The Director of Corporate Strategy submitted a report to seek the Cabinet’s approval for the Council’s annual Business Plan Priorities 2025 to 2026; and to provide an update on delivery of the 2024 to 2025 Business Plan.

Cabinet is recommended to:

1.    Agree the draft Oxford City Council annual Business Plan priorities 2025 to 2026, which set out the Council’s priority work for the next financial year beginning 1 April 2025;

2.    Delegate authority to the Director Corporate Strategy in consultation with the Council Leader to make any further minor amendments to the Business Plan priorities before implementation, provided that such amendments do not materially affect the substance of the Business Plan;

3.    Note the progress made in delivery against the actions set out in the Business Plan 2024 to 2025.

The Director of Corporate Strategy had submitted a report to seek the Cabinet’s approval for the Council’s Annual Business Plan Priorities 2025 to 2026; and to provide an update on delivery of the 2024 to 2025 Business Plan.

Councillor Brown presented the report. She thanked the officers for their work on this report. Councillor Brown said that the plan focuses on the delivery of the Council’s priorities. Councillor Brown noted the slight amendments from Scrutiny and the useful recommendations that had come from the Committee.

Lucy Cherry, Policy and Partnerships Officer, outlined the process that they had taken to develop the plan. She stated that they had reviewed the last business plan, aligned it with the Council’s Strategy, and colleagues across services provided a list of possible deliverables. The Policy and Partnerships Officer said that was then filtered down and they had held a workshop with the Corporate Leadership Team (CLT), and business leads to filter down the list to 34 key actions. She noted that many other proposals that came forward which were not included in this plan would be taken forward in individual service area plans. The Policy and Partnerships Officer said that this had been cross Council and cross service contribution to the plan, and they think this leads well into the Council’s strategy.

Councillor Hollingsworth asked about priority 4, specifically first action within the year two actions, on page 44. He asked about the aspiration for meeting energy efficiency targets and noted that the non-housing targets and housing targets said two different things. He asked for clarification regarding the goal for average EPC in Council housing. 

Councillor Smith responded and said that their goal is for 95% of council homes to have an EPC rating of C.

Councillor Brown advised that they should remove the word average in that part of the report so that this would be more clearly stated.

Councillor Hollingsworth commented on the significant impact that this target would have on people’s lives and stated that they should be pleased that this was included as a target. He stated that this was an important development for people’s lives and for the environment.

Councillor Brown said that she was proud of the ambitious plan and that it reflects their ambitions for the city, for citizens, and the city’s businesses. Councillor Brown state that there were a lot of good things in the plan, but that it would take a lot of work to ensure that the plan is delivered. Councillor Brown expressed hope that they would be able to deliver on the ambitious plan before them.

Councillor Munkonge noted that there were improvements and increases in investments in the leisure centres. He noted that they are continuing this investment program, where other local authorities are closing these types of programs, and that this was a point of pride for him in the plan.

Councillor Chapman commented on priority five. He said that it was good to see these priorities and that he was particularly proud of the work they are doing to develop staff within the organization. On the ICT AI connectivity issue, Councillor Chapman noted that there was interesting work going on with members of staff that are undertaking parttime AI apprenticeships, and he would like to hear more about that going forward.

Councillor Hollingsworth expressed praise for priority two in the plan. Councillor Hollingsworth noted the importance of meeting the needs of their stakeholders and investors, while also signalling to central government that they are a fast-growing economy and city. He stated that another important element was that this economic growth should be for all people in this city, not just some communities.

Cabinet resolved to:

1.    Agree the draft Oxford City Council annual Business Plan priorities 2025 to 2026, which set out the Council’s priority work for the next financial year beginning 1 April 2025;

2.    Delegate authority to the Director Corporate Strategy in consultation with the Council Leader to make any further minor amendments to the Business Plan priorities before implementation, provided that such amendments do not materially affect the substance of the Business Plan;

3.    Note the progress made in delivery against the actions set out in the Business Plan 2024 to 2025.