Public addresses and questions to the Leader or other Board member received in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 11.10 and 11.11.

The full text of any address or question must be received by the Head of Law and Governance by 5.00 pm on Tuesday 7 April 2015.

Full details of addresses submitted by the deadline will be provided in the briefing note. Full details of questions submitted by the deadline, and written responses where available, will be provided in the briefing note.

Jane Alexander addressed Council. The text of her address is attached to the minutes.

Nigel Gibson addressed Council. The text of his address is attached to the minutes.

Chaka Artwell addressed Council. The text of his address is attached to the minutes.

Councillor Rowley responded to the three speakers and in summary said

With any change it's inevitable that some people will be inconvenienced, and while we've tried to minimise the inconvenience, of course we're genuinely very sorry for that.

However, the success of the Leys Pools and Leisure Centre has proved this Council right in the decisions it has taken. In its first three months it has had over 160,000 visitors - almost as many as Temple Cowley, Blackbird Leys and the old Blackbird Leys Pool together had in six.

So I don't apologise for doubling the number of leisure visits in East Oxford.  I'm sure most people will share my pleasure that so many thousands more people have been able to enjoy world-class public leisure facilties.

Nor should our officers apologise for achieving a number of awards that recognise their hard work, intelligence and dedication in very difficult times.  Seven years ago this Council was failing.  It was in no shape to face the challenges ahead.  Now it is a beacon of first-rate, publicly owned, publicly accountable service provision, and that is due above all to our workforce. I am grateful to the speakers for giving me another opportunity to thank them.

Sarah Lasenby put her question to the Leader of the Council.

The text of the question and written response supplied before the meeting is attached to the minutes.