To hear tributes and observe a minute’s silence in memory of former Lord Mayors or serving councillors or serving senior officers who have died.

Minutes of the ordinary meeting of Council held on 26 January 2026 and the budget meeting on 23 February 2026.

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

Any proposed changes will be circulated with the briefing note.

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

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.

The request to speak accompanied by the full text of the address must be received by the Director of Law, Governance and Strategy by 5.00 pm on Tuesday, 17 March 2026.

The briefing note will contain the text of addresses 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.

The Council may deal with business even though it is not on the Agenda so long as:

(a)  the business is raised by a Motion on Notice under Rule 14 (Motions on Notice);

(b)  the Motion on Notice is delivered to the Director of Law, Governance and Strategy not later than 4 hours before the start of the Meeting;

(c)  the Lord Mayor, or Council, if put to a vote, decide that the business is urgent (see Rule a); and

(d)  the agenda relating to the Meeting states that the Council may deal with urgent business at that Meeting.

Should the Lord Mayor determine that a matter is not urgent on the advice of the Monitoring Officer then the decision shall be final, subject to such reasons being explained to the meeting. Where there is no definitive view from the Monitoring Officer any member may, supported by [10] or more member by a show of hands, may request that the matter be put to a vote to determine if it should be heard.

Should the majority determine in any vote that the matter is urgent (whether put to the meeting by the Lord Mayor or by a member supported by ten others) then Council will debate it under Rule 11.20 Rules of Debate. Where it is determined that the matter is not urgent, the matter shall be deferred to the next Ordinary Council Meeting (i.e. not to an Extraordinary Council Meeting).

The Director of Housing has submitted a report to approve the following policies: electrical safety, and legionella policies to ensure the maintenance of the housing stock.

Recommendation: That Council resolves to:

1.    Approve the Electrical Safety Policy

2.    Approve the Legionella Policy

The Director of Housing has submitted a report to approve the new draft Social Housing Allocations Scheme for Oxford, following public consultation.

Recommendation: That Council resolves to:

1.    Approve the new draft Social Housing Allocations Scheme for Oxford;

2.    Delegate authority to the Director of Housing, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Housing and Communities, to authorise the date on which the Allocations Scheme is implemented, noting the explanation and timelines in paragraph 23;

3.    Delegate authority to the Director of Housing, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Housing and Communities, to make minor changes to the Allocations Scheme in order to comply with changes to legislative and statutory guidance, related Council policies (approved by Cabinet) and to make technical changes to ensure the effective and efficient functioning of the scheme.

The Head of People has submitted a report for Council to approve the Annual Pay Policy Statement.

Recommendation: Council resolves to:

1.    Approve the Annual Pay Policy Statement 2026/27 as set out in Appendix 1 to this report 

2.    Agree the proposed pay agreement for April 2026 and April 2027 reached with Unison and Unite as set out in paragraph 3. 

This item has a time limit of 15 minutes.

Councillors may ask the Cabinet Members questions about matters in the minutes since the previous meeting of full Council.

The Minutes will be published within a supplement ahead of the meeting.

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 Director of Law, Governance and Strategy by no later than 1.00pm on Wednesday, 11 March 2026.

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

Public addresses 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.

The request to speak accompanied by the full text of the address must be received by the Director of Law, Governance and Strategy by 5.00 pm on Tuesday, 17 March 2026.

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

The petition organiser may address Council upon the petition for up to 5 minutes at the start of this item.

Council is asked to consider a petition meeting the criteria for debate under the Council’s petitions scheme.

The full text of the petition is contained in the accompanying report.

If a Member wishes to put a substantive motion/recommendation on a petition they must submit this by 10am on the working day before the full Council meeting (Friday 20 March 2026). These are then published in the Council briefing note. Any amendments to these must be submitted by 11am on the day of the meeting (Monday 23 March 2026).

If no substantive motion is agreed, Council is asked to note the petition.

The Director of Law, Governance and Strategy (Monitoring Officer) and the Transition Director have submitted a report to update Council on the arrangements and board for The Oxfordshire Children’s Trust and the Council’s work for Children and Young People in the city.

Recommendation: Council resolves to:

1.    Note the report and the documents appended to it

The Director of Law, Governance and Strategy (Monitoring Officer) and the Transition Director have submitted a report to update Council on the work of the Oxford Strategic Partnership, 2024 to 2025.

Recommendation: Council resolves to:

1.    Note the update outside organisation report on the work of the Oxford Strategic Partnership, 2024 to 2025.

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.

The report will be published within a supplement ahead of the meeting.

This item has a time limit of 60 minutes.

Motions received by the Director of Law, Governance and Strategy in accordance with the rules in Section 11 of the Constitution by the deadline of 1.00pm on Wednesday, 11 March 2026 are listed below.

As Council deferred the business, including the motions submitted by the Liberal Democrat and Green Groups, at the meeting on 26 January 2026, these will be taken first.

Cross party motions are taken first. Motions will then be taken in turn from the Liberal Democrat Group (resubmitting their motion from January Council), Green Group (resubmitting their motion from January Council), Oxford Independent Group, Real Independent Group, Labour Group, Green Group, Oxford Independent Alliance Group, in that order.

Substantive amendments to these motions must be sent by councillors to the Director of Law, Governance and Strategy by no later than 10.00am on Friday, 20 March 2026so 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)    Better use of Oxpens Bridge Funding (Proposed by Cllr Jupp, Seconded by Cllr Miles)

b)    Prisoners for Palestine hunger strikes (Proposed by Cllr Jarvis, Seconded by Cllr Mundy)

c)    Support for Mini Plant Oxford (Proposed by Cllr Linda Smith, Seconded by Cllr Ottino)

d)    Condemnation of Attempted Election Postponement (Proposed by Cllr Smowton, Seconded by Cllr Miles)

e)    Stop the War in Iran (Proposed by Cllr Powell, Seconded by Cllr Djafari-Marbini)

Council notes: 

• The cost of the Oxpens bridge has substantially increased since its original approval, and is running considerably behind other Growth Deal projects. 

• That government has the option to repurpose the money for use in other active travel schemes and entrust the County Council to manage this. 

• Government can and does vary the rules of the Deal from time to time. Thus far, government has rightly prioritised the spirit and objectives of the Deal above the letter of the agreement. 

• Doubt remains that the Oxpens bridge will be able to provide a dry route to Osney Island and thereby unlock housing, due to the low-lying railway underpass in-between. 

• The Growth Board (now Future Oxfordshire Partnership) was strongly urged against pursuing the Oxpens bridge project to begin with. 

Council therefore believes it would be sensible to examine alternatives, and open a conversation with the County and/or the Ministry on options that deliver greater benefits for the residents of Oxford.

Council therefore resolves to ask the Leader to write to the relevant Minister, in full consultation with the accountable body for the Growth Deal funds, requesting that in the event of the bridge not going ahead: 

• That the Growth Deal by varied as necessary to permit the funds to be used for other specified purposes in Oxford; 

• That other options be explored to better employ the funds, including but not limited to: 

• Resurrecting the substantive scheme for Woodstock Road improvements to mitigate the effect of housing development to the north; 

• Revisiting the pedestrian bridge across the A40 at Barton Park which was dropped at planning stage, resulting in very real and significant safety concerns for residents; 

• Resurrecting the long-discussed plan for a foot/cycle bridge across the Thames at Jackdaw Lane, providing a safe and convenient alternative to the challenging Plain roundabout for residents of south and east Oxford. 

Council notes that each of these schemes has been worked up in detail, and are thus available to re-visit, making any one of them attractive to a government which has the best interests of Oxford’s residents at heart.

Council notes 

1. Since September 2024 eight remand prisoners detained as a result of alleged activities with Palestine Action have participated in hunger strikes, including at least one individual from Oxford.¹ 

2. The prisoners are expected to be on remand for over a year before they face a trial², despite the CPS guidance suggesting the maximum time anyone should be held on remand is 182 days.³ 

3. Among the demands of the hunger strikers are:⁴ 

a.    Immediate bail for the prisoners held on remand. 

b.    While they are imprisoned, for the prisoners to be able to send and receive communications without restriction, surveillance, or interference from the prison administration. 

c.     The right to a fair trial. 

d.    For Palestine Action to be de-proscribed. 

4. All of those participating in the hunger strikes were detained for alleged activities with Palestine Action prior to parliament adding it to the list of proscribed organisations.? 

5. While some of the hunger strikers have ended their action, at the time of writing, four are still refusing food and are facing serious risk of long term health issues or death.⁵ 

6. 67 MPs - including Oxford West and Abingdon MP Layla Moran - have signed an Early Day Motion calling for the Secretary of State for Justice to ensure the treatment of the hunger strikers is “humane” and that their human rights are upheld.⁶ 

7. A number of other councils, including Belfast⁷ and Derry⁸, have passed motions expressing solidarity with the hunger strikers and for the government to enter proper negotiations with the prisoners to bring an end to the strikes. 

Council believes 
 

1. It is extremely concerning that these prisoners have felt that they had no other recourse to protest against their prison conditions but to engage in hunger strikes. 

 
Council resolves 
 

1. To request that the leader of the council:? 

a.    Write to the Secretary of State for Justice and other relevant government ministers, requesting that they? 

                        I.         Meet with the families and representatives of those on hunger strike. 

                      II.         Enter negotiations to bring the hunger strikes to an end and to prevent any loss of life or long term health complications. 

                     III.         Do everything they can to ensure that the prisoners on remand have their human rights respected and that they are treated humanely. 

b.    Write to local MPs Anneliese Dodds and Layla Moran requesting that they work to ensure that government ministers carry out the requests in resolves 

The UK automotive sector is in the midst of a low-volume crisis, and while different car plants are affected in different ways, it would not be an exaggeration to say that the Mini Plant Oxford has been (and continues to be) one of the worst hit. 

As one of the biggest employers in Oxford, a significant number of agency workers’ jobs have been lost as the plant adjusts to the government reinstating the 2030 ban date on new Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) models, the only models the plant currently builds. 

In addition, and due to there being no Electric models being manufactured at Plant Oxford, the increased Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) target for 2026 will potentially create a situation whereby ICE production will be need to be artificially lowered to ensure BMW can hit the 33% via imports, or it will be subject to either a £12,000 fine per car or pushed into buying credits from Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) such as Tesla. 

Economic growth is the number one mission of the government. Growth will fund our public services, enable investment in our hospitals and schools, and, most importantly, raise living standards for everyone. So it is vital different government departments work in harmony to support UK jobs and industry. It's especially important that the Department of Transport understands the impact of policies like the ZEV mandate on jobs here in Oxford. 

This council therefore resolves to ask the Leader of the Council to write to the Secretary of State for Transport Heidi Alexander to ask her to: 

1. Meet with Unite the Union and its representatives at the factory to hear their concerns and to support?their work to make Oxford the future home of affordable EV production. 

2. Engage to as full an extent as possible with BMW on the UK’s transition to electric vehicles and policies which affect demand for new vehicles and investment and jobs in the UK automotive sector.

This council notes that: 

• On 18th December 2025, the Minister of State for Local Government and Homelessness wrote¹ to council leaders requesting views on the potential postponement of their local election in May 2026. 

• The Chief Executive of the Electoral Commission wrote² that they were “disappointed by both the timing and substance of [that] statement”, that it created “unprecedented” uncertainty, that “we do not think that capacity constraints are a legitimate reason for delaying long planned elections” and that “there is a clear conflict of interest in asking existing Councils to decide how long it will be before they are answerable to voters”. 

• On 22nd January 2026, the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government announced³ the postponement of 29 areas’ elections. 

• The Secretary’s letter identifies “postponement was not sought”⁴ as a reason why an area’s elections would go ahead, implying that all authorities receiving a postponement had expressly sought one. 

• There was a clear difference in political control between those councils whose elections would be postponed and those that would go ahead as scheduled, with the Local Government Chronicle reporting⁵ that 16 out of 19 Labour-controlled, 4 out of 9 Conservative-controlled, 1 out of 8 Lib Dem controlled and 8 out of 27 NOC councils were set for postponement. 

• On 16th February 2026, the Secretary of State withdrew⁶ his decision to postpone elections citing “recent legal advice”. 

This council believes that: 

• As a matter of principle, elections should only be postponed in extraordinary circumstances. 

• Any future foreseeable election postponement, whether due to local government reorganisation or any other cause, should be signposted as far as possible in advance, not floated for the first time immediately before the Christmas break and long after the proposed LGR timeline was announced. 

• There is indeed a fundamental conflict of interest in inviting councils to substantially control whether their own election goes ahead, and so any future postponement should be determined by clearly set objective parameters, not whether councils choose to seek or not seek delay. 

• The legal reasoning for the late withdrawal of the planned postponements should be published so as to reduce uncertainty about any further delays. 

This council requests that: 

• The Leader of the Council write to the Secretary of State expressing this Council’s condemnation of the timing and criteria for their proposed election postponements, attaching a copy of this motion. 

• The Leader further request the publication of the legal advice that led to the late reversal of the Secretary’s decision. 

Council notes 

1. On February 28th 2026, the United States of America and Israel launched joint airstrikes on Iran.¹? 

2. That in response to these actions, Iran responded by utilising missiles and drone strikes against US military bases in the Persian Gulf including amongst others, Bahrain, Oman and Qatar.²? 

3. That there has not been any resolution of the UN security council or other lawful basis for these actions.? 

4. That the conflict has already resulted in the deaths of thousands of civilians including hundreds of children at Minab school.³? 

5. That at this time of global uncertainty and trauma, caused by the actions of the US and Israel, the UK government is once again reneging on its international obligations by reducing the rights of people seeking asylum and introducing Trumpian “visa breaks”.⁴? 

6. That the these attacks were launched while negotiations between the US and Iran had been heralded as yielding ‘significant progress’ just two days before the attack.⁵ 

7. That Iranian residents of Oxford City have raised their significant concern and anxiety for their family and Friends, many of whom they have been unable to make contact with.?⁶ 

8. That Oxford is home to a diverse range of residents, many of whom are facing extreme anxiety regarding family and friends still located in Iran, as well as other neighbouring countries.? 

9. That both Oxford Universities have committed the University of Sanctuary scheme but their ability to offer spaces to talented international students has been undermined by policies such as the visa break.⁷ 

Council believes 

1. That the aggression shown by the US and Israel do nothing to make the world safer and have already resulted in an unacceptable loss of life.? 

2. That as an accredited City of Sanctuary, Oxford has a moral and ethical obligation to speak against moves by the UK government to reduce the rights of people to seek sanctuary, particularly at this moment of global uncertainty.? 

3. That reducing the grant of leave to remain given to refugees to 30 months is cruel and, at this moment of global uncertainty, represents the UK turning its back on the international community.? 

4. That the introduction of “visa breaks” targeted at nationals of Afghanistan, Cameroon, Myanmar and Sudan as a result of a “surge in asylum claims from legal routes” is incompatible with the UK’s purported humanitarian commitments and undermines social cohesion in the UK.? 

Council resolves? 

1. To request that the leader of the Council: 

a.    Write to the Secretary of State for Defence and the Prime Minister, requesting that they: 

                                 I.         Clearly condemn the unlawful aggression of the United States of America and Israel? 

                               II.         Operationalise safe and managed routes for people to enter the UK in search of Sanctuary from the conflict.? 

b.    Write to the Secretary of State for the Home department requesting that they: 

                                 I.         Reverse the decision to reduce the period of refugee settlement to 30 months. 

                               II.         Reverse the “Visa-break” policy

If Council wishes to exclude the press and the public from the meeting during consideration of any aspects of the preceding agenda items it will be necessary for Council to pass a resolution in accordance with the provisions of Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 specifying the grounds on which their presence could involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as described in specific paragraphs of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act if and so long as, in all the circumstances of the case, the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.

(The Access to Information Procedure Rules – Section 15 of the Council’s Constitution – sets out the conditions under which the public can be excluded from meetings of the Council)

Additional information, councillors’ questions, public addresses and amendments to motions are published in a supplementary briefing note. The agenda and briefing note should be read together.

The Briefing Note is published as a supplement to the agenda. It is available on the Friday before the meeting and can be accessed along with the agenda on the council’s website.