There were no declarations of interest made.

The Chair welcomed Councillor Rehman to his first meeting of the Scrutiny Committee following his recent appointment.  

The Chair also announced that there would be a break of 10 minutes at 18.25 to support members observing Ramadan. As such, agenda items would be considered in the following order: 8, 7, 4, 5, 6, 9.  

Councillor Regisford joined the meeting.  

The Community Safety Service Manager has submitted a presentation updating the Committee on the Anti-Social Behaviour Policy.

Cllr Lubna Arshad, Cabinet Member for a Safer Oxford, Richard Adams, Community Safety Service Manager, and Simon Manton, Community Response Team Manager have been invited to present and answer questions.

The Committee is asked to receive the presentation followed by an opportunity for discussion; and to agree any recommendations.

Councillor Arshad, Cabinet member for a Safer Oxford, and Richard Adams, Community Safety Service Manager, were present to respond to questions.

Councillor Arshad introduced the report, noting that antisocial behaviour (ASB) affects everyone by threatening safety and wellbeing; as a result, a clear, fair, and robust approach is required. The Committee heard that the ASB policy is refreshed every three years to ensure it remains responsive and committed to protecting the community. This is a statutory responsibility of the Council. Councillor Arshad also reminded the Committee that Oxford City Council is part of the Oxford Safer Communities Partnership which works collaboratively to reduce crime and disorder and tackle root causes. The draft policy presented for 2025-2028 focuses on identifying and preventing ASB and will be subject to public consultation, with a final version of the report returning the Scrutiny Committee in September. 

The Community Safety Service Manager summarised the report and outlined the aims of the policy, definitions of ASB, and the public consultation intended to focus on peoples’ experiences and policy standards.  

Councillor Rowley joined the meeting.  

The Community Safety Service Manager also provided examples to illustrate the classifications of ASB within the policy and linked these to different responsible agencies. The complexities involved with reporting ASB were also described.  

The Chair thanked the Community Safety Service Manager. 

Councillor Rowley requested clarification regarding the timescales for removing and responding to racist graffiti. The Community Safety Service Manager explained that targets seek to remove such graffiti within 24 hours (via ODS) and investigate and respond within 3 days. It was noted that both targets are often exceeded.  

Councillor Rowley also asked whether ASB complaints are routinely passed on to other agencies when the Council is not the responsible body and requested clarification regarding the application of classifications of ASB. The Community Safety Service Manager explained that the Council initially contacts complainants who are being referred and then reports to the appropriate body, whether this be the police or landlords. As regard classifications of ASB, the Committee were assured that each complaint is assessed on a case-by-case basis with discretion, and that any intervention is approached with proportionality in mind. 

Councillor Stares queried whether there are limitations on the Council’s powers to intervene, to which the Community Safety Service Manager described the range of powers which Oxford City Council holds, and the tools used for mediation and conversation with necessary parties. The Committee heard that a lack of evidence is often an issue which restricts the Council’s ability to impose legal powers. 

Councillor Ottino firstly requested that phrasing utilised within the report in reference to environmental crime be reassessed. Secondly, in regards obstructions of highways, it was asked whether the police often become involved, and more information was requested regarding where the responsibility for this matter lies and the parameters of the areas involved - for example, pavements and verges. Finally, Councillor Ottino queried what powers the Council holds to respond to matters relating to pests and residential gardens. The Community  ...  view the full minutes text for item 92.

At its meeting on 14 January 2025, the Committee requested an end-of-year report summarising a list of urgent key decisions taken in this municipal year.

Emma Jackman, Director of Law, Governance and Strategy (Monitoring Officer) and Jonathan Malton, Committee and Members Services Manager have been invited to present the report and answer questions from the Committee.

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

Jonathan Malton, the Committee and Member Services Manager, was present to respond to questions. 

The Committee and Member Services Manager introduced the report, outlining that it is a response to the Committee’s request for information regarding the five urgent key decisions taken in the last municipal year. The report is linked to discussions of the matter at a previous meeting of the Scrutiny Committee on 14 January 2025. The Committee and Member Services Manager also outlined the steps taken with the Monitoring Officer to implement changes, such as the introduction of an additional forward plan to monitor key decisions.  

The Chair thanked the Committee and Member Services Manager and Councillor Ottino commented positively on the value of the report.  

The Chair asked whether the report could be produced annually to which the Committee and Member Services Manager explained that information on key decision is already reported to Council as a requirement of the constitution, but that this could be extended to the Scrutiny Committee. 

Councillor Ottino and the Chair discussed the process behind urgent key decisions and the Committee discussed whether they believed it valuable for a similar report to be brought to the Scrutiny Committee annually. Councillor Rehman supported this suggestion. The Committee and Member Services Manager suggested that a report could be produced annually should the issue of increased urgent key decisions re-emerge in the following year.  

The Committee resolved to make the following recommendation(s) on the report to Cabinet: 

1. That an end-of-year summary update on Urgent Key Decisions is provided to the Scrutiny Committee, at the discretion of the Scrutiny Chair, in the next municipal year, enabling the Committee to assess whether the mitigations implemented have effectively addressed the high frequency of these decisions. 

Minutes from 3 March 2025

Recommendation: That the minutes of the meeting held on 3 March 2025be APPROVED as a true and accurate record.

The Chair highlighted two errors within the minutes requiring correction including the addition of a value regarding the figure of 1.8 on page 15, and the replacement of ‘hard’ with ‘heard’ on page 16.  

Subject to the amendments noted, the Committee resolved to approve the minutes of the meeting held on 3 March 2025 as a true and accurate record.  

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.

The Scrutiny and Governance Advisor informed the Committee that 4 items were expected for the next meeting in June and that the Forward Plan would be updated and available from 1 April. The Committee were invited to request items be added to the Forward Plan and assured that any changes would be agreed with the Chair as required.  

The Committee agreed the Work Plan. 

At its meeting on 12 March 2025, Cabinet considered the following reports from Scrutiny and made responses to the recommendations:

·       Oxford City Council Annual Business Plan 2025 to 2026

·       Adult Exploitation and Modern Slavery

·       Net-Zero Masterplan

·       Update and Overview of the Work of the Waste Review

·       Heat Networks and Zoning

·       Selective Licensing Implementation Update – Year 2

·       Housing Ombudsman Complaint Handling Code Self-Assessment

Since the Scrutiny Committee’s previous meeting on 3 March 2025, the following Panels have met:

·       Housing and Homelessness Panel (6 March 2025)

The Committee is asked to:

1.     Note Cabinet’s responses to its recommendations.

2.     Note any updates from Panel meetings.

The Scrutiny and Governance Advisor informed the Committee that since their last meeting, the Housing and Homelessness Panel had met once on 3 March 2025 and discussed 5 substantive items. The Panel made 3 recommendations to Cabinet, as set out in the report.  

The Committee raised no questions and noted the update.  

Scrutiny Committee

·       10 June 2025

·       1 July 2025

·       5 August 2025

·       9 September 2025

·       14 October 2025

·       11 November 2025

·       2 December 2025

·       13 January 2026

·       3 February 2026

·       10 March 2026

·       7 April 2026

Standing Panels

Housing & Homelessness:  7 July 2025; 8 October 2025; 4 November 2025; 18 February 2026; 31 March 2026

Finance & Performance:  14 April 2025; 17 June 2025; 16 July 2025; 29 October 2025; 26 November 2025; 25 March 2026; 14 April 2026

Climate & Environment:  27 March 2025; 22 July 2025; 4 September 2025; 8 October 2025; 27 January 2026; 25 February 2026

All meetings start at 6.00 pm.

The Chair stated that the next meeting of the Scrutiny Committee would be on 10 June 2025, noting that the membership of the Committee may have changed by which time and thanked all members for their work during the last year. Members also thanked the Chair.   

The Committee noted the dates of future meetings.