnership would not be everyone’s first choice, it did, nevertheless, provide a better articulation of the role that the Board undertakes. The Chair noted the support for a name change and asked that for a short period the new name should be caveated with the phrase “formerly known as the Growth Board” in order to avoid confusion. 

RESOLVED: That the Growth Board:

1.      Be renamed as the Future Oxfordshire partnership, and authorises the Growth Board Director to make consequent changes to the Terms of Reference.

2.      Notes that an implementation period will be required to update all relevant webpages, documents, and templates, before going live with the new name.

Note: the name change will take effect hereafter in these minutes.