There were no declarations of interest made.

There were none.

The Committee is asked to approve the minutes of the meeting held on 9 September 2025 as a true and accurate record.

The Committee resolved to approve the minutes of the meeting held on 9 September 2025 as a true and accurate record.  

Public addresses relating to matters of business for 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 Wednesday, 8 October 2025.

There were none.

Councillor addresses relating to matters of business for this agenda. Up to five minutes is available for each address.

The request should be received by the Director of Law, Governance and Strategy by 5.00 pm on Wednesday, 8 October 2025.

There were none.

Cabinet, at its meeting on 22 October 2025, will consider a report to seek project approvals and delegations for Westland Drive and Halliday Hill affordable housing scheme.

Councillor Linda Smith, Cabinet Member for Housing and Communities, Nerys Parry, Director of Housing and have been invited to present the report and take part in discussions.

The Committee is asked to consider the report and agree any recommendations.

Appendix 2 contains exempt information pursuant to Paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972. To discuss this item, it will be necessary for the Committee to pass a resolution to exclude the press and public from the meeting 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)

Cabinet, at its meeting on 22 October 2025, will consider a report to seek project approvals and delegations for Westland Drive and Halliday Hill affordable housing scheme.

The Committee is asked to consider the report and agree any recommendations.

Councillor Linda Smith, Cabinet Member for Housing and Communities and Dave Scholes, Affordable Housing Supply Corporate Lead, were present to respond to questions.

Councillor Smith presented the report to the Committee, noting that the scheme pertains to land already owned by the housing revenue account and has achieved planning permission. The Committee heard that the scheme is affordable and will include six units for social rent, five for affordable rent, and four for shared ownership; this spread reflects the relative priority given to each of those tenures by the Council. Councillor Smith emphasised that the scheme also responds to the local housing need. Finally, it was noted that the Council has set a target of 1600 new affordable homes in the next four years, of which at least 850 will be for social rent.

The Affordable Housing Supply Corporate Lead informed the Committee that the scheme is currently finalising its tender process, and the contract will be awarded in the coming weeks. The Committee heard that the build stage is expected to commence in April 2026 and will be completed within around 12 months from this date.

The Chair thanked Councillor Smith and the Affordable Housing Supply Corporate Lead and reminded the Committee that should they wish to discuss any information enclosed within the confidential appendix to this item, it would be required to enter private session.

Councillor Miles requested clarification between the distinction of ‘low car development’ and ‘car free development’ referenced in the report. The Affordable Housing Supply Corporate Lead noted that only a small number of parking spaces had been designed into the scheme and committed to providing relevant data following the meeting.

Councillor Miles also asked what provision there would be for resident bike parking, recommending that this be considered from the start of the scheme, rather than built in at a later date. The Affordable Housing Supply Corporate Lead noted confidence that bike spaces had been included within the plans and committed to providing this information following the meeting.

Councillor Altaf-Khan clarified the timing of the tendering process with the Affordable Housing Supply Corporate Lead who confirmed the scheme was progressing on time.

Councillor Smith confirmed that two disabled parking spaces were included within the plans, and also an increase in cycling provisions.

The Chair invited the Committee to discuss possible recommendations.

The Committee made no recommendations to Cabinet.

The Affordable Housing Supply Corporate Lead left the meeting and did not return.

Following the meeting, the Affordable Housing Supply Corporate Lead provided the Committee with the following information:

• Car parking: There will be two parking spaces available, both designated for disabled users.
• Bike parking: The bike store will provide 28 spaces for the flats (two-tier rack system). The houses will each have a bike shed  ...  view the full minutes text for item 48.

Cabinet, at its meeting on 22 October 2025, will consider a report to seek approval for the Anti-Social Behaviour Policy.

Councillor Lubna Arshad, Cabinet Member for A Safer Oxford, and Richard Adams, Community Safety Service Managerhave been invited to present the report and take part in discussions.

The Committee is asked to consider the report and agree any recommendations.

Cabinet, at its meeting on 22 October 2025, will consider a report to seek approval for the Anti-Social Behaviour Policy.

The Committee is asked to consider the report and agree any recommendations.

Councillor Lubna Arshad, Cabinet Member for A Safer Oxford, Richard Adams, Community Safety Service Manager, and Simon Manton, Community Response Team Manager, were present to respond to questions.

Councillor Arshad presented the report to the Committee, noting that the policy put forward is for approval from 2026 to 2029. The policy supports the Council’s efforts to tackle all forms of antisocial behaviour and to fulfil its duties under Section 218A of the Housing Act 1996, as amended by the Antisocial Behaviour Act 2003. It was explained that as a housing provider, the council is required to formulate and publish antisocial behaviour policies and procedures, liaise with local partners, and support tenants to live in safe, clean and well-maintained conditions. Councillor Arshad explained that the policy is reviewed every three years, and the current iteration expires in December 2025. The Committee heard a detailed summary of the Council’s principles and service standards in relation to ASB and learned that the policy has been taken through consultation with local communities.

Councillor Mundy joined the meeting.

The Community Safety Service Manager clarified that the consultation process began around 12 months ago and noted the useful recommendations it produced which are helping to amend the policy or used to implement it. A broad summary of the consultation response was delivered, and the Community Response Team Manager was introduced.

The Chair invited questions from the Committee.

Councillor Altaf-Khan requested clarity on how the percentages within the report were calculated and asked how action to tackle ASB could be taken more swiftly and directly. He also queried how feedback is obtained.

Councillor Ottino firstly asked how confident the Council is that Registered Providers uphold their responsibilities and perform to expectation in terms of tackling ASB. He also queried how strong the Council’s relationship is the registered providers. It was requested that relevant contact details for the housing associations be shared with councillors. Secondly, Councillor Ottino asked what the Council is doing to coordinate actions against fly tipping with housing associations and ODS. And finally, it was observed that whilst the report focuses on responses to ASB, there needs to be more proactive action taken to decreasing ASB. Therefore, Councillor Ottino asked what more could be done to this end, including considering how to design areas more considerately. 

Councillor Corais thanked the officers and asked several questions:

-        In reference to the response time targets set out in the report, it was asked what happens when these are not met.

-        It was queried what the average duration of an ASB case is, and how these are resolved in a timely manner without compromise.

-        Information on mechanisms for escalating unresolved ASB cases was requested.

-        Information on how residents are kept informed about ongoing ASB cases was requested.

-        It was asked how data  ...  view the full minutes text for item 49.

The Community Safety Service Manager has submitted the Annual Safeguarding Report to note the key achievements of the Safeguarding work delivered through Oxford City Council during 2024/25.

Councillor Lubna Arshad, Cabinet Member for A Safer Oxford, Richard Adams, Community Safety Service Manager  and Laura Jones, Safeguarding Coordinator have been invited to present the report and take part in discussions.

The Committee is asked to consider the report and agree any recommendations.

The Community Safety Service Manager has submitted the Annual Safeguarding Report to note the key achievements of the Safeguarding work delivered through Oxford City Council during 2024/25.

The Committee is asked to consider the report and agree any recommendations.

Councillor Lubna Arshad, Cabinet Member for A Safer Oxford, Richard Adams, Community Safety Service Manager, and Laura Jones, Safeguarding Coordinator, were present to respond to questions.

Councillor Arshad presented the report to the Committee, noting that it outlined the work which has occurred across the Council over the last year. She also emphasised that in response to the corporate leadership team’s recognition of the potential impact on staff welfare of managing safeguarding concerns, a training package is being developed to support staff. Furthermore, Councillor Arshad noted that the staff safeguarding questionnaire saw another year of high responses rates and this was used to inform the action plan. Details of ongoing partnership and multi-agency workstreams were summarised. Finally, the Committee heard that My Concern reports have doubled in the last year and the quality of reporting and recording has increased significantly, demonstrating continued improvement to the safeguarding services at Oxford City Council.

The Chair invited questions form the Committee.

Councillor Altaf-Khan expressed concern over the effectiveness of so many multiagency workstreams and therefore asked how confident the Council is that it is dealing efficiently with the voluntary sector. It was asked how much control the Council has in these relationships.

Councillor Jarvis asked, in relation to pages 110 and 111 of the report, whether there is more detail available which would enable comparison to previous years in order to allow the Committee to assess progress. It was requested that this be included within future reports.

Councillor Miles queried the data relating to heat alerts and emergency accommodation to ask whether some data could be made available to enable comparisons of this over time. She also queried whether this could be linked to the budget that the Council makes available. Secondly, it was asked whether any ward specific data was available in relation to youth ambition interventions to demonstrate where these are occurring. Finaly, Councillor Miles noted concern with issues being passed between County and City Council and therefore asked whether officers are aware of any feedback loops.

In regards to ensuring the voluntary sector play their role in safeguarding, the Community Safety Service Manager explained that the legal structures which exist to work with relevant organisations in the voluntary sector, and Members were assured that whilst not every aspect is within the Council’s control, they do as much as possible. It was also clarified that previous concerns raised by the Committee in relation to the lack of safeguarding polices within voluntary organisations grant funded by the Council has now been addressed.

The Safeguarding Coordinator also confirmed that now, every grant-funded organisation has a safeguarding policy in place but also acknowledged the scenarios in which the Council has no control. The Committee also learned that as part of the Oxfordshire Safeguarding Adults Board,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 50.

The Work Plan is driven to a very large extent by the Cabinet Forward Plan. The Scrutiny Committee agrees its priorities for items coming onto the Forward Plan, which then form part of its Work Plan.

The Committee is recommended to confirm its agreement to the Work Plan, or agree any amendments as required.

This is published as a supplemently agenda ahead of the meeting.

The Scrutiny and Governance Advisor informed the Committee that the upcoming special meeting on 5th November will consider the Council’s Local Government Reorganisation proposal, and the ordinary meeting on 11 November will consider the Hackney Carriage Emissions Standards Reports. The Committee were invited to make suggestions for other items they may wish to consider, including the introduction of Uber which had been previously suggested. The Committee were reminded that it would be necessary to consider the scope of any possible discussion.

The Chair reminded the Committee that any item brought forward in relation to Uber would be for information only. It was clarified that the Committee would not be able to make any recommendations on the topic as Uber is a private company.

Councillor Miles noted that the General Purposes Licensing Committee had considered these issues recently, and therefore recommended that a briefing, as opposed to formal report, may be more useful.

Councillor Altaf-Khan requested that information on Uber and private hire vehicles be brought forward as a formal report alongside the Hackney Carriage Emissions Standards report to the meeting on 11 November.

The Chair, Councillor Miles, Councillor Altaf-Khan, and Councillor Ottino debated this matter.

The Chair recommended that a formal report on Uber not be requested, but that the Committee may be provided the same information on the matter that had already been presented to the General Purposes Licensing Committee

Councillor Ottino queried why the content of the 5November meeting was not an all-member briefing instead, to which the Chair explained that the report would be going to Cabinet the following week and therefore the Scrutiny Committee was invited to consider it as part of the usual governance chain.

Councillor Mundy suggested that the Scrutiny Committee consider the Council’s debt recovery procedure as a future item. The Scrutiny and Governance Advisor noted this.

The Committee agreed the work plan.

At its meeting on 17 September 2025, Cabinet considered the following reports from Scrutiny and made responses to the recommendations:

·       Citizen and Community Engagement Policy

·       Temporary Accommodation Placement Policy

·       Heat Network Update

·       Local EV Infrastructure

The Committee is asked to:

1.       Note Cabinet’s responses to its recommendations.

The Chair presented the report on recommendations.

The Chair referred the Committee to the responses enclosed within the report and noted that 9 recommendations had been taken to Cabinet, 6 of which were agreed, 2 of which were partially agreed, and 1 which was commented on.

The Chair requested any questions or comments from the Committee; there were none.

The Committee noted Cabinet’s responses to its recommendation.

All recommendations from the last meeting were agreed.

The Committee noted the report.

Since the Scrutiny Committee’s previous meeting on 9 September, the following Working Groups have met:

• Finance and Performance Working Group (11 September 2025)
  
  

The Committee is asked to:

1. Endorse the recommendations from Working Groups.

The Chair informed the Committee that since their lasting meeting, only the Finance and Performance Working Group had met.

The Scrutiny and Governance Advisor noted that the Finance and Performance Working Group met for the first time on 11 September 2025 and discussed three items but made no recommendations.

The Chair noted that there were no recommendations to endorse.

Scrutiny Committee

·       5 November 2025 (Special)

·       11 November 2025

·       2 December 2025

·       13 January 2026

·       3 February 2026

·       10 March 2026

·       7 April 2026

All meetings start at 6:00 pm.

The Chair reminded the Committee that the next special meeting of the Committee will take place on 5 November 2025.

The Committee noted the dates of future meetings.