Agenda and draft minutes

To elect a chair of council for the municipal year 2024/25.

Councillor Bentley invited nominations for Chair.

Councillor Bentley was nominated as chair for the 2024/25 municipal year. Councillor Thomasas proposer and Councillor Coleman as seconderspoke in support of the nomination.

RESOLVED: to elect Councillor Bentley as Chair of the council for the 2024/25 municipal year, until the next annual meeting of the Council in May 2025.

Councillor Bentley signed the declaration of acceptance of office and made an acceptance speech. She thanked Councillor Povolotsky, previous Chair of the council, for her support. She would be working with Councillor Povolotsky to distribute the charitable funds raised during the previous municipal year. The Chair advised that her husband would be acting as her escort.

To appoint a vice-chair of council for the municipal year 2024/25.

Councillor Forder was nominated as vice-chair for the 2024/25 municipal year. Councillor Thomasas proposer and Councillor Coleman as seconderspoke in support of the nomination.

RESOLVED: to elect Councillor Forder as vice-chair of the council for the 2024/25 municipal year, until the next annual meeting of the Council in May 2025.

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

To record apologies for absence.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Barrow, Caul, Clegg,  Cox, Edwards and Farrell.

To adopt and sign as a correct record the Council minutes of the meeting held on 21 February 2024. 

In response to a question in respect of the detail included in the minutes, the democratic services manager advised that the minutes were a record of decisions made and, whilst they included a summary of discussions, it was not council practice to reference individual councillors unless referencing a recommendation to council, formally submitted question on notice, a specific question/statement or a specific ward related matter (eg Neighbourhood Development Plan). 

RESOLVED: to approve the minutes of the meeting held on 22 February 2024 as a correct record and agree that the Chair sign them as such.

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. 

None.

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. 

The Chair advised that there was no urgent business.

The Chair referred to the recent resignation of Richard Webber as the district ward councillor for Sutton Courtenay and, on behalf of Council, thanked him for his service to both the council and his constituents. Councillor James, a neighbouring ward councillor, made a statement in agreement with the Chair’s words and thanking Richard Webber for his support when she was first elected as a district councillor.

The Chair advised that she would be raising funds for the following charities:

·       Letcombe Brook Project

·       FaringdonFolley Tower & Woodland Trust

To consider the report of the head of legal and democratic on the appointment to those committees required to be politically balanced together with the together with the Climate Emergency Advisory Committee, the Licensing Acts Committee and joint committees.

Council considered the report of the head of legal and democratic on the appointment of those committees and joint committees which are required to be politically balanced; together with the Climate Emergency Advisory Committee, Licensing Acts Committee, and appointments to joint bodies.

The chair referred to the recommendations set out in the report, and circulated at the meeting, which covered the committee appointments for the 2024/25 municipal council year.  

These recommendations were that Council:

1.             appoints the committees and panels for the 2024/25 year and allocate seats to each political group as set out in the schedule circulated prior to the meeting;

2.             appoints councillors and substitutes to sit on the committees and panels as set out in the schedule circulated prior to the meeting:

3.             appoints councillors to the Licensing Acts Committee as set out in the schedule circulated prior to the meeting;

4.             appoints councillors to the Climate Emergency Advisory Committee as set out in the schedule circulated prior to the meeting;

5.             appoints chairs and vice-chairs as set out in the schedule circulated prior to the meeting;

6.             appoints all local members representing the wards covered by the relevant area committees to those committees for the 2024/25 municipal year – Abingdon and North East, Faringdon and Wantage; 

7.             appointsPaul Barrow as the council’s representative and Ron Batstone as substitute on the Oxfordshire Joint Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee;

8.             appoints Neil Fawcett as the council’s representative and Helen Pighills as substitute on the Thames Valley Police and Crime Panel;

9.             appoints Emily Smith, Debby Hallett and Andy Cooke to the Future Oxfordshire Partnership Scrutiny Panel;

10.          authorises 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.

A number of councillors expressed concern that the independent councillors had no representation on committees and spoke in support of the Council making such provision. Other councillors noted that, as set out in the report, non-group councillors were not automatically entitled to committee seats. Such provision required no councillor voting against such a proposal and this was not guaranteed.

RESOLVED: That for the 2024/25 municipal year to:

1.       appoint the following committees and panels for the 2024/25 municipal year and to appoint the membership, substitutes and chairs and vice-chairs as indicated to sit on them (see table below);

To consider the recommendations of the Cabinet member for planning, Councillor Foulsham, made on 7 May 2024, regarding the neighbourhood plan for East Hanney following the referendum held on 11 April 2024.

The Individual Cabinet Member Decision is attached.

RECOMMENDATIONS:

 1. To make the East Hanney Neighbourhood Development Plan, so that it becomes part of the council’s development plan.

2. To delegate to the Head of Policy and Programmes, in consultation with the appropriate Cabinet Member and in agreement with the Qualifying Body, East Hanney Parish Council, the making of minor (non-material) modifications, the correction of any spelling, grammatical, typographical or factual errors together with any improvements from a presentational perspective

Council considered the recommendation of Councillor Foulsham, Cabinet member for corporate services, policy and programmes, made on 7 May 2024, to make the East Hanney Neighbourhood Development Plan part of the development plan for Vale of White Horse.

Councillor Povolotsky, the local ward member, made a statement in support of the adoption of the Plan.

RESOLVED: to

1. make the East Hanney Neighbourhood Development Plan, so that it becomes part of the council’s development plan.

2. authorise the head of policy and programmes, in consultation with the Cabinet member for corporate services, policy and programmes in agreement with the Qualifying Body – East Hanney Parish Council, to correct any spelling, grammatical, typographical or factual errors together with any improvements from a presentational perspective.

To consider the recommendations of the Cabinet member for planning, Councillor Foulsham, made on 7 May 2024, regarding the neighbourhood plan for Sutton Courtenay following the referendum held on 11 April 2024.

The Individual Cabinet Member Decision is attached.

RECOMMENDATIONS:

1. To make the Sutton Courtenay Neighbourhood Development Plan, so that it becomes part of the council’s development plan.

2. To delegate to the Head of Policy and Programmes, in consultation with the appropriate Cabinet Member and in agreement with the Qualifying Body, Sutton Courtenay Parish Council, the making of minor (non-material) modifications, the correction of any spelling, grammatical, typographical or factual errors together with any improvements from a presentational perspective.

Council considered the recommendation of Councillor Foulsham, Cabinet member for corporate services, policy and programmes, made on 7 May 2024, to make the Sutton Courtenay Neighbourhood Development Plan part of the development plan for Vale of White Horse.

RESOLVED: to

1. make the Sutton Courtenay Neighbourhood Development Plan, so that it becomes part of the council’s development plan.

2. authorise the head of policy and programmes, in consultation with the Cabinet member for corporate services, policy and programmes in agreement with the Qualifying Body – Sutton Courtenay Parish Council, to correct any spelling, grammatical, typographical or factual errors together with any improvements from a presentational perspective.

At the Joint Audit and Governance Committee meeting on the 15 April 2024, the committee recommended that Council adopt the revised local code of corporate governance and include it in the council’s constitution. The report considered by the committee is attached.

The draft minutes of the committee meeting are set out below:

“The committee received the code of corporate governance report, presented by the head of finance. He highlighted that the annual governance statements were based on the local code of good governance and that the version adopted by the councils was outdated and needed revising. The head of finance highlighted that the draft code had incorporated the latest Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy guidance, had been through the Constitution Task Review Group, and was suggested to be recommend to full council meetings for adoption and inclusion in the constitution.

In response to a question about what members could do if they believed that the councils were not compliant with the code, the head of finance indicated that they should direct these concerns in the first instance to the councils’ monitoring officer.

Overall, members welcomed the update and agreed that the revised code should be adopted by the councils”.

RECOMMENDATION: That Council adopts the revised local code of corporate governance for inclusion in the council’s constitution.

Council considered the report of the head of legal and democratic on the revised local Code of Corporate Governance, which had been recommended for adoption by the Joint Audit and Governance Committee at their meeting on the 15 April 2024.

Council was satisfied with the revised code of corporate governance and agreed that it should be included in the council’s constitution.

RESOLVED: to adopt the revised local code of corporate governance attached to the report of the head of finance to the Joint Audit and Governance Committee on 15 April 2024 and include it in the council’s constitution. 

1.     To receive the report of the leader of the council.

2.    Special Urgency Decision

The council’s constitution stipulates that a Cabinet or Cabinet member decision taken as a matter of special urgency must be reported to the next available meeting of the Council, together with the reasons for urgency.

Council is requested to note the details of the following urgent decision.

Storm Henk Flood Grants

On 26 February 2024, Councillor Andrew Crawford, Cabinet member for Finance and Property, took a decision to participate in the government funded schemes to provide financial compensation to households and businesses adversely affected by flooding impacts from Storm Henk, between 2 and 12 January 2024.

Agreement of the chair of the Scrutiny Committee was obtained that the required decision was urgent and could not be unreasonably deferred.                

Details of the decision and the reasons for urgency are available here.

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

Council noted the details of the special urgency decision taken by the Cabinet member for Finance and Property to participate in the government funded scheme to provide financial compensation to households and businesses adversely affected by the flooding impacts from Storm Henk.  

To receive questions from councillors in accordance with Council procedure rule 35. 

A.     Question from Councillor Katherine Foxhall to Councillor Bethia Thomas, Cabinet member for Climate Action and the Environment.

The Environment Agency (EA) is currently developing the Thames Valley Flood Scheme, identifying places that could be used to store floodwater to reduce flood risk across the non-tidal Thames Valley. From an initial list of over 700 potential locations, 17 potential locations remain (according to the EA) “that might be suitable to store flood water on some of the rivers that feed into the river Thames”. Two of these remaining sites are in the Vale – although the exact locations are vague, one is on the National Trust estate at Buscot and Coleshill, and the other appears to be southwest of Abingdon, just south of the River Ock, a site many of our members are of course familiar with as the proposed site of Thames Water’s massive reservoir.

Given the EA’s stated aims of working “in partnership to deliver a wide range of environmental and other benefits” can the Cabinet member please advise what contact have officers had with the Environment Agency during the planning process for this scheme, and are we confident that we are being fully informed of the implications of any finalised locations for example in allocating land within our new local plan?

B.      Question from Councillor Viral Patel to Councillor Bethia Thomas as Cabinet member for Leisure Centres and Community Buildings.

Over the last decade we have seen a growth in population of 14% across the Vale, with a further growth of 25% expected in the next 15 years. A significant proportion of this growth has been in Wantage, Faringdon, Stanford and Shrivenham, with the arrival of so many more residents it is good to see the focus on expanding our capacity at leisure facilities. For my ward I am particularly pleased to see the addition of a learner pool at Faringdon, and at Wantage, with both facilities in proximity for residents of my ward.

In the Vale Leisure Facilites Assessment and Strategy Report the lack of capacity at Wantage and its low quality were highlighted, along with the need to increase capacity at Faringdon. Further, in assessing the future needs for the Vale, Shrivenham was highlighted for pool facilities as where “the most unmet demand can be met”, however at present that was deemed not enough to validate the consideration for a new pool facility in the locality.

Does the Cabinet member agree with me that, while we expect to see continued growth in our population, we should be looking to support our residents, including those on the outskirts of the county, with facilities we have assessed to be vital for their wellbeing and without expecting them to travel to neighbouring districts to meet those needs? Further, can I ask the Cabinet member if we could undertake a more detailed viability assessment for providing for the highlighted deficit in swimming facilities  ...  view the full agenda text for item 12.

A.   Question from Councillor Katherine Foxhall to Councillor Bethia Thomas, Cabinet member for Climate Action and the Environment.

The Environment Agency (EA) is currently developing the Thames Valley Flood Scheme, identifying places that could be used to store floodwater to reduce flood risk across the non-tidal Thames Valley. From an initial list of over 700 potential locations, 17 potential locations remain (according to the EA) “that might be suitable to store flood water on some of the rivers that feed into the river Thames”. Two of these remaining sites are in the Vale – although the exact locations are vague, one is on the National Trust estate at Buscot and Coleshill, and the other appears to be southwest of Abingdon, just south of the River Ock, a site many of our members are of course familiar with as the proposed site of Thames Water’s massive reservoir.

Given the EA’s stated aims of working “in partnership to deliver a wide range of environmental and other benefits” can the Cabinet member please advise what contact have officers had with the Environment Agency during the planning process for this scheme, and are we confident that we are being fully informed of the implications of any finalised locations for example in allocating land within our new local plan?

Written response

Thank you for your question about the Thames Valley Flood Scheme.  As you say, this scheme is currently in the process of identifying potential sites for storage of flood water in the upstream parts of the Thames catchment area, and there are two possible locations in the Vale which will be subject to further consideration. 

Our officers have been in regular contact with the Environment Agency about this project, with their most recent meeting having taken place on 11 April this year.

At this stage the EA has confirmed that they are a long way from any decisions on specific locations and from entering into planning processes, so we should not expect any request for the safeguarding of land in our local plan as yet.  The EA team has committed to carrying out consultation with all relevant parties as the project progresses.

When we make decisions about whether to support these types of schemes, we will seek to ensure that we strike the right balance between protecting existing green space, or agricultural land, both of which have their own intrinsic value, and the need to protect homes and businesses from flooding. It was only a few months ago that we saw families threatened by rising water levels, including those in Buscot, a village in your ward, and very close to one of the possible sites in the flood scheme.

I know that our officers are already working closely with the EA on other projects and I’m sure they will continue to keep a close eye on this one as well.

B.   Question from Councillor Viral Patel to Councillor Bethia Thomas as Cabinet member for Leisure Centres and Community Buildings.

Over the last  ...  view the full minutes text for item 12.