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 that 9.30am on Friday 16^th December 2011.

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 have been provided before this Council meeting.

1.         Question to the Board Member, Stronger Communities (Councillor Antonia Bance) from David Williams

Youth Service provision in Oxford

Would the Portfolio Holder agree that now the County Council has decided to dramatically reduce the Youth Service in Oxford it is time for the City to take a lead and offer to transfer the service to City control at least within the boarders of the City Wards.  Would she not also agree that the City would make a far better sponsor and manager of this vital service to the young people of Oxford than the County Council, which has treated it with disrespect and neglect over the years?

Answer: The councillor is correct in noting that the county council no longer provides a standalone youth service. Support for young people is now delivered through the two Early Intervention Hubs in the city, based at Union Street and Littlemore, which have a much wider remit than just youth work. Whilst this council welcomes the greater integration of the other support functions for vulnerable children, young people and families that the restructure has brought, the reduction in youth work provision is at odds with the aspirations of our communities and this council.

The city council already runs a substantial youth programme - both through our Positive Futures and holiday activities programmes, and through our sports development and leisure work. This programme, started by the Labour administration of 2002-6 and continued ever since, is certainly one of the most substantial run by a district council in the country, and is something we are very proud of. In the last year, more than 1400 young people took part in our Positive Futures or holiday programming, and we devote more than £150,000 per year to this work (plus £88,000 from external sources for our Positive Futures targeted schemes). This council has recently agreed proposals to enable our services to raise additional funding to expand the service for young people in the city by trading and taking on additional contracts in other areas.

The councillor will also have noted that the administration's budget proposals include a significant increase in funding for both youth activities and educational achievement activities - another area that the county council has failed to prioritise. The youth activities funding – proposed to be at £240,000 per year for three years – will enable an expanded open access youth offer to young people in the city, both in areas of high deprivation and in some areas that have recently lost county council youth funding. This work will be co-ordinated with the county council’s provision, but will be run independently by the city council and our partners, supporting voluntary organisations in the city and winning matched funding where possible. We look forward to the councillor and his colleagues supporting these budget proposals at the council’s budget-setting meeting.

The administration has decided to pursue this route and provide  ...  view the full minutes text for item 74