The Oxfordshire County Council was scheduled to meet on 1 April 2025 to discuss a range of topics, including the Director of Public Health’s annual report, constitutional amendments, and a review of political balance on committees. The agenda also included motions on a national care service and banking hubs, as well as a report on interim arrangements for emergency decisions following the county council elections. The meeting was also scheduled to cover a report of the cabinet, and the use of urgency provisions.

Director of Public Health Annual Report

The council was scheduled to be informed about the structure, content, and key messages of the upcoming Oxfordshire County Council Director of Public Health Annual Report (2024/2025). According to the report pack, the report focuses on children and young people’s mental health and economic activity.

The report was structured as follows:

• Foreword by Ansaf Azhar, Director of Public Health and Communities
• Executive Summary
• Introduction, defining mental health and summarising its importance for Oxfordshire
• Section 2: Changing mental health among children and young people, presenting evidence and data sources
• Section 3: Mental health and unemployment, outlining the relationship between mental health and economic activity
• Section 4: What do we now works?, setting out a framework for addressing factors influencing mental health problems
• Section 5: What’s happening in Oxfordshire, describing ongoing work and input from the community and voluntary sector
• Section 6: Recommendations, including actions at individual, interpersonal, schools and communities, and wider environment levels

The report pack stated that the council was recommended to note the Director of Public Health’s Annual Report and to support actions and initiatives that will progress related work.

Constitutional Amendments

The council was scheduled to consider proposed amendments to the Council’s Constitution, as proposed by the Constitution Working Group, the Audit & Governance Committee and the Oxfordshire Health & Wellbeing Board.

The proposed changes included:

• Part 1.2 How Oxfordshire County Council Operates, to reflect the increased number of councillors from May 2025, clarify what is included in the Budget & Policy Framework, add the requirement to agree new posts with salary over £100,000, and modernise the language by referring to Council instead of Full Council.
• Part 1.3 Decision Making, to increase the threshold for Key Decisions to £1m revenue, and £2m capital, expenditure.
• Part 3.1 Council Procedure Rules, including to establish a 30 minute limit on the Report of the Cabinet, increase the number of signatures required to call an Extraordinary meeting of Council from 5 to 10, introduce a procedure to deal with any proposal for the removal of the Leader of the Council, clarify what Members can and cannot do if attending a meeting virtually, introduce an earlier deadline for receipt of petition requests and raise the number of signatures required to 50, ensure that a response to a petition is given at the meeting and by the relevant Cabinet Member, bring forward the deadline for requests to speak to three working days and reduce the maximum speaking time from 5 to 3 minutes, bring forward the deadline for questions from members of the public to five working days, limit each political group to one motion per meeting with allowance for one cross-party motion, to clarify the rules on Voting on Appointments, providing a worked example, and incorporate provisions around virtual participation in meetings so that Part 3.1A can be deleted.
• Delete Part 3.1A Virtual Meeting Procedure Rules.
• Part 3.3 Virement Rules to increase the financial limits in line with the changes to the Key Decision threshold.
• Part 4.2 Cabinet Procedure Rules to require that questions must be on items on the agenda and to bring forward the deadline for questions by one day and the deadline for responses by one day.
• Part 4.4 Delegated Decisions by Individual Cabinet Members to allow the option of holding delegated decision meetings virtually.
• Delete Part 4.6 Transport Advisory Panel.
• Part 5.1A Regulatory and Other Committees to provide a procedure for moving the dates of, or cancelling, meetings.
• Part 5.1B Health and Wellbeing Board to replace the Terms of Reference with those agreed by the Board in October 2022.
• Part 6.1A Overview and Scrutiny Committees to clarify that educational support for adults with learning difficulties will come under the scope of the People Overview and Scrutiny Committee and the Crime and Disorder meeting will come under the scope of the Place Overview and Scrutiny Committee.
• Part 6.1B Oxfordshire Joint Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee to reflect the changes in the Health and Care Act 2022.
• Part 6.1C Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire, Berkshire West Joint Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee Terms of Reference to add this to the Constitution.
• Part 6.2 Overview and Scrutiny Committee Procedure Rules to clarify that members of the public may suggest items for agendas, include the statutory deadlines for Cabinet Members to agree a response to scrutiny recommendations, provide clarity on the valid reasons for call-in, set out the call-in procedures and the process for dealing with the outcomes, specify that call-in will only apply to Key Decisions, reduce the call-in period from 5 to 3 working days, reduce the current 30 working days ‘expiry’ on a call-in to 20 working days.
• Delete Part 6.3 Protocol on Scrutiny Participation.
• Part 7.2 Scheme of Delegation to Officers to ensure that overview and scrutiny chairs and deputy chairs are consulted on any adjustment to the terms of reference of an overview and scrutiny committee to reflect detailed changes in the remits of individuals or bodies.
• Part 8.3 Contract Procedure Rules (CPRs) to bring them into line with the Procurement Act 2023 and the Procurement Regulations 2024 and to delegate authority to the Director of Law & Governance and Monitoring Officer to amend the CPRs to comply with emerging procurement practice and further changes in procurement legislation and guidance.
• Part 9.2 Protocol on Councillors’ Rights and Responsibilities to reflect practice and changes elsewhere.
• Delete Part 9.4 Policy on IT Use by Members of the County Council from the Constitution so that it can be updated and circulated to councillors more regularly.
• Part 9.6 Protocol on Member-Officer Relations to highlight the role of councillors as being to promote equality, diversity and inclusion with new sections “Contacts between Members and Officers” and “Access to Information” to reflect practice and clarify expectations.
• Part 10.1 Members’ Allowances to reflect the uplift in allowances for 2024/25 and allow for electronic submission of allowance claims and notices to forgo an entitlement or part thereof.
• correct erroneous references and update titles where they have changed.

The report pack stated that the council was recommended to approve the amendments and to delegate to the Director of Law & Governance and Monitoring Officer the ability to make any necessary additional changes to the Constitution.

Committees and Review of Political Balance

The council was asked to approve committee appointments based on revised political balance calculations following the formation of the Green Group and Reform UK Group.

The report pack stated that the council was recommended to note the review of political balance of committees and to appoint members to the committees of the Council as listed at Annex 1.

The Use of Urgency Provisions

The council was asked to note the exemption from Call-in of the Cabinet decision on 20 March 2025 regarding the initial response to the government's statutory invitation for Local Government Reorganisation and Devolution.

Interim Arrangements for Taking Emergency Decisions

The council was asked to agree to a temporary variation to Part 7.2 of the Scheme of Delegation to Officers, effective from 5 May to 20 May 2025. The report pack stated that paragraph 6.3 (c) should be read as follows:

“(c) Any function of the Cabinet or of a Council committee or sub-committee, after consultation with the appropriate Director and thereafter with the Chair and Vice-Chair of the Council and the Leader, as appropriate.”

Motions

Councillor Glynis Phillips was scheduled to propose a motion stating that:

A National Care Service is required in England to provide consistent high-quality care and provide further support for unpaid carers by creating and implementing national standards.

The motion urged the Leader of the Council to write to the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care setting out support for a National Care Service.

Councillor Donna Ford was scheduled to propose a motion noting the increasing number of vacant bank and building society buildings on high streets and requesting the relevant Cabinet member for Community and Corporate Services and the Cabinet Member for Finance to explore opportunities to set up similar banking hubs within appropriate Council libraries, taking a lead from Buckinghamshire Council.

Report of the Cabinet

The report pack included a summary of decisions from Cabinet meetings between 17 December 2024 and 25 February 2025. These included:

• Approval of a response to the government consultation on remote attendance and proxy voting at council meetings.
• Agreement on a proposed response to the government’s Devolution White Paper.
• Receiving an update on the citizens’ assembly on future travel, transport and connectivity in Oxfordshire.
• Noting the council’s current and planned policy and programme activity in support of the rural economy.
• Approving an affiliation between Oxfordshire and His Majesty’s Ship (HMS) Diamond.
• Noting the underdevelopment of the market for Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR) technologies.
• Receiving a report regarding a funding application submitted to the Warm Homes: Local Grant.
• Approving the revised Local Flood Risk Management Strategy (LFRMS).
• Re-affirming the Councils opposition to badger culling.
• Approving the adoption of the Oxfordshire Climate Adaptation Route Map and Delivery Plan.
• Approving the commencement of work to explore and consider options for the Household Waste Recycling Centre Management service delivery provision.
• Endorsing the Home First Discharge to Assess model of care and reaffirming that the former Chiltern Court beds are not reinstated.
• Approving the direct award of a new mental health contract between Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire, Berkshire West Integrated Care Board (“BOB ICB”) and Oxford Health (NHS) Foundation Trust.
• Receiving reports which provided an overview of the progress towards delivering the Our People and Culture Strategy.
• Approving the Infrastructure Funding Statement.
• Noting the measures introduced to support low-income pensioners including the Residents’ Support Scheme.
• Approving the recommendations to continue to fund 20 existing Enhanced Pathways and a further 20 Pathways.
• Approving a preferred service model and procurement strategy (enhanced multi contractor) for the Council’s Civil Enforcement and Zero Emission Zone (ZEZ) operation.
• Receiving the following Scrutiny Reports: Community Asset Transfer Policy, Commercial Strategy, Healthy Weight, Education other than at Home Strategy (EOTAS), Local Nature Recovery Strategy, Infrastructure Funding Statement and s.106 Funding, and City Centre Accommodation Strategy – Disposal of Old and New County Hall.

Committee Appointments

The report pack included a list of proposed committee appointments, including:

• Councillor Bob Johnston to the Audit & Governance Committee
• Councillor Jenny Hannaby to the Audit & Governance Committee
• Councillor Roz Smith to the Audit & Governance Committee
• Councillor Ian Middleton to the Charlotte Coxe Trust Committee
• Councillor Andy Graham to the Education & Young People Overview and Scrutiny Committee
• Councillor Jenny Hannaby to the Education & Young People Overview and Scrutiny Committee
• Councillor Roz Smith to the Education & Young People Overview and Scrutiny Committee
• Councillor Andy Graham to the Horton Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee
• Councillor Jenny Hannaby to the Horton Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee
• Councillor Jane Hanna OBE to the Oxfordshire Joint Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee
• Councillor Jenny Hannaby to the Oxfordshire Joint Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee
• Councillor Freddie van Mierlo to the Oxfordshire Joint Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee
• Councillor Peter Stevens to the Pension Fund Committee
• Councillor John Howson to the Pension Fund Committee
• Councillor Kevin Bulmer to the People Overview and Scrutiny Committee
• Councillor Bethia Thomas to the Place Overview and Scrutiny Committee
• Councillor Stefan Gawrysiak to the Planning & Regulation Committee
• Councillor Robin Bennett to the Planning & Regulation Committee
• Councillor Felix Bloomfield to the Planning & Regulation Committee