Agenda item

To consider a report to the Future Oxfordshire Partnership setting out the end of Quarter 4 2023/24progress report for the Oxfordshire Housing and Growth Deal. 

The Panel considered a report to the Future Oxfordshire Partnership that set out progress and spend for schemes included as part of the Housing and Growth Deal as at end of Quarter Four, 2023/2024. Kathy Wilcox, Head of Financial Strategy at Oxfordshire County Council and Valerie Lambrechts, Infrastructure Portfolio Manager introduced the report and highlighted that:

·           2024/2025 was the final year of the Housing from Infrastructure, (HfI) Programme funding as part of the Housing and Growth Deal.

·           In accordance with the governance arrangements agreed with HM Government in 2022, Oxfordshire County Council was the accountable body for the financial management of the remaining two Housing and Growth Deal financial streams.

·           As of Quarter 4 2023/2024, total HfI Programme spending had been £86.5m with £20.5m spent in 2023/2024.

·           To utilise all the remaining HfI Programme grant funding, a total of £56.3m needed to be spent during 2024/2025.

·           An additional allowance of £1.5m towards safety audits had been agreed with HM Government and this could be used for this purpose after March 2025.

·           Considering the deadline for the use of grant funding HfI schemes had been prioritised towards scheme at the construction phase of delivery that could achieve the grant funding deadline, or which had access to other sources of funding that could be accessed after the grant deadline. The list of schemes listed in the appendices reflected this.

·           The HfI Programme had been over-profiled by £1.6m to allow for as much grant funding as possible to be utilised and it was expected this would reduce over the coming financial year as scheme contingencies were applied.

·           As of Quarter 4 2023/2024, a total of £1.159m remained of the Growth Deal Capacity Funding with expenditure during 2024/2025 of £0.115m.  Several schemes to utilise remaining funding were being developed to business case stage and if the cases were all agreed it was expected that most of the funding would be committed.

·           Remaining recycled funds totalling £26.2m as of Quarter 4 2023/2024 would need to be fully utilised in 2024/2025 before any further grant funding could be claimed.

·           Given the proximity to the end of the programme every effort was being made to minimise risk.

·           Construction was ongoing on the Benson Relief Road, Wantage Eastern Link Road, Kidlington Roundabout, Banbury Road Roundabout.

·           Construction of the North Oxford Corridor scheme in Cassington had been completed earlier in the year.

·           Construction contracts had been entered into for Lodge Hill with work expected to commence in October 2024 and at Steventon in September 2024.

·           A planning decision on the Watlington Relief Road was expected later this year and ongoing consideration was being given to the deliverability of the scheme.

·           A final update on schemes as of Quarter 1 2024/2025 would be provided at the next Future Oxfordshire Partnership meeting.

In Panel’s discussion, it was suggested that based on the report and information available the level of risk to the deliverability of schemes was low, but that notwithstanding this it might be prudent to explore whether any of the deadlines might be extended by HM Government. However, officers responded that although such a conversation was possible, it was very unlikely that the Government would agree.

Regarding the Watlington Relief Road scheme, the Panel was informed that since the submission of a planning application in 2023 extensive consultations had been undertaken with around 52 objections being raised as part of the formal processes that applied. These detailed objections had to be worked through and considered carefully. It was currently expected that a decision would be made by the planning authority around October-November 2024 and the County Council remained committed to the scheme.

In response to a question, it was confirmed that governance of the HfI Programme sat with Oxfordshire County Council for the allocation of remaining Growth Deal funding, and this included associated risks. Several members commented that given the responsibility of the Future Oxfordshire Partnership and the Panel was limited it was important to ensure that effective scrutiny of the HfI Programme took place with the County Council’s own Overview and Scrutiny and audit arrangements and did not fall between the different organisations. Officers undertook to investigate and seek appropriate advice, commenting that the HfI Programme formed part of the County Council’s own capital governance process.

Councillor Cooke commented that whilst he understood that the Milton Heights Pedestrian and Cycle bridge had been removed from the programme there remained an acute need for the works to be funded. He asked what the funding update was for this and other schemes that been removed. Officers reiterated that schemes had only been removed where it was felt they could not be delivered within the programme’s timescales and that every effort continued to be made to secure alternative sources of funding. They remained priority schemes.

In response to the potential use of Housing and Growth Deal Net Capacity funding to support schemes such as Local Area Energy Planning officers commented that these schemes would help to remove barriers to the delivery of housing consistent with the principles of the Housing and Growth Deal. Andrew Down as FOP Director commented that in addition to facilitating housing delivery, some of the proposed projects linked back to the productivity strand of the Housing and Growth Deal and there was sufficient flexibility within the overall conditions attached to the use of the budget. 

In respect of the completion of the Eynsham Park and Ride it was clarified that this formed part of a larger scheme. A proportion of the total cost of the scheme came had come from HfI funding with additional funding from the Department for Transport.

Officers commented that they did have a reasonable level of confidence on the use of HfI funding as spending was now significantly increasing as schemes moved forward into construction.

A number of members commented that they felt that the principles of Active Travel set out in the latest version of the County Councils Local Transport and Connectivity Plan, (LTCP) had not been reflected in the HfI programme. It was clarified that the terms of the HfI had been set and agreed in 2018 linked to the delivery of additional housing.

RESOLVED: That the update to the Future Oxfordshire Partnership be noted.