Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Ken Arlett, David Bretherton, Maggie Filipova-Rivers, Kate Gregory, Kellie Hinton (Vice-Chair), Sam James-Lawrie, Ben Manning, Zia Mohammed, and Freddie van Mierlo. 

To adopt and sign as a correct record the Council minutes of the meeting held on 12 October and the extraordinary meeting held on 17 November 2023. 

RESOLVED: to approve the minutes of the Council meetings held on 12 October and 17 November 2023 as correct records and agree that the Chair signs 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. 

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 made some housekeeping announcements and updated Council on his work as chair of the council since the last meeting. 

The chair also read a statement in memory of two members of staff, Patrick Arran and Louise Franklin, who had passed away recently.  Council also remembered former councillor Bernard Cooper, who had passed away.  Council paused for a moment of silence. 

To receive any questions or statements from members of the public that have registered to speak. 

None

To receive any petitions from the public. 

None

To consider the report of the head of finance on the council’s treasury management activities and prudential indicators for the financial year 2022/23.

At its meeting on 9 November 2023, Cabinet agreed the recommendations to Council set out in the report and resolved:

1.    To note the treasury management outturn report 2022/23,

2.    is satisfied that the treasury activities are carried out in accordance with the treasury management strategy and policy

Council considered the head of finance’s report on the treasury management outturn for 2022/23.  The Cabinet member for finance reported that the outturn report had also been considered by the Joint Audit and Governance Committee and Cabinet, both of which were satisfied that the treasury activities during 2022/23 had been carried out in accordance with the treasury management strategy and policy.  There had been an overachievement of treasury income during the year, largely due to high interest rates.  Performance had exceeded expectations and there had been no breaches of the counterparty limits or the prudential indicators. 

In answer to questions regarding the council’s strategy on environmentally harmful investments, the Cabinet member reported that the treasury management and investment strategy would be reviewed by the Joint Audit and Governance Committee, Cabinet and Council in the new year. 

RESOLVED to:

(a)       approve the treasury management outturn report 2022/23; and

(b)       approve the actual 2022/23 prudential indicators within the report. 

To consider the report of the head of finance on the adoption and implementation of a modified council tax reduction scheme for the financial years 2024/2025 onwards.

The recommendations set out in the attached report were agreed by Cabinet at its meeting on 30 November 2023.

Council considered the head of finance’s report on the review of the council tax reduction scheme. 

The Cabinet member for finance reported that the scheme was reviewed each year to ensure that any person in receipt of specific benefits was given a reduction in their council tax but the benefits’ recipient must notify the Department of Work and Pensions of any change in their circumstances. 

Due to changes in operation of the Department of Work and Pensions whereby some of its local offices would be closed, it was proposed that a change should be made to the council’s scheme to protect it from potential fraud.  Cabinet had recommended Council to make the change. 

RESOLVED:

(a)    that for the 2024/25 financial year onwards the council continues to adopt the previous 2023/24 Council Tax Reduction Scheme but with the following amendment:

“Where the council has identified that a taxpayer has failed to notify the Department of Work and Pensions of a relevant change in circumstances, affecting their legacy benefit or Universal Credit, then (where necessary) their entitlement to council tax reduction will be stopped, until that notification has taken place and revised Department of Work and Pensions benefit entitlement known.” 

(b)    that the above change be incorporated into the Council Tax Reduction Scheme for the oncoming 2024/25 financial year onwards. 

To consider the report of the head of finance on the setting of the council tax base for 2024/25.

The recommendations set out in the attached report were agreed by Cabinet at its meeting on 30 November 2023.

Council considered the head of finance’s report on setting the council tax base for 2024/25. 

The Cabinet member for finance reported that each year the council was required to calculate its council tax base and pass this information on to Oxfordshire County Council, Thames Valley Police, and parish councils, to allow them to calculate their council tax element for the forthcoming year.  The council tax base calculation was made up of the number of homes in the district, adjusted for discounts and exemptions.  This produced a number, which was recorded as a council tax Band D equivalent.  The calculations assumed a council tax collection rate of 98.5 per cent. 

RESOLVED to:

(a)       approve the report of the head of finance for the calculation of the council’s tax base and the calculation of the tax base for each parish area for 2024/2025;

(b)       agree that, in accordance with The Local Authorities (Calculation of Council Tax Base) (England) Regulations 2012, the amount calculated by South Oxfordshire District Council as its council tax base for the year 2024/25 be 62,683.2; and

(c)        agree that, in accordance with The Local Authorities (Calculation of Council Tax Base) (England) Regulations 2012, the amount calculated by South Oxfordshire District Council as the council tax base for the year 2024/25 for each parish be the amount shown against the name of that parish in Appendix A of the report of the head of finance to Council on 14 December 2023. 

To consider the recommendations of the Cabinet member for planning, made on 5 December 2023, regarding the neighbourhood plan for Lewknor Parish following the referendum held on 23 November 2023.

The Individual Cabinet Member Decision is attached.

RECOMMENDATIONS:

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

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

Council considered the recommendation of the Cabinet member for planning, made on 5 December 2023, to make the Lewknor Neighbourhood Development Plan. 

RESOLVED: to

(a)       make the Lewknor Parish Neighbourhood Development Plan, so that it becomes part of the council’s development plan; and

(b)       authorise the head of policy and programmes, in consultation with the Cabinet member for planning and in agreement with the Qualifying Body – Lewknor 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, made on 5 December 2023, regarding the neighbourhood plan for Towersey following the referendum held on 23 November 2023.

The Individual Cabinet Member Decision is attached.

RECOMMENDATIONS:

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

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

Council considered the recommendation of the Cabinet member for planning, made on 5 December 2023, to make the Towersey Neighbourhood Development Plan. 

RESOLVED: to

(a)    make the Towersey Parish Neighbourhood Development Plan, so that it becomes part of the council’s development plan; and

(b)    authorise the head of policy and programmes, in consultation with the Cabinet member for planning and in agreement with the Qualifying Body – Towersey 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, made on 5 December 2023, regarding the neighbourhood plan for Wheatley following the referendum held on 23 November 2023.

The Individual Cabinet Member Decision is attached.

RECOMMENDATIONS:

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

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

Council considered the recommendation of the Cabinet member for planning, made on 5 December 2023, to make the Wheatley Neighbourhood Development Plan.  The plan had first been made in 2021 and had been subject to a review. 

RESOLVED: to

(a)    make the Wheatley Parish Neighbourhood Development Plan, so that it becomes part of the council’s development plan; and

(b)    authorise the head of policy and programmes, in consultation with the Cabinet member for planning and in agreement with the Qualifying Body – Wheatley Parish Council, to correct any spelling, grammatical, typographical or factual errors together with any improvements from a presentational perspective. 

To consider the report of the head of legal and democratic on the appointment of a joint independent remuneration panel with Vale of White Horse District Council to review the councillors’ allowances scheme.

Council considered the head of legal and democratic’s report, which sought authority to appoint a joint Independent Remuneration Panel for the purpose of reviewing members’ allowances.  Council noted that the current panel members were appointed until May 2024, after which a new panel would carry out the next review. 

RESOLVED to:

(a)       appoint a joint independent remuneration panel with Vale of White Horse District Council to carry out reviews of the members’ allowances schemes at both councils and make recommendations on any changes to the schemes to the relevant Council;

(b)       make the appointment of the Joint Independent Remuneration Panel effective until May 2028, one year after the 2027 district council elections; and

(c)        authorise the head of legal and democratic to make appointments to the Joint Independent Remuneration Panel. 

To consider the report of the head of legal and democratic on proposed revisions to the Constitution.

Council considered the head of legal and democratic’s report on the review of the council’s constitution. 

Council noted that the Joint Constitution Review Task Group had recommended that requests for a scrutiny call-in of executive decisions should be accompanied by reasons for the request.  The task group had recommended a new paragraph for inclusion in the Scrutiny Procedure Rules. 

Council also noted that the Joint Audit and Governance Committee had recommended a change to its terms of reference to allow the committee to remove its independent person, should that person not make a meaningful contribution to the committee’s work.  The committee had asked that the independent person should have a right of reply. 

Council supported these changes. 

RESOLVED to:

(a)    adopt the following sections of the Constitution with immediate effect:

(i)         the revised Scrutiny Procedure Rules regarding scrutiny call-in, as set out in paragraph 9 of the head of legal and democratic’s report to Council on 14 December 2023;

(ii)    the revised Joint Audit and Governance Committee Procedure Rules regarding the terms of reference for the appointment of the independent person, as set out in paragraph 13 of the report; and

(b)    authorise the head of legal and democratic to make these changes and any further minor or consequential amendments to the Constitution. 

To consider the report of the deputy chief executive – transformation and operations, on the appointment of a monitoring officer.

Council considered the report of the deputy chief executive – transformation and operations.  Following the passing of Patrick Arran, the council’s monitoring officer, Council agreed to appoint Vivien Williams as the interim monitoring officer. 

RESOLVED: to appoint Vivien Williams, interim Head of Legal and Democratic, as the council’s monitoring officer with immediate effect, this appointment to run until Council appoints a permanent monitoring officer at a later date. 

To receive the report of the leader of the council.

Councillor Rouane, Leader of the Council, provided an update on a number of matters.  The text of his address is available on the council's website.  The Leader thanked all staff and members for their work over the year and wished everyone a merry Christmas. 

To receive questions from councillors. 

1. Question from Councillor Snowdon to Councillor Rouane, Leader of the council.

The council’s six point corporate objectives include to “1, Protect and restore our natural world” and “3, Action on the Climate Emergency”, and full of promises to “Invest responsibly and ethically with the Climate Emergency at the heart of what we do” along with to “Promote and encourage behavioural change with informational campaigns and leading by example.”.

Can the leader advise if the purchase of a fleet of diesel vehicles is achieving these goals, and how residents should have any trust in the council to achieve any of its 6-point corporate plan if they will not lead by example?

2. Question from Councillor Snowdon to Councillor Rouane, Leader of the council

The council should be there to support our local businesses where possible. However, I recently had a business owner asking if it is normal to pay for a revisit for food hygiene rating in March and still be waiting in November. I assured him it wasn’t and was astounded to find this to be true. With the fact that we carry out these visits annually in any case, will the Cabinet member agree with me that waiting nine months is completely unacceptable?

3. Question from Councillor Snowdon to Councillor Barker, Cabinet member for finance and property assets

The February 2023 decision on the height of the new offices indicated that a final decision on whether or not to build the offices would be subject to a full financial review. Can you give any update on the current viability or business plan for the proposed four storey plan as one of the reasons we were previously told it needed to be five was the viability of the scheme?

A.         Question from Councillor Snowdon to Councillor Rouane, Leader of the council.

The council’s six point corporate objectives include to “1, Protect and restore our natural world” and “3, Action on the Climate Emergency”, and full of promises to “Invest responsibly and ethically with the Climate Emergency at the heart of what we do” along with to “Promote and encourage behavioural change with informational campaigns and leading by example.”.

Can the leader advise if the purchase of a fleet of diesel vehicles is achieving these goals, and how residents should have any trust in the council to achieve any of its 6-point corporate plan if they will not lead by example?

Response

Thank you for the question, and the opportunity to outline what we have been doing regarding new waste vehicles. 

Firstly it is worth reminding us all that any decision requires us to consider a number of our strategic priorities. In this case this includes not only those mentioned by Councillor Snowdon but also “Promote the circular economy (reduce, reuse and recycle)” which requires our waste collection service to be reliable, and “Exercise strong stewardship of all council assets” which requires us to make cost effective decisions.

It is useful to remind councillors that the council has a statutory obligation to ensure that waste and recycling collection services are offered to every household, and it would fail in this duty, and in its duties to all residents, if we were unable to undertake the hundreds of thousands of doorstep collections we provide on a weekly basis. The council therefore will undertake all endeavours to ensure that collections continue to take place, and maintain the high performing service that we currently have. Indeed a failure to operate a well-functioning collection service would not only put us at risk of legal challenge, but also potentially result in some valuable resources not being recycled but instead ending up in incineration.

As part of considering how these services will be provided beyond June of next year, the council is required to begin the purchase of new waste collection vehicles. These vehicles are required to replace existing vehicles as they come to the end of their life, and we have been made aware that some will not be economically viable to operate beyond next summer. Therefore we have placed orders for new vehicles that will work across both this district and Vale, with the aim of being as efficient and effective as possible. The council has taken the approach to purchase replacement vehicles in a phased approach as they reach the end of their life, rather than all together in one go, so that we can take maximum advantage of technology in this fast moving area.

At the time of placing orders, officers needed to consider a range of factors to ensure that the vehicles were able to operate immediately, and research was undertaken as part of the procurement process to understand what vehicles were available in themarket and how any new purchase  ...  view the full minutes text for item 61.

To consider motions from councillors in accordance with Council procedure rule 39. 

Motion to be proposed by Councillor Casey-Rerhaye, seconded by Councillor Kantor:

This Council

·       Expresses deep sympathy for all those affected by the conflict in Israel and Palestine. To those in the South Oxfordshire area who have been affected by this conflict we offer our support in this very difficult time;

·       Hopes for an immediate further release of all hostages and an end to the violence;

·       Believes Muslims, Jews and people of all faiths and none should feel safe and supported throughout the world and unreservedly condemns the increase in antisemitic and Islamophobic violence and abuse in the UK.

This Council resolves to

1.    Offer appropriate support to any local resident who needs our assistance as a result of these horrific, violent events.

2.    Stand ready to participate in any government re-settlement scheme and open our arms to innocent people displaced and affected by these events.

3.    Condemn the use of all dehumanising language and calls on our communities to treat each other with respect and good will and refrain from inflammatory terms to describe either the Palestinian or Israeli populations, especially in a time of crisis.

Councillor Casey-Rerhaye moved and Councillor Kantor seconded the motion set out at agenda item 18. 

Following debate and being put to the vote the motion was declared carried. 

RESOLVED:

This Council

·       expresses deep sympathy for all those affected by the conflict in Israel and Palestine.  To those in the South Oxfordshire area who have been affected by this conflict we offer our support in this very difficult time;

·       hopes for an immediate further release of all hostages and an end to the violence;

·       believes Muslims, Jews and people of all faiths and none should feel safe and supported throughout the world and unreservedly condemns the increase in antisemitic and Islamophobic violence and abuse in the UK.

This Council resolves to offer appropriate support to any local resident who needs our assistance as a result of these horrific, violent events.

1.          Stand ready to participate in any government re-settlement scheme and open our arms to innocent people displaced and affected by these events.

2.          Condemn the use of all dehumanising language and calls on our communities to treat each other with respect and good will and refrain from inflammatory terms to describe either the Palestinian or Israeli populations, especially in a time of crisis.