Agenda and draft 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

55.

Election of Chair

To elect a chair of council for the remainder of the municipal year 2023/24.  

 

Minutes:

Councillor Kiera Bentley in the Chair, as the current Vice-Chair of council, in the absence of a Chair of council.

 

Councillor Bentley was nominated as chair for the remainder of the 2023/24 municipal year. Councillor Thomas as proposer and Councillor Rayner as seconder spoke in support of the nomination.

 

RESOLVED: to elect Councillor Bentley as Chair of the council for the remainder of the 2023/24 municipal year, until the next annual meeting of the council in May 2024.

 

The Democratic Services Manager presented Councillor Bentley with the chain of office.

 

Councillor Bentley signed her declaration of acceptance of office.

56.

Appointment of Vice-Chair

To appoint a vice-chair of council for the remainder of the municipal year 2023/24.

Minutes:

Councillor Forder was nominated as vice-chair for the remainder of the 2023/24 municipal year.

 

Councillor Thomas as proposer and Councillor Coleman as seconder spoke in support of the nomination.

 

RESOLVED: to appoint Councillor Forder as Vice-Chair of the council for the remainder of the 2023/24 municipal year, until the next annual meeting of the Council in May 2024.

 

Councillor Forder signed his declaration of acceptance of office and made an acceptance speech.

 

Councillor Bentley, Chair of council, presented Councillor Forder with the vice-chair chain of office.

57.

Apologies for absence

To record apologies for absence.

Minutes:

Apologies for absence were submitted on behalf of Councillors Caul, Clegg, Duveen, Fawcett and Shaw.

58.

Minutes pdf icon PDF 447 KB

To adopt and sign as a correct record the Council minutes of the meeting held on 13 December 2023 - attached. 

Minutes:

RESOLVED: to approve the minutes of the meeting held on 13 December 2023 as a correct record and agree that the Chair sign them as such.

59.

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.

60.

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:

There were no items of urgent business.

 

Councillor Bentley thanked Councillor Povolotsky for her guidance and duty as chair. She advised that she wished to carry on with the same approach to Chair’s charities as Councillor Povolotsky had to generate funds via a number of Chair’s charitable events towards a chair’s community fund from which local charities could bid for funds.

61.

Public participation

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

Minutes:

None.

62.

Petitions

To receive any petitions from the public. 

Minutes:

None.

63.

Treasury management 2023/24 mid-year monitoring report pdf icon PDF 584 KB

Cabinet, at its meeting on 16 February 2024, will consider the attached report of the head of finance on the treasury management activity for the first half of 2023/24.

 

Cabinet’s recommendations will be circulated to all members prior to the Council meeting. 

 

 

Minutes:

Council considered Cabinet’s recommendations, made at its meeting on 16 February 2024, on the treasury management performance in the first six months of 2023/24.

 

Councillor Crawford, Cabinet member for finance, reported that income from cash investments was likely to be above budget by the financial year end due to higher than forecast balances and above budgeted interest rates achieved on new deposits. The report set out performance against benchmarks for the first six months of the financial year. There had been no borrowing during the first half of the year and borrowing was unlikely for the remainder of the year also.

 

Both the Joint Audit and Governance Committee, at its meeting on 30 January and Cabinet, at its meeting on 16 February 2024, were content that the treasury management activities had been carried out in accordance with the treasury management strategy and policy.

 

Councillor Foxhall referred to paragraph 23 on page 30 of the agenda pack and whilst appreciating that borrowing was something the council should avoid asked if consideration had been given to borrowing for projects such a retrofitting The Beacon and Abbey House. Councillor Crawford advised that the report was looking back at activities which had been carried out. He advised that a commitment had been made to reviewing the future of all council owned buildings but that it was not the time to make the decision whether to borrow for this.

 

RESOLVED: to

1. approve the head of finance’s report to Cabinet on 16 February 2024;

2. note that Cabinet is satisfied that the treasury activities are carried out in accordance with the treasury management strategy and policy.

 

64.

Treasury Management and Investment Strategy 2024/25 pdf icon PDF 1023 KB

Cabinet, at its meeting on 16 February 2024, will consider the attached report of the head of finance on the council’s treasury management and investment strategy for 2024/25.

 

Cabinet’s recommendations will be circulated to all members prior to the Council meeting. 

 

 

Minutes:

Council considered Cabinet’s recommendations made at its meeting on 16 February 2024 on the council’s treasury management and investment strategy for 2024/25. This set out how the council’s treasury service would support the financing of capital investment decisions, and how treasury management operated day to day. The strategy also set out the prudential indicators, providing limits within which the treasury function must operate.

 

Councillor Crawford, Cabinet member for finance, highlighted there were no changes to the counterparty selection criteria in the proposed strategy for 2024/25, but a recommended change to the strategy this year was the inclusion of an Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) statement. He went on to advise that Cabinet had agreed an additional recommendation to note that the section 151 officer has confirmed that he will conduct a review of investment options with our treasury advisers Link and, in line with the Constitution, will report to the Joint Audit and Governance Committee, the review to include the latest analysis on environmental, social and governance investment options.

 

Both Cabinet and the Joint Audit and Governance Committee had supported the strategy together with approving the prudential indicators and limits and approving the annual investment strategy and lending criteria and the Environmental, Social and Governance Policy.

 

RESOLVED: to

1. approve the head of finance’s report to Cabinet on 16 February 2024;

2. approve the treasury management strategy 2024/25, as set out in appendix A to the report;

3. approve the prudential indicators and limits for 2024/25 to 2026/27, as set out in appendix A to the report;

4. approve the annual investment strategy 2024/25, as set out in appendix A to the report, and the lending criteria detailed in table 6 in appendix A to the report; and

5. approve the Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) policy in Appendix E.

65.

Capital Strategy 2024/25-2033/34 pdf icon PDF 217 KB

Cabinet, at its meeting on 16 February 2024, will consider the attached report of the head of finance on the council’s capital strategy for 2024/25 to 2033/34.   

 

Cabinet’s recommendations will be circulated to all members prior to the Council meeting.

 

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Council considered Cabinet’s recommendations made at its meeting on 16 February 2024 on the capital strategy for 2024/25 to 2033/34.

 

Councillor Crawford, Cabinet member for finance, reported that the strategy would provide the parameters within which capital expenditure and investment decisions would be made once the supporting requirements were in place. Key changes to the strategy were:

·       Amendments to the Investment strategy (Section 5), including removal of the commercial investments category, in line with the latest CIPFA Prudential code and Public Works Loans Board lending requirements.

·       Capital expenditure de minimis level note added to section 4

 

RESOLVED: to

1. approve the capital strategy 2024/25 to 2033/34, as set out in appendix 1 of the head of finance’s report to Cabinet on 16 February 2024; and

2. agree the strategy for flexible use of capital receipts, which is contained as annex 1 of the capital strategy.

3. authorise the head of finance, in consultation with the Cabinet member for finance, to make minor changes to the capital strategy

66.

Revenue budget 2024/25 and capital programme 2024/25 - 2028/29 pdf icon PDF 392 KB

Cabinet, at its meeting on 16 February 2024, will consider the attached report of the head of finance on the the draft revenue budget 2024/25, and the capital programme to 2028/29.

 

Cabinet’s recommendations will be circulated to all members prior to the Council meeting.

 

Also attached is the chief finance officer’s report on the robustness of the budget estimates and the adequacy of the reserves.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The chair referred to regulations that require councils to record the names of those members voting in favour, against or abstaining from any vote on the budget, including amendments, and the council tax. In accordance with the regulations, she would call for a named vote on each of these matters at this meeting.

 

Council noted the report of the chief finance officer on the robustness of the budget estimates and the adequacy of the reserves.

 

Council considered Cabinet’s recommendations, made at its meeting held on 16 February 2024 on the revenue budget for 2024/25 and the capital programme to 2028/29.

Councillor Crawford, Cabinet member for finance, presented Cabinet’s proposals for the revenue budget and capital programme. He moved and Councillor Thomas seconded a motion to approve Cabinet’s recommendations as follows: to

1. set the revenue budget for 2024/25, as set out in appendix A.1 to the head of finance’s report to Cabinet on 16 February 2024;

2. approve the capital programme for 2024/25 to 2028/29, as set out in appendices D.1 and D.2 to the report, together with the capital programme changes as set out in appendix D.2 and appendices D.3 and D.4 to the report;

3. set the council’s prudential limits, as listed in appendix e to the report;

4. approve the medium-term financial plan to 2028/29, as set out in appendix F to the report.

 

In moving the Cabinet recommendations, Councillor Crawford, the Cabinet member for finance introduced the draft budget, noting that the council’s financial position had improved from that which was forecast in 2019. There were no service cuts in the budget. The budget contained significant additional spend on HR in order that the transformation project could be fully supported. The budget allocated funds to continue supporting the community hub. Council tax would increase by £5 per Band D property, the maximum allowed before a referendum was required.

 

A number of members welcomed the growth in staff numbers commenting on the importance of providing sufficient resources. Members were also pleased to see continued investment in community support namely Vale Community Impact and Citizen’s Advice Bureau. Members also welcomed positive future funding for The Beacon. Some members commented they wanted to see a commitment to decarbonisation in future as this had been made a clear priority in the corporate plan and should be funded.

 

In accordance with regulations requiring councils to record the names of those members voting in favour, against or abstaining from any vote on the budget the chair called for a recorded vote which was carried with the voting being as follows:

 

 

 

 

 

For

 

Against

 

Abstentions

Paul Barrow

 

 

Ron Batstone

 

 

Kiera Bentley

 

 

Cheryl Briggs

 

 

Mark Coleman

 

 

Andy Cooke

 

 

James Cox

 

 

Andrew Crawford

 

 

Eric de la Harpe

 

 

Debra Dewhurst

 

 

Lucy Edwards

 

 

Oliver Forder

 

 

Andy Foulsham

 

 

Katherine Foxhall

 

 

Hayleigh Gascoigne

 

 

Debby Hallett

 

 

Jenny Hannaby

 

 

Scott Houghton

 

 

Sarah James

 

 

Diana Lugova

 

 

Robert Maddison

 

 

Patrick O’Leary

 

 

Viral Patel

 

 

Helen Pighills

 

 

Mike Pighills

 

 

Sally Povolotsky

 

 

Jill Rayner

 

 

Judy Roberts

 

 

Andrew Skinner

 

 

Emily Smith

 

 

Bethia Thomas

 

 

Max Thompson

 

 

Richard Webber

 

 

Total:  ...  view the full minutes text for item 66.

67.

Council tax 2024/25 pdf icon PDF 463 KB

To consider the report of the head of finance on the setting of the council tax for the 2024/25 financial year. Following receipt of all the required information the report is being checked by officers prior to despatch.

 

The report once published will be a draft version subject to Oxfordshire County Council’s agreement of its budget on Tuesday 20 February 2024.

 

Minutes:

Council considered the report of the head of finance on the setting of the Council Tax for the 2024/25 financial year.

 

In accordance with regulations requiring councils to record the names of those members voting in favour, against or abstaining from any vote on the council tax the chair called for a recorded vote which was carried with the voting being as follows:

 

 

For

 

Against

 

Abstentions

Paul Barrow

 

 

Ron Batstone

 

 

Kiera Bentley

 

 

Cheryl Briggs

 

 

Mark Coleman

 

 

Andy Cooke

 

 

James Cox

 

 

Andrew Crawford

 

 

Eric de la Harpe

 

 

Debra Dewhurst

 

 

Lucy Edwards

 

 

Oliver Forder

 

 

Andy Foulsham

 

 

Katherine Foxhall

 

 

Hayleigh Gascoigne

 

 

Jenny Hannaby

 

 

Scott Houghton

 

 

Sarah James

 

 

Diana Lugova

 

 

Robert Maddison

 

 

Patrick O’Leary

 

 

Viral Patel

 

 

Helen Pighills

 

 

Mike Pighills

 

 

Sally Povolotsky

 

 

Jill Rayner

 

 

Judy Roberts

 

 

Andrew Skinner

 

 

Emily Smith

 

 

Bethia Thomas

 

 

Max Thompson

 

 

Richard Webber

 

 

Total: 32

 

Total: 0

Total: 0

 

 

RESOLVED:

 

1. To note that at its meeting on 13 December 2023 the council calculated the council tax base 2024/25:

 

(a) for the whole council area as 58,103.8 [Item T in the formula in Section 31B of the Local Government Finance Act 1992, as amended (the “Act”)]; and

 

(b) for dwellings in those parts of its area to which a parish precept relates as in column 1 of appendix 1.

 

2. That the council tax requirement for the council’s own purposes for 2024/25 (excluding parish precepts) is £9,104,284

 

3. That the following amounts be calculated for the year 2024/25 in accordance with Sections 31 to 36 of the Act:

 

(a) £91,031,780 being the aggregate of the amounts which the council estimates for the items set out in Section 31A(2) of the Act taking into account all precepts issued to it by parish councils.

 

(b) £76,405,315 being the aggregate of the amounts which the council estimates for the items set out in Section 31A(3) of the Act.

 

(c) £14,626,465 being the amount by which the aggregate at (3)(a) above exceeds the aggregate at (3)(b) above, calculated by the council, in accordance with Section 31A(4) of the Act as its council tax requirement for the year. (Item R in the formula in Section 31B) of the Act).

 

(d) £251.73 being the amount at (3)(c) above (Item R), all divided by Item T (1(a) above), calculated by the council, in accordance with Section 31(B) of the Act, as the basic amount of its council tax for the year (including parish precepts).

 

(e) £5,522,181 being the aggregate amount of all special items referred to in Section 34(1) of the Act, as set out in column 2 of appendix 1.

 

(f) £156.69 being the amount at (3)(d) above less the result given by dividing the amount at (3)(e) above by Item T (1(a) above), calculated by the council, in accordance with Section 34(2) of the Act, as the basic amount of its council tax for the year for dwellings in those parts of its area to which no parish precept relates.

 

4. To note that for the year 2024/25 Oxfordshire County Council has stated the following amounts  ...  view the full minutes text for item 67.

68.

Pay Policy Statement 2024/25 pdf icon PDF 242 KB

To consider the report of the deputy chief executive on the adoption of a pay policy statement to meet the requirements of the Localism Act - attached.

 

 

Minutes:

Council considered the report of the head of corporate services on the adoption of a pay policy statement to meet the requirements of the Localism Act.

 

RESOLVED: to approve the statement of pay policy for 2024/25 attached to the report of the head of corporate services to the Council meeting on 21 February 2024.

69.

Local Government Boundary Commission for England Review of Vale of White Horse District Council Warding Arrangements pdf icon PDF 355 KB

At its meeting on 19 February 2024, the Community Governance and Electoral Issues Committee will consider a report on the Local Government Boundary Commission for England (the commission) electoral review of the council and specifically the warding arrangements. At this stage of the review, Council is invited to agree a warding pattern for submission to the Commission. The recommendations of the committee will be circulated to all members. The report, which has been circulated to all members is attached.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Council considered the recommendations of the Community Governance and Electoral Issues Committee made at its meeting on 19 February 2024 on the council’s warding arrangements submission to the Commission.

 

Councillor Forder, chair of the committee, informed Council that there would be further opportunity for comment on any proposals and this submission would not be the final arrangement. He highlighted that the suggestions made by members had not been included in the report and therefore the recommendations of the committee reflected a need to incorporate these whilst still adhering to the deadline set by the Commission.

 

Some members raised concerns about the suggestion of multi-member wards being a preferred option.

 

RESOLVED: to

 

1.    Request officers seek to address the comments raised by members on the draft proposals submitted to the Community Governance and Electoral Issues Committee when drafting revised proposals.

2.    Request officers consult with relevant ward members where appropriate when drafting revised proposals

3.    Request multi member wards are considered wherever practicable and community identity supports this.

4.    Request officers circulate the redrafted proposals to all members for comments prior to further consideration by the Community Governance and Electoral Issues Committee.

5.    Delegate authority to the Community Governance and Electoral Issues Committee to finalise the report to be submitted to the Local Government Boundary Commission for England by the deadline of 18 March 2024.

 

Councillors Foxhall, James and Povolotsky wished for it to be noted that they abstained from the vote on this item in accordance with provisions in council procedure rule 70.

70.

Review of political balance and allocation of seats to committees pdf icon PDF 213 KB

To consider the attached report of the head of legal and democratic on a review of the council’s political balance.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Council considered the report of the head of legal and democratic to review the Council’s political balance and reconsider the allocation of seats on those committees required to be politically balanced together with the Climate Emergency Advisory Committee and the Licensing Acts Committee following the resignation of Councillor Povolotsky from the Liberal Democrat Group.

 

Some members raised concerns about the political make up of the Joint Audit and Governance Committee stating that they did not feel effective overview and risk management could be achieved where the representatives on the committee were all taken from the majority party. Other members confirmed that the allocated seats was a result of the size of the committee and therefore an increase in the size of the committee would be required to allow seats for members from opposition groups.

 

Members also raised that it was possible for ungrouped members to be allocated seats provided leaders of the parties agreed and no member of council voted against this.

 

Members advised that legal advice had been sought on the calculation and that a strict formula had been applied. The change in group structure had required the recalculation to be carried out.

 

In line with Council procedure rules a recorded vote was requested by three members present in the room with the voting being as follows:

 

 

For

 

Against

 

Abstentions

Paul Barrow

Cheryl Briggs

Debra Dewhurst

Ron Batstone

Sarah James

Katherine Foxhall

Kiera Bentley

Viral Patel

Debby Hallett

Mark Coleman

Sally Povolotsky

Andy Cooke

 

Richard Webber

James Cox

 

 

Andrew Crawford

 

 

Eric de la Harpe

 

 

Lucy Edwards

 

 

Oliver Forder

 

Andy Foulsham

 

 

Hayleigh Gascoigne

 

 

Jenny Hannaby

 

 

Scott Houghton

 

Diana Lugova

 

 

Robert Maddison

 

Patrick O’Leary

 

 

Helen Pighills

 

 

Mike Pighills

 

Jill Rayner

 

 

Judy Roberts

 

 

Andrew Skinner

 

 

Emily Smith

 

Bethia Thomas

 

 

Max Thompson

 

 

Total: 25

 

Total: 3

Total: 5

 

 

RESOLVED: to

 

1. approve the revised political balance calculation set out in paragraphs 7 and 8 of the report;

 

2. approve the allocation of seats to committees set out in paragraphs 10-11 of the report;

 

3. approve the allocation of seats to the Climate Emergency Advisory Committee in accordance with paragraphs 14 and 15 of the report

 

4. approve the allocation of seats to the Licensing Acts Committee in accordance with paragraphs 16-18 of the report;

 

5. appoint members to the committees as set out in the schedule circulated prior to the meeting and attached to these minutes;

 

6. authorise the head of legal and democratic to make appointments to any vacant committee or panel seat and substitute positions in accordance with the wishes of the relevant group leader.

 

 

71.

Report of the leader of the council

To receive the report of Leader of the council. 

Minutes:

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

72.

Questions on notice pdf icon PDF 250 KB

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

 

1.    Question from Councillor Povolotsky to Councillor Lugova, Cabinet member for planning and development management 

 

In the current winter 2023/24 season we have experienced record storm occurrences, record winter flooding in many places, and huge pressure on the flood plains, failures in the sewage systems and infrastructure. In Steventon & the Hanneys we had flooding in places never experienced before, with many residents seeing a correlation between new estate developments on flood plains, failures of Thames Waters Sewage Networks and floodwaters in our spring line village which have not been seen since 2007.  

 

Will the council ask, with urgency, the Environment Agency to review the flood plains / flood zones in effected areas and push for section 19 reports in heavily flooded areas where I still have households unable to return home in Steventon and East Hanney

 

 

2.    Question from Councillor Povolotsky to Councillor Pighills, Cabinet member for Community health and wellbeing

 

This council endorsed the Good Food Strategy in 2022, and a large part of that is around growing your own food, community allotments and community food resilience.

 

Is the council member aware of Thames Water guidance that no food should be consumed or grown in areas which have been subjected to contaminated flood water for 12 months. Given the wide spread contamination of water we experienced in Steventon and the Hanneys, and continue to do so, what awareness has the council of this advice and how will this council hold Thames Water to account on sewage clean up and contamination identification and public advice, is this public health risk? 

 

https://www.thameswater.co.uk/help/water-and-waste-help/sewer-flooding/cleaning-up-after-sewer-flooding

 

 

3.    Question from Councillor Povolotsky to Councillor Thomas, Leader of the counciland Cabinet member for climate action and the environment, strategic partnerships and place

 

Local groups and members, including myself, have written to the Secretary of State, the Rt Hon Stephen Barclay, to request he calls the proposed Thames Water Resource Plan for public scrutiny due to the significant public interest over performance, leak and leak management, sewage discharge, performance and locally the threat of the South East Strategic Reservoir Option (SESRO).

 

Can I ask the leader of the council when she will also call for such a public review on behalf of the many residents in the Vale effected by Thames Water’s failures and who could be adversely affected by the current designs proposed for (SESRO)?

 

 

4.    Question from Councillor Povolotsky to Councillor Thomas, Leader of the council and Cabinet member for climate action and the environment, strategic partnerships and place

 

At the Council meeting of Wednesday 13 December 2023, Councillors Clegg and Cooke proposed a motion which was unanimously passed in which there was request for the Chief Executive to establish a Water Resource Officer-Member Liaison Group. 

 

Can we get a progress update on this item, a timeframe and membership proposals of the group? 

 

 

5.    Question from Councillor Povolotsky to Councillor Thomas, Leader of the council and Cabinet  ...  view the full agenda text for item 72.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

1.    Question from Councillor Povolotsky to Councillor Lugova, Cabinet member for planning and development management

 

In the current winter 2023/24 season we have experienced record storm occurrences, record winter flooding in many places, and huge pressure on the flood plains, failures in the sewage systems and infrastructure. In Steventon & the Hanneys we had flooding in places never experienced before, with many residents seeing a correlation between new estate developments on flood plains, failures of Thames Waters Sewage Networks and floodwaters in our spring line village which have not been seen since 2007. Will the council ask, with urgency, the Environment Agency to review the flood plains / flood zones in effected areas and push for section 19 reports in heavily flooded areas where I still have households unable to return home in Steventon and East Hanney?

 

Written response

 

The Council does not grant planning permission for development within the flood plain without identified mitigation. Where mitigation is accepted, the statutory body tasked with assessing this mitigation, is the Environment Agency whose role it is to ensure that there is no loss in flood plain storage and that flood risk elsewhere does not increase.

 

To date, and from information from the Lead Local Flood Authority (Oxfordshire County Council) we are aware of two recent instances of flooding occurring on new development. From an initial investigation, it is understood that poor on-site management resulted in two new properties unfortunately being affected. The second incident is understood to be due to an adopted oversized foul sewer becoming overwhelmed with surface water / groundwater. Thames Water have been informed of the incident and we understand that they intend to undertake additional network modelling to assess the wider network in relation to this.

 

The flood maps which enable us to track these incidents easily, are based on hydraulic modelling and are updated regularly. The Environment Agency are responsible for updates on a quarterly basis. All modelling goes through a rigorous process by the Environment Agency before it is accepted and used in flood maps and flood zones. Records of flooding are used by the Environment Agency to assist with assessment of model accuracy

 

With evidence (photographs or videos of flood extents), we can request the Environment Agency to undertake a reassessment. Flood zone maps are intended to show areas that have flooded as a result of exceedance from watercourses and do not necessarily pick up areas flooded from other sources such as groundwater or surface water.

 

The Lead Local Flood Authority are collating flood record data from a range of stakeholders, including Vale, and reviewing against triggers for S19 flood investigations. We are aware of S19 investigations that have been triggered by the event in January which include Steventon and areas of Abingdon adjacent to the River Ock.

 

Supplementary question and answer

 

Councillor Povolotsky undertook to provide a copy of her supplementary question in writing.

 

The Cabinet member undertook to provide a written response.

 

2.    Question from Councillor Povolotsky to Councillor Pighills, Cabinet member for  ...  view the full minutes text for item 72.

73.

Motions on notice

To consider motions from councillors in accordance with Council procedure rule 38. 

 

Motion to be proposed by Councillor Fawcett, seconded by Councillor Smith:

 

Council notes:

Thames Water Limited’s proposal to increase household water bills to an average of £735 by 2030, an increase of 60% in cash terms.

That amongst the main arguments for privatising the water companies in 1989 were:

  • The private sector would be more efficient and make better use of investment funds.
  • The private sector would not be held back by government limits on investment levels.
  • The water regulator, OFWAT would prevent the new private monopolies from abusing their market power.

In the 35 years since privatisation, investment in infrastructure has stagnated while the debt held by water companies has increased significantly.

Thames Water has failed to deal with leaks and the amount of sewage being pumped into local rivers has rocketed.

Across the network, Thames Water spilled sewage for 6,500 hours in the last nine months of 2023. This pollutes our waterways, damages the natural environment, and poses serious health risks to wildlife, pets and humans.

Thames Water has continued to pay out huge dividends to shareholders, last year paying a £37.5m dividend to a parent company as the company’s debts rose to £14.7bn in the same period.

Thames Water has continued to pay out huge pay and benefits packages to senior executives, including a total of £1.6m paid to the Chief Executive in the 2022-23 financial year.

Council believes:

Thames Water has had 35 years to draw up and implement plans to provide the necessary infrastructure to run its business properly.

That it is for Thames Water Limited to fund and manage the infrastructure investment urgently needed to stop the leaks and reduce sewage outflows, in line with the basis upon which the water industry was privatised in 1989.

That the cost of this much needed infrastructure should not fall on consumers who have been paying Thames Water bills on the basis that it delivers on its responsibilities.

Council resolves:

To ask the Leader to write to the Chair and Chief Executive of Ofwat and to the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, setting out this council’s opposition to the proposed Thames Water price hike.

To send a copy of this letter to the MPs for Oxford West & Abingdon and Wantage constituencies.

 

 

 

Minutes:

With the agreement of Council, Councillor Smith moved, and Councillor Foxhall seconded amended wording to the motion set out in the agenda at item 19 to accommodate an amendment with additional words shown in bold below:

 

“Council notes:

Thames Water Limited’s proposal to increase household water bills to an average of £735 by 2030, an increase of 60% in cash terms.

That amongst the main arguments for privatising the water companies in 1989 were:

  • The private sector would be more efficient and make better use of investment funds.
  • The private sector would not be held back by government limits on investment levels.
  • The water regulator, OFWAT would prevent the new private monopolies from abusing their market power.

In the 35 years since privatisation, investment in infrastructure has stagnated while the debt held by water companies has increased significantly.

Thames Water has failed to deal with leaks and the amount of sewage being pumped into local rivers has rocketed.

Across the network, Thames Water spilled sewage for 6,500 hours in the last nine months of 2023. This pollutes our waterways, damages the natural environment, and poses serious health risks to wildlife, pets and humans.

Thames Water has continued to pay out huge dividends to shareholders, last year paying a £37.5m dividend to a parent company as the company’s debts rose to £14.7bn in the same period.

Thames Water has continued to pay out huge pay and benefits packages to senior executives, including a total of £1.6m paid to the Chief Executive in the 2022-23 financial year.

Council believes:

Thames Water has had 35 years to draw up and implement plans to provide the necessary infrastructure to run its business properly.

That it is for Thames Water Limited to fund and manage the infrastructure investment urgently needed to stop the leaks and reduce sewage outflows, in line with the basis upon which the water industry was privatised in 1989.

That the cost of this much needed infrastructure should not fall on consumers who have been paying Thames Water bills on the basis that it delivers on its responsibilities.

Council resolves:

To ask the Leader to write to the Chair and Chief Executive of Ofwat and to the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, setting out this council’s opposition to the proposed Thames Water price hike.

To ask officers to consider submitting an Environmental Information Request regarding Thames Water’s plans for AMP8 across Vale of White Horse, and to consider our own priorities in the light of their response.

 

To send a copy of this letter to the MPs for Oxford West & Abingdon and Wantage constituencies.”

 

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

 

RESOLVED:

 

To note Thames Water Limited’s proposal to increase household water bills to an average of £735 by 2030, an increase of 60% in cash terms.

That amongst the main arguments for privatising the water companies in 1989 were:

 

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