Questions on notice under Council Procedure Rule 11.10(b) may be asked of the Lord Mayor, a Member of the City Executive Board or the Chair of a Committee.

 

Questions on notice must, by the Constitution, be notified to the Head of Law and Governance by no later that 9.30am on Friday 5^th October 2012.

 

Full details of any questions for which the required notice has been given will be circulated to Members of Council before the meeting.

(a)       Question notified in time for replies to be provided before the Council meeting

 

(1)       Question to the Board Member, City Development (Councillor Colin Cook) from Councillor Craig Simmons

 

Planning enforcement

 

What action are planning enforcement officers taking against cafes and restaurants (A3 use class) that are operating without change of use in A1 premises?

 

In the past year, how many warning or prosecutions have been issued to A3 businesses operating out of A1 premises?

 

How is the Portfolio Holder ensuring that the proportion of A1 units does not fall below 50% on the Cowley Road and what is the percentage now?

 

Response: Planning enforcement officers open an enforcement investigation and examine the need for planning permission in response to every complaint received, including where this relates to concern that an alleged café or restaurant (A3) that would appear to be operating without a change of use permission in A1 premises.

 

Where it is established that there is a need for planning permission then applicants would normally have the option of submitting a retrospective planning application to seek to regularise the unauthorised use / works, otherwise the case is closed. Where development, (use or works), remains unauthorised; if acceptable and not harmful, no further action is taken. If harm is identified then officers consider whether it is expedient to take enforcement action, and if the answer is yes, they proceed accordingly seeking to stop the breach of planning control.

 

No ‘warnings’ or prosecutions have been issued as unauthorised uses do not constitute a criminal offence. However officers have investigated or are investigating all allegations of unauthorised A3 uses in A1 premises. Over the last year there have been seven investigations of alleged unauthorised food and drink uses in Class A1 retail premises. Three of which have been closed and four are currently under investigation.  

 

The Council’s planning service determine planning applications in accordance with the Council’s adopted planning policies and where development proposals do not comply with those policies and there are no material considerations that indicate otherwise, proposals are refused.  Where unauthorised changes of use occur, planning enforcement officers investigate, as above and, if expedient, take enforcement action.

 

The current proportion of Class A1 retail uses along the Cowley Road secondary shopping frontage is 50.34% based upon a very recent survey in August 2012, (which is just above the 50% Oxford Local Plan policy threshold).

 

Councillor Simmons in a supplementary question asked if the enforcement was proactive.  In response Councillor Cook said no, this was not the case.

 

(2)       Question to the Board Member, City Development (Councillor Colin Cook) from Councillor Elise Benjamin

 

                        Oxford Heritage Plan

 

Does  the Portfolio Holder agree with the officers comment at the Inspectors Review of the Sites and Housing that Oxfords Heritage Plan was only a ‘background consideration’ when it came to planning applications.

 

Response: Council officers do not recall commenting at the Examination that the Heritage Plan was ‘only a background consideration’.  In their response to the Inspector officers confirmed that the Heritage Plan will be an important material consideration in all relevant Development Control decisions and given considerable weight.  

A minor change has been agreed with the Inspector, as requested by the Oxford Preservation Trust, to confirm that development should respect and draw inspiration from Oxford’s unique historic environment and that further evidence relating to the historic environment will be provided by the Heritage Plan. The changes are now included in the Inspector’s Main Modifications that will be published later this month for public consultation for six weeks.

The Heritage Plan is made up of a suite of studies that examine particular aspects of Oxford's heritage - its historic areas and communities, archaeology, the historic skyline, historic buildings and it’s tree stock for example. Through this work we are developing methodologies, (already nationally recognised as best practice), that help us to understand the heritage value of a place and to understand the nature of impacts that might arise from new development.

The need for a Heritage Plan was addressed in the Core Strategy and it is out of this that the current work is being undertaken in partnership with OPT and with funding from English Heritage.  Whilst the Heritage Plan is not a policy document - it provides the evidence to inform policy. It must be remembered that there are already policies within the Core Strategy and Local Plan to inform heritage management.

A web site explaining the Heritage Plan, it's constituent parts, and it's relationship to planning policy, will be going live in November.

 

(3)       Question to the Board Member, City Development (Councillor Colin Cook) from Councillor Mark Mills

 

                        Sites and Housing DPD

 

What will the administration change as a result of the planning inspector’s negative comments about important sections of the Sites and Housing DPD?

 

Response: The Inspector has now closed the sitting part of the Examination into the Sites and Housing DPD. Overall the Inspector has been very positive about the Council’s document. It is true that there were some important policies that attracted strong opposition but that was to be expected. On these policies the Inspector has been helpful in seeking further explanation and justification for the Council’s policy approach. Officers have also agreed to make some changes to the policies in response to the Inspector’s prompting, and also in response to comments from objectors. These ‘Modification’s’ will be published later in the month for public consultation for six weeks. The Inspector will then consider any further written comments on these modifications, before sending the City Council her report by mid-January.

 

(4)       Question to the Board Member, Leisure Services (Councillor Van Coulter) from Councillor David Williams

 

Pool Maintenance in Oxford

 

Would the Portfolio Holder agree with me that there seems to besome discrepancy between the public statements as to the cost of maintenance and repairs of Temple Cowley Pool (£97,000) and the official budget costings of £15,000?

 

Could the Portfolio holders give a breakdown of the repairs and maintenance costs (actual…not press release material) of the other pools in Oxford in 2010 and 2011?

 

Response: No, the £15,000 is just the capital element paid by the council. The additional amounts that make up the £97,746 are the council’s revenue expenditure and costs paid directly by Fusion Lifestyle who have responsibility for the day to day repairs.

 

	Council Costs			Fusion Costs			Total Costs
	2010-11	2011-12		2010-11	2011-12		2010-11	2011-12
Temple Cowley Pool	31,730	24,903		69,430	72,843		101,161	97,746
BBL Pool	55,796			10,036	10,529		65,832	10,529
Hinksey Pool	86,474	158,155		32,270	33,856		118,744	192,011
Ferry LC	78,942			76,229	79,976		155,171	79,976
Barton Pool	31,730			54,395	57,068		86,125	57,068

 

Notes

 

The 10/11 council expenditure at Ferry and Barton Leisure Centres was for backlog maintenance works. As this backlog has been completed the full responsibility for maintenance at these sites is held by Fusion Lifestyle.

Over this period Hinksey Pool tank has been re lined.

 

Councillor Williams in a supplementary question asked if the Board Member would agree that despite the lack of investment the Temple Cowley Pool was doing well.  In response Councillor Coulter did not agree and said that it was wrong to compare the Temple Cowley Pool with the Hinksey Pool which had recently been relined at a cost of £100k.

 

(5)       Question to the Board Member, Customer Services and Regeneration (Councillor Val Smith) from Councillor Sam Hollick

 

Council Tax Reduction Scheme

 

While I’m sure all Councillors welcome the Council’s intention to replace, for this year, the funding cut by central government in the Council Tax Reduction Scheme, I am concerned that the consultation on the scheme only seeks to gain support for cuts in the future. Does the Board Member recognise that any reduction in this benefit will affect people on low incomes, and will they pursue future funding for the scheme, including the option of increasing the council’s revenue, to avoid a benefit cut?

 

Response: On the latter question - of course we realise this, which is exactly why - having failed to persuade the government to think again about this disastrous policy - not only have we committed to continuing to fund the scheme in full, but have been successful in persuading other districts to do likewise.  I do not agree with the councillor's assessment of the consultation - it does what any consultation should do, and tries to elicit people's views.  However, he can be reassurred that, while future years' budgets will be set by Full Council at the appropriate time, the administration is entirely committed to mitigating the government's disastrous cut to this benefit as far as we can.

 

(6)       Question to the Board Member, Customer Services and Regeneration (Councillor Val Smith) from Councillor Jean Fooks

 

                        Wi-fi connectivity in St. Aldates Chambers

 

The new Customer Services centre relies heavily on computers and systems all working together.  I hear that wi-fi does not cover the whole ground floor – this makes it impossible for people to access online facilities at times. When will this be rectified?

 

Response: Council staff and customers accessing self service options within the Contact centre do not require WiFi access. Full access to all of the Council’s online services is already available via the Council’s network in the Customer Service centre. 

 

WiFi is also being installed in St Aldates Chambers. It is expected that the equipment installations be completed by the end of October 2012.

 

Once live, the WiFi will allow access to the wider internet, with controls restricting inappropriate websites to allow the Council to comply with best practice.

 

The WiFi is not connected to the Councils Data Network.

 

Access for guests wishing to use the WiFi will be managed by the Facilities Management Team although regular users will be setup to automatically connect to their own secure link. Members and Officers will use the same account they use for the Town Hall WiFi

 

(7)       Question to the Board Member, Customer Services (Councillor Val Smith) from Councillor Stuart McCready

 

                        Telephone delays

 

In September I experienced delays of up to 20 minutes (one of my constituents reported a delay of 40 minutes) in getting through to the Oxford City Homes repairs service by telephone. What is the explanation for this poor service?"

 

Response: We experienced a high number of repair calls during September, an increase of nearly 500 compared to August.  The average wait time for customers was 5mins 44 seconds but obviously there are busier times of the day when customers experience a longer delay. 

 

We are aware of some delays in reporting repairs and in response to this; we are currently training staff on this service and intend to continue to increase the number of staff available to handle repair calls.

 

In addition, we are currently undertaking work to improve the speed of the Customer Relationship Management system, Lagan and it is anticipated that this will increase the performance of the system. A procurement exercise is also being carried out to improve our telephony software to enable us to manage calls more effectively, for example through the use of voice recognition, messaging and workforce planning functionality.

 

Opportunities to promote ‘channel shift’ with customers, encouraging them to access the Council’s website rather than calling the Contact Centre or visiting the office are also being considered.  Appropriate publicity is being investigated and we are using opportunities such as ‘Your Oxford’ to encourage customers to access the website where they can. This should also ease pressure on call waiting times.

 

(8)       Question to the Board Member, Cleaner, Greener Oxford (Councillor John Tanner) from Councillor Jean Fooks

 

                        Workplace Travel Co-ordinator and travel plan

 

I see that the Council has just appointed a new Workplace Travel Coordinator. She is currently producing a workplace travel plan. How long ago is it that we were told that this was in production? Why has it taken so long for someone to be appointed to produce a Green travel plan for the City Council? When will we be given the figures for current travel to work modes? And when can we expect to see the long-awaited Plan?

 

Response: The Workplace Travel Co-ordinator has just begun her work. There has been no undue delay in producing a workplace travel plan.  Oxford City Council quite rightly has focussed initially on reducing its own carbon footprint.  But we estimate that at least half our staff already use means other than motor cars to get to work.  As soon as we have more information about how our staff get to and from work the City Council will consider, in consultation with employees, what else might be done to promote walking, cycling and use of public transport.  I will then report to Council on the outcome.

 

Councillor Fooks in a supplementary question asked the Board Member to give assurance that this would happen.  In response Councillor Tanner said that he had responded to the question, but added that the Environment and Carbon Board had taken the view that it was important to reduce the Council’s carbon by 5%.

 

(9)       Question to the Board Member, Cleaner, Greener Oxford (Councillor John Tanner) from Councillor Graham Jones

 

                        Council electric vehicles

 

Will he please say how many vehicles the Council has now, how many are electric vehicles, what emission standard(s) the rest meet, and when the various components of the fleet are due for renewal.

 

Will he please set out in detail the medium- and long-term plans to re-equip the various parts of the fleet with (a) low-emission, and (b) electric vehicles, with cost comparisons as between (a), (b), and re-equipping with conventionally powered vehicles? Will he include infrastructure costs (e.g. charging points) as well as the capital and running (i.e. revenue) costs in each case?

 

Will he also say how many charging points are already installed and where, and how many are planned?

 

Response: A report on the ‘Extension of Alternatively Fuelled Vehicles to the Council’s Fleet’ was submitted to the City Executive Board on 4^th July 2012.

 

We currently have 278 road registered vehicles and plant of which 8 are electric. The emission standards vary within the fleet and are dependent upon the age of the vehicle. Our policy is to only purchase vehicles fitted with the highest Euro standard engines at the time of ordering whilst ensuring that they can efficiently carry out the task required.

 

We also look at the possibility of replacing conventionally fuelled vehicles with electric at the time of procurement.

 

We constantly monitor vehicle usage throughout the fleet and where appropriate discuss with the user department the possibility of changing to electric when their vehicle is due for replacement.

 

In the short term 2 electric cars joined the fleet earlier this year.  We have also purchased a small electric tipper vehicle for litter collection within the city centre. It is planned to purchase 3 more electric cars/vans in this financial year’s capital replacement programme and a further 3 in next year’s Capital Replacement Programme. Also within this year’s capital programme we have 2 hybrid 3.5 ton tippers scheduled for delivery in December. 

 

In the medium term we intend to purchase 4 more electric cars/vans in the 2013-14 Capital Vehicle Replacement Programme.  If the current trend of manufacturer support continues we may be able to increase this to 5 vehicles within the budget.

 

In the long term Direct Services will continue to assess all alternatively fuelled, hybrid and electric vehicles.

 

The major manufacturers of Large Goods Vehicles are working towards the production of commercially available hybrid chassis. As yet the choice is very limited and cost prohibitive.  Industry sources suggest that viable and affordable chassis will be available in the near future.

 

We have a rolling 7 year Capital Programme. This is currently being updated but the draft can be made available to you should you require it.

 

We are unable to provide a comparison for low-emission vehicles but there is a comparison table within the report to CEB between an electric vehicle and conventionally fuelled vehicle (see page 6).

 

Charging Points:

 

In-house (exclusive use of OCC vehicles) 13 Amp trickle charge points are available at

 

Cowley Marsh Depot x 11

Horspath Road x 2

Cutteslowe Park x 2

Westgate Car Park x 1

 

Public accessible Quick Charge points are available at the Westgate Car Park and at 10 other public locations around the city (plugged in places). Details are available on the Council’s website.  Further charging points can be installed as necessary and when economically viable. 

 

Our in-house charging points are standard all-weather 13amp outlets of minimal costs (as little as £70 per unit to fit dependent on distance from the mains)

 

I have no information on the costs of installation of fast charge public access charging points (plugged in places). Environmental Development may be able to supply this information.

 

Councillor Jones in a supplementary question asked the Board Member if he would accept that as presently planned even by 2017 the Council would still need to replace half of its vehicles.  Would he support a more radical replacement programme and would he pass on the Councils thanks to the Team that achieved a ranking along with Birmingham City Council. 

 

Councillor Tanner in response agreed to pass on the thanks to the Team, but stated that invest to save bids had to save money.

 

(10)     Question to the Deputy Leader of the Council (Councillor Ed Turner) from Councillor Jean Fooks

 

                        St Clements Car Park planning application costs

 

Please could you tell Council how much the City Council has spent on preparing the planning applications for development at St Clements car park?

 

Response: The City Council has not spent any money on preparing the planning applications. The cost has been borne by the applicant, Watkins Jones.

 

(11)     Question to the Leader of the Council (Councillor Bob Price) from Councillor Mark Mills

 

Plain English awards

 

The council is listed on the website of the Plain English Campaign as being amongst the organisations which have been awarded at least one of its Crystal Marks. How many such awards does the Council have and what documents do they relate to?

 

Response: The Council has in the past been awarded five Crystal Marks for the following documents:

 

Tenancy Agreement

Tenants’ Handbook

Housing Benefit application form

Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit application form

 

Staff manual of Tenants’ Services (withdrawn August 2000)

 

Councillor Mills in a supplementary question asked if the Leader could see any advantages in making wider use of it.  In response Councillor Price said no as that approach tended to take a long time and tended to change the meaning of the text.

 

(b)       Questions notified by the deadline in the Constitution where no reply in advance of the meeting was given

 

(12)     Question to the Board Member, City Development (Councillor Colin Cook) from Mike Gotch

 

City Executive Board Minutes 12 September 2012 Item 35 [page 105 main agenda] Monitoring of Parking adjacent to City Parks:

 

What are the proposals for the full and proper monitoring of displacement car parking adjacent to Cutteslowe Park?

 

Will the monitoring exercise include all affected roads east of Banbury Road?

 

Will local councillors be involved in the monitoring?

 

When will the results be presented to Council?

 

Response: Councillor Cook said that he would give a written response which would be appended to the minutes of this meeting.

 

(13)     Question to the Deputy Leader of the Council (Councillor Ed Turner) from Councillor Mike Gotch

 

                        Asset Management Plan – Energy consumption

 

Asset Management Plan - Appendix 1 Page 37 [page 77 of the main agenda] Measure 5, states that Oxford’s benchmarked energy consumption is 50% of the CIPFA average, yet our costs are 35% higher.

 

What is the explanation, and what research is being conducted to explain and then correct the discrepancy?

 

Response: Councillor Turner said that he and officers were aware of the anomalies and these were being investigated and once this was done, Members would be informed.

 

(14)     Question to the Deputy Leader of the Council (Councillor Ed Turner) from Mike Gotch

 

                        Asset Management Plan – Water consumption

 

Asset Management Plan - Appendix 1 Page 37 [page 37 main agenda] Measure 6, states that Oxford’s water consumption is 2.5 times higher than the benchmarked CIPFA average.  We do not have 2.5 times the average benchmarked number of swimming pools in Oxford.

 

What is the explanation, and what is proposed to correct the excessive water consumption?

 

Response: Councillor Turner said that he and officers were aware of the anomalies and these were being investigated and once this was done, Members would be informed.