Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Altaf-Khan, Paule, Fry and Curran.

No declarations of interest were made.

Recommendation: That the minutes of the meeting held on  05 December 2017 be APPROVED as a true and accurate record.

Agreed that BAME should  replace BME throughout the minutes of the meeting held on 05 December.

Cllr Ladbrooke was disappointed that the minutes did not, in his view, reflect, the full extent of discussion and strength of feeling in relation to under-employment of BAME members of the community. Agreed that this part of the minute should be expanded accordingly.

This minute recorded agreement that the Committee should revisit the subject of equality and diversity in 2018 with additional data. Agreed that this should  be sooner rather than later (and preferably March or April) and that the data should be made available to the Committee at the earliest opportunity. Once the data were provided discussion could take place without the need for a supporting paper. It would be sufficient for an officer to be present to explain the data.

Subject to the above the Committee resolved to APPROVE the minutes of the meeting held on 05 December as a true and accurate record.

There is nothing to add to the update given at the previous meeting (and no recommendations flowing from that meeting).

There were no recommendations to report back on at this meeting.

The Scrutiny Officer spoke to the work plan and noted that the items on “Impacts of Westgate Shopping Centre” and “Restorative Justice” were now moved from February to April. This left 4 substantive items (all subsequently destined for CEB) for the February meeting. An item on the Living Wage review would go to the March meeting, once the Living Wage Review  Panel had given a steer as to its final recommendations and their report written.  An item on Oxfordshire Devolution was scheduled for the March meeting. While there had not been much progress on this matter, it was right that the Committee should receive an update given the time it had devoted to it in the past. This would also present an opportunity for Scrutiny to consider the Oxfordshire Housing and Growth Deal.

The Scrutiny Committee considered the annual report for the first time in 2017 and had agreed that it should be considered by the Committee annually thereafter.  Councillor Tanner, Board Member for A Clean and Green Oxford

gave a brief introduction to the 2016 report, noting that an analysis  of the last 10 years showed that NO2 levels had dropped, typically, by 35%, at  roadsides in the City centre. However the rate of improvement had decreased. A range of measures were in place and proposed to mitigate the risks posed by polluted air.

The Environmental Quality Team Manager explained that the Council was required to submit an Air Quality report annually to DEFRA. The format of the report was very prescriptive. While the Council had an important role to play in monitoring air quality and taking some mitigating action, the County Council, as Highways Authority, had a particularly significant role and so close partnership with it was important.

There were 70 monitoring locations in addition to automatic continuous monitoring at three locations. Some data now provided a picture of trends over the last 13 years . The report noted 17 locations where the annual mean objective for levels of NO2 had been exceeded. This was a reduction of 11% when compared with the previous year.

A range of actions were now in train to reduce levels of poor air quality. These included, among many others: preparation for the introduction of a Zero Emissions Zone; successful bid for provision of electric vehicle charging infrastructure for taxis; “Test Drive the Future” event; promotion of electric vehicle car clubs; and launch of the Go Ultra Low Oxford project.

Work on the next report was underway but the data which would underpin it could not be shared until they were confirmed and corroborated. The Committee were very keen to have sight of the latest data as soon as possible, not least because of the possible consequences of the opening of the Westgate Centre.  Cllr Tanner was clear however that data should not be shared until there was confidence that they were robust and that data needed to be considered over a period of time.

The particularly poor outcomes for St Clements were a matter of concern and a strategic group (with County Council representation) would meet presently to address those concerns. The County Council had conducted a traffic survey of the area and one possibility being explored was the re-phasing of traffic lights (to keep traffic flowing).  Interestingly two monitoring sites in the area, just 10 – 15 metres apart produced markedly different results.

Air quality considerations were taken into account in large scale planning applications.

There was  no dedicated budget for the provision of electric/hybrid vehicles to replace older Council vehicles but opportunities to invest in such vehicles  were taken as  they arose. It was noted that, currently at least,  there were no commercially available electric or hybrid  refuse vehicles (thinking of  the possible  future need for such vehicles by  Oxford Direct Services  ...  view the full minutes text for item 68.

The Committee is asked to approve the following report on  Preventing Elderly Isolation for submission to the City Executive Board on  23 January 2018:

The Scrutiny Committee had considered a report by the Head of Community Services on preventing elderly isolation at its meeting on 5 December 2017 and agreed that recommendations should be made to the City Executive Board as a result. 

The Chair introduced the report which proposed those recommendations.  The Committee agreed that the report should be put to the City Executive Board at its meeting on 23 January.                        

Scrutiny Committee

·         06 February    2018

·         06 March         2018

All meetings start at 6.00 pm

Housing Panel

·         16 January                 2018

·         08  March                    2018

All meetings start at 5.00 pm unless otherwise stated

Finance Panel

·         24 January                2018

·         14 March                   2018

All meetings start at 6.00 pm

Scrutiny Committee

·         06 February    2018

·         06 March         2018

All meetings start at 6.00 pm

Housing Panel

·         08  March                    2018

All meetings start at 5.00 pm unless otherwise stated

Finance Panel

• 24 January                2018
• 14 March                   2018

All meetings start at 6.00 pm