At the Scrutiny Committee meeting on 1 July 2025, the Committee requested a report setting out the Council responsibilities in relation to managing and maintaining watercourses, ditches, streams and brooks that run alongside or through land owned by the City Council.

Cllr Anna Railton, Cabinet Member for Zero Carbon Oxford, Malcolm Peek, Property Services Manager and Michael Woods, Major Works Project Manager are invited to present the report and take part in discussions.

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

At the Scrutiny Committee meeting on 1 July 2025, the Committee requested a report setting out the Council responsibilities in relation to managing and maintaining watercourses, ditches, streams and brooks that run alongside or through land owned by the City Council. 

Councillor Anna Railton, Cabinet Member for Zero Carbon Oxford, Malcolm Peek, Property Services Manager and Michael Woods, Major Works Project Manager were present to respond to questions.  

Councillor Railton introduced the report and welcomed the ongoing work of officers.  

 
The Major Works Project Manager outlined the contents of the report, noting that it included content from across Council services.  

The Chair invited questions from the Committee.  

Councillor Ottino requested maps outlining the rivers and streams that the Council is responsible for and noted concern relating to the lack of progress with flood action plans for specific areas of the city.  

 
The Major Works Project Manager committed to sharing a map in the future and, in relation to the flood action plans, explained that due to feasibility issues, alternative options are now being assessed by the environmental sustainability team on behalf of Oxfordshire County Council. The Committee understood that actions arising from this should be apparent in due course. Councillor Railton seconded these comments.  

Councillor Ottino queried when the relevant reports would be received and emphasised the need for more urgency to ensure residents’ homes are not flooded.  

Councillor Jarvis queried what is involved with ditches surveys and what the resulting actions are, specifically whether there is a threshold for taking action on anything discovered. Councillor Jarvis also asked, in relation to brooks with blockages, what is the best route residents can you use to flag such issues and whether there is a clear plan for addressing these flood risks.  

The Property Services Manager outline the ongoing work to assess and plan future preventive maintenance, of which Oxford Direct Services already deliver most. Difficulties relating to waterway ownership were also explained; the Council does not have control over many areas which are privately owned. The Committee understood that ongoing close working with the County Council continues where funding is available. In relation to signposting the public, the Property Services Manager noting ongoing work to display information ore clearly online in relation to waterways ownership.  

Councillor Rowley, following from comments from Thames Water regarding the inadequacy of drains, asked what the Council does to identify issues and works when formulating a preventative maintenance plan. Councillor Rowley also asked what would happen if a ditch in the Council’s ownership was no longer adequate for drainage.  

The Chair noted that currently, work has often been delivered on an ad hoc or repair basis and asked how many ad hoc repairs have been completed since the Environment Agency pulled back.  

The Property Services Manager responded that these are not captured as a standalone work type by ODS. However, this would be raised with ODS to see if they would be able to provide this information going forward.

In response to the Chair’s question, the Major Works Project Manager explained that it would be hard to quantify the number of ad hoc repairs given that the Environment Agency did not pull back on a defined date, but rather over a phased period of time.  

Councillor Ottino queried what the expectations for ODS are in relation to litter in water areas. 

The Chair also queried how the Council can be sure of the quality and nature of reactive repairs completed by ODS. 

The Property Services Manager explained that ODS carry out planned maintenance, and any ad hoc tasks tend to be more reactive in nature, such as overgrowth clearance around plant works to ensure blockages are avoided. The Committee heard that this report focuses on how a more robust programme of planned preventative work can be implemented and the checks which are currently carried out by ODS; confidence was noted in the delivery of these. For any larger projects that require civil engineering, the Property Services Manager explained that ODS would facilitate these but not self-deliver them. 

Councillor Ottino noted his lack of confidence that ODS are adequately removing litter from ditches or streams.  

The Chair, in relation to the previous meeting of the Scrutiny Committee, also requested more clarity about when ODS would and would not retrieve litter from waterways    

The Property Services Manager committed to picking this up with ODS colleagues and reporting back.  

The Chair invited the Committee to consider possible recommendations. 

Councillor Corais joined the meeting during discussion of recommendations. 

The Committee resolved to recommend to Cabinet: 

1. That there is greater urgency in drawing up local flood risk action plans for the identified areas, specifically but not limited to Lobelia Road and Campbell Road, as well as other high flood risk areas. 

2. That there is clear framework setting out: 

·       the undertaking of routine clearances and ad hoc collection 

·       relevant timelines and circumstances, including when litter can safely be removed from watercourses 

·       a list of current equipment available to complete the clearance, together with any additional equipment that would be required to enable greater levels of removal. 

3. That Council work with ODS to start keeping records of the number of reactive repairs being undertaken to better inform any needs for maintenance plans.  

The Chair thanked Councillor Railton, the Property Services Manager, and the Major Works Project Manager.  

Councillor Railton, the Property Services Manager, and the Major Works Project Manager left the meeting and did not return.