The Scrutiny Committee will meet on 14 January 2025. The following reports are expected, together with any recommendations from those meetings:

• Council of Sanctuary Framework 
• HRA Rent Setting Report 2025/26 
• Withdrawal of Oxford Local Plan 2040 from Examination and Approval of the Local Development Scheme 2025-2030

The Executive Director of Corporate Resources had submitted a report to seek approval and adoption of the draft Council of Sanctuary framework document.

Cabinet is recommended to:

·       Approve and adopt the draft Council of Sanctuary Framework document, including the Action Plan.

·       Agree that an annual progress update should be produced for Cabinet.

·       Delegate power to the Executive Director – Corporate Resources, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Housing and Communities, to amend the design of the framework document without changing the content, and to make changes to the action plan to keep it updated to developments and changes.

The Head of Financial Services had submitted a report to present the outcome of Oxford City Council’s (the council’s) annual rent review and associated rent setting proposal for 2025/26 in respect of all council dwellings within the Housing Revenue Account, including the setting of associated services and facilities charges.

Cabinet is recommended to:

·       Recommend Council to approve an increase of 2.7% for 2025/26 (subject to any subsequent cap on increases imposed by central government) in social dwelling rents from 1st April 2025 giving an average weekly increase of £3.51 per week, and a revised weekly average social rent of £133.68 as set out in the Financial Implications section of this report.

·       Recommend Council to approve an increase to rents for shared ownership dwellings as outlined in paragraph 21 of the Financial Implications.

·       Recommend Council to approve an increase to service charges by 2.7% (CPI + 1%) to enable the HRA to recover the associated cost of supply.

·       Recommend to council to approve an increase to the charge for a garage of 4.1%, equating to an increase of £0.78 per week for a standard garage within a curtilage with a revised charge of £20.00 per week.

The Head of Planning and Regulatory Service submitted a report which seeks approval for the withdrawal of the Oxford Local Plan 2040 from Examination and to approve the Local Development Scheme 2025-2030, which sets out the work programme for the revised Oxford Local Plan 2042.

Cabinet is recommended to:

·       Recommend Council to approve the withdrawal of the Oxford Local Plan 2040 and the publication of the withdrawal statement;

·       Approve the Local Development Scheme 2025-2030;

·       Authorise the Head of Planning and Regulatory Services to make any necessary minor corrections not materially affecting the document prior to publication.

·       Agree to the removal of the CIL Charging Schedule from the Planning Inspectorate so that an alternative Examiner (independent of the Planning Inspectorate) may be appointed.

The Executive Director of Development had submitted a report to redesignate the Neighbourhood Forum for Headington.

Cabinet is recommended to:

·       Approve the redesignation of Headington Neighbourhood Forum in respect of the originally designated neighbourhood area to which it related.

The Head of Planning & Regulatory Services had submitted a report which sought approval to release £999,500 from the Town Hall Works (Lot 2) fund to complete Phases 1 and 2 of the proposed Archive Scanning Project.

Cabinet is recommended to:

·       Approve the request for the release of £999,500 from the Town Hall Works (Lot 2) fund to complete Phases 1 and 2 of the proposed Archive Scanning project.

·       Delegate to the Executive Director (Development) in consultation with Councillor Chapman [Cabinet Member for Citizen Focused Services and Council Companies], the Head of Finance and the Head of Law and Governance the authority to enter into any contracts necessary to undertake the project where they do not already have authority within the constitution.

The Executive Director of Development submitted a report to seek approval to appropriate land (change the statutory basis on which it is held by the Council) at 38-40 George Street to be held in future for planning purposes to facilitate the 38-40 George Street Regeneration Project. The appropriation relates to land owned by Oxford City Council.

Cabinet is recommended to:

·       Approve the exercise of the Council’s powers to appropriate land in its ownership at 38-40 George Street (See plan at Appendices 1 & 2) (“the Land”), for planning purposes under section 122 of the Local Government Act 1972 so as to rely on the use of the Council’s powers under sections 203-206 of the Housing and Planning Act 2016.

·       To authorise the Executive Director of Development in consultation with the Head of Finance/s151 officer and Head of Law and Governance and the Cabinet member (Deputy Leader (Statutory) - Finance and Asset Management) to agree the terms of settlements and any associated fees.

The Monitoring Officer (Head of Law and Governance) had submitted a report to provide Cabinet with a summary of the matters concerning the procurement of fleet which have led to governance issues arising and actions taken to prevent reoccurrence.

Cabinet is recommended to:

·       Note the historic matters set out in the report

·       Note the steps taken to address the governance issues to prevent reoccurrence 

·       Delegate to the Head of Finance (Section 151 Officer), in consultation with the Monitoring Officer, authority to award two contract for the purchase of fleet vehicles as detailed at section 17 to 23 of the report following the completion of the procurement process.  

Recommendation: That Cabinet resolves to approve the minutes of the meeting held on December 11 2024 as a true and accurate record.

Meetings are scheduled for the following dates:

All meetings start at 6.00 pm.

If Cabinet wishes to exclude the press and the public from the meeting during consideration of any of the items on the exempt from publication part of the agenda, it will be necessary for Cabinet to pass a resolution in accordance with the provisions of Paragraph 4(2)(b) of the Local Authorities (Executive Arrangements) (Access to Information) (England) Regulations 2012 on the grounds that their presence could involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as described in specific paragraphs of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972.

Cabinet may maintain the exemption 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.

Part Two – matters exempt from publication