Agenda item

Members of the public may submit an address or question in writing to the Scrutiny Panel, where full notice of the question or address is given to the secretariat no later than 17:00 on Tuesday 7 March 2023. Questions and addresses submitted should be no longer than one side of A4 paper in Arial 12 font. The address or question will be circulated to the Panel and public speakers will be invited to speak at the virtual meeting. 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. Questions and notice of addresses must be submitted to futureoxfordshirepartnership@southandvale.gov.uk

Note: This meeting may be recorded for live broadcast via the Future Oxfordshire Partnership’s YouTube Channel - at the start of the meeting the Chair will confirm the meeting is being filmed. By registering to speak you are consenting to being recorded and to the use of those video and audio recordings for webcasting.

The Scrutiny Panel considered two public questions.

George Curtis on behalf of Bioabundance asked a question relating to the Oxfordshire Net Zero Route Map and Action Plan agenda item. Quoting from the report, Mr Curtis referred to the scale of the challenge to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050 and the need to embed climate change into decision-making across Oxfordshire. He noted that reducing Scope One and Two carbon emissions were a key focus of the document and a critical priority for Oxfordshire in the decades ahead. He also highlighted the report’s finding that Scope Three emissions, such as embodied carbon in materials, would likely form a continuingly growing proportion of the county’s total emissions.

Mr Curtis expressed the view that the Net Zero Route Map and Action Plan would be invalid if it did not include Scope Three emissions arising from the Oxfordshire Housing and Growth Deal and indicated that councils would be faced with difficult decisions around housing (e.g., numbers, density and occupancy). He, therefore, suggested that this was an opportunity to employ the Doughnut Economics model which would enable wellbeing and prosperity for existing residents while minimising environmental harm.

The Scrutiny Panel was asked to recommend to the Future Oxfordshire Partnership that:

1.     Before its acceptance, the Net Zero Route Map & Action Plan be reworked to include the Scope Three emissions of building development and new roads in the County.

2.     The Economic Strategy should include the use of Doughnut Economics measures. It should also present plans/strategies designed to enable prosperity for existing residents while minimising environmental harm.

Suzanne McIvor on behalf of Need Not Greed Oxfordshire asked a question related to the Oxfordshire Local Industrial Strategy (LIS) and the current Strategic Economic Plan (SEP) agenda item.

She stated that the priority behind the LIS (and its investment plan) had been purely economic growth and had failed to give consideration to the natural world. In the view of Need Not Greed, it was shocking that the LIS, given its ambition and potential impact on Oxfordshire, had not been subject to public consultation.

Furthermore, while the proposed SEP did include mention of inclusivity and net zero carbon, it overlooked/ignored biodiversity and the natural environment. She stated that a SEP prepared along these lines would not be acceptable and that the economic growth that it would generate would create a housing need that not all of Oxfordshire’s councils would welcome. It was, therefore, suggested that a better balance between economic growth and the natural environment was required and that the Doughnut Economic model could be an example of how to achieve this.

The Scrutiny Panel was asked to recommend to the Future Oxfordshire Partnership that:

1.     Any Strategic Economic Plan must balance economic growth with our natural environment and biodiversity. The briefing relating to this must, therefore, be amended accordingly.

2.     The Strategic Economic Plan is the subject of a full public consultation.

3.     The effect of any Strategic Economic Plan on Oxfordshire's housing need is clearly explained as part of the plan.

The Chair commented that the issues referred to in both questions formed part of the agenda for the meeting and that the Panel would take these submissions into consideration as part of their discussions regarding those items.