Transcript

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Good afternoon, everyone. It's two o'clock and welcome to Wood Green and the West Oxfordshire District Council's executive. Here we're in the new council facility and we're ready to start our executive meetings. So, we start with page two which is the apologies for absence, item one. Are there any non-chair? Two declarations for interest. Declarations of-- none has been indicated. Item three, the minutes of the previous meeting on pages seven to ten and the-- do you approve the minutes of the previous meeting and these are for accuracy. Are you happy executive for me to actually sign this? Can I have a proposer and seconder? So, I'm proposing and seconding Councillor Smith. Are you all in agreement? [ Inaudible Remark ] Four is the receipt of announcements. I have none. Does any other member of the executive have any? None. So, moving on to item five, participation of the public. A non-leader. Everyone is busy. Item six, reports from the overview and scrutiny committee. So, it's my understanding, leader, that we'll take that as part of agenda item nine which relates to the subject matter. That's correct. So, we'll deal with that then. Item seven, matters raised by audit and governance committee. None, chair. The committee has not met since the last meeting of the executive. OK. So, speedily moving on to the more substantive item of changes to customer telephone access timings which are found on pages 11 to 26. And I hand over to Councillor Smith. Thank you, leader. Yes. So, the purpose of this report is to propose that the trial has been ongoing for a while now, should become a permanent arrangement on the basis of the data that's been gathered during that trial. And the background here-- excuse me, the background here is that over the last few years, the council have been introducing new digital channels and improving those that existed already. And with the pandemic and the change in behavior that occurred there, we've seen a lot more use of those alternative service access channels. And a lot of the service request have come through there which presented an opportunity for the council to trial the reduction in the hours of opening for the customer contact center. And the sort of headline is that we believe that the trial has been successful and the details are in this report. The report outlines the data that we've gathered, the customer reaction and the outcomes from the trial period. And we've seen an uptake in digital channels that's helped to produce a reduction in telephone calls and that's allowed these changes to be implemented reasonably seamlessly. So, there's a fair bit of data in this report. If you go down to 2.3, basically what we've seen is a change in the volume of calls and this is for WODC and Cotswold District Council combined has reduced by 37% over the last three years. And the use of digital forms has increased by 350%. And so, the assumptions that we made before this trial about the kind of channel shift that we were seeing have been proven to be accurate. And we think that it's appropriate to continue to improve the existing digital offerings and we would expect take up to increase. In terms of the trial becoming a permanent arrangement, it's important to note that this service is provided across two councils, this council and Cotswold District Council. And so, both councils would need to agree that this change should become permanent. So, we would need to see Cotswold mirroring this decision. But my understanding is that that's quite likely as a result of these results. So, in terms of the results, the main points are that there's-- one of the significant call volume reductions, we've had a large reduction in calls per week. Average wait times have decreased as a result of the additional capacity that's been put in during the busy lunchtime period. Abandonment rate has reduced to single figures. Customer satisfaction has improved and the council has featured in the national top 10 for telephone service customer satisfaction in almost every month of the trial and was top three in March. And the council has only received two formal complaints in relation to this service which were not specific to the experience of individuals but just more general contentions that the change might discriminate against the council's early residence. Complaints are not upheld on the basis that the telephone service is still there. It's just only available during the morning. And the other thing is that the surveys have shown that staff morale has been positively affected and officers have stated that we have more time to help customers who require more assistance and we're improving the customer experience by answering the calls quicker. In terms of out of hours service, that remains unchanged. And there is provision for calls to be received between two and five for key areas of reporting such as dangerous structures or assisting those who are presenting as homeless or under threat of homelessness and also for support for residents in the lead up to an election. And during the trial period, there's been an average of just three calls per day after 2 p.m. of which the majority are in relation to homelessness. So in terms of financial implications, it basically the-- in the original report that put this forward, we expected there to be a reduction of 0.32 hours per full-time equivalent and there are effectively 30 customer service officers across the two councils, 25 full-time equivalents. What that means is that there's a total efficiency saving in the region of 250,000 pounds which will be divided equally between the two councils. And that's already been built into the plan going forward. And so, I think if there's any questions or any more detail, the officer responsible for this business manager for this area, Mandy Fathers, is with us and she could help us on any of those. I would like to thank her and the other officers for the work that's gone on on this. I think it's a very good outcome. So, I would recommend that the executive resolve to agree to adopt reduced telephone access arrangements on a permanent basis. But if there are any questions and I'm happy to take them and also Mandy, I'm sure will do so. Thank you. So, you have proposed the recommendation and I will second it. So, we'll take any questions now if there are any questions or notes, comments at all. So, just thank the officers very much indeed for a very thorough and also please convey our thanks to the staff who have actually done an excellent job and have adapted well and with good grace as well. So, it's really down to them as well that the level of complaints is down to two and that is really stretching it. So, I kind of think that's a good news story really and we can just want to keep it consistently high standard as you've set the high bar which is fantastic. So, thank you very much on that basis. Are you happy executive to accept the recommendation as proposed and seconded? Agreed. Okay, thank you. And now we move on to item nine which is the approval for the upgrading of the public space CCTV provision and new monitoring arrangements found on pages 27 to 40. Councillor Sorrell. Thank you, leader. So, I'll just give a very brief introduction and then I'll address the recommendations of the overview and scrutiny committee which we alluded to earlier. So, this report has unavoidably been in gestation for quite a long time but I'm delighted that we're now able to move forward and take the opportunity to propose a major review and revamp of our CCTV system. So, as part of that process, we've undertaken a review of all the cameras and their optimization and there have been suggestions as to how they should be repositioned and moved in some places. Also, there's a proposed extension of the system to Chipping Norton which would extend the coverage to Chipping Norton Town Center with five additional cameras which I think is really good news and a very positive outcome of the review. We'll also be looking to upgrade the cameras to high definition digital standard and most importantly, we'll be looking to join the Thames Valley Police CCTV partnership so that there'll be a shared monitoring control hub and basically we will transfer all of our CCTV assets to Thames Valley Police and they will assume full operational responsibility for the system and its ongoing maintenance. Also, as part of that process, we will address the local funding formula that we had for funding of CCTV within the district to make it fairer. So, for example, I think in the past, Cartersdon Town Council were putting forward £10,000 for the cost of four cameras while Whitney were putting the same amount for 23 cameras. All of this needed to be sorted out and now we think we're coming up with a much fairer formula that will provide more appropriate contributions from each stakeholder. So, in short, we think we should be producing a more effective and comprehensive service which may include some real-time viewing of data. It should be a much more cost-effective solution. If you look into the report, you can see the data that shows that West Oxfordshire's contribution for what should be a better and more comprehensive service should be less than we're paying for our existing solution and it also should produce a fairer funding formula within the district. So, effectively, I think this is some good news always round. The Overview and Scrutiny Committee did make one recommendation which is on 4.7 of the report, the executive was asked to note that there was a potential funding shortfall of up to £55,000 and the steps that would be taken to address this new priority order, they were labelled A, B, C and D. And as an executive, we've agreed that C and D should be bumped up to effectively become A and B and B will become D. So that, basically, that's because B said that we would await the outcome of a bid to the Safer Streets Fund for £25,000 for some of the shortfall funding and the outcome of that bid was unlikely to be known until November. So, I think it's logically pointed out that we could actually progress with points C and D before that bid was decided. So that, in priority order, after undertaking the value engineering exercise, it will then be seeking a contribution from Thames Valley Police towards the shortfall and seeking contributions from town councils where new cameras are proposed and then following that in priority order, it's awaiting the outcome of a bid to the Safer Streets Fund. And this should enable us to progress the upgrades to the existing cameras in Whitley and Carterton and seek the contribution from Thames Valley Police and while still waiting for the outcome of the bid to the Safer Streets Fund, which is largely to support the proposed new cameras in Chipping Norton. So, that's what's proposed and I would certainly propose that we agree with the recommendations in the report. Thank you and I will second that. Are there any questions related to that? Councillor Meade. Yeah, I understand that this takes a while to do. Do you know exactly when it's going to start? Because it says in here 25/26, so is there an expectation that Carterton pays £10,000 for this year with this report proving that that's not actually what the value is? Do you know? Or is it a question you need to get back to me on? I refer that to Mr Barge initially. Yeah, I'm happy to take that. So, in recognition of where we're trying to get to, we did work with the clerk of Carterton Town Council and reduced the in-year contribution to £5,000.

• Councillor Molyneux. - Yes, I just, thank you, Leader. Carterton, there's only four cameras there at the moment. Is there any chance that that could be extended in the future or the location's possibly changed? Because there are some other hotspots I think have been identified. So, in relation to the four existing cameras, the piece of work that was done did suggest that I think it's at least two, possibly three of those could be relocated to give better coverage. I think in terms of additional cameras, 5.10 in the report does indicate that new partners can request additional cameras. It would need agreement with Tenants Valley Police. It would need to be in line with the Commissioner's Code, subject to privacy impact assessments. And it would be the requesting body that would meet the capital cost of those cameras. So I think the short answer is, yes, we can have a discussion but it would need to be an evidence-based approach to additional cameras.
• OK, any more questions? If there's no more questions, then we're going to put the recommendation as put by Councillor Saul, seconded by myself. Are we in agreement with the recommendations as on the paper with the recommendation of the overview and scrutiny committee being taken on board and noted as such? Are we agreed? - Agreed.
• Thank you. Let's move on then. And we're at item 10, which is the endorsement of the Oxfordshire Council's charter, which is found on pages 41 to 76, which I will actually lead off on. WODC's been working with the Oxfordshire Association of Local Councils, the County Council, the City and Cherwell South and Vale District Councils to develop an Oxfordshire Council's charter to provide a framework for better partnership working in Oxfordshire, which has been informed by thorough engagement with town and parish councils and village meetings to understand how the three tiers of local government can work more effectively together. WODC therefore endorses the charter's aims to work across all three tiers of local government in Oxfordshire to, one, enable stronger partnership working between Oxfordshire Councils, taking a cooperative, collaborative and collective approach when working together for the wellbeing of our diverse communities and improve service delivery and supporting the needs of our residents. And secondly and finally, to enhance local democracy by working together to empower residents and community participation in local democracy at all levels and recognising that local democracy goes wider than the election cycle. And therefore, I'm proposing that the recommendations are to note the contents of the Oxfordshire Council's charter, endorse the charter and agree to the signatory to the charter as the three recommendations. Are there... Sorry, I'm... Councillor Smith to second. Are there any questions on that? On that basis, therefore, are you all happy for us to agree the recommendation as put?
• Agreed. - Thank you very much. Moving on to Article, or Agenda Item 11, which is the Annual Report of the Director of Public Health, found on pages 77 to 150. And Councillor Poole is going to lead on this. Thank you. So it's just I'm proposing to note the contents of the report. The OCC's Director of Public Health is responsible for producing an annual report on the health of the local population. This year's report is focusing on the health impacts of climate change and the health and wellbeing benefits of positive climate action on the local population. A really easy to understand report, really positive about it. And it shows that there's evidence that there's immediate and positive health benefits that can be realised through climate action. And so just noting it, I think everyone should have a read of it because it is so easily accessible and it shows the actual evidence that there is our climate action and our, perhaps, what we want to happen has an impact on people within our communities. Thank you. And have I got a seconder to the recommendation to note the contents of the report?
• I would like to second it, please. - Councillor Arty-Cheska's second. Councillor Arty-Cheska's seconding. You wish to speak on that at all?
• Thank you very much. - Are there any questions? Councillor Dunbar.
• Thank you. I think it's a really good report. It's the first time I've seen a report which is so readable, which makes this direct link between the climate emergency and public health. One of the questions for us, I guess, is what we do with it. And certainly one of the things that we would like to do with it, I think, is to make sure that we always have that public health aspect in our minds when we're implementing policy and when we're working on new council plans. It's really quite striking in the data just what the impact of the poor climate conditions are. And so it's something worth noting and I hope we'll have resonance well beyond Oxfordshire.
• OK. Thank you. Anything to note from officers? Lovely. So on that basis, Councillor Poole is proposing the recommendation as put and Councillor Arty-Cheska has seconded that. Are we, as an executive, happy to accept the recommendations?
• Moving on to agenda item 12, which is the service performance report 2023-24, which is the quarter four, found on pages 151 to 210. And the purpose is to provide the details of the council's operational performance at the end of 23-24, that's January to March, effectively, of this year, and I'm going to, for a change, depart and actually bring forward the officer to actually head this because there are times that we, as executive members, do front a lot of what is being reported, but this just underpins the value of our staff and it did apply for others, but I've actually chosen, on this occasion, just to take this one out and actually lead with the officer who's actually brought this together and all the team that has actually made this a really positive report and I will hand over to you as a result. So would you like to introduce yourself and then actually just highlight the report?
• Thank you. Yeah, I'm Alison Borrett, the senior performance analyst for the council, and the main purpose of this report is to show you updates on your corporate plan and then your service performance indicators, your key performance indicators across all of the services to see how well the council's doing. Overall, for Q4, which, as Councillor Graham said, is January to March this year, the council's had a positive quarter and for the whole entire year, so March to... April to March, sorry, has been overall very, very positive. Some highlights on the progress on actions for your corporate plans are that the viability report for the community infrastructure levy charging schedule has been received and is currently under review by officers with the draft schedule expected to be presented to the executive in the coming months. All 23 properties acquired through the local authority housing fund have been completed with the exchange process finalised and allocation is currently underway. The executive approved the updated carbon action plan in March. The document redesign is underway and it's just about to go to the publication on the website. Under the HUG2 scheme, which is the home upgrade grant, 15 homes within the district have received a grant funding for energy efficiency upgrades. Highlights on service performance, which are better than target, processing times for council tax support and new claims fell below the 20-day target for the first time in three and a half years, with a cumulative yearly average of 19.5 days. Customer satisfaction, as we heard earlier, remains very high at 99%, against a target of 90%. Percentage for planning applications determined within the agreed time scales remain above target for all of the application types, so majors, minors and others, sitting between 75% and 97%. The number of missed bins per 100,000 collections has decreased to 81 against a target of 110. 99% of land charge searches were completed within 10 days against a target of 90, which is the first time since the start of the year. And then some service performance that's not quite hitting target, which is the percentage of council tax collected and non-domestic rates collected. So council tax collection sits at 97.7% for an in-year collection, and non-domestic rates sits at 97.5%, they're both compared to a target of 99%. However, there has been a consistent upward trend on collection rates over the previous years, and they are now nearing pre-pandemic levels of collection. 234 affordable homes have been delivered during the financial year, compared to the target of 274. Unfortunately, there have been delays in handover of some of the properties due to third-party work schedulings, which meant that there's been a pushback on the delivery of those, but they are expected either this quarter or next quarter. And then percentage of household waste recycled sat at nearly 52% against a target of 61%. That's just a specific quarter. The in-year is slightly higher than that, and sits at 56% for the whole of the year. The lower recycling percentages for the quarter are mirrored across the county, with increased levels of contamination reported. Further work is being done to analyse the data to find out where the problem is. However, recycling rates are still within the top quartile compared to all English district local authorities. And that's sort of a whistle-stop tour. Yeah, it is only a whistle-stop tour, but I think there's also some real improvements in leisure visits as well. I think the number of leisure visits have increased by at least 10% in the last quarter, which is significant. So that's another positive story. So I kind of think you've really summarised, which I couldn't do as well as you have, in the way you've done it, but that's because you've got first-hand experience and we owe it to you all for actually producing the report and the actual out-turns as well. So that hopefully gets relayed back to staff accordingly as well. So on that basis, are there any questions? Because I'm going to propose that we actually note the 23/24 Q4 service performance report, as in the papers. And, Councillor Smith, you're seconded. So if there's no questions, I'm looking around. Councillor Loeschke. I just have a comment. I would like to say that the new version of this report that we are having every quarter is fantastic. The design is great and it's very simple and very easy to absorb. So I would like to congratulate the team of officers for doing that. So thank you. So on that basis, I'll be happy to accept the recommendations as put. So moving on to Salt Cross Garden Village Area Action Plan, which is actually found on pages 211 to 250. Mr Hughes, I think I'm going to hand over to you on this one because this is an update which is a really useful update, brief but to the point and concise. Would you like to... I know that Mr Hargreaves couldn't be here today. So can I hand it over to you? Yes, thank you, leader. Just to quickly introduce this, this is really just, as the leader has said, just an update of where we're at with the Salt Cross Garden Village Area Action Plan. And there was a legal challenge which has been considered last year from a group around how the inspector had interpreted the zero carbon policy that would be included as part of the area action plan. The court decided that the appropriate inspector adopted what wasn't appropriate, wasn't legal and struck out that policy. We've been in contact with the planning inspector and we need to reopen the local plan examination just for that one policy. So it will be a focused exercise looking at that one policy. Since we drafted the plan, government guidance has changed. So there is a bit of technical work we need to do to look at the justification for our policy and we need to look at the precise way that we word that policy so there is some work that's required and then that would then get considered by the planning inspector. And in the report, there's the indicative timelines there which set out potentially hearing sessions in the autumn this year, allowing the council to consider and adopt the AAP hopefully early next year. I mean obviously it's a document we want to conclude and get to the final version because it's an important part of our local plan strategy for West Oxfordshire is the Garden Village. And I think we also are very conscious that the AAP sets out a really strong aspiration for it to be an exemplar development which sets a high standard of development in our district. And that's something we're bearing in mind as we go through the work we need to do. But yeah, so hopefully that helps and hopefully the update is useful for people and will continue with the work. Thank you very much. I will be proposing that we note the contents of the report. Councillor Arti Cesca? I would like to second this, please. Councillor Arti Cesca is going to second that. Are there any questions or comments on that basis? Therefore, are you happy to actually accept the recommendation and note the contents of the report? Moving on then to the West Oxfordshire District Council's Productivity Plan 2024, pages found 258 to 251. Okay. This is something that we've received quite short notice from the government. And it's basically laid out in the report. Mr Hughes, do you want to say something on this as it's something we already do anyway. So it's a bit strange us receiving this. But in any case, I'll hand over to you. Yeah, thank you, leader. And it came out as part of the local government settlement that we got from the government, a requirement for councils to produce productivity plans. And we received subsequently received a letter from the Ministry of State for the local government setting out what they were requiring councils to do. I mean the general point I'd say is that we've been working on productivity for some time as a council and we've got other plans in place to work on productivity. So the preparing a productivity plan is really about capturing that work. We've already done in that work, future work that we've got already planned to improve our productivity. So the purpose of this report is the timelines for submissions set by government is the 19th of July. We haven't now got an executive meeting which is timed in a timely manner to be able to deal with that at that meeting. And the work is still under preparation. So the report has got a recommendation to delegate a decision to me, which would then allow us to meet with the government timetable. And obviously in making that decision, I'd consult with the leader of the council on that draft productivity plan before we then submit it to the government as they require by the 19th of July. Right, I think that summarizes that, whoever the minister will be at that point. I'll have to wait and see. But I'm proposing to propose to put that recommendation to the executive. Seconder, Councillor Ed Mythe. Anyone wish to speak or comment or any questions? Okay, on that basis, can I put the recommendation to you? As in the paper, which is the two points that Mr. Hughes has just outlined to note the actual requirement from the government. And the second part is to agree the delegated decision as outlined by Mr. Hughes. Are we happy to accept that recommendation? Agree. Thank you. And then we need to exclude press and public for the next item because of the commercial sensitivity of material which cannot be actually disclosed in public. And therefore, I'm going to propose that we exclude the press and public. Please, Councillor Mythe's going to second that. Are we agreed to do that exclusion? We agree. And so, can anyone that's press or public please leave the space?