Agenda, decisions and minutes

Venue: The Ridgeway, The Beacon, Portway, Wantage, OX12 9BY

Contact: Steven Corrigan, Democratic Services Manager  Email:  steven.corrigan@southandvale.gov.uk

Items
No. Item

27.

Apologies for absence

To record apologies for absence.

Minutes:

Apologies for absence were submitted on behalf of Councillors Samantha Bowring, Andy Foulsham, Debby Hallett, Ben Mabbett, Helen Pighills,

Mike Pighills, Sarah Medley and Val Shaw.

28.

Declarations of interest

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. 

  

Minutes:

None.

29.

Minutes pdf icon PDF 397 KB

To adopt and sign as a correct record the Council minutes of the meeting held on 13 July 2022. 

Minutes:

RESOLVED: to approve the minutes of the Council meeting held on 13 July 2022 as a correct record and agree that the Chair sign them as such.

30.

Urgent business and chair's announcements

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, and to receive any announcements from the chair. 

Minutes:

The Chair thanked officers for all their work to help ensure the local arrangements for the national mourning period following the death of Her Majesty The Queen had run to plan and smoothly. The Chair advised that she had represented the council at a service of thanksgiving and remembrance and the Proclamation for King Charles III, both in Oxford.

31.

Public participation

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

Minutes:

No members of the public had registered to address Council.

32.

Petitions

To receive any petitions from the public. 

Minutes:

None.

33.

Treasury outturn 2021/22 pdf icon PDF 249 KB

Cabinet, at its meeting on 30 September, considered the report of the head of finance on the outturn performance of the treasury management function for the financial year 2021/22.

 

The report of the head of finance, which the Joint Audit and Governance Committee considered on 27 September 2022 and Cabinet considered on 30 September, is attached.

 

RECOMMENDATION: to

1.    approve the treasury management outturn report for 2021/22;

 

2.    approve the actual 2021/22 prudential indicators within the report.

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Council considered Cabinet’s recommendations, made at its meeting on 30 September 2022, on the outturn performance of the treasury management function for the financial year 2021/22. The Joint Audit and Governance Committee and Cabinet had considered the head of finance’s report and were satisfied that the treasury activities had been carried out in accordance with the treasury management strategy and policy.

 

 

RESOLVED: to

 

1.          approve the treasury management outturn report 2021/22; and

2.          approve the actual 2021/22 prudential indicators within the report. 

 

34.

Adoption of powers from Oxfordshire County Council under Land Drainage Act pdf icon PDF 310 KB

Cabinet, at its meeting on 30 September, considered the report of the head of development and corporate landlord on a request from Oxfordshire County Council (OCC) for the district council to act as an agent of the county council in the discharge of delegated functions for the operation and management of the powers and responsibilities of the lead local flood authority (LLFA) under Sections 19, 23, 24 and 25 of the 1991 Land Drainage Act.

The report of the head of head of development and corporate landlord, which Cabinet considered, is attached.

 

Cabinet resolved to:

 

(a)       support the request from Oxfordshire County Council for Vale of White Horse District Council to adopt powers under the Land Drainage Act, as set out in paragraph 8 of the head of development and corporate landlord’s report to Cabinet on 30 September 2022;

 

(b)       subject to Council approving the adoption of powers in (c) below, that Cabinet authorises the head of development and corporate landlord, in consultation with the head of legal and democratic, to negotiate and finalise the agreement with Oxfordshire County Council and enter into agreement to adopt the powers from Oxfordshire County Council;

 

RECOMMENDATION: to approve the adoption of powers under an agency

agreement with Oxfordshire County Council. 

 

Minutes:

35.

Review of the council's constitution pdf icon PDF 1 MB

To consider the report of the head of legal and democratic on proposed changes to the council’s constitution.

Minutes:

Council considered the report of the head of legal and democratic on proposed changes to the council’s constitution.

 

RESOLVED:

 

1.    That Council adopts the following for inclusion in the new joint Constitution with effect from the Annual Meeting of Council in May 2023 or earlier if practicable upon the advice of the Monitoring Officer:

 

a)          Part 1 - Summary and Explanation section set out in Appendix B to the report of the head of legal and democratic to the Council meeting on 12 October 2022; 

 

b)          Part 2 - Articles of the Constitution set out in Appendix C to the report of the head of legal and democratic to the Council meeting on 12 October 2022;

 

c)          Part 3 (c) – Committee Functions;

 

2.    That Council adopts the following changes to the joint Constitution with immediate effect:

 

a)         Replace Part 16 Joint Staff Committee Procedure Rules with the Joint Staff Committee terms of reference and procedure rules set out in Appendix D to the report of the head of legal and democratic to the Council meeting on 12 October 2022; 

 

b)          Replace Part 22 Officer Employment Procedure Rules with the document set out in Appendix E to the report of the head of legal and democratic to the Council meeting on 12 October 2022; 

 

c)          Adopt the Officers’ Code of Conduct set out in Appendix F to the report of the head of legal and democratic to the Council meeting on 12 October 2022 and insert as Part 35;

 

d)          Replace Part 28 - The Protocol on Member and Officer Relations with the document set out in Appendix G to the report of the head of legal and democratic to the Council meeting on 12 October 2022; 

 

e)          Adopt the Press and Media Protocol set out in Appendix H to the report of the head of legal and democratic to the Council meeting on 12 October 2022 and insert as Part 36; 

 

f)            An amendment to Part 18p paragraph 1.1(a)(i) (VALE ONLY) in the head of planning’s scheme of delegation to read:

 

A ward councillor (to include adjacent ward councillor whose parish has been consulted) calls in the application to be considered by the Planning Committee within 28 days of the date of registration of the application start of the consultation periodand the request is agreed by the head of planning.  This request must be in writing and refer to material planning matters to ensure the audit trail for making that decision is clear and unambiguous.  Councillors’ right of call-in does not apply to applications for certificates of lawful use or development, prior approvals and notifications.” 

 

g)          To retain Part 18p paragraph 1.1(c)(i) in the head of planning’s scheme of delegation as a mechanism to allow members to request a call-in of an amended planning application; and  

 

3.    To authorise the head of legal and democratic to make these changes and any further minor or consequential amendments to the Constitution. 

 

36.

Report of the leader of the council

To receive the report of Councillor Emily Smith, Leader of the council. 

Minutes:

Councillor Emily Smith, Leader of the council, provided an update on a number of issues. The text of her address is available on the council’s website.

37.

Questions on notice pdf icon PDF 302 KB

To receive questions from councillors in accordance with Council procedure rule 33. 

 

1        Question from Councillor Amos Duveen to Councillor Helen Pighills, Cabinet member for Health Communities

 

Thinking ahead about the looming winter crisis, is the council looking into providing warm spaces, so called ‘warm banks’, for people who cannot afford their energy bills?

 

And, if so, what options are being considered?

 

2            Question fromCouncillor David Grant to Councillor Debby Hallett, Cabinet member for Corporate Services and Transformation

 

With the ending of the sale of new petrol and diesel cars just over seven years away, electric vehicle charging points are now becoming a welcome condition on many planning permissions.  At a local new estate, I was disappointed to see developers had installed the bare minimum to meet this condition, using a three-pin socket.  Charging a car on these could take up to 20 hours making it impractical to rely on for daily use and preventing residents taking advantage of cheaper electricity rates at night, which the national grid needs them to do to balance electricity demand.  These are likely to be ripped out and replaced by anyone who is considering making the switch. 

 

The council has been farsighted enough to install much faster public charging points in our local car parks, but home charging is still the most cost-effective option for residents. Is there anything we can do to insist on a minimum charging speed for new chargers where they are being insisted on as part of the planning conditions?

3        Question from Councillor Bob Johnston to Councillor Neil Fawcett, Cabinet member for Strategic Partnerships

 

Following the news that the OxPlan 2050 process has come to an end, what will the council do to ensure that our agreed priorities continue to influence planning policy across Oxfordshire?

 

4        Question from Councillor Ron Batstone to Councillor Emily Smith, Leader of the Council

 
In July 2021 Council reiterated its commitment to opening Grove station. It asked the leader to write to the Secretary of State for transport to ask for this to be considered as soon as possible.

 

Can the leader give an update on any response to her letter and the outcome

of the bid to the Restoring Your Railways Fund?


                   

5        Question from Councillor Paul Barrow to Councillor Judy Roberts, Cabinet member for development and infrastructure

 

We continue to have an increasing number of incidents of untreated sewage being discharged into our rivers with all the risks to public health from enteric infections and spread of antibiotic resistance. This was discussed at the Full Council meeting in July 2020. It is a problem for the Environment Agency, but much could be done by Thames Water through improved infrastructure to support new housing development. 

 

I would like to know, first, what is being done to ensure that new housing developments incorporate sufficient sewerage (infrastructure) capacity and that this is associated with improved treatment capacity and, second, can we be assured that for all new housing development surface water is separated from  ...  view the full agenda text for item 37.

Minutes:

A.            Question from Councillor Amos Duveen to Councillor Helen Pighills, Cabinet member for Health Communities

 

Thinking ahead about the looming winter crisis, is the council looking into providing warm spaces, so called ‘warm banks’, for people who cannot afford their energy bills?

 

And, if so, what options are being considered?

 

Written answer

 

We have been working closely with Oxfordshire County Council, who recently announced a series of measures to help residents in need across the county this winter.  They include using the counties libraries as warm places and a cost-of-living grant scheme aimed towards meetings the immediate needs of the crisis, developing personalised and specialist support, and promoting a more connected local charitable network.

 

Specifically, within the Vale of White Horse, we are looking across our own property portfolio to identify additional warm place locations for our residents and are pleased that our town and parish councils are doing the same.  Members and officers have also attended a number of cost-of-living clinics across the district, where we offered advice and signposted to available support.  We continue to directly offer support and advice to all our residents and businesses through our Community Hub and will continue to map and signpost to support across our district.

 

B.   Question fromCouncillor David Grant to Councillor Debby Hallett, Cabinet member for Corporate Services and Transformation

 

With the ending of the sale of new petrol and diesel cars just over seven years away, electric vehicle charging points are now becoming a welcome condition on many planning permissions.  At a local new estate, I was disappointed to see developers had installed the bare minimum to meet this condition, using a three-pin socket.  Charging a car on these could take up to 20 hours making it impractical to rely on for daily use and preventing residents taking advantage of cheaper electricity rates at night, which the national grid needs them to do to balance electricity demand.  These are likely to be ripped out and replaced by anyone who is considering making the switch. 

 

The council has been farsighted enough to install much faster public charging points in our local car parks, but home charging is still the most cost-effective option for residents. Is there anything we can do to insist on a minimum charging speed for new chargers where they are being insisted on as part of the planning conditions?

Written answer

 

Building Regulations cover the installation of EV charging points on residential property and set a minimum speed of 7KW for EV chargers. Planning conditions must accord with legislation. On 15 June 2022 new regulations became effective, meaning that the example given reflects the position prior to that change. We endeavour to encourage the use of faster chargers through discussions with developers, but of course national legislation limits what we can require. We must continue to make the case to government that their building regulations need to go far further to ensure all new development is high quality and carbon negative.

 

C.   Question from Councillor Bob  ...  view the full minutes text for item 37.

38.

Motions on notice

To consider motions from councillors in accordance with Council procedure rule 39. 

 

Motion 1. Delayed Waste Services Guidance

 

Motion to be proposed by Councillor Sally Povolotsky, seconder to be notified

 

Council notes that:

1.      Under the Environment Bill, there are due to be significant changes in waste and recycling policy, as well as the introduction of a deposit return scheme.

2.      It is expected that DEFRA will require the majority of the planned reforms to come into effect from 2025, but the guidance councils need to put this in place has not yet been issued.

3.      Our current waste contract runs until 2024. This council, like many others, are unable to commission or plan new waste services in line with the Environment Bill without detailed information about what is expected and how it will be funded.

4.      The Local Government Association wrote to the previous environment minister, highlighting growing disquiet within the sector because of the lack of guidance.

5.      The Local Authority Recycling Advisory Committee (LARAC) concluded that continuing delays and uncertainty means that investment is not being “unlocked” and local decisions are being stalled.

 

Therefore, Council resolves to

6.      Support the aims in the Environment Bill to reduce waste and encourage reuse as well as recycling.

7.      Ask the leader to write to the new environment minister, copied to our two local MPs, to:

a.      ask for the guidance we need to plan our waste services to be issued urgently.

b.      express this council’s concern about the risk the current delay creates to local household waste services and our impeccable record as one of the UK’s top district councils for waste recycling.

c.       back the request made by LARAC that the industry needs at least a year’s advance warning to budget for operational changes, and up to five years to deliver infrastructure changes.

 

Motion 2. Support for Struggling Local Businesses

 

Motion to be proposed by Councillor Hayleigh Gascoigne, Seconded by Councillor Neil Fawcett

 

We are living through a Cost of Living crisis, which is affecting individuals, families and businesses in the Vale and across the UK. This is being driven by food price inflation, up a record 13.1%* and energy price inflation. Small businesses have been particularly affected by rising energy, affecting their viability.

Data published by the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) shows that nearly 53% of small companies expect to stagnate, downsize or fold in the next year. Many were taken to the brink of collapse during the pandemic and desperately need a period of stability and prosperity to recover. Businesses such as restaurants and pubs, which experienced greater challenges during the pandemic, now face even greater problems.

Even with the Government price cap support, energy prices will be double what they were last year for domestic users and for businesses, the cap only lasts for six months. The capped electricity costs 30% higher than 2021 for small businesses, and gas prices are 147% higher.

People will have less disposable income to support our local businesses  ...  view the full agenda text for item 38.

Decision:

Motion 1. Delayed Waste Services Guidance

 

RESOLVED:

 

That Council notes that:

  1. Under the Environment Bill, there are due to be significant changes in waste and recycling policy, as well as the introduction of a deposit return scheme.
  2. It is expected that DEFRA will require the majority of the planned reforms to come into effect from 2025, but the guidance councils need to put this in place has not yet been issued.
  3. Our current waste contract runs until 2024. This council, like many others, are unable to commission or plan new waste services in line with the Environment Bill without detailed information about what is expected and how it will be funded.
  4. The Local Government Association wrote to the previous environment minister, highlighting growing disquiet within the sector because of the lack of guidance.
  5. The Local Authority Recycling Advisory Committee (LARAC) concluded that continuing delays and uncertainty means that investment is not being “unlocked” and local decisions are being stalled.

 

Therefore, Council resolves to

  1. Support the aims in the Environment Bill to reduce waste and encourage reuse as well as recycling.
  2. Ask the leader to write to the new environment minister, copied to our two local MPs, to:
  1. ask for the guidance we need to plan our waste services to be issued urgently.
  2. express this council’s concern about the risk the current delay creates to local household waste services and our impeccable record as one of the UK’s top district councils for waste recycling.
  3. back the request made by LARAC that the industry needs at least a year’s advance warning to budget for operational changes, and up to five years to deliver infrastructure changes.

 

 

Motion 2. Support for Struggling Local Businesses

 

RESOLVED:

 

That we are living through a Cost of Living crisis, which is affecting individuals, families and businesses in the Vale and across the UK. This is being driven by food price inflation, up a record 13.1%* and energy price inflation. Small businesses have been particularly affected by rising energy, affecting their viability.

Data published by the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) shows that nearly 53% of small companies expect to stagnate, downsize or fold in the next year. Many were taken to the brink of collapse during the pandemic and desperately need a period of stability and prosperity to recover. Businesses such as restaurants and pubs, which experienced greater challenges during the pandemic, now face even greater problems.

Even with the Government price cap support, energy prices will be double what they were last year for domestic users and for businesses, the cap only lasts for six months. The capped electricity costs 30% higher than 2021 for small businesses, and gas prices are 147% higher.

People will have less disposable income to support our local businesses during this crisis and the many businesses that were taken near to collapse during the pandemic desperately need a period of stability and prosperity to flourish. The short-term energy price cap will not provide this.

During the covid-19 pandemic, this council processed and  ...  view the full decision text for item 38.

Minutes:

Council considered the motions set out in the agenda.

 

Motion 1. Delayed Waste Services Guidance

 

Councillor Sally Povolotsky moved, and Councillor Bob Johnston seconded the motion as set out in the agenda at agenda item 12.

 

After debate and on being put to the vote the motion was agreed.

 

RESOLVED:

 

That Council notes that:

  1. Under the Environment Bill, there are due to be significant changes in waste and recycling policy, as well as the introduction of a deposit return scheme.
  2. It is expected that DEFRA will require the majority of the planned reforms to come into effect from 2025, but the guidance councils need to put this in place has not yet been issued.
  3. Our current waste contract runs until 2024. This council, like many others, are unable to commission or plan new waste services in line with the Environment Bill without detailed information about what is expected and how it will be funded.
  4. The Local Government Association wrote to the previous environment minister, highlighting growing disquiet within the sector because of the lack of guidance.
  5. The Local Authority Recycling Advisory Committee (LARAC) concluded that continuing delays and uncertainty means that investment is not being “unlocked” and local decisions are being stalled.

 

Therefore, Council resolves to

  1. Support the aims in the Environment Bill to reduce waste and encourage reuse as well as recycling.
  2. Ask the leader to write to the new environment minister, copied to our two local MPs, to:
  1. ask for the guidance we need to plan our waste services to be issued urgently.
  2. express this council’s concern about the risk the current delay creates to local household waste services and our impeccable record as one of the UK’s top district councils for waste recycling.
  3. back the request made by LARAC that the industry needs at least a year’s advance warning to budget for operational changes, and up to five years to deliver infrastructure changes.

 

Motion 2. Support for Struggling Local Businesses

 

Councillor Hayleigh Gascoigne moved, and Councillor Neil Fawcett seconded the motion as set out in the agenda at agenda item 12

 

After debate and on being put to the vote the motion was agreed.

RESOLVED:

 

That we are living through a Cost of Living crisis, which is affecting individuals, families and businesses in the Vale and across the UK. This is being driven by food price inflation, up a record 13.1%* and energy price inflation. Small businesses have been particularly affected by rising energy, affecting their viability.

Data published by the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) shows that nearly 53% of small companies expect to stagnate, downsize or fold in the next year. Many were taken to the brink of collapse during the pandemic and desperately need a period of stability and prosperity to recover. Businesses such as restaurants and pubs, which experienced greater challenges during the pandemic, now face even greater problems.

Even with the Government price cap support, energy prices will be double what they were last year for domestic users and for businesses, the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 38.

 

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Vale of White Horse District Council
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