There were no declarations.

Announcements related to the matter for decision and any urgent matters by:

1.    The Lord Mayor

2.    The Leader of the Council (who may with the permission of the Lord Mayor invite other councillors to make announcements)

3.    The Chief Executive, Chief Finance Officer, Monitoring Officer

The Lord Mayor announced:

-       Abingdon narrowly won the recently held annual Abingdon-Oxford bowls match;

-       that the East Oxford United Football Club had raised sponsorship and taken 17 youngsters to an international youth football club in Perm;

-       her upcoming visit to Bonn

The Leader of the Council announced:

-       by 5 September there would be a submission sent to the National  Infrastructure Commission setting out a comprehensive vision for the infrastructure necessary to support economic and housing growth in the county;

-       the ongoing work now supported by the National  Infrastructure Commission to make Oxford a world class city for cyclists.

Public addresses received in accordance with Council Procedure Rules 11.4, 11.11, and 11.13 relating only to matters for decision in Part 1 of this agenda.

Council procedure rules 11.4 and 11.11(d) state that special meetings will only deal with the business they have been called for. They may receive addresses, but these will only be taken if they are about a topic the special meeting is discussing.

A request to speak accompanied by the full text of the address must be received by the Head of Law and Governance by 5.00 pm on Wednesday 16 August.

The briefing note will contain the text of addresses submitted by the deadline.

A total of 45 minutes is available for this public speaking item. Responses are included in this time. Up to five minutes is available for each public address.

Two speakers addressed Council.

The full text of these speeches where these were delivered as submitted; responses from the Board Members in writing before the meeting; and summaries of verbal responses given at the meeting are in the supplement to these minutes.

1.    Artwell addressed Council outlining the dangers posed by flammable cladding asking them to reconsider the broader policies behind the tower block refurbishment project.

Councillor Pegg, being named in this speech, clarified the comments attributed to her.

2.    Dr Stefan Piechnik addressed Council asking them not to waive any checks and balances on the replacement of the cladding and not to commit more funds to this problematic issue.

Councillor Rowley, Board Member for Housing, responded to the address.

The Head of Housing Services submitted a report to the City Executive Board meeting on 15 August 2017 to request additional budget approval in order to replace the rain screen cladding to Windrush and Evenlode towers. Subsequent to this officers added a further recommendation and the report was republished.

The City Executive Board is recommended to:

1.    To make a recommendation to Council for additional budget provision of £1m for the replacement of rain screen cladding to Windrush and Evenlode towers;

2.    To make a recommendation to Council to waive (but only to the extent described below) the relevant provisions in para 5.3 of the Constitution which require large applications, Council applications and significant amendments to a grant of planning permission to be determined by an area planning committee and instead delegate  to the Head of Planning and Regulatory Services the authority to determine any applications made as a result of changes required by new building regulations and/or government guidance relating to tower block design or build;  

3.    To delegate to the Chief Executive in consultation with the Council’s Section 151 Officer (Head of Financial Services) the decision to accept a firm price as a variation to the current contract.

The decision will be circulated in the minutes of the Board meeting. Any changes to the recommendations below will be circulated in the briefing note on 21 August.

The Board Member for Housing, Councillor Rowley, will move the recommendations below.

Subject to the decision of the City Executive Board on 15 August, Council is recommended to:

1.    approve additional budget provision of £1m for the replacement of rain screen cladding to Windrush and Evenlode towers; and

2.    waive (but only to the extent described below) the relevant provisions in para 5.3 of the Constitution which require large applications, Council applications and significant amendments to a grant of planning permission to be determined by an area planning committee and instead delegate  to the Head of Planning and Regulatory Services the authority to determine any applications made as a result of changes required by new building regulations and/or government guidance relating to tower block design or build.

At the meeting on 15 August, the Board agreed the two recommendations above and proposed an additional recommendation to Council:

3.    Recommend to Council that it should continue to seek full reimbursement of the costs associated with the re-cladding of buildings from Government, as had originally been promised; and

Council considered the report of the Head of Housing Services requesting additional budget approval in order to replace the rain screen cladding to Windrush and Evenlode towers and the three relevant resolutions of the City Executive Board from the meeting on 15 August 2017.

The Board Member for Housing, Councillor Rowley, moved the recommendations.

During the debate the Lord Mayor noted that some councillors were not content with the second recommendation. She informed Council that she would take the vote on each recommendation separately.

Council noted that the refurbishment had complied with the building regulations in force at the time. If the regulations were changed to improve standards of fire safety, further alterations to the tower blocks may be made.

Three separate votes, one on each recommendation, were taken.

Council resolved to:

1.    approve additional budget provision of £1m for the replacement of rain screen cladding to Windrush and Evenlode towers; and

2.    waive (but only to the extent described below) the relevant provisions in para 5.3 of the Constitution which require large applications, Council applications and significant amendments to a grant of planning permission to be determined by an area planning committee and instead delegate  to the Head of Planning and Regulatory Services the authority to determine any applications made as a result of changes required by new building regulations and/or government guidance relating to tower block design or build; and

3.    that it should continue to seek full reimbursement of the costs associated with the re-cladding of buildings from Government, as had originally been promised.