Agenda item

For action: To receive any recommendations from the Future Oxfordshire Partnership Scrutiny Panel meeting held on 18 July 2023.

The Chair invited Councillor Katherine Miles, Chair of the Future Oxfordshire Partnership Scrutiny Panel, to present the recommendations from the Panel’s meeting held on 18 July 2023.

Councillor Miles summarised the Panel recommendations and the discussion held by the Panel that had informed them.

It was highlighted that the Oxfordshire Infrastructure Strategy, (OxIS) and Vision Zero had been subjects which the Panel had felt important to raise and discuss with Councillor Leffman arising from the update she had provided on the work of the Infrastructure Advisory Group. The relationship between the OxIS and other strategics such as Vision Zero and the Local Transport and Connectivity Plan had been apparent to Panel and it had felt that a map setting out the linkages visually would be helpful. The need to find new alternative and innovative sources of funding was also raised.

Arising from the update provided to it the Panel had expressed significant concerns regarding the direction of the Strategic Economic Plan principally that there should not be any hierarchy of Oxfordshire Strategic Vision outcomes areas within the Plan as all the outcome areas should be equally applied. Concerns that had also informed the recommendations around the Plan included biodiversity and ecosystem issues and democratic oversight and scrutiny of the Plan.

It had not been possible for the Panel to reach a consensus view on whether to recommend that the Partnership support the development of a place based narrative for Oxfordshire and therefore the Partnership had been requested to seek a number of clarifications before proceeding. A number of members had expressed significant doubts around the added value of producing a narrative in addition to the Oxfordshire Strategic Vision; that there might be an adverse impact from a narrative on local planning functions; that there were resource implications for local councils, and that the Doughnut Economics model should be taken into consideration. Conversely, other Panel members had felt that a place based narrative could potentially provide a useful tool to attract external investment and should be developed further.

Finally, the Panel had welcomed the update report on the Oxfordshire Local Nature Partnership and strongly supported the endorsement of the draft Local Nature Finance Strategy.

In response, the Chair indicated that a formal written response would be provided in due course but summarized the key points as follows:

·           That it was for Oxfordshire County Council to consider recommendations 1a to 1d specifically.

·           That it was acknowledged that there were some similarities between recommendations 1a and 1d to suggestions previously made by the Panel.

·           That the Partnership already encouraged the appropriate use of the OxIS multi-criteria assessment tool, and continued to do so.

·           That an amended and updated presentation of the development of the Strategic Economic Plan was to be given at the meeting which reflected changes since the presentation was first prepared and to seek to address points made the Scrutiny Panel. The equal importance of all nine Oxfordshire Strategic Vision priority outcomes was recognised and OxLEP did recognise the important of strong foundational economy.

·           The concerns and comments expressed by the Panel about the development of a Place Narrative were noted and the Partnership would ask that Oxfordshire County Council consider them in the development of the Narrative. In addition, it was noted that amended recommendations to the Partnership would be proposed when the item was considered later in the meeting.

·           The Panel’s recognition and support of the work being undertaken by the Oxfordshire Local Nature Partnership was welcomed and its recommendations noted.