Announcements by:

(1)          The Lord Mayor

(2)          The Sheriff

(3)          The Leader of the Council

(4)          The Chief Executive, Chief Finance Officer, Monitoring Officer

The Lord Mayor, Councillor Dee Sinclair made the following announcements:

(1)          Death of Bill Baker who had been a Labour Councillor for the South and then Iffley Fields Ward on the City Council between May 1986 and May 2006, when he retired from the Council.  He had also been the Leader of the Council from 1993 to 1996, Deputy Leader between 2002 and 2004 and held each Civic Office, namely Sheriff, Deputy Lord Mayor and Lord Mayor.  He had worked in the car factory and was a trades unionist.

The Council’s flag will be flown at half-mast on Monday 10^th February 2014, the day of his funeral.

Councillors Bob Price, Elise Benjamin and Jim Campbell spoke of Bill Baker’s time on the City Council and his support for the City, his constituents and community.

Council stood for a minutes silence in memory of Bill Baker.

(2)          Death of Tony Stockford who had been a Labour Councillor for the former Blackbird Leys Ward on the City Council between May 1992 and 2001.  He had also been an Oxfordshire County Councillor from November 1988 to May 2001 for the former Blackbird Leys Division.  He had retired from both Councils in July 2001.

Councillors Steven Curran, Elise Benjamin and Jean Fooks spoke of Tony Stockford’s time on the City, County and Parish Councils and his support for Oxford and especially his work for young people.

Council stood for a minutes silence in memory of Tony Stockford.

(3)          The following honours were awarded to residents of Oxford in the New Year Honours list:

MBE – Karen Hewlett. Tutor of the Department for Continuing Education, University of Oxford.  For services to building academic and cultural understanding between the UK and Russia and for her work in establishing the friendship links with PERM.

CBE – Peter Bennett Jones – For services to the entertainment industry and to charity, particularly through Comic Relief where he was Chair for 25 years.

OBE – Martin Peter Knopps – For services to Oxfam, where he was a former counsellor.

MBE – David Attlee Norman – Chair of the Governing Executive, Ruskin College – Services to adult education.

MBE – Marios Papadopoulous – Founder of Oxford Philomusica.

BME – Michele Clare Crawford – For services to young people and to charity in Oxford.

(4)          Thanked the following for their work and support during the recent floods in Oxford:

Oxford City Council

Environment Agency

Oxfordshire Fire and Rescue Service

County Council Emergency Planning, Highways and Social Services

Thames Valley Police

Volunteers, friends and neighbours

Thames Water had also commented that the partnership working in Oxford between the different bodies was the best in the country.

The Leader of the Council, Councillor Bob Price made the following announcements:

(1)          Nominations for the Civic Post Holders for 2014/15:

Lord Mayor – Councillor Mohammed Niaz Abbasi

Deputy Lord Mayor – Councillor Craig Simmons

Sheriff – Councillor Rae Humberstone

(2)          The City Deal agreement between local partners and national government was signed last week.  A key element of the deal was a growth strategy for the next 5 years.  The funding will boost innovation with the creation of Innovation Centres, accelerate the housing programme, provide support for new businesses, improve transport infrastructure and support apprenticeships and job creation.  A report on the Strategic Economic Plan would be presented to the City Executive Board, Scrutiny and to all Members in due course. 

Councillor Fooks welcomed the City Deal and congratulated Councillor Price and David Edwards for their work.  Councillor Simmons echoed Councillor Fooks.