Agenda item

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

1.    Motion to be proposed by Councillor Clegg and seconded by Councillor James

Council notes:

The Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has approved Thames Water’s Water Resources Management Plan 2024 (WRMP24).

The Environment Agency had advised that Thames Water should not be able to publish its WRMP24 without addressing significant remaining issues.

Thames Water submitted its Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Scoping Report for the reservoir to the Planning Inspectorate, which was then put out to consultation with organisations including this Council.

Thames Water is attempting to ‘scope out’ assessment of embankment breach risk, despite the Environment Agency’s  “Lessons from historical dam incidents” which sets out a series of incidents involving the breaching of embankments, along with many near misses and other serious incidents both in the UK and overseas.

The requirement to be able to reduce the reservoir water level by 1m per day would lead to a discharge into the River Thames that could cause very serious flooding downstream, especially if coinciding with high levels of flow along the Thames.

Thames Water appears to accept the need for assessing and managing this risk, however, this assessment will not be required before the Development Consent Order (DCO) approval, but after construction is largely completed.

Council resolves to:

Ask the Leader to request of the Secretary of State and of Thames Water that the following must come before DCO approval for SESRO and be published openly so that they can be scrutinised by all levels of government and by the public:

1.    Embankment failure risk analysis and mitigation planning.

2.    Risk analysis and mitigation planning for the impact of emergency drawdown on flooding along the Thames valley.

Ask the Leader to re-request a meeting with the current Secretary of State with invitations to: the Members of Parliament for Didcot and Wantage and for Oxford West and Abingdon; the Group Against Reservoir Development (GARD); the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE); the leaders of the groups represented in this chamber; and the County Councillors in the proposed zone of development and fall out. Said meeting to discuss the existing concerns that have not yet been addressed and the overall options for governance of the system.

2.    Motion to be proposed by Councillor James and seconded by Councillor Patel

This Council notes: -

Through our actions and motions, all political groups in this council have demonstrated their strong desire to provide the services and support we are responsible for in a way that shows transparency and democratic accountability.

Polls show that the UK public supports public ownership of public services.

Councils across the country spend hundreds of millions of pounds buying in essential goods, services and expertise from the private sector each year.

The Public Services (Social Value) Act was introduced in 2012. It provides a legal basis for public authorities to look for wider social, economic and environmental benefits when undertaking procurement exercises.

There are well documented cases demonstrating insourcing public services can deliver lower costs, more efficiency, a public sector ethos, and an enhanced level of democratic accountability for local residents.

That councils of all political persuasions have brought services back into local control to save money and gain control over essential services for their residents.

That outsourcing contracts necessarily results in public money going into private profit.

The Council further notes: -

Vale has successfully brought a number of services and staff in-house to gain greater control and value for money. These include finance, IT, HR and property management among others.

Consideration of direct provisioning requires a long lead time, and this cannot be assessed in the same way as an outsourced contract. To consider direct and outsourcing on the same short timescale effectively rules out the direct provisioning option.

Together with South Oxfordshire, Vale of White Horse District Council has purchased new waste vehicles for the use by our contractors and are currently in the process of purchasing a waste vehicle depot.

That the council has used LAHF funding to re-establish itself as an owner of housing and invested substantially in the resources to deliver as a residential landlord.

Extensive cuts to council funding under successive governments since 2010 have deeply harmed the ability of councils to build resilience, innovate and deliver.

That investing in strengthening the council’s capacity and skills to deliver services in-house takes time, but it can make the council more sustainable, innovative and effective for the long term.

This Council therefore resolves to call on its Executive to: -

Continue to work with officers to develop strategies for greater democratic control of services wherever possible to deliver better results for citizens.

Seek to assess options of direct provisioning well ahead of contract renewal such that sufficient lead time is allowed for a change of delivery model to in-house, if that is found to be the preferred option.

Confirm its intention to always consider options for in-house delivery when reviewing any outsourced provision, with guidance to the policy development teams within the council on this priority.

Ask officers to ensure that if there is a need to engage consultants, there is a clear expectation that insourcing will be given as much weight as external contracts in any options appraisal.

Continue to call out the unfair and damaging cuts to local government funding by successive Governments since 2010.

Council considered the following motions.

1. Motion moved by Councillor Clegg and seconded by Councillor James as set out on the agenda at agenda item 14 (1)

Following debate, the motion was declared carried.

RESOLVED: to

Note the Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has approved Thames Water’s Water Resources Management Plan 2024 (WRMP24).

The Environment Agency had advised that Thames Water should not be able to publish its WRMP24 without addressing significant remaining issues.

Thames Water submitted its Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Scoping Report for the reservoir to the Planning Inspectorate, which was then put out to consultation with organisations including this Council.

Thames Water is attempting to ‘scope out’ assessment of embankment breach risk, despite the Environment Agency’s  “Lessons from historical dam incidents” which sets out a series of incidents involving the breaching of embankments, along with many near misses and other serious incidents both in the UK and overseas.

The requirement to be able to reduce the reservoir water level by 1m per day would lead to a discharge into the River Thames that could cause very serious flooding downstream, especially if coinciding with high levels of flow along the Thames.

Thames Water appears to accept the need for assessing and managing this risk, however, this assessment will not be required before the Development Consent Order (DCO) approval, but after construction is largely completed.

Council resolves to:

Ask the Leader to request of the Secretary of State and of Thames Water that the following must come before DCO approval for SESRO and be published openly so that they can be scrutinised by all levels of government and by the public:

1.    Embankment failure risk analysis and mitigation planning.

2.    Risk analysis and mitigation planning for the impact of emergency drawdown on flooding along the Thames valley.

Ask the Leader to re-request a meeting with the current Secretary of State with invitations to: the Members of Parliament for Didcot and Wantage and for Oxford West and Abingdon; the Group Against Reservoir Development (GARD); the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE); the leaders of the groups represented in this chamber; and the County Councillors in the proposed zone of development and fall out. Said meeting to discuss the existing concerns that have not yet been addressed and the overall options for governance of the system.

3. Councillor James moved and Councillor Patel seconded an altered motion to that set out on the Council agenda to reflect their acceptance of an amendment from Councillors Smith and Roberts. The amended motion is set out below with deleted words shown by a strikethrough and additional words in bold.

This Council notes: -

Through our actions and motions, all political groups in this council havethis council has demonstrated their its strong desire to provide the services and support we are responsible for in a way that shows transparency and democratic accountability.

Polls show that the UK public supports public ownership of public services.

Councils across the country spend hundreds of millions of pounds buying in essential goods, services and expertise from the private sector each year.

The Public Services (Social Value) Act was introduced in 2012. It provides a legal basis for public authorities to look for wider social, economic and environmental benefits when undertaking procurement exercises.

There are well documented cases demonstrating insourcing public services can deliver lower costs, more efficiency, a public sector ethos, and an enhanced level of democratic accountability for local residents.

That councils of all political persuasions have brought services back into local control to save money and gain control over essential services for their residents.

That outsourcing contracts necessarily results in public money going into private profit.

The Council further notes: -

That Vale of White Horse District Council has successfully brought a number of services and staff in-house to gain greater control and value for money. These include finance, IT, HR and property management among others.

Consideration of direct provisioning requires a long lead time, and this cannot be assessed in the same way as an outsourced contract. To consider direct and outsourcing on the same short timescale effectively rules out the direct provisioning option.

Together with South Oxfordshire, Vale of White Horse District Council has purchased new waste vehicles for the use by our contractors and are currently in the process of purchasing a waste vehicle depot.

That the council has used LAHF funding to re-establish itself as an owner of housing and invested substantially in the resources to deliver as a residential landlord.

Extensive cuts to council funding under successive governments since 2010 and a lack of a multi-year financial settlement for councils have deeply harmed the ability of councils to build resilience, innovate and deliver.

That investing in strengthening the council’s capacity and skills to deliver services in-house takes time, but it can make the council more sustainable, innovative and effective for the long term.

This Council therefore resolves to call on its Executive Cabinet to: -

Continue to work with officers to comply with our duty to achieve best value for taxpayers (including economic, environmental and social value) when commissioning services to meet the needs of our residents.

Continue to work with officers to develop strategies for greater democratic control of services wherever possible to deliver better results for citizens.

Seek to assess options of direct provisioning well ahead of contract renewal such that sufficient lead time is allowed for a change of delivery model to in-house, if that is found to be the preferred option.

Confirm its intention to always consider options for in-house delivery when reviewing any outsourced provision, with guidance to the policy development teams within the council on this priority.

Ask officers to ensure that if there is a need to engage consultants, there is a clear expectation that insourcing will be given as much weight as external contracts in any options appraisal.

Continue to call out the unfair and damaging cuts to local government funding by successive Governments since 2010.for a reversal of cuts to local government funding and a multi-year, fair funding settlement for district councils.

Following debate, the motion was declared carried.

RESOLVED:

That this Council notes: -

That through our actions and motions, this council has demonstrated its strong desire to provide the services and support we are responsible for in a way that shows transparency and democratic accountability.

Polls show that the UK public supports public ownership of public services.

Councils across the country spend hundreds of millions of pounds buying in essential goods, services and expertise from the private sector each year.

The Public Services (Social Value) Act was introduced in 2012. It provides a legal basis for public authorities to look for wider social, economic and environmental benefits when undertaking procurement exercises.

There are well documented cases demonstrating insourcing public services can deliver lower costs, more efficiency, a public sector ethos, and an enhanced level of democratic accountability for local residents.

That councils of all political persuasions have brought services back into local control to save money and gain control over essential services for their residents.

The Council further notes: -

That Vale of White Horse District Council has successfully brought a number of services and staff in-house to gain greater control and value for money. These include finance, IT, HR and property management among others.

Consideration of direct provisioning requires a long lead time, and this cannot be assessed in the same way as an outsourced contract. To consider direct and outsourcing on the same short timescale effectively rules out the direct provisioning option.

Extensive cuts to council funding and a lack of a multi-year financial settlement for councils have deeply harmed the ability of councils to build resilience, innovate and deliver.

That investing in strengthening the council’s capacity and skills to deliver services in-house takes time, but it can make the council more sustainable, innovative and effective for the long term.

This Council therefore resolves to call on Cabinet to: -

Continue to work with officers to comply with our duty to achieve best value for taxpayers (including economic, environmental and social value) when commissioning services to meet the needs of our residents.

Seek to assess options of direct provisioning well ahead of contract renewal such that sufficient lead time is allowed for a change of delivery model to in-house, if that is found to be the preferred option.

Confirm its intention to always consider options for in-house delivery when reviewing any outsourced provision, with guidance to the policy development teams within the council on this priority.

Ask officers to ensure that if there is a need to engage consultants, there is a clear expectation that insourcing will be given as much weight as external contracts in any options appraisal.

Continue to call for a reversal of cuts to local government funding and a multi-year, fair funding settlement for district councils.