There were no declarations of interest made.

The Chair informed the Committee that she had approved some urgent decisions since the last meeting and that these would be addressed under ‘Work Plan’.

Minutes from ordinary meeting on 4 November 2024 and the extraordinary meeting on 18 November 2024.

The minutes from the extraordinary meeting will be published early next week as part of a supplementary agenda.

Recommendation: That the minutes of the meeting held on 4 November 2024 and the extraordinary meeting on 18 November 2024 be APPROVED as a true and accurate record.

The committee resolved to approve the minutes of the ordinary meeting held on 4 November 2024 as a true and accurate record.

The minutes of the extraordinary meeting on 18 November would be approved at the next meeting.

The Committee agreed to consider items 8 and 7 next on the agenda, followed by 5, 6 and 9.

Cabinet, at its meeting on 2 December 2024, will consider a report from the Executive Director (Development) seeking approval for Authority Monitoring Report and Infrastructure Funding Statement 2023/24. Cllr Louise Upton, Cabinet Member for Planning, Tom Bridgman, Executive Director (Development) and Sarah Harrison, Team Leader (Planning Policy) have been invited to present the report and answer questions. The Committee is asked to consider the report and agree any recommendations.

Cllr Upton, Cabinet Member for Planning, introduced the report and informed the Committee that it is an annual statutory requirement to examine how well planning policies are being achieved. The three overarching objectives of the report were named: strong responsive and competitive economy, building vibrant communities, and protecting and enhancing natural and built environments. The Committee heard some headlines from the report including the increases in R&D employment and space and the increase in students living out. The latter is a policy focus for the Council to limit these numbers in protection of residents, but the report finds an estimated 800 Oxford University students and up to 3000 Oxford Brooks University students are currently living out. Additionally, the Committee heard of the report’s focus on the vitality of the city and various district centres and housing for which Cllr Upton noted 365 houses were built in Oxford this year alongside nearly 1000 affordable houses since the start of the local plan period.  The Committee were directed to the funding statement within the report for information regarding the infrastructure levy, section 106 funds, and spending records.

David Butler, The Head of Planning and Regulatory Service, informed the Committee that the report will go to Cabinet and be published online for public access.

The Chair thanked Cllr Upton and The Head of Planning and Regulatory Service and invited the Committee raise questions on the report.

Sarah Harrison, Planning Policy Team Leader, Lorraine Freeman, CIL, Data Analysis and Reporting Team Leader, and Rachel Nixon, Principal Planner were present to respond to questions.

Cllr Ottino queried what understanding there is of how student accommodation is being used and when it is empty or unused, especially when in private buildings. Cllr Mundy similarly noted the increase in Oxford Brooks University students’ living within the private rented sector in comparison to previous years and requested more information on what is causing the increase, and whether it is expected to be a continuing pressure. The Chair additionally asked how it can be ensured that new student accommodation is used by Oxford or Brooks University students and how the link between new accommodation and demand is managed.

The Planning Policy Team Leader explained that current policy only impacts accommodation managed by universities and therefore policy currently focuses on nomination rights to ensure that properties not necessarily owned, but managed, by the universities are included and can be steered to accommodate students. Regarding vacancy rates, the City Council have little but it was noted that there are no signs indicating an issue with empty accommodation. She explained that universities are having an issue with accessing enough accommodation, rather than vacancy issues, but admitted that unfortunately some accommodation options are inherently less popular with students and harder to fill. In relation to Oxford Brooks University, The Planning Policy Team Leader admitted the large increase in students, demonstrated by the growth to 19586 this year compared to 16050 in the previous year. It was explained to the Committee that  ...  view the full minutes text for item 53.

Cabinet, at its meeting on 2 December 2024, will consider a report from the Executive Director (Communities and People) seeking approval for the Thriving Communities Strategy Update. Cllr. Linda Smith, Cabinet Member for Housing and Communities, Cllr Chewe Munkonge, Cabinet Member for a Healthy Oxford, Cllr. Lubna Arshad, Cabinet Member for a Safer Oxford, Peter Matthews, Executive Director (Communities and People) and Paula Redway, Culture and Community Development Manager have been invited to present the report and answer questions. The Committee is asked to consider the report and agree any recommendations.

Cllr Munkonge, Cabinet Member for a Healthy Oxford, and Cllr Arshad, Cabinet Member for a Safer Oxford, introduced the report highlighting that, based on wide consultation, there is a focus on working with communities to support residents to live full lives. Cllr Munkonge linked the strategy to Oxford City Council’s wider corporate plans. Across the 11 measures within the report, he explained that various partners are being worked with to ensure improvements to issues such as childhood swimming abilities. Cllr Arshad additionally explained that the strategy seeks to address inequalities in Oxford City through leisure, culture, and community initiatives and has attracted £2.8m in funding from external bodies so far, demonstrating its progress and positive impact. She connected this strategy to the goals of the Locality Plan 2025 including addressing food inequalities, youth opportunities, and diversity representation. She concluded by emphasising how collaboration around the strategy has successfully targeted investment and community engagement.

The Chair thanked the presenting councillors and invited the Committee to raise questions on the report.

Peter Matthew, Interim Executive Director (Communities and People), Paula Redway, Culture and Community Development Manager, and Hagan Lewisman, Active Communities Manager, were also present to answer questions.

Cllr Jarvis observed that the report utilised indicators of increase or decrease to assess the measures within the report but queried how these conclusions can be made without accompanying comparative data sets. He requested that the Committee review some comparative data to support their understanding. He then asked, in relation to relationships with the outsourced leisure providers, what is the process through these relationships exist in terms of implementation of the strategy. Finally, he observed that the report in question focuses on social impacts primarily but questioned how this is balanced with financial considerations when navigating provider contracts in a manner which protects the social value of the projects. The Active Communities Manager explained the Council has been working with Serco for one year therefore the report only demonstrates a short-term data set which will determine baseline KPIs for future use. The Committee were also informed that Serco are measured on their social impact alongside financial data and that regular meetings take place to ensure this. The Interim Executive Director (Communities and People) outlined that the possibility of tension between financial and social impacts was a key question considered throughout development of the tendering process. It was deemed that Serco could offer both financial and social values which were deliverable and, to some extent, also compatible. Regarding Cllr Jarvis concerns regarding measurement of the indicators in the report, the Interim Executive Director (Communities and People) also offered assurance that the strategy is in its early days and that future reports will contain more comparative data to support determination of relative success and failure. He also committed to investigating whether some comparative analysis could be conducted at this stage.

Cllr Ottino queried the breadth of the measures included within the report and noted that only some are within the City Council’s which limits capacity for  ...  view the full minutes text for item 54.

The Work Plan is driven to a very large extent by the Cabinet Forward Plan, a summary of which is attached. 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.

The Chair outlined the upcoming meetings of the Committee, including an item on Governance in respect of the urgent decisions that had been taken recently by the Scrutiny Chair. An updated list of programmes is contained within the supplementary pack.

The Scrutiny and Governance Adviser informed the Committee that Financial Crime and Noise complaints on licensed premises had been added to the longlist of Scrutiny items for future consideration of the Committee.

The Committee agreed the Work Plan.

At its meeting on 13 November 2024, Cabinet considered the following reports from Scrutiny and made responses to the recommendations:

• Furnished Tenancy Scheme
• Leisure Update
• Update on the development on the Oxford River Charter (and Council engagement with Thames Water)
• OX Place – OCHIL Recover Plan

Since the Scrutiny Committee’s previous meeting on 4 November 2024, the following Panels have met:

·       Housing and Homelessness Panel (7 November 2024)

·       Climate and Environment Panel (20 November 2024)

·       Extraordinary Housing and Homelessness Panel (27 November 2024)

The Committee is asked to:

1.    Note Cabinet’s responses to its recommendations.

2.    Note any updates from Panel meetings.

The Committee noted that on 13 November 2024, Cabinet considered recommendations on 4 reports, responses to which have been included in the agenda pack.

The Scrutiny and Governance adviser also notified the Committee that the Climate and Environment Panel met on 20 November 2024 and made 4 recommendations; and the Housing and Homelessness Panel met for an extraordinary meeting on 27 November 2024 and made 3 recommendations which will all go to Cabinet on 11 December 2024.

Scrutiny Committee

·       14 January 2025

·       29 January 2025

·       03 March 2025

·       01 April 2025

Standing Panels

Housing & Homelessness: 27 November 2024; 06 March 2025

Finance & Performance: 04 December 2022; 15 January 2025; 07 April 2025

Climate & Environment: 26 February 2025; 27 March 2025

All meetings start at 6.00 pm.

The Committee was informed that the meeting scheduled for 1 April 2025 would be rescheduled to 26 March 2025 in observance of the Festival of Eid.

The Committee noted the dates of future meetings.