Questions on notice under Council Procedure Rule 11.10(b) may be asked of the Lord Mayor, a Member of the City Executive Board or the Chair of a Committee.

 

Questions on notice must, by the Constitution, be notified to the Head of Law and Governance by no later than 9.30am on Friday 14^th December 2012.

 

Full details of any questions for which the required notice has been given will be circulated to Members of Council before the meeting.

(a)       Questions notified in time for replies to be provided before the Council meeting

 

(1)       Question to the Board Member, City Development (Councillor Colin Cook) from Councillor Jean Fooks

 

Oxford City Cycle funds

 

Oxford Cycle City money was allocated in the budget in February. Consultation on how to spend it has been protracted yet most residents have not heard of it. Can Council be assured that there will be a fair and transparent process of distribution of the funds?

 

Response: The Cycle City Plan was signed off by City Executive Board (CEB) in July.  Before that it was prepared in consultation with key stakeholder groups with specific interest in cycling and all Councillors were invited to suggest ideas for improvements in June.  Since CEB agreed the basis for proceeding to spend the budget in the short, medium, and long term, there has been full public consultation in October and November with extensive publicity inviting suggestions for small net improvements that can be carried out immediately. Decisions on specific spend following this consultation will be agreed by the City/County Council Transport bi-lateral meeting. Therefore there has already been a fair and transparent process of distribution of the funds.

 

Councillor Fooks in a supplementary question asked what did the City Executive Board mean by full consultation, and which Members would be involved.

 

In response Councillor Cook said that he had received many calls from the Oxford Mail on this issue, and acknowledged that more consultation could always be conducted, but he preferred to spend funds on the actual physical measures having spoken to the right people/organisations in the first place.  Regarding which Members would be involved, he confirmed that it would be himself and County Councillor Rodney Rose.

 

(2)       Question to the Board Member, City Development (Councillor Colin Cook) from Councillor Jean Fooks

 

Community Linking Places Fund

 

Norman Baker MP, LibDem Minister for Transport, has just announced an additional £20m for infrastructure projects to support cycling.  It is specifically aimed at increasing funds available for the Community Linking Places Fund and to Improving cycle safety at junctions. Has Oxford submitted a bid to this fund?

 

Response: The only appropriate body able to bid for this money was Oxfordshire County Council as the Highway Authority.  The City Council pressed the County Council to bid for project(s) in the City on at least two separate occasions.  Initially the County was intending to do so but subsequently decided to submit only a single County bid for Abingdon. The deadline was the end of November. 

 

Councillor Fooks in a supplementary question asked which projects did the City Council suggest, and were they aware that an additional £20m in funding was available.

 

In response Councillor Cook said that Officers had put forward at least two schemes, but these had been rejected by the County Council.

 

(3)       Question to the Board Member, City Development (Councillor Colin Cook) from Councillor John Goddard

 

Annual Planning Report

 

How does the Executive member propose to remedy the regrettable recent shift reported in the Annual Planning report in the proportion of new housing units away from 3-bed to 1-bed?

 

Response: In previous years since the introduction of the Balance of Dwelling (BoD) Supplementary Planning Document (SPD), there has been an increase in the proportion of family units.  Last year saw a reversal of this trend, which is most likely due to the fact that the majority of the homes built in the 2011/12 monitoring year were on small sites.  It is often more feasible to achieve a balanced mix of housing units on larger sites than it is on small infill sites, where site specific factors may limit the opportunity to provide family-sized units.   It is considered that the figures for last year are a one-off and I am confident that there is no need to amend the Council BODs policy.  However this will continue to be carefully monitored in future years.

 

Councillor Goddard in a supplementary question asked if the Board Member would agree that in New Barton, there would be a one-off chance to build more family sized units.

 

In response Councillor Cook said that the proposals were fully “Balance of Dwellings (BoD’s) compliant which delivered more family sized units and he would continue to lobby the Government for further funding to provide more accommodation of this type.

 

(4)       Question to the Board Member, City Development (Councillor Colin Cook) from Councillor John Goddard

 

Affordable home target

 

Will the Executive member review the target number of affordable homes to be built over the next few years in view of the collapse down to 18 over the last year of the number completed and the opportunities about to become available for a substantial increase in these numbers?

 

Response: The target in the Annual Monitoring Report is derived from the Core Strategy which proposes 400 dwellings per annum of which 200 should be affordable.  The intention is that this is a long term target that over time evens out any year to year variances in the housing market. There is no need to review the target in response to a single year's results.  An under performance in one year, has and will, be compensated for by an over performance in another year.

 

Councillor Goddard in a supplementary question asked if the Board Member accepted that what he called over performance was still not enough.

 

In response Councillor Cook said that performance was measured against the lifetime of the target.  In some years we could over achieve, but not in others.  He was saddened that only 18 units had been built this year, but the current national economic situation being experienced was not helping.

 

(5)       Question to the Board Member, City Development (Councillor Colin Cook) from Councillor John Goddard

 

Workable Transport Solution – The Northern Gateway

 

Will the Executive member estimate the likelihood of establishing over the foreseeable future the "workable transport solution" that is the pre-requisite to starting work on the Northern Gateway Area Action Plan process?

 

Response: The City Council is actively working with the County Council and the landowners to seek a workable transport solution to allow the Northern Gateway AAP to proceed. Until the current feasibility work is completed we cannot give a timescale or any certainty that a "workable transport solution" is likely or not.

 

(6)       Question to the Board Member, Young People, Education and Community Development (Councillor Steve Curran) from Councillor Jean Fooks

 

Community Noticeboards - Access

 

Can the Executive member explain why councillors are not allowed to have keys for community notice boards in their ward? Does he think that a weekly visit to display notices from the keyholder, who lives some distance away, is adequate?

 

Response: The aim of community noticeboards is to inform local people about what is going on in their area; providing information from Oxford City Council, the Police and other partner organisations as well as information on activities run by local communities and organisations. Noticeboards are provided for the benefit of the community and are unable to display commercial marketing and party political campaigning materials.

 

Oxford City Council has over the past few years enabled 75 community noticeboards to be set up across the city which are managed by, community groups, Tenant and Resident Associations, local residents and other local organisations.

 

Managing a community noticeboard is a voluntary function, whereby a group or individual agree to receive notices and update these within community noticeboards on at least a fortnightly basis.

 

That 75 noticeboards across the city are managed by community groups and individuals is an excellent example of encouraging volunteering and community engagement, with several noticeboard managers playing active roles in other groups within communities also. The noticeboard managers provide a valuable service to their local communities and are supported through the Communities and Neighbourhoods team.

 

The local management arrangements have worked well in that the boards are best managed by local groups or individuals without any political or commercial affiliations that may affect the perception of neutrality.

 

The Communities and Neighbourhoods Team do not provide noticeboard keys to councillors in the interests of ensuring that community noticeboards are, and can be perceived by others to be, politically neutral. There have been questions previously from local residents when councillors have put themselves forward to be keyholders e.g. at the North East Area Committee.

 

With regards to how far away the manager lives from a community noticeboard, this relates to a specific issue which has recently been resolved. The resident lives approximately 1.5 miles from the noticeboards’ location but visits the area at least once per fortnight and agreed to update the board based on this frequency and their correspondence address was updated on the website to receive postal notices. An agreement with local shops that notices could be dropped off makes it more convenient for those wishing to display notices but not willing to post them as per the standard practice.

 

We have not been made aware of any other issues experienced by residents in the existing or new process of how this board is managed and updated.

 

We also have had very few negative comments about the noticeboards that we have established and see this as a positive community initiative to encourage and develop participation and engagement of residents in their local communities. It is also very positive in terms of volunteering across the City that we have such a dedicated and reliable group of volunteers.

 

Councillor Fooks in a supplementary question asked if the Board Member accepted that it was not appropriate for a community to have to wait two weeks for a notice to be displayed.

 

In response Councillor Curran said that they were community notice boards and not party political instruments.  When you involved the community you had to accept that sometimes things did not move as fast as you may have wished.

 

(7)       Question to the Board Member, Young People, Education and Community Development (Councillor Steven Curran) from Councillor Jean Fooks

 

Social Exclusion funding

 

The Council set a budget in February with £50,000 allocated for ‘Social Exclusion’. There is still no information on how this money can be accessed – can we deduce that the administration gives social exclusion a very low priority?

 

Response: The Social Inclusion fund will be available to Members to submit projects to and the criteria will be available by the end of December.

 

There has been a lot of discussion around the criteria and so we wanted to make sure that we were not duplicating with the open grants bidding process and also linking with other new initiatives e.g. youth ambition.

 

The money will also be available for 2 years, so there can be many projects and initiatives taken forward.

 

There has been a huge amount of work related to social inclusion throughout Oxford City Council including major programmes addressing educational attainment, youth ambition, regeneration partnerships and development of local work clubs in the most deprived areas of the City.

 

Councillor Fooks in a supplementary question asked why this had not been discussed before.

 

In response Councillor Curran said that negotiations had been underway with many people to ensure that the funding was spent effectively.

 

(8)       Question to the Board Member, Young People, Education and Community Development (Councillor Steven Curran) from Councillor Jean Fooks

 

Youth activities funding

 

The February budget allocated £240,000 per year for four years to support Youth activities. When will groups and councillors be able to apply for support from this fund?

 

Response: At September’s City executive Board it was agreed that the youth ambition money would be invested into additional Positive Futures Sessions grants and to support match funding bids. The £50,000 grant allocation is now being promoted.

 

An update report on the youth ambition programme will be sent to all Members which includes details of how voluntary and community organisations can apply for the youth ambition grants.

 

Councillor Fooks in a supplementary question asked if the Board Member was disappointed with the situation.

 

In response Councillor Curran said that Councillor Fooks should look at the reasons why the funding was put into the budget which was because of cuts in the County Council budget.  He added that we needed to ensure that we worked with other bodies to provide a service etc. to the areas that were no longer covered by the County Council.

 

(9)       Question to the Board Member, Parks and Sports (Councillor Mark Lygo) from Councillor David Williams

 

            Fighting Ash Tree Disease

 

The deadly fungal dieback disease Chalara Fraxinea has already destroyed 100,000 Ash trees in the UK and is rapidly approaching Oxfordshire. By now, as there were confirmed cases in neighbouring Buckinghamshire in October, the disease could have arrived in Oxfordshire.

 

Could the Portfolio holder give an assurance that the City Council is working with the relevant Government agencies, the Forestry Commission and Oxford County Council on a range of measures to seek to preserve the native Ash Trees that have always been an important part of Oxfordshire woodland.

 

Could he give a short outline of the efforts that are being made locally to combat the spread of the disease?

 

Would he agree that this is not the time to be making cut backs on disease research at the Forestry Commission (£10m to £7m) and would he press for the Tree Science Team which had been dissolved by the Government in 2011 to be reconstituted?

 

Could the Portfolio holder confirm that Oxford City Council has become a member of ASHTAG the local authority disease identification network and that movement of infected felled wood has not been authorised?

 

Response: The Council’s Head of Leisure and Parks sent an update to all members on ChalaraFraxinea on 22^nd November. I have attached the briefing note below which details our approach. I can confirm that as part of our monitoring, officers have joined the Ashtag group and continue to liaise with partners such as the County Council.

 

The spread of the tree fungal disease Chalara Fraxinea, commonly know as the Ash Dieback is continuing. The disease is reported to have killed 90% of Denmark’s ash trees and ash is the third most common tree species in Britain. Chalara causes leaf loss and crown dieback in affected trees, and usually leads to tree death.

Defra are attempting to mobilise the general public and focus attention on trees that show resistance to the disease as part of an action plan announced by Environment Secretary Owen Paterson.

The immediate plan of action was agreed at the Government’s emergency committee which is to:

• reduce the rate of spread of the disease

• develop resistance to the disease in the native UK ash tree population

• encourage citizen, landowner and industry engagement and action in tackling the problem; and

• build resilience in the UK woodland and associated industries.

Mr Paterson set out an immediate plan of action to meet those objectives, building on the ideas discussed at the Chalara and Tree Health Summit on Wednesday 7 November. The advice of stakeholders, scientists and other experts is:

• Newly-planted diseased trees and diseased trees in nurseries will be traced and destroyed, as once young trees are infected they succumb quickly.

• Mature trees will not currently be removed, as they are valuable to wildlife, take longer to die and can help us learn more about genetic strains that might be resistant to the disease. Infection does not occur directly from tree to tree.

• Better understanding of the disease will be built through research and surveys, which will look not only for diseased trees but for those that show signs of genetic resistance to Chalara, to help identify genetic strains resistant to the disease.

• Foresters, land managers, environment groups and the general public will be informed about how to identify diseased trees and those likely to be resistant to the disease, and know what to do if they find a diseased tree.

Where infection is found in mature trees, the scientific advice is to leave them where they are as infection does not spread directly between trees, but only via the leaf litter.

The scientific advice is that it won’t be possible to eradicate this disease now that we have discovered it in mature trees in Great Britain. However, that does not necessarily mean the end of the British ash. If we can slow its spread and minimise its impact, we will gain time to find those trees with genetic resistance to the disease and to restructure our woodlands to make them more resilient.

Details of the plan of action are available at www.defra.gov.uk/news/2012/11/09/wms-ash/

Locally we are following the Defra advice and closely monitoring the spread of this disease. We are continuing to monitor our stock, which consists of approximately 10% Ash, and discussions have already taken place with our green space partners in the city.

 

Councillor Williams in a supplementary question said that he was satisfied that the Council was doing all that it could and asked if the Board Member would agree that it had been a great pity that the Government had axed the Research Arboricultural Group and had reduced the Forestry Commissions budget by £27m.

 

In response Councillor Lygo said that he agreed with the comments made by Councillor Williams.

 

(10)     Question to the Leader of the Council, Councillor Bob Price from Councillor Dick Wolff

 

Local Authority Co-operative Network

 

At the 16th July meeting of Full Council the following amended motion was agreed by general assent:

 

‘This Council resolves to investigate becoming a member of the Local Authority Co-operative Network and to that end asks the Chief Executive to prepare a report to the City Executive Board in the Autumn illustrating the advantages that may accrue from membership in terms of a range of policies especially in the area of economic development, the creation of local co-operatives and housing trusts.

 

This Council, moreover, is determined to assist Oxford in becoming a city of co-operatives. To that end, it considers that, alongside investigating membership of the Local Authority Co-operative Network, it is a matter of priority to consider how the Council can support and promote co-operatives and requests that officers and Community and Partnerships Scrutiny Committee investigate all possible means to develop and embed co-operatives further in the fabric of our City's life.’

 

As we are now near the end of the UN International Year of Cooperatives, could the Leader tell us what progress has been made in (a) exploring membership of the Local Authority Cooperative Network and (b) investigating means for developing and embedding co-operatives further in the fabric of Oxford life?

 

Response: There has not yet been an officer report on this topic to the City Executive Board nor have the Members of the Communities and Partnership prioritised this into their work programme.  However, the Council has continued to take practical steps to ensure best value in the widest sense, and to work with social enterprises and not for profit organisations such as the Low Carbon Hub, Groundwork, the Guardian Charity Award winning Aspire, and Fusion Lifestyles.  The City Executive Board has also taken account of the potential to weigh social value in awarding contracts in our review of the Council's Procurement Strategy earlier this month.  A report of the opportunities offered through cooperative ventures will be commissioned in the New Year.

 

Councillor Wolff in supplementary question asked if the Leader of the Council would agree if the Co-operative would use its resources more effectively if it sponsored a Green politician rather than a Labour one.

 

The Leader of the Council (Councillor Price) made no comment.

 

(11)     Question to the Leader of the Council (Councillor Bob Price) from Councillor Jean Fooks

 

Governance Review Group meetings

 

When will the promised next meeting of the Governance Review group take place? Can Council be assured that there will be proper consultation with all members on any proposed changes to the way the Council operates?

 

Response: The Governance Review is being undertaken by a cross party group of Members. Each Group has nominated two Members each. The first meeting took place in October 2012 and since then Officers have been working up a number of strands of work as agreed by Members at that first meeting. The whole purpose of having representatives from each political group was to ensure that Members, through their groups, were able to have direct influence over the proposals which emerged. A second meeting will be convened shortly.

 

Councillor Fooks in a supplementary question asked why the meeting had not been convened and what was the timescale.

 

In response Councillor Turner said that a meeting would take place shortly and that when the Group reached a conclusion it would consult with all Councillors with an aim to having any new decision making structures in place for Annual Council in 2013.

 

(12)     Question to the Leader of the Council (Councillor Bob Price) from Councillor John Goddard

 

City Deal Proposals

 

How does the Leader propose to ensure that in the City Deal proposals to be submitted to the Coalition Government by 15 January the governance arrangements will promote, not thwart, the needs and legitimate aspirations of the City for homes, jobs and respect for the environment?

 

Response: City Deals are designed to embrace the functional economic area within which the city is located. The City Council has been engaged in intensive discussions with the other Oxfordshire Councils, and the Local Enterprise Partnership, in order to be able to bring forward an agreed Expression of Interest by the middle of January. The City's existing planning policies and the draft economic development strategy have provided the basis for our engagement in this process and we are hoping that the EOI will reflect the interests of all the parties to combine economic growth, improved transport and housing infrastructure, and an outstanding natural environment.

 

Councillor Goddard in a supplementary question asked if the Board Member would ensure that many more homes close to Oxford were included.

 

In response Councillor Turner said that Officers and Councillors would do all that they could to achieve this.

 

(b)       Questions notified by the deadline in the Constitution where no reply in advance of the meeting was given

 

(13)     Question to the Board Member, City Development (Councillor Colin Cook) from Councillor Graham Jones

 

Oxford Rail Station

 

Will the appropriate Executive Member bring us up to date on the working party discussions to produce a plan for Oxford's railway station?

 

Response: A public meeting had already been arranged for 6.30pm on 9^th January 2013 in the town Hall at which Network Rail would talk about this proposal and others along the rail corridor through Oxford.

 

A briefing especially for Members was also proposed at 5.00pm on the same day and details have been circulated.

 

Councillor Jones in a supplementary question asked if we could hope that a building that was iconic rather than utilitarian was built.

 

In response Councillor Cook said that he would press for this, but that this was already part of planning policies.

 

(14)     Question to the Board Member Parks and Sports (Councillor Mark Lygo) from Councillor Graham Jones

 

Manzil Way Gardens

 

Topsoil has been spread on the large part of Manzil Way Gardens given over to construction work for the best part of two years. Will the Executive Member responsible say how it is planned to return this open space to public use?

 

Response: The land had to be returned to the Council in the same condition as it was before the development.  The delay in this work had been due to the recent bad weather.

 

Councillor Jones in a supplementary question asked if the Board Member would agree that it was a good time to look at the area as a whole and to come up with a scheme.

 

In response Councillor Lygo said that he would work with Parks and the local community on the reinstatement of the area.

 

(15)     Question to the Board Member, Cleaner Greener Oxford (Councillor John Tanner) from Councillor Graham Jones

                                   

Recycling targets

 

It is widely expected that the Administration will miss its target of 50% domestic recycling by the end of this council year. Will the Executive Member for Cleaner, Greener Oxford say what he plans to do to hit the target in 2013/14?

 

Response: It is likely that this year’s waste recycling result will fall a little short of 50%, but is almost certain to improve on last year’s outcome.

 

In order to improve this result in 2013/14, the work that is just being completed on converting Council flat sites to recycling will have a full year’s impact.  In addition, further waste items have been added to the materials which we can recycle, most recently mattresses and batteries.

 

This month’s City Executive Board approved a report to change the waste policy for sites with communal bin storage and Houses in Multiple Occupation, which should bring about incremental improvements from January 2014.

 

Hitting the 50% target will always be a challenge for an urban local authority, particularly one with a transient student population and ongoing education campaigns are essential to maintain customer awareness.

 

Whilst the recycling percentage is slightly behind target, members should celebrate the fact that the amount of waste sent to landfill per household continues to be less than (better than) the target and is the lowest in Oxfordshire.”

 

Councillor Jones in a supplementary question asked if the Board Member would take a look at the scheme at Swansea City Council “£1 a Throw” where items that were repairable/reusable were sold.

 

In response Councillor Tanner agreed to take this suggestion to the Waste Partnership.

 

(16)     Question to the Deputy Leader of the Council (Councillor Ed Turner) from Councillor Jean Fooks

 

Budget consultation

 

Why were the press given access to the Administration’s consultation budget the day before, apparently about 30 hours before, everyone else apart from the administration itself?

 

Response: The press did not see the final version.  A press briefing was arranged as it had been assumed that the information had been released.

 

Councillor Fooks in s supplementary question asked if the Board Member could explain why the press had asked her for comments.

 

In response Councillor Turner said that Members should be concerned about what the budget could achieve rather than the process and any briefings of the press.

 

(17)     Question to the Leader of the Council (Councillor Bob Price) from Councillor Graham Jones

 

Police and Crime Panel - Feedback

 

Doubtless the Leader shares concern that turnout for the Police and Crime Commissioner election was barely 2% in one Oxford polling station and 10% overall. Will he say how he and/or the city's representative on the Police and Crime Panel will report back to this council and the public about the panel's work of holding the new commissioner and his staff to account?

 

Response: I agree that the turnout was low.  Buckinghamshire County Council will be the host local authority for the Panel although meetings will take place across the Thames Valley Police area.  The meeting in July 2013 will be held in Oxford.  I encourage groups to send their representatives to the monthly meetings with Officers, plus I am happy to attend the City Council Communities and Partnerships Scrutiny Committee on an annual basis to provide updates.  There are also links from the City Council’s website to the Buckinghamshire County Council website.

 

Councillor Jones in a supplementary question said that it was often the case that partnership links were out of date and would the Board Member ensure that they were kept up to date. 

 

                        In response Councillor Sinclair agreed to do this.

 

(18)     Question to the Leader of the Council (Councillor Bob Price) from Councillor James Fry

 

Sustrans – Oxford Canal Towpath improvements

 

I am sure that all of us on the Council support the work by Sustrans to extend the cycle network in the City, including the proposed upgrading of the Oxford Canal towpath northwards from Walton Well Road to Elizabeth Jennings Way. It is shocking to learn that, because some sections of the extension would be restricted to 1.8 metres in width (rather than the desired minimum width of 2.0 metres) to accommodate water voles, Sustrans is stating that it will withdraw its financial support from the project.

 

Would the Leader of the Council convey to Sustrans our deep distress at its statement and ask it to reconsider this decision very urgently for the benefit of the large number of cyclists and other users of the towpath.

 

A written response was provided as follows after the meeting.

 

I share Councillor Fry’s distress at this short sighted decision. Colleagues in City Development are seeking to find a mediated solution in discussion with Sustrans, so that this important extension to the cycle network can proceed as planned.

 

(19)     Question to the Leader of the Council (Councillor Bob Price) from Councillor Sam Hollick

 

Ethical Care Charter

 

UNISON are calling on councils to sign up to their ethical care charter for the commissioning of home care services. This charter seeks to strengthen minimum standards of care through protecting and improving the working conditions of care workers.

 

While noting that this council does not directly commission care services, what is this council doing to improve standards of care and working conditions for carers in Oxford? And will we be signing the charter?

 

A written response was provided as follows after the meeting.

 

Since the City Council does not employ care workers, it would be inappropriate for us to sign up to the charter, but the Council would strongly endorse the UNISON case for improving the conditions of employment for care workers. The City Council’s Living Wage policy seeks to establish a minimum pay level for workers in the city through the influence that we can exert through our contracts with suppliers and we hope that this will have some influence in the care sector as well. The Council also works closely with Age Concern UK to tackle the problems of isolation among elderly people and we will seek to use that partnership to encourage improvements in the conditions of employment of care workers.

 

(20)     Question to the Leader of Council (Councillor Bob Price) from Councillor Tony Brett

 

Your Oxford – re-print

 

Would the leader assure council that he properly understands the proposed Universal Credit system and that Child Benefit is not included in it.  Will he further give a detailed breakdown of how much his previous ignorance cost Oxford's taxpayers including reprinting 65,000 copies of four pages of the current “Your Oxford”, staff costs for re-drafting and re-assembling the document, legal staff costs of checking the re-drafting, delivery costs and any other costs the council incurred including reassuring worried residents, removing erroneous copies from Libraries and other public buildings and other media and communications costs?  Will he give an indication as to when all Oxford Residents might expect to receive the corrected copies?

 

A written response was provided as follows after the meeting.

 

The cost of the reprinting process was £6.8k. There were no costs involved in reassuring worried residents, as no worries were expressed. The delivery process was completed during the past week.

 

Councillor Brett at the reconvened Council meeting on 31^st January 2013 asked a supplementary question asked what had the Council learned from the Housing Benefit pilot and what support would the Council be giving to families to help them manage their money.

 

In response Councillor Price said that all Members would be receiving a report on the pilot scheme and the support available.  He said that three lessons had been learnt:

 

(1)               the proportion of people who could not reasonably be expected to handle their own affairs and fall into arrears was relatively small;

 

(2)               There was a significant amount of work to be undertaken by Officer to support those families, to encourage them to manage their budget and to move into employment;

 

(3)               The long term impact of the changes, in particular the Bedroom Tax where the changes in family circumstances would be difficult to map.

 

He concluded that further discussions were taking place and the Value and Performance Scrutiny Committee would continue to monitor the progress of the pilot.

 

 

(21)     Question to the Leader of the Council (Councillor Bob Price) from Councillor Graham Jones

 

Improving ESOL provision in Oxford

 

Very nearly 30% of Oxford people were born outside the UK according to the newly released Census figures. Will the Executive Member responsible please say how the Administration plans to ensure that this council does its part in improving English Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) provision in Oxford?

           

A written response was provided as follows after the meeting.

 

The OCVA have produced an excellent report on this subject, which was presented to the Oxford Strategic Partnership at its last two meetings. The report makes recommendations for the City Council and for other bodies designed to improve ESOL provision and we will be seeking to implement them over the next year.

 

Councillor Jones at the reconvened Council meeting on 31^st January 2013 asked a supplementary question wished to draw to Councillor Price’s attention the latest information that showed that Oxford’s population growth over the past decade had been entirely down to residents who had arrived from overseas.

 

Councillor Jones asked if Councillor Price agreed that the most cost effective way to optimise this wonderful resource and enhance community cohesion was the teaching of these language skills.  He asked if Councillor Price would take a particular interest in supporting the revival of ladies only classes which were popular with ladies from the Indian sub-continent, but were no long available.

 

In response Councillor Price thanked Councillor Jones for raising the issue.  Language teaching needed to rise up the agenda.  He had spoken with colleagues in the Student Hub whose volunteer numbers were increasing and there was a potential to use this resource as part of a structured campaign over a number of years to support language teaching.  He said that under the Oxford Strategic Partnership, it was being looked at how best to knit together the various initiatives including the Councils own education initiative, the work of the Hub and various charitable organisations in the City, so that by the end of the current calendar year, a structured programme would be in place.  This would allow for better training and support for the migrant groups in Oxford.