Content

Resolved
 
(1)           
That the following
motion be adopted:
 
Winter Fuel Payments
“This Council
deplores the government’s precipitous decision to cut Winter
Fuel Payments (WFPs) ahead of its budget on 30 October
2024.  
 
Age UK estimates
that the government’s changes to WFPs could adversely affect
as many as two million pensioners across the country, many of whom
need support to stay warm this winter. In the Banbury constituency
alone, 17,638 pensioners are set to be affected by the
decision.
 
This Council
resolves to request that:
 
(i)             
the Executive launch a countywide awareness campaign working with
our fellow City and District Councils, Oxfordshire County Council,
local NHS partners, and charitable, civic and religious groups, to
encourage elderly residents who are eligible for means-tested
benefits such as Pension Credit to register and claim them to
ensure that they continue to receive WFPs this Winter;
 
(ii)            
the Leader of the Council writes to the Chancellor of the
Exchequer, urging a review of the government’s decision to
means-test WFPs without public consultation and asking HM Treasury
to ensure that vulnerable pensioners, particularly those who are
eligible for, but who do not – or cannot – claim, other
benefits under current thresholds are protected from fuel poverty
in her forthcoming budget; and
 
(iii)          
the Executive builds on the Council’s notable successes in
tackling food insecurity and providing community food grants by
prioritising monies within its current and/or the 2025/6 budget to
ensure that pensioners who are in genuine hardship, but who are not
otherwise eligible for other government support, are helped through
the Winter.”
 
(2)           
That the following
motion be adopted:
 
‘Primary Care’
health services across North Oxfordshire
“This Council
recognises the need to improve ‘Primary Care’ health
services across North Oxfordshire.
 
Primary Care
expansion is the remit of the Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and
Berkshire West Integrated Care System Board (‘BOBICS’)
whose Primary Care Estates Strategy acknowledges the scale of
developer contributions that are available to support such vital
public services.
 
Regrettably, since
the adoption of the Supplementary Planning Document in 2018, it is
estimated that only 15% of funds available have been requested and
secured within the Cherwell District Council area. This must
improve.
 
Accordingly, this
Council request that its Leader writes to the Chief Executive of
BOBICS, copied to its Place Director for Oxfordshire and its Senior
Primary Care Estate Manager, to request that it:
 
(i)             
more consistently requests developer contributions on all planning
applications of 10 or more dwellings;
 
(ii)            
considers using this funding in part for ICT Infrastructure to
support primary care expansion;
 
(iii)          
work more closely with this Council to ensure the release the s.106
contributions currently allocated to, or held by, Cherwell District
Council; and
 
(iv)          
works with this Council on both its Local Plan review, the
Community Infrastructure Levy consultation and its review of the
Supplementary Planning Document to ensure better and more
coordinated provision of vital health services.
 
This Council
further calls on its Leader to request a meeting between BOBICS and
Leaders of all political groups and Officers to discuss how we
could improve the delivery of Primary Care across North
Oxfordshire.”
 

(3)           
That the following
motion be adopted:
 
Neurodiversity
“Around
1-in-7 people in the UK are neurodivergent, experiencing the world
differently from others. Neurodivergence is associated with a range
of conditions including, but not limited to ADHD, Autism, Dyslexia,
Developmental Language Disorder, Dyspraxia, and Dyscalculia.
 
People with
neurodivergent traits and conditions face a range of challenges
across our society, including finding employment, increased
likelihood of mental health diagnoses, and trouble accessing public
services.
 
I hope Members will
agree that we should act to reduce barriers faced by neurodivergent
individuals to make Cherwell more neurodiversity friendly.
 
To meet this aim,
this Council resolves to ask the Executive to:
 
·      
add neurodiversity within 12 months as part of EDI strategy/plan
that ensures our organisation and services identify and meet the
needs of the neurodiverse community.
·      
Promote acceptance and understanding of neurodiversity through
celebrating awareness-raising campaigns.
·      
Look at training for all on neurodiversity so they may recognise
the growing impact of neurodivergent conditions on the issues they
deal with on behalf of service users / constituents.
·      
Ensure neurodiversity is considered within the Council’s
well-being goals and strategy.
·      
Encourage neurodivergent individuals to apply for employment with
the council or participate in public life, for example by running
to be a Councillor.
·      
 Review and implement reasonable
adjustments for elected members, to ensure the role of Councillor
is accessible to people with neurodivergent traits and conditions
so the skills and talents of all people can be harnessed for the
benefit of the residents of Cherwell.
·      
And finally, for inclusivity, to extend any reasonable adjustments
more widely.”
 

(4)           
That the following
motion be adopted:
 
Campsfield House
Immigration Detention Centre, Kidlington
“Campsfield
House Immigration Detention Centre in Kidlington was closed in 2019
after decades of campaigning by refugee support groups and Cherwell
residents, and the publication of two government commissioned
reviews criticising the UK’s migrant detention system. The
leader of the reviews, the Prison Ombudsman, Sir Stephen Shaw,
described the detention system as indiscriminate, inhumane and
hugely wasteful.   
 
In 2022 the
Conservatives announced plans to re-open and double the size of
Campsfield House to support its Rwanda Resettlement Scheme. The new
Labour government have thankfully cancelled that scheme, removing
the main rationale for the plans for Campsfield, but they have
since announced their intention to continue with the re-opening.
This has been criticised by migrants’ rights groups including
Asylum Welcome, Detention Action, The Refugee Council, Amnesty
International UK and the Keep Campsfield Closed group.
 
Cherwell has a
proud tradition of welcoming refugees and providing sanctuary from
oppression and war. The re-opening of Campsfield House is
a stain on our district and contradicts government recommendations
into migrant detention in the UK. 
 
Council therefore
requests that the Leader of the Council writes to
the Home Secretary calling on her to :
 
1.    
Abandon the re-opening of Campsfield House.
 
2.    
Outline plans to reduce, rather than increase, the number of people
held in detention.
 
3.    
Focus on accelerating the processing of asylum claims to reduce the
huge number of individuals trapped in the system.
 
4.    
Develop a more humane migration policy, including the establishment
of safe and legal routes for people to claim asylum.”
 
 
For information: on being put to the vote, the motion
“Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Act
2023” was lost.