Item 7: Licensed Vehicles Emission Standards Amendment

Councillor Sajjad Malik stated he had an interest on this decision item which had been entered in his register of interest as a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest (DPI); he indicated that he would leave the room during the consideration of this item.

Councillor Edward Mundy stated he was the Chair of the General Purposes Licensing Committee and was present during the consideration of this report at the Licensing Committee meeting held 5 February 2024. He indicated that he will consider this item with an open mind.

Councillors Mary Clarkson, Rae Humberstone, Mark Lygo, Louise Upton, Naomi Waite, Katherine Miles, Lois Muddiman, Rosie Rawle and Barbara Coyne also declared their membership to the Licensing Committee and stated they were present at the Licensing Committee meeting held 5 February 2024. They indicated they would consider this item with an open mind.

Item 13a: Cancel divisive non-evidence-based transport policies including traffic filters and strengthen citizens trust in democracy

Councillor Gant stated that this motion related to his County's portfolio responsibilities and indicated he would not participate in the consideration of this item.

Minutes of the ordinary meeting of Council held on 29 January 2024 and Budget Council held on 21 February 2024.

Council is asked to approve the minutes as a correct record.

Council agreed to approve the minutes of the ordinary meeting of Council held on 29 January 2024 and Budget Council held on 21 February 2024.

Announcements by:

1.     The Lord Mayor

2.     The Sheriff

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

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

The Lord Mayor announced that she had attended the SHE (Saluting, Honouring and Excellence) Awards on International Women's Day, 8 March 2024, where she was recognised for her dedication and hard work within the community. She had also attended the National Peace Symposium at Europe's largest mosque on 9 March 2024 which aimed to inspire a concerted effort to achieve lasting peace.

Cllr Pressel arrived at the meeting.

The Lord Mayor also announced the presence of Dr Husam Zomlot, Head of the Palestinian Mission to the UK, to address the Council following the previously passed motion concerning the situation in Gaza and Israel. Dr Zomlot was invited to address the Council in place of Mayor of Ramallah Issa Kassis who had understandably been unable to respond to the request.

Dr Zomlot addressed the Council. He spoke about the twinship of the Cities of Oxford and Ramallah, the deadly situation in Gaza and Palestine, and a call for local councils to remind its government of its responsibilities in maintaining peace. 

The Leader of the Council expressed gratitude to Dr Zomlot for accepting the Lord Mayor's invitation, which received strong cross party support, to address the Council. She conveyed the Council's empathy towards the humanitarian crisis experienced by the people of Gaza and Ramallah. She expressed the Council's desire for peace and position to recognise the State of Palestine.

The Leader of the Council announced the following nominations for Civic Office-holders for the 2024-25 municipal year:

• Mike Rowley for Lord Mayor
• Tiago Corais for Deputy Lord Mayor
• James Fry for Sheriff

Lastly, the Leader of the Council wished to put on record a list of thanks to Councillors who had made the decision to stand down in the upcoming council year:

To Councillor Tom Hayes for his longstanding service as Councillor and as Cabinet Member whose work contributed towards the City's pathway to becoming a Zero Carbon city.

To Councillor Tom Landell-Mills for his service on the Council.

To Councillor Lucy Pegg for her service as a Councillor and as Chair of the Scrutiny Committee.

To Councillor Shaista Aziz for all her services to the Council and the City of Oxford.

And to Councillor Rae Humberstone for his dedication to the City, amounting to 19 years of service on the Council and in Civic offices.

Cllr Morris arrived at the meeting.

The City Rector addressed the Council and spoke about service to others, thankfulness for one another, and remembrance of the suffering around the world. He gave words of hope and blessings for the upcoming spring, Ramadan, Passover, and Easter, along with well wishes for the Council in the forthcoming elections.

Public addresses and questions to the Leader or other Cabinet member received in accordance with Council Procedure Rules in the Constitution relating to matters for decision in Part 1 of this agenda.

Up to five minutes is available for each public address and up to three minutes for each question. Questions must be less than 200 words.

The request to speak accompanied by the full text of the address or question must be received by the Head of Law and Governance by 5.00 pm on Tuesday 12 March 2024.

The briefing note will contain the text of addresses and questions submitted by the deadline, and written responses where available.

A total of 45 minutes is available for both public speaking items. Responses are included in this time.

Council heard one address. Councillor Edward Mundy, Chair of the General Purposes Licensing Committee provided a verbal response.

The address and response are set out in full in the minutes pack.

1. Address from Mr. Bashir Ahmed, President of C. O. L. T. A (City of Oxford Licensed Taxicab Association

The Lord Mayor thanked the speaker for their contribution.

The Executive Director (Development) has submitted a report to Cabinet on 13 March 2024 which seeks approval to appropriate a parcel of land (change the statutory basis on which it is held by the Council from one function to another) at Railway Lane from the General Fund to the Housing Revenue Account in order that the land can be used for the development of new council housing, and to update Cabinet on certain aspects of the development.

The Cabinet minutes are available at Item 9b.

Councillor Linda Smith, Cabinet Member for Housing, will present the report and present Cabinet’s recommendations.

Recommendation:  Cabinet recommends that Council resolves to:

1.    Agree the appropriation of the land owned by Oxford City Council that forms part of the development site for housing at Railway Lane from the General Fund (GF) into the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) at the established red book valuation figure.

Council considered a report from the Executive Director (Development) seeking approval to appropriate a parcel of land (change the statutory basis on which it is held by the Council from one function to another) at Railway Lane from the General Fund to the Housing Revenue Account in order that the land can be used for the development of new council housing, and to update Cabinet on certain aspects of the development.

Councillor Linda Smith, Cabinet Member for Housing introduced the report, proposed the recommendation and answered questions.

The recommendation was agreed on being seconded by Councillor Susan Brown, Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Inclusive Economy and Partnerships, and put to the vote.

Council resolved to:

1. Agree the appropriation of the land owned by Oxford City Council that forms part of the development site for housing at Railway Lane from the General Fund (GF) into the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) at the established red book valuation figure.

The Executive Director (Communities and People) has submitted a report which sets out the decision of the General Purposes Licensing Committee to delay the introduction of new emission standards for Hackney Carriage Vehicles licensed by this Authority by one year.

Councillor Ed Mundy, Chair of the General Purposes Licensing Committee will present the Committee’s report and present the recommendations.

Recommendation:  The General Purposes Licensing Committee recommend that Council resolves to:

1.    Agree on a delay to the introduction of new emission standards to Hackney Carriage Vehicles licenced by this Authority by one year, as agreed by the General Purposes Licensing Committee.

Cllr Malik left the meeting, having declared an interest on this item, and returned to the meeting at the start of the next item.

Council considered a report from the Executive Director (Communities and People) which set out the decision of the General Purposes Licensing Committee to delay the introduction of new emission standards for Hackney Carriage Vehicles licensed by this Authority by one year.

Councillor Edward Mundy, Chair of the General Purposes Licensing Committee, on being seconded by Councillor Anna Railton, Cabinet Member for Zero Carbon Oxford and Climate Justice, introduced the report and proposed the recommendation.

Councillor Ajaz Rehman, seconded by Councillor Amar Latif, proposed an amendment to the recommendation. Following debate, and on being put to the vote, the amendment was not carried.

Following agreement from Council, the meeting broke at 6.00 pm to allow Members observing Ramadan time for Iftar and Prayer, and reconvened at 7.00 pm.

The recommendation was put to the vote.

Council resolved to:

1. Agree on a delay to the introduction of new emission standards to Hackney Carriage Vehicles licenced by this Authority by one year, as agreed by the General Purposes Licensing Committee.

Council agreed to consider item 11 of the agenda next, and then return to the remaining items on the agenda as listed.

This item will be taken at or shortly after 7.00pm

Public addresses and questions to the Leader or other Cabinet member received in accordance with Council Procedure Rules in the Constitution and not relating to matters for decision in Part 1 of this agenda.

Up to five minutes is available for each public address and up to three minutes for each question. Questions must be less than 200 words.

The request to speak accompanied by the full text of the address or question must be received by the Head of Law and Governance by 5.00 pm on Tuesday 12 March 2024.

The briefing note will contain the text of addresses and questions submitted by the deadline, and written responses where available.

A total of 45 minutes is available for both public speaking items. Responses are included within this time limit.

Council heard four addresses and one question from members of the public. Cabinet Members read or summarised their written responses. A further question was withdrawn ahead of the meeting.

The addresses, questions and responses are set out in full in the minutes pack.

1. Address from Zuhura Plummer
2. Address from Dr Sheikh Ramzy
3. Address from Danny Yee
4. Question from Richard Parnham
5. Question from Dr. Dominik Metz – Withdrawn
6. Address from Kaddy Beck

The Lord Mayor thanked the speakers for their contributions.

The Head of Business Improvement has submitted a report requesting that Council approve the Annual Pay Policy Statement.

Councillor Nigel Chapman, Cabinet Member for Citizen Focussed Services and Council Companies will present the report and recommendation.

Recommendation:  That Council resolves to:

1.    Approve the Annual Pay Policy Statement 2024/25 and the new 2 year pay agreement in Appendix 1.

Council received a report from the Head of Business Improvement requesting that Council approve the Annual Pay Policy Statement.

Councillor Nigel Chapman, Cabinet Member for Citizen Focused Services and Council Companies introduced the report and proposed the recommendation.

The recommendation was agreed on being seconded by Councillor Susan Brown, Leader of the Council Cabinet Member for Inclusive Economy and Partnerships, and put to the vote.

Council resolved to:

1. Approve the Annual Pay Policy Statement 2024/25 and the new 2 year pay agreement in Appendix 1.

This item has a time limit of 15 minutes.

Councillors may ask the Cabinet Members questions about matters in these minutes:

None.

To follow with the briefing paper.

In response to questions from Council, Councillor Louise Upton, Cabinet Member for Planning and Healthier Communities, stated that global car companies had the freedom to select their operational locations and acknowledged that allocating £800k in discretionary relief was not ideal. The discretionary relief scheme set out in the Council's policy permitted any business to seek funding, including the BMW Group. Having sought extensive legal advice, the decision was made to mitigate the risk of BMW relocating elsewhere.

The Monitoring Officer clarified that whilst the planning applications fall within the scope of the Planning Committee as a Council function, the assessment of liability was a matter reserved for Cabinet and executive powers.

Questions on notice from councillors received in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 11.11(b).

Questions on notice may be asked of the Lord Mayor, a Member of the Cabinet or a Chair of a Committee. One supplementary question may be asked at the meeting.

The full text of questions must have been received by the Head of Law and Governance by no later than 1.00pm on Wednesday 6 March 2024.

These, and written responses where available, will be published in the briefing note.

29 written questions were asked of the Cabinet Members and the Leader. The questions and written responses were published before the meeting.

These along with summaries of the 15 supplementary questions and responses asked and given at the meeting are set out in the minutes pack.

As set out in the Constitution at procedure rule 11.16, Members who are Council representatives on external bodies or Chairs of Council Committees who consider that a significant decision or event has taken place, may give notice to the Head of Law and Governance by 1.00 pm Wednesday 13 March 2024 that they will present a written or oral report on the event or the significant decision and how it may influence future events. Written reports will be circulated with the briefing note.

The Chair of the Scrutiny Committee has submitted a report which updates Council on the activities of scrutiny and the implementation of recommendations since the last meeting of Council.

Council is invited to comment on and note the report.

Councillor Lucy Pegg, Chair of the Scrutiny Committee, introduced the report updating the Council on the activities of the Committee from 01 January 2024 to 29 February 2024. She highlighted the two meetings held during this period, in addition to two Panel meetings, which collectively made 57 recommendations to Cabinet. She expressed her gratitude to members of the Scrutiny Committee for their commitment to cross party scrutiny, the Panel Chairs, and to Alice Courtney for her exceptional work as Scrutiny Officer.

Council noted the report.

This item has a time limit of 60 minutes.

Motions received by the Head of Law and Governance in accordance with the rules in Section 11 of the Constitution by the deadline of 1.00pm on Wednesday 6 March 2024 are listed below.

Cross party motions are taken first. Motions will then be taken in turn from the Independent Group, Labour Group, Liberal Democrat Group, Green Group, Oxford Socialist Independents Group in that order.

Substantive amendments to these motions must be sent by councillors to the Head of Law and Governance by no later than 10.00am on Friday 15 March 2024 so that they may be circulated with the briefing note.

Minor technical or limited wording amendments may be submitted during the meeting but must be written down and circulated.

Council is asked to consider the following motions:

a)    Cancel divisive non-evidence-based transport policies including traffic filters and strengthen citizens trust in democracy (proposed by Cllr Ajaz Rehman, seconded by Cllr Shaista Aziz)

b)    Uniting to Tackle Oxford's Housing Crisis (proposed by Cllr Linda Smith, seconded by Cllr Nigel Chapman)

c)    In Support of Green Investment (proposed by Cllr Chris Smowton, seconded by Cllr Katherine Miles)

d)    Weight and emissions based parking charges (proposed by Cllr Emily Kerr, seconded by Cllr Lois Muddiman)

e)    The Cost-of-living crisis and local government funding (proposed by Cllr Ed Turner, seconded by Cllr Nigel Chapman)

Council had before it five motions on notice submitted in accordance with Council procedure rules and reached decisions as set out below.

Motions agreed as set out below:

a)    Cancel divisive non-evidence-based transport policies including traffic filters and strengthen citizens trust in democracy (proposed by Cllr Ajaz Rehman, seconded by Cllr Shaista Aziz) [Amendment proposed by Cllr Douglas, seconded by Cllr Railton]

Motions not taken as the time allocated for debate had finished:

b)    Uniting to Tackle Oxford's Housing Crisis (proposed by Cllr Linda Smith, seconded by Cllr Nigel Chapman)

c)    In Support of Green Investment (proposed by Cllr Chris Smowton, seconded by Cllr Katherine Miles)

d)    Weight and emissions based parking charges (proposed by Cllr Chris Jarvis, seconded by Cllr Lois Muddiman)

e)    The Cost-of-living crisis and local government funding (proposed by Cllr Ed Turner, seconded by Cllr Nigel Chapman)

This councils calls on the leader to write to Oxfordshire County council and the transport minister to remove Low Traffic Neighbourhoods (LTNs) and cancel planned traffic filters.

 LTNs have been introduced as part of schemes to reduce congestion and encourage active travel. They have failed to meet their stated objectives.

Congestion has increased and cycling remains a hazardous mode of transport.[1]

Pollution has reduced in the streets where LTNs have been introduced, however the opposite has occurred on roads that are now heavily congested.[2]

The intention of congestion free bus travel has failed to materialise and Oxford’s bus companies have expressed their disappointment at East Oxford LTNs being approved.[3]

Divisive transport policies are pitting people and communities against each other on class, social economic and racial lines in a way similar to the Tory Poll Tax, which was eventually scrapped. The most vulnerable in society have also been ignored with no amendments for the elderly[4] or residents with disabilities.[5]

As democratically elected representatives it is our duty to find answers and develop and support polices that work and are fair. Imposing unpopular and seemingly failing strategies will not achieve behavioural change in encouraging active travel.

Residential neighbourhoods such as Littlemore have been left feeling isolated and cut off.[6]

80% of businesses and 60% of consultation respondents oppose the introduction of East Oxford LTNs.[7]

Independent businesses are part of the life blood of what makes East Oxford the vibrant, diverse place it is.

Cowley Road business owners have been vocally opposed to the LTNs.[8]

To reverse years of neglect of Oxford’s transport infrastructure requires real investment from central government. In the meantime, this council agrees to propose to the County Council that they:

·       Prioritise bringing in School Streets for all Private schools in the city.

·       Ensure NHS staff and school teachers are excluded from any work place levy across the city.

·       Lobby central government for major investment in infrastructure with safe clear segregated routes for pedestrians and cyclists and roads for motor vehicles.

·       Scrap plans for divisive traffic filters - which are not evidence based.

Cllr Gant left the meeting having declared an interest on this item.

Councillor Ajaz Rehman, seconded by Councillor Shaista Aziz, proposed the motion as set out in the briefing notes.

Cllrs R Smith, Nala-Hartley and Dunne left the meeting.

Councillor Sandy Douglas proposed an amendment to the motion and was seconded by Councillor Anna Railton. Council debated the amended motion. Following debate and on being put to the vote, the proposed amendment was agreed.

On being put to the vote, the amended motion was agreed:

Amend transport policies including traffic filters and strengthen citizens’ trust in democracy

This Council calls on the Leader to write to Oxfordshire County Council Council to seek amendments to the Low Traffic Neighbourhoods (LTNs) and planned traffic filters trials.

LTNs have been introduced as part of schemes to reduce road danger and encourage active travel.

Congestion has increased in some areas and cycling safety needs further improvement.

Whilst pollution has reduced in the streets where LTNs have been 
introduced, however the opposite has occurred on some roads that are 
now more heavily congested.

Oxford’s bus companies have expressed their disappointment 
at the impact of the premature and badly co-ordinated implementation of the East Oxford LTNs. 

Following poor consultation and communication by the County Council,
they have squandered good will towards measures which can reduce traffic congestion and improve bus punctuality.

Despite extensive representations to the County Council by local councillors who know their wards well, the most vulnerable in society have been ignored with no amendments agreed for elderly people or residents with disabilities.

As democratically elected representatives, it is our duty to find answers and develop and support polices that work and are fair. Residential neighbourhoods such as Littlemore have been left feeling isolated and cut off.

60% of consultation respondents opposed the introduction of East Oxford LTNs. Independent businesses are part of the life blood of what makes East Oxford the vibrant, diverse place it is. Some Cowley Road business owners have been vocally opposed to the LTNs.

To reverse years of neglect of Oxford’s transport infrastructure 
requires real investment from central government. This Council agrees to propose to the County Council that they: 

·       Prioritise bringing in School Streets where appropriate in the city and work with private schools to reduce their impact on congestion.

·       Lobby central government for major investment in public transport and infrastructure, with safe clear segregated routes and safer junctions for pedestrians and cyclists. 

·       Work with the NHS and schools to understand the impact of the WPL upon them and ensure key workers have safe, convenient travel options.

·       Where LTN ANPR is in use and there is clear and sustained local demand, grant exemptions to blue badge holders and carers, and re-open these roads for local traffic outside school travel hours either by turning off cameras or using permits for local residents.

Commit to public and independent evaluation of the traffic filter trials against agreed success criteria before any decision to make them permanent, so that they only  ...  view the full minutes text for item 113a

This Council notes with alarm the growing number of local households facing homelessness in Oxford and the increased pressure this has placed on our homelessness prevention services and on access to temporary accommodation.

This Council had brought down the number of people in temporary accommodation to around 100 households. But over the past year, this number has increased to approximately 220 households, and the figure is projected to reach 315 by July.

The rapid rise means that the 120 units of temporary accommodation owned by the council are no longer sufficient and we need to increasingly rely on hotel rooms to meet our statutory duties. This is a miserable and difficult situation for the families being placed in hotels and it has a huge unbudgeted financial cost for this council which is being left to pick up the bill.

This Council has moved swiftly to mitigate the situation by buying and leasing more temporary accommodation, block-booking hotels, hiring new staff to prevent homelessness and using more of our council owned homes for temporary accommodation.

These efforts have saved Oxford taxpayers about £2m, but this Council is still projecting a hole in the budget of as much as £3m every year – equivalent to 12.5% of the Council’s annual net budget.

This Council is also finding it increasingly difficult to help people in temporary accommodation and our non-statutory homeless services to find affordable long-term homes.

This Council is working hard on behalf of the people of Oxford to deliver the affordable high-quality homes our city needs. We have retained our 7,900 council homes and we set up OX Place, our wholly owned housing company, to build 2,000 new homes over the next decade. Working in partnership with housing associations, we have a four-year programme to deliver 1600 affordable homes, including over 850 for social rent.

We also fund over 400 beds in supported accommodation for adults not entitled to statutory support.

We call upon:

·       Council, regardless of the political groups, to unite behind our Labour Cabinet led housing programme. With limited land available for development in the city, we need to ensure sites identified for housing development in the Oxford Local Plan are used for that purpose. It is not responsible to debate alternative uses or play politics by appealing to narrow sectional interests and NIMBYism.

·       The Leader of the Council to write to our neighbouring district councils to request, on behalf of this Council, that they unite with us, honour their duty to co-operate, and deliver the over 100 homes per year until 2040 which Oxford needs but cannot accommodate within our tight city boundaries.

·       The Council to support the Leader of the Council’s request for a meeting with Michael Gove, SoS for DLUHC, to discuss the spiralling costs of providing temporary accommodation. The extra £240,000 so far allocated is inadequate and the Tory Government needs to properly reimburse this council for the costs involved in picking up the pieces of their failures on housing and the economy.

This motion was not taken as the time allocated for debate had finished.

Council notes that:

·       A report by the Office for National Statistics in 2022 noted that over 40% of dwellings in Oxford had wall insulation rated Poor or Very Poor. [1]

·       Analysis by the Institute for Public Policy Research found that the government is falling short if its home retrofit investment target, that billions of pounds a year are required to fully realise the benefits, and that households could save hundreds of pounds a year on their energy bills if those benefits are realised.[2]

·       National Grid’s plan for energy decarbonisation over the next ten years indicates a need for a radical increase in investment in grid infrastructure, grid-attached storage, and enabling works for green generation. [3]

·       The government’s own road map for heat pump rollout suggests a need for billions of pounds more in investment. [4]

·       Not only is the government failing to meet its investment in green infrastructure as noted above, but the Leader of the Opposition has slashed plans for major green investment. [5]

Council resolves:

·       That the Leader should write to both the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition expressing this council’s support for a truly transformative green investment programme that will put the country on the path to net zero, place the UK as a world leader in green technology, and support hundreds of thousands of green jobs.

·       That the Leader should further write to Oxford’s MPs requesting that they in turn pressure both government and opposition to deliver large-scale green investment.

[1] https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/housing/articles/insulationandenergyefficiencyofhousinginenglandandwales/2022

[2] https://www.ippr.org/media-office/uk-is-falling-billions-short-of-investment-needed-in-current-parliament-for-energy-efficiency-and-clean-heat

[3] https://www.nationalgrid.com/document/149496/download

[4] https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/649d690406179b000c3f751c/heat-pumps-investment-roadmap.pdf

[5] https://www.energyvoice.com/renewables-energy-transition/547408/starmer-to-announce-scaling-back-of-28-billion-a-year-green-pledge/

This motion was not taken as the time allocated for debate had finished.

Council notes:

1.    Larger cars cause more damage to our roads, are more likely to seriously injure or kill pedestrians, and take up more valuable public space. They’re outgrowing the design of our cities, especially small medieval cities like Oxford. 

2.    Cars have been growing at an astonishing 0.5cm per year since 2000.^[1] The growth in size is very pronounced among luxury SUVs. For example, The Land Rover Defender grew by 20.6cm in just 6 years. ^[2]

3.    Large SUVs are now around 2m wide, or 220cm with mirrors, compared to a minimum parking width of just 180cm. In typical off street parking spaces (240cm), large SUVs often leave too little space for occupants to get in and out of vehicles. Data published last month shows half of new cars are too wide for parking spaces.^[3]

4.    Wider cars reduce the road space available to pedestrians, scooters, and cyclists: and creates more danger for all of them. As Transport & Environment has said: “Cars have been getting wider for decades and that trend is likely to continue until we set a stricter limit. Currently the law allows new cars to be as wide as trucks. The result has been big SUVs and American style pick-up trucks parking on our footpaths and endangering pedestrians, cyclists and everyone else on the road.”^[4]

5.    Owners of larger and higher emitting vehicles cost the public purse more than owners of smaller and greener vehicles due to the higher number of fatalities and serious illnesses caused by pollution and accidents and the greater amount of damage to roads. ^[5][6]

6.    Cities across the world are taking a stand:

Council believes:

1.    It would be relatively simple to introduce increased parking charges for higher emitting and/or heavier vehicles, as the DVLA holds all this information on every car based on number-plate. Enforcement of car parks could be managed using cameras.  

2.    While Oxfordshire County Council and Oxford City Council work together to manage car parks, and residents parking is managed exclusively by County, a joint project between City and County to come up with a fairer and more equitable charging system that more accurately reflects the greater cost to the public purse generated by larger, higher emitting vehicles would be beneficial.

Council resolves:

·       To request the Cabinet Member for Planning and Healthier Communities and the Cabinet Member for Zero Carbon Oxford and Climate Justice work closely with the County to design a more equitable system of parking charges.

·       To request that these Cabinet Members report back to this Council within 6 months on any proposals they have developed  ...  view the full agenda text for item 113d

This motion was not taken as the time allocated for debate had finished.

This Council believes that the English local government finance settlement proposed by the Tories for 24/25 is thoroughly inadequate and penalises our poorest citizens the most, who are least well equipped to face the continuing cost-of-living crisis.

Government pronouncements about increased funding are “smoke and mirrors” and do not reflect the reality that costs are rising faster than any increases in funding, and that increases in “core spending power” largely come from local residents, not government funding.

Council is very concerned that a one-year increase in local housing allowances (after years of freeze) will be eroded by the Government’s failure to increase the benefits cap and temporary accommodation housing benefit, thus offering support with one hand and then denying it with the other. That failure will be exacerbated by reintroducing the housing allowance freeze again in April 25.  This will once again increase homelessness in areas like Oxford.

In addition, this Council is angry that the Conservative Government has abolished funding for the Household support grant from May 24 – denying poorer people a welcome source of cash support for household and fuel bills, and vital heating repairs. This comes in addition to the end of centrally provided fuel bill support for many who had been in receipt of it.

Overall, English local government faces a huge funding crisis and cannot close the gap without cutting front line services, especially those aimed at its poorest citizens. This is evidenced by the high-profile and very severe cuts forced upon councils in Birmingham and Nottingham.

More widely, Council believes households are feeling huge pressure because of substantial increases in taxes as well as, for many, higher mortgage costs and rents due to the chaos caused by Liz Truss’ mini-budget, and a sharp focus on the cost of living is urgently needed.

This Council calls upon the Leader of the Council to write to the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government demanding:

1.    A sustainable long term funding settlement for councils like Oxford, facing a funding squeeze due to inflation and the rising costs of homelessness.

2.    A commitment to increasing local housing allowances annually in line with local housing costs and scrapping the benefits cap.

3.    The re-instatement of funding for the Household Support Grant which provides a flexible and rapid response to people with urgent needs.

4.    Support for councils like Oxford which retains a Council Tax reduction scheme for people struggling to pay these costs, and encouragement that other councils should instigate such schemes.

It also asks the Leader of the Council to contact our two local MPs, for Oxford East and Oxford West and Abingdon respectively, and ask them to write with the same demands to the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government.

This motion was not taken as the time allocated for debate had finished.