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.

List the names, posts and dates of death

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

The procedure for this meeting, including timings for the debate on the Council’s budget, capital programme and medium term financial strategy as recommended by Cabinet, is set out in the Council’s Constitution at Part 11.4. Any amendments to the procedure must be agreed by majority vote and will only apply to this meeting.

Public addresses and questions to the Leader or other Cabinet member received in accordance with Council Procedure Rules at 11.4 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 February 2026.

The briefing note will contain the text of addresses submitted by the deadline, and written responses where available.

A total of 30 minutes is available for this item. Responses are included in this time.

The Deputy Chief Executive for City and Citizen Services has submitted a report to seek agreement on the licence fees for 2026/27 where the council has discretion over the level of fee charged, following recommendation from the Licensing and Gambling Acts Committee on 9 February 2026.

Recommendation: Council resolves to:

1.    Agree the licence fees and charges for 2026/27 as recommended by the Licensing and Gambling Acts Committee and as set out in Appendix 1.

The Director of Planning and Regulation has submitted a report to seek agreement of the licence fees for 2026/27 where the Council has discretion over the level of fee charged, following recommendation at the General Purposes Licensing Committee on 9 February 2026.

Recommendation: Council resolves to:

1.    Agree the Miscellaneous Licensing Fees and Charges for 2026/2027 recommended by the General Purposes Licensing Committee as set out in Appendix 1.

The Deputy Chief Executive for City and Citizen Services has submitted a report to seek agreement on the licence fees for 2026/27 where the council has discretion over the level of fee charged following recommendation from the General Purposes Licensing Committee on 9 February 2026.

Recommendation: Council resolves to:

1.    Agree the licence fees and charges for 2026/27 as recommended by the General Purposes Licensing Committee and as set out in Appendix 1.

Under Section 25 of the Local Government Act 2003 there is a requirement for the Council’s Chief Financial Officer to report to Council on:

a)    the robustness of the estimates made for the purposes of the calculations of the budget; and

b)    the adequacy of the proposed financial reserves.

Council in considering its Budget should have regard to this advice.

Recommendation: That Council notes this report in setting its budget for 2026/27 and the indicative budgets for 2027/28 – 2029/30.

Appendix 3 to this item includes exempt information pursuant to Paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972. If Council wishes to discuss matters relating to the information set out in Appendix 3 to the report, it will be necessary for Council to pass a resolution to exclude the press and public from the meeting.

The Scrutiny and Governance Advisor has submitted a report of the Scrutiny Budget Review Group on the proposed budget., following endorsement at the Scrutiny Committee. The Chair of the Budget Review Group will present the report and recommendations.

Recommendation: Council is asked to note the recommendations of the Budget Review Group and Cabinet’s response.

The Group Finance Director has submitted a report to present the outcome of the budget consultation and approve the Council’s Medium Term Financial Strategy for 2027-28 to 2029-30 and 2026-27 Budget.

Recommendation: Council resolves to:

1.    Note the approval by Cabinet on 21 January 2026 and subsequently agreed by the Council on 26 January of an increase of 4.8% i.e. CPI+1% in line with the recent Government announcement referred to in paragraph 28 from 1st April 2026, giving an average weekly increase of £8.47 per week, and a revised weekly average social rent of £143.40 as set out in Appendix 5 based on a HRA budget as set out in Appendix 4;

2.    Approve the 2026-27 General Fund and Housing Revenue Account budgets and the General Fund and Housing Revenue Account Medium Term Financial Strategy as set out in Appendices 1-9, noting:

a)    the Council’s General Fund Budget Requirement of £32.185 million for 2026/27 and an increase in the Band D Council Tax of 2.99% or £10.66 per annum representing a Band D Council Tax of £367.38 per annum; and

b)    the General Fund and Housing Revenue Account Capital Programme as shown in Appendix 6;

3.    Agree the fees and charges shown in Appendix 7;

4.    Confirm the Council Tax Base for 2026-27 of 48,725.2 as per paragraph 17 below and Appendices 11 and 12 attached.

Amendments submitted by opposition groups (proposers may speak for up to 10 minutes). These amendments must be received by Committee and Member Services by 1.00pm three working days (Tuesday, 17 February 2026) before the meeting. These proposals will be voted on as one amendment for each group.

The Group Finance Director (Section 151 Officer) has submitted a report to provide the necessary calculations to enable the Council to set the 2026/27 Council Tax for Oxford.

Recommendation: Council resolves to:

1.    Approve the Council’s precept and Council Tax requirement of £18,191,281 including Parish Precepts and £17,900,664 excluding Parish Precepts.

2.    Approve the average Band D Council Tax figure (excluding Parish Precepts) of £367.38, a 2.99% increase on the 2025/26 figure of £356.72. Including Parish Precepts, the figure is £373.34, a 3.00% increase, noting that this is not the figure that is used to compare to the referendum limit (as set out in paragraphs 2 to 8 of the report).

3.    Approve a contribution of £10,000 to Old Marston Parish Council in recognition of the additional expenditure that the Parish Council incurs as a consequence of maintaining the cemetery in Marston (as set out in paragraphs 11 and 12 of the report).

4.    Approve the amount of £773,943 to be treated as Special Expenses (see paragraph 15 of the report).

5.    Approve the Band D Council Tax for the various areas of the city (excluding the Police and Crime Commissioner and Oxfordshire County Council’s precepts) as follows:

These figures include Parish Precepts and special expensing amounts as appropriate; in addition to the City Wide Council Tax of £351.50.

6.    Note Oxfordshire County Council’s precept and Band D Council Tax is as set out in paragraph 19 below

7.    Note the Police and Crime Commissioner for the Thames Valley’s precept and Band D Council Tax is as set out in paragraph 20 below, and

8.    Note the overall average Band D equivalent Council Tax is £2,678.40 including Parish Precepts (subject to confirmation of the Band D figures for Oxfordshire County Council).

The Group Finance Director (Section 151 Officer) has submitted a report to approve the Council’s Treasury Management Strategy for 2026/27 together with the Prudential Indicators for 2026/27 to 2029/30, following recommendation from Cabinet.

Recommendation: Council resolves to:

1.    Approve the Treasury Management Strategy 2026/27 as set out in paragraphs 11 to 56 of this report and the Prudential Indicators for 2026/27 – 2029/30 as set out in Appendix 2;

2.    Approve the Borrowing Strategy 2026/27 at paragraphs 32 to 33 of this report;

3.    Approve the Minimum Revenue Provision (MRP) Statement at Appendix 3 which sets out the Council’s policy on charging borrowing to the revenue account;

4.    Approve the Investment Strategy for 2026/27 and the investment criteria as set out in paragraphs 37 to 55 of this report and in Appendix 1;

5.    Approve the Treasury Management Scheme of Delegation at Appendix 4

The Group Finance Director (Section 151 Officer) has submitted a report to approve the Capital Strategy, following recommendation from Cabinet.

Recommendation: Council resolves to:

1.    Approve the Capital Strategy attached at Appendix 1.

The Group Finance Director (Section 151 Officer) has submitted a report to approve the Council Tax Reduction Scheme for 2026/27. To note that the current 2025/26 scheme has been through a public consultation and the proposed changed are reviewed with an Equality Impact Assessment.

Recommendation: Council resolves to:

1.    Approve the change to the existing Council Tax Reduction Scheme to the income bandings in accordance with Option 2 listed at paragraphs 32-37 within the report.

2.    Delegate authority to the Group Finance Director (Section 151 Officer) to draft the details of the new Council Tax Reduction Scheme for 2026/27

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.