Council agreed at the Annual Council meeting in May 2020, and confirmed at the Council meeting on 30 November the Councillors who should serve as civic office holders for an 18 month term from 30 November 2020, subject to their re-election as councillors, and a vote confirming their re-election at this meeting. All three councillors (Cllr Lygo, Cllr Goddard and Cllr Wolff) have been duly re-elected.

Council noted the decision at the Annual Council meeting in May 2020, and confirmed at the Council meeting on 30 November, that Councillors appointed as civic office holders from 30 November 2020 would hold office for an 18 month term, subject to their re-election as councillors, and a vote confirming their re-election at this meeting.

Council is recommended to resolve to elect as Lord Mayor to the start of the Annual Council meeting in May 2022

·         Councillor Mark Lygo.

Cllr Lygo left the room and Cllr Goddard (Deputy Lord Mayor) took the Chair.

Cllr Brown proposed, seconded by Cllr Turner, that Cllr Lygo be elected Lord Mayor. There were no other nominations.

Council resolved to elect Cllr Lygo as Lord Mayor of Oxford for the Council year 2021/22.

Cllr Lygo returned to the room, signed the Declaration of Acceptance of Office, and took the Chair from Cllr Goddard.

Council is recommended to elect as Deputy Lord Mayorto the start of the Annual Council meeting in May 2022

·         Councillor Steve Goddard.

Cllr Goddard left the room.

Cllr Gant proposed, seconded by Cllr Wade, that Cllr Goddard be elected Deputy Lord Mayor. There were no other nominations.

Council resolved to elect Cllr Goddard as Deputy Lord Mayor for the Council year 2021/22.

Cllr Goddard returned to the room and signed the Declaration of Acceptance of Office.

Council is recommended to appoint as Sheriffto the start of the Annual Council meeting in May 2022

·         Councillor Dick Wolf.

Cllr Wolff left the room.

Cllr Hollingsworth proposed, seconded by Cllr Jarvis, that Cllr Wolff be elected as Sheriff. There were no other nominations.

Council resolved to elect Cllr Wolff as Sheriff for the Council year 2021/22.

Cllr Wolff returned to the room and signed the Declaration of Acceptance of Office.

To make any declarations of disclosable pecuniary interest relating to items on this agenda.

There were no declarations.

Announcements by:

1.    The Lord Mayor

2.    The Chief Executive

The Lord Mayor welcomed all new and returning councillors to the Council.

He gave the highlights from his full programme of community and charity visits, meetings and events online and in person. He had been involved with a Festival of Rugby which had raised £1k for his nominated charities; taken part in events for the National Day of Reflection on 23 March, twining events, and the appointment ceremony of the High Sheriff for Oxfordshire,

He thanked the Council’s elections and committee services staff and the Chief Executive and everyone involved in delivering the May elections and the count. He offered a particular thanks to the Town Hall staff who had worked hard to enable the 4-day election count and the Annual Council meeting to take place safely.

The Chief Executive reiterated her thanks to the elections team (in particular the Returning and Deputy Returning officers) and the many volunteers who worked very hard over the pre-election period, on election day and at the counts. She reiterated the Lord Mayor’s thanks to the Town Hall staff.

Council is asked to elect a Leader of Council in accordance with the Council’s executive arrangements as set out in the Constitution for a term of office beginning immediately and ending at the annual Council meeting immediately following the end of their current term of office (i.e. either May 2022 or May 2024).

Cllr Turner proposed, seconded by Cllr Clarkson, that Cllr Brown be elected as the Leader of the Council. There were no other nominations.

Council resolved to elect Cllr Brown as Leader of the Council for a term of office ending on the day of the Annual Council Meeting in 2022.

Council will receive and note a report from the Leader on:

1.           the appointment of the deputy Leader of the Council;

2.           the appointment of up to 8 additional members of the Cabinet;

3.           the responsibilities of the Leader, Deputy Leader, and other Cabinet Members;

4.           the Council’s representative and their substitute on the Oxfordshire Growth Board (both members of this Council’s Cabinet)

5.           the Council’s representatives (and their substitutes) on the Oxfordshire Growth Board’s four advisory sub-groups (drawn from members of this Council’s Cabinet):

·         Oxfordshire Plan 2050

·         Housing

·         Infrastructure

·         Environment

6.     the appointment of Shareholders for:

·         Oxford City Housing Limited (comprising OCH Ltd; OCH (Development) Ltd, OCH (Investment) Ltd;

·         Oxford West End Development Ltd

·         Oxford Direct Services (comprising ODS Ltd; ODS (Trading) Ltd)

7.     the Executive Scheme of Delegation as set out in the Section 4 of the Council’s Constitution dated 10 May 2021 (and agreed by Council on 17 February 2021); and

8.     any other matters.

The Constitution is available on the Council’s website

The Leader of the Council gave her report. She congratulated the civic office holders and welcomed everyone including the new councillors to the first meeting after their election.

She announced her appointment of the Deputy Leader and her Cabinet, and also on a number of appointments as set out below. Detailed portfolio responsibilities were available separately on the Council’s website.

The Leader of the Council confirmed that

• shareholder arrangements for Oxford City Housing Limited, Oxford West End Development Ltd, and Oxford Direct Services would be announced at a later date.
• there were no changes to the Executive Scheme of Delegation as set out in the Section 4 of the Council’s Constitution.

Cllr Brown also notified Council that the 2021 G7 Health Ministers’ Meeting will be held in-person in Oxford on 3-4 June, convening at Oxford University.

The Head of Law and Governance has submitted a report asking Council to appoint committees and the members serving on those committees for the Council year 2021-22 in accordance with the provisions of the Local Government and Housing Act 1989 (Section 15) and other relevant legislation.

Appendix 2 and Appendix 3 will be circulated in the Briefing Note published the day before the meeting, and any outstanding nominations to committee seats may be announced, or agreed, as appropriate at the meeting.

Recommendations: Council is recommended to:

1.    Approve the structure of the Council committees, as defined within the Council’s constitution and set out in Appendix 1: Committee structure;

2.    Approve the methods, calculations and conventions used in determining political representation on committees as outlined in the report and set out in Appendix 2: Political proportionalities on Council committees 2021-22;

3.    Approve the appointment of nominated members to committees in accordance with the requirements of political proportionality and the nominations made by political groups, as set out in Appendix 3: Committee nominations 2021-22;

4.    Agree that all members of Council will form the pool of members able to observe on appeals and some grievances panels;

5.    Appoint three non-executive members to the Oxfordshire Growth Board Scrutiny Panel (see Appendix 3: Committee nominations 2021-22);

6.    Appoint one non-executive member to the Joint Oxfordshire Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee (see Appendix 3: Committee nominations 2021-22).

Council had before it the report of the Head of Law and Governance asking Council to appoint committees and the members serving on those committees for the Council year 2021-22 in accordance with the provisions of the Local Government and Housing Act 1989 (Section 15) and other relevant legislation, including details of the committee places and nominations to these.

On being proposed by Cllr Brown and seconded by Cllr Gant and put to the vote, Council approved the recommendations and nominations to committee places.

Council resolved to:

1.      Approve the structure of the Council committees, as defined within the Council’s constitution and set out in Appendix 1: Committee structure;

2.      Approve the methods, calculations and conventions used in determining political representation on committees as outlined in the report and set out in Appendix 2: Political proportionalities on Council committees 2021-22;

3.      Approve the appointment of nominated members to committees in accordance with the requirements of political proportionality and the nominations made by the three political groups, as set out in Appendix 3: Committee nominations 2021-22 and in the table below;

4.      Agree that all members of Council will form the pool of members able to observe on appeals and some grievances panels;

5.      Appoint three non-executive members to the Oxfordshire Growth Board Scrutiny Panel as in the table below;

6.      Appoint one non-executive member to the Joint Oxfordshire Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee as in the table below.

The Chief Executive recommends that Councilagree the Council’s scheme of delegation for its responsibilities set out in Section 5 of the Council’s Constitution dated 10 May 2021 (and agreed by Council on 17 February 2021)

The Constitution is available on the Council’s website

Council is recommended to agree the Council’s scheme of delegation for its responsibilities set out in Section 5 of the Council’s Constitution dated 10 May 2021.

On being proposed by Cllr Brown and seconded by Cllr Gant and put to the vote, Council agreed the Scheme of Delegations in Section 5 of the Council’s Constitution with the publication date of 10 May 2021 (with the changes from the start of the council year as agreed by Council on 17 February 2021)

Council resolved to agreethe Council’s Scheme of Delegation for its responsibilities set out in Section 5 of the Council’s Constitution with the publication date of 10 May 2021.

The Head of Law and Governance has submitted a report on nominations for the position of Honorary Alderman and Honorary Alderwoman.

Council is recommended to agree to convene a special meeting to be held at a later date to confer the title of Honorary Alderwoman on Christine Simm and Honorary Alderman on Craig Simmons and John Tanner.

Council considered the report of the Head of Law and Governance recommending the nomination of former councillor Christine Simm as Honorary Alderwoman and former councillors Craig Simmons and John Tanner as Honorary Aldermen.

On being proposed by Cllr Brown and seconded by Cllr Gant and put to the vote, Council agreed the recommendation.

Council resolved to convene a special meeting to be held at a later date to confer the title of Honorary Alderwoman on former councillor Christine Simm and Honorary Alderman on former councillors Craig Simmons and John Tanner.

Council is asked to note the report setting out the decisions made by the Chief Executive using the urgency powers delegated to the Chief Executive in Part 9.3 of the Constitution taken since the last report to Council.

Council considered the report setting out the decisions made by the Chief Executive using the urgency powers delegated to the Chief Executive in Part 9.3 of the Constitution taken since the last report to Council.

Council noted the decisions taken.