My speech at the Growth Debate 17th June 2019 organised by Oxford Civic Society:

 

 

As with most good debates I will start by challenging the question we’re here to discuss.  I suggest the question is not ‘should’ Oxfordshire grow, because Oxfordshire is growing.  The better question is ‘how’ should Oxfordshire grow?

Oxfordshire is a fantastic place to live, work & play.

Our aim should be to ensure that continues to be the case, both now and in the future, so that all residents have the ability to access decent homes and jobs so that everybody can realise their full potential. This is the best way to reduce inequalities in Oxfordshire by providing decent homes and good jobs.

Before I articulate how I think Oxfordshire should grow, I will first touch on the Expressway.

Congestion is a major problem across the county causing problems for businesses and residents alike. The single biggest transport issue is the A34 which is the responsibility of Highways England . It impacts on all 6 constituencies and all 5 City and District council areas. It feels as if there is a problem every week causing massive delays, missed appointments, with a massive impact on the local economy.  It’s closure in any one day can cost our economy as much as a £1m.

I ask you to think back to 6th September last year when there was an accident in the early hours that closed the A34 for the whole day. Small villages along the A34 were swamped with drivers trying to find alternative routes, HGVs were driving through small villages on inappropriate roads. The ring road was at a standstill as all the traffic was diverted off the A34, just think of the air pollution caused by stationary vehicles. 

The impact is felt across Oxfordshire.

For as long as I can remember we have been lobbying central government to improve the A34 but successive governments; the Conservatives in the 90s, Labour at the start of the Century, then the Conservatives with the Lib Dems failed to provide the investment to improve what is a failing road.

Yes; that is right the A34 is not suitable for today’s traffic with no hard shoulder, poor quality slips road along with inadequate lay-bys. This sort of road design would not happen today.

Highways England need to do something:

in fact, if you read the stage 3 report page 17 they are clear that:

3.4.5 The Expressway could address longstanding local constraints in Oxfordshire by reducing the strategic function of the A34 around Oxford, ‘freeing-up’ the route for local traffic and bus services to access locations along the Knowledge Spine. The expressway would support the delivery of planned growth – to be clear they mean  growth that is already approved or in adopted local plans - which is focussed along the Knowledge Spine from Bicester through to the Science Vale (Didcot, Harwell and Culham), providing improved connectivity between these key local growth areas.

3.4.6 Reduced congestion along the A34 corridor would improve the quality of life for local residents. There are residential properties located along the A34 corridor including the section through Botley which is subject to an Air Quality Action Area, which would directly benefit from reduced congestion and delays.

Who in this room would deny the residents of Westminster Way and Stanley Close the right to improved air quality, reduced noise pollution and less congestion?

Who in this room would deny residents of Weston on the Green, Kidlington and other villages on the A34 relief from the gridlock caused by events such as 6th September.  

Who in this room would argue that connecting people……. me and you with our families, our work, our friends is not positive. 

 

The question is how you do this?

Highways England are not just suggesting improvements in Oxfordshire but making similar ‘local’ improvements elsewhere along the route at:

The A421 is an urban dual carriageway through central Milton Keynes which provides an important local access function as well as supporting strategic through traffic.

The A428 from the A1 Black Cat Roundabout to Caxton Gibbet, is a single carriageway road that has regular at-grade access junctions.

The A428 includes three at- grade roundabout junctions between the Great North Road and Cambridge Road that provide local access into St Neots.

East of St Neots the A428 continues a single carriageway standard road to the Caxton Gibbet roundabout.

These are some of the local improvements that will make a significant local difference which then add up to what’s called an Expressway. [A1] 

The Expressway has always been a road improvement project first.  We mustn’t get distracted by the National Infrastructure Commission’s questionable housing figure for Oxfordshire. 

It is an unelected non-decision-making body.

The actual planning authorities in Oxfordshire, Cherwell, City, South, Vale and West have agreed up to 100,000 homes for the period 2011 to 2031  

These are the housing numbers which have been agreed by locally elected councillors based on the Strategic Housing Market Assessment of 2014 with 3 out of the 5 plans agreed by the Planning Inspector. If you then extrapolate that figure to 2051 another 20 years it shows how questionable the NIC figure is.

These local plans have been agreed locally by locally elected councillors of the planning authorities that now can deliver the homes  in the right locations .

Whatever our view on the proposal for the Expressway we should to wait until the autumn when Highways England will come forward with their proposed solution to the A34 in Oxfordshire, this will be based on evidence  

I will wait until I see the evidence before I make any decision on agreeing with their proposal.

Whatever the outcome I will work with local residents and concerned stakeholders to ensure that there is minimal negative impact for locals.

We must consider the bigger picture in all of this, which is Oxfordshire’s 680,000 residents especially those residents in Westminster Way and Stanley Close who are currently suffering.  We need to ensure whatever we do that growth benefits all, and that it addresses inequalities that currently exist.

Oxfordshire’s economy is successfully growing despite the lack of investment in infrastructure by successive governments of all political persuasions. In fact, Oxfordshire is 1 of only 3 areas that are net contributors to the UK economy, and we’ve seen the creation of 50,000 new jobs over the past 5 years.  So, we are growing and it is important that we continue, not just for Oxfordshire, but so that we support other less fortunate areas of the UK.

It’s now important that government recognizes that Oxfordshire requires investment in infrastructure to deliver sustainable growth. Over the recent years, the county has suffered from a lack of local plans being in place.  This has led to speculative development, in unsustainable places meaning we have from suffered planning by appeal, which is even worse for our ambitions for inclusive, sustainable communities as we can’t then secure the funding we need to deliver the infrastructure our communities need.  Our infrastructure is creaking, not just the hard infrastructure such as roads but heath and education need to be addressed along with the blue and green infrastructure.

 

With all of Oxfordshire councils working together on a Joint Statutory Spatial Plan to 2050 we have the ability to plan sustainable growth with the required infrastructure which will be agreed by locally elected councillors.  This has been recognized by Government with the 5 year Growth deal worth £215 million with £60 million for much needed affordable homes, if we deliver on this deal we can expect another deal worth a similar amount.

On top this we have been successful with a Housing Infrastructure Fund bid worth £218 million for infrastructure in the Didcot area. We’ve also submitted another Housing Infrastructure Fund bid worth £102 million which we should know if we are successful later in the summer.  

All of which introduce better public transport, cycling and walking connections for existing and new communities helping to reduce inequalities.

This would bring the total investment by the government into Oxfordshire to over £550 million plus developer funds from S106/CIL agreements.

This is unparalleled in Oxfordshire.

In fact its unparalleled across the country; many of my colleagues look enviously at Oxfordshire’s success in obtaining government funding when they have similar pressures on homes and congestion.

Consider Norfolk that has similar housing plans of around 92,000 to 2031 yet they have only received tens of million in Government funding not hundreds of millions like Oxfordshire.

Now that we have the funding behind us we can build inclusive communities that enable the whole of Oxfordshire to benefit from growth, not just a few, reducing inequalities

The investment funds we have successfully secured needs to be used to promote public mass transit routes starting with buses providing quality Park& Rides along with rapid routes to get passengers to their locations quickly and efficiently reducing the pressure on the road network. These funds will be used to provide good connectivity across the county linking homes with employment centres including good cycle and pedestrian facilities along with the public transport-based systems to encourage residents to get out of their cars thus reducing congestion.  We already see over 600,000 cycle trips in the county, half are in the city….this statistic should and must only go in one direction. 

It’s not only good for air quality…but good for our physical and mental health too.

 

Mass transit systems must be the way forward, not only do we have a good bus network in Oxfordshire with nearly 35 million bus passenger journeys a year we also have an existing rail network that we must work with Network Rail to enhance to use to realise its full potential.   

Oxfordshire County Council has fully supported East -West Rail since it was simply a dream in rail enthusiasts’ eyes at the start of the century. We worked on the first part of the scheme linking Oxford to Bicester with a Parkway station in our successful Access to Oxford  bid back in 2006. Chilterns railways took over the project with Evergreen 3 which has delivered a new route into London; the first new connection to London from a major city in over 100 years.  

It’s been a major success for Oxfordshire.

The area around the new Parkway station is a prime example of where development should be so that residents do not need to drive or even catch a bus to the station they can simply walk.

This sort of approach should be encouraged at all our stations across the county. Everybody talks about reopening the Cowley branch line which would be good for the employment sector in the Eastern arc and local resident addressing the city’s ‘tale of two cities’ with severe pockets of deprivation to the south east - but realistically that requires development at Grenoble Road which is strongly resisted. This shows the contradiction in slavishly protecting areas that have the potential to be the most sustainable locations in Oxfordshire breaking down inequalities. 

It was nearly 5 years ago we proved it was possible to run a passenger train, but Network Rail have not delivered.  Perhaps we need to be more determined locally with the development at Grenoble Road providing some of the funding and more importantly the passengers to make the ongoing service sustainable. 

 

Another controversial location is Culham which is a sustainable location as it has a station along with a massive employment site next door with world class research and developments taking place. If we are sensible allowing a sustainable development of a community next to the station the residents would not need to drive to work but could simply walk, freeing up capacity on the A415.

 

The new houses near to Hanborough station are a great example of growth in the right place.  Walking distance to a station that can take you through to London in just over an hour.  Likewise the planned Oxfordshire Cotswold Garden Village, 4 miles from a train station but nestled next to a key transport corridor with soon to be prioritised rapid bus transit, with cycle paths planned into both the north and the south of the city. 

 

With 2 world class universities in Oxfordshire, a world class medical teaching school, world-class cutting-edge technology developments;

Oxfordshire has the potential to become a world class sustainable location.

Inclusive, with equitable access to the opportunity’s growth can bring.

We must build on Oxford’s world class reputation as everybody in the world knows where Oxford is:

Just South of Bicester Village.

 

 

Ladies and Gentlemen we have a choice, we can either forget about delivering good quality homes and jobs for the future by returning to the days of no additional infrastructure funding along with incremental development by appeal on inappropriate sites.

Or we can plan for 2050 by all working together to get the maximum infrastructure including blue and green infrastructure, to deliver sustainable good quality homes and jobs for future generations.

 

 ANNUAL REPORT 2019

COUNTY COUNCIL TO INVEST IN SCHOOLS, TRANSPORT AND STREETLIGHTING

 

Capital funding is for large one-off projects such as highway repairs or building work to assist the council meet its obligations, such as creating extra school places – as opposed to the normal revenue budget which covers funding for the costs of day-to-day services. Most of the funding for capital programme is made up of government funding and developer contributions, which cannot be used for any other purpose.

 

The capital programme includes a £41m street-lighting improvement programme with traditional lanterns being replaced with more energy efficient LED lighting, saving money in the long-run. This is part of the commitment for the County Council to be Carbon Neutral by 2030.

 

The Budget contains major investment of over £1billion over the next ten years. Nearly £20m will be invested to increase the provision of school places for children with special needs in the county, including rebuilding Northfield School in Oxford with more pupil places.  However, there is funding pressure on services that are demand led such as social care for vulnerable children and adults which continue to grow and continued financial prudence is required to meet those demands.

 

Pressure on day-to-day council services continues as the council increases funding to support of Oxfordshire’s most vulnerable children and adults. To make sure the growing number of children at risk of abuse and neglect are protected, the children’s social care budget has increased annually. It was £46m in 2011 and is forecast to be £95m in 2022/23 – more than doubling in ten years. The council’s budget for adult social care will increase by £5m in 2019/20, with further annual increases reaching nearly £6m by 2022/23.

 

COMMUNITIES TO BE OFFERED HELP WITH YOUTH SERVICES

 

Youth Provision across Oxfordshire was given a £1 million boost by the Conservative Independent Alliance at the budget-setting meeting on February 12^th. It was disappointing that both the Labour and Liberal Democrat groups voted against this proposal, which could have had cross-party support. Young people and their families in Oxfordshire will now benefit from improved community-run youth services. Youth groups will be invited to bid in to a £1m fund over two years, with encouragement to find match-funding from their local communities.

 

The Councillor Priority fund of £15,000 for each councillor for local projects will continue in 2019/20 please contact me if you know of any schemes that could benefit.

 

INVESTMENT IN REPAIRING OXFORDSHIRE'S ROADS CONTINUES

 

OCC will be spending an extra £13m on capital funding on road maintenance in the coming financial year. This is on top of its existing £18.5m programme of work and follows last year’s additional £12m boost which saw more than 37 extra miles of road being resurfaced through a range of methods including surface dressing and micro-asphalting – both of which make road surfaces waterproof and extend their life. This year’s additional money will be spent across Oxfordshire on resurfacing, drainage, bridge repairs and footways. One of the major projects confirmed for later this year will see the A40 from Thornhill to Headington Roundabout (inbound) resurfaced, benefitting thousands of road users every day. Transport schemes across the county will improve journeys for drivers, pedestrians, cyclists and public transport users

 

 

 

 

Housing Infrastructure Fund

 

You may have seen that in the Spring statement the Chancellor announced that Oxfordshire County Council has been successful with the Housing Infrastructure Fund (HIF) bid for Didcot. This will bring an additional £218 million of infrastructure to the area to deliver the homes.

 

A40 BID FOR £102 MILLION

The good news is that the Government were clear that if the council  were successful with the first bid then it would greatly improve the chances of success in a second bid, we have just submitted this which is for £102 million towards the A40 Smart corridor.

 

If successful, the A40 bid will deliver:

• Extension of the A40 dual carriageway from Witney to the proposed Eynsham park and ride, including improving cycling facilities along the route.

• Extension of A40 westbound bus lane from west of Duke’s Cut canal and railway bridges to the proposed Eynsham park and ride.

• A40 Capacity and Connectivity Improvements at Duke’s Cut Canal and Railway Bridges - Provision of eastbound bus route over the A40 Duke’s Cut canal and railway bridges on the approach to Wolvercote including improved cycle facilities over the bridges and a link joining the A40 cycle route to National Cycle Network route 5 along the Oxford Canal.

 

Oxfordshire County Council’s original proposals included the B4044 Community Path, which we took the difficult decision of removing as part of this package, because of to the specific criteria for HIFs. Oxfordshire County Council remains committed to this scheme and will seek alternative funding. Please read our statement here.

 

Making the A40 fit for purpose

 

The overall scheme aims at creating substantial benefits for existing and future users the A40. This main artery is a single carriageway road and – on the section between Witney and Oxford – up to 32,000 vehicles currently use it each day. Congestion causes daily problems for road users and has been described by business leaders as one of the biggest barriers to economic growth and prosperity in West Oxfordshire. All modes of transport are affected by congestion, which encourages traffic to seek other routes. Bus services are suffering from increasing journey times and are unable to reliably run to timetable. Demand for travel and transport will only increase over time.

 

The proposals seek to increase A40 highway capacity for all users of the route between Witney and Eynsham, while providing a high-quality, congestion-free public transport alternative for travel between Eynsham and Oxford. Interchange would be made possible at Eynsham Park & Ride, part of the A40 Science Transit 2 Scheme. 

 

The improvement to the A40 should reduce traffic ‘rat running’ along the A4095 and then onto the A44 which should reduce the congestion. The other major benefit is that rebuilding these major roads will reduce the maintenance requirements in the immediate future once built meaning that our limited funds can be used elsewhere across the county.

 

These additional funds are on top of the £215 million Growth Deal fund and the additional £120 million cabinet approved last year. If the HIF 2 bid for the A40 is successful, then it’ll mean that the investment in Oxfordshire’s infrastructure will be over £650 million which is a major boost for our economy.

 

KEEPING THE ROADS CLEAR DURING THE WINTER

Winter is the time when our gritting crews are on standby to get out on Oxfordshire’s roads to spread salt and deal with potential icy conditions. Whilst we are all asleep the drivers go out in the worst of conditions to ensure the roads are usable in the mornings. Since October 2018 the crews have been out on Oxfordshire’s roads 39 times, covering a total of 47016 miles – that’s just under twice round the Earth – using more than 7,400 tonnes of salt. Each gritting run takes the team on a combined run equivalent to driving from London to Iceland. During each gritting run we salt approximately 1,200 miles which is the equivalent of travelling from London to Iceland, this being approximately 43 % of Oxfordshire’s network. The last scheduled day of the season this year is 5 April, although if the weather takes an unseasonal turn the crews will still turn out.

 

The Oxfordshire winter team numbers 28 including drivers and support staff working out of depots at Drayton and Deddington and a smaller satellite depot at Woodcote. At the end of March the drivers and support team relax a little until October having spent the winter months, as well as a bit of Autumn and Spring, doing their day job while keeping an eye on the weather forecasts so that they can swing into action.

 

JOINT WORKING

The council has agreed a partnership agreement with Cherwell District Council which started with a shared Chief Executive and other senior posts. As the partnership develops there will be more opportunities for joint appointments, already there is a senior manager for both Adult Social care & Housing. The regulatory services in Cherwell have all come under Trading Standards and the legal services have joined forces. This new way of working is not just about saving money which it will do but it’s about providing a better service for residents.

 

The planned redesign of the council around the changing needs of residents and communities will maintain or improve services, with investment in digital technology enabling us to save money in the process – OCC is now reviewing the digital technology needed to make the council run more effectively and efficiently, including improving customer service by making it easier to access services online. The council has identified savings of £50m from changing the way services are delivered and has already started implementing these changes, including improving online ‘self-service’ HR and finance systems used by staff. The County Council is financially in a good place however we await the spending review that should give us longer term planning over the next four years we are expecting details in the summer/autumn.

 

WOODSTOCK LIBRARY

During a routine inspection of Woodstock Library, it was deemed to be unsafe and immediately closed. There was a follow up inspection by a professional structural engineer after which it was concluded that demolition was the best course of action. The first aim of the County Council was the safety of staff and users then to find a temporary solution to maintain a library facility in Woodstock. The library has temporarily relocated to the museum site in Fletcher’s House, whilst there may not be such a large selection of books on this site the facility; is open longer, has access to research rooms with computer terminals, has WIFI and a café.

 

Currently all options for a permanent solution are being considered to maintain a library facility within Woodstock although it must be remembered that the County Council does not have capital funds to rebuild a standalone facility on the current site so there will have to be some form of shared location. The County Council will work with Woodstock TC and residents before a final decision is taken.

Cllr Ian Hudspeth

07956270 318 Ian.hudspeth@oxfordshire.gov.uk

 

BUDGET SPEECH 2019

 

Ian Hudspeth, Leader of the Council

 

 

Thank you, chairman,

I would like to start by thanking the Directors as well as Lorna Baxter, chief finance officer, who has been invaluable in helping to prepare this budget. She has been ably assisted by Katy and the rest of her team.

I would also like to thank Cllr Bartholomew for his hard work. Cabinet member for finance is always a challenging portfolio.

I would like to thank my independent colleagues who have supported the budget process to enable a stable administration to deliver this budget.

We have taken difficult decisions in the past as we have to produce a balanced budget every year. Taking those complex decisions has meant we are in a more solid financial position however budgets are still tight, and we still have to deliver more savings through transformation and partnership working.

By focusing resources where they have greatest impact, I can present an affordable budget to Council. I am confident we can and will deliver those savings to protect services for the most vulnerable adults and children across the county.

As in previous years, I have been open with the opposition parties by providing information on the budget process. Given the current state of national politics if we can agree a united budget; we could send a clear message that Local Government are able to deliver the best services possible for our residents within the strict financial constraints we face.

We have had some additional short-term funding which is good, but we really need to have a good settlement from the Spending Review and the new Fair Funding formula to ensure that we can deliver quality services in the future.

 

In proposing this budget, we have considered comments from Performance Scrutiny Committee and public responses to the

 consultation. That can be seen in the way we altered the budget around the mental health proposals however I’m concerned that the funding should go to the front-line service organisations and will work with them to ensure it does. Although it’s been deferred by a year, there is still the saving of £600,000 over 2 years to reprofile the way some of our social work is delivered. We either must identify an additional £600,000 saving or make that difficult decision not to provide extra support to SEND adults.

This will be a test of how we work with the NHS as the move is towards a more integrated system however we do need a sustainable future for Social Care otherwise the NHS will not be able to deliver its 10-year plan.

In this budget there is Investment of almost £6m by 2023 to increase care packages to meet assessed needs for adults with learning and physical disabilities.

An increase of £5.8m is proposed to be added to the budget in 2022/23 in adult social care to meet projected increased need as a result of the aging population. The council’s existing planning up to 2021/22 already includes provision for budget increases of £15.6m for adult social care.

People are rightly concerned about the impact of savings on services, and on the voluntary sector that does so much in our communities.

I am concerned about this too and believe this budget will make the best use of scare resources.

We have provided some financial help, but it is those community groups that have made it happen. That is what we mean by ‘thriving communities’.

 

 

This year I’m pleased to announce a £1 million fund for youth provision across the county. This fund will be available over the next 2 years to assist youth provision across the county; groups and organisations will be able to come forward with proposals before a cross party group who will determine the outcome. I am clear that I see the proposals as locally led with the support of the local Councillor.

Locally and nationally, the number of children at risk referred to social services is increasing. The number of children taken into care by the county council has increased by 80 per cent since 2011. Last month, the Local Government Association released figures showing more than 1,000 children a day are being referred to social services across the country.

To make sure the growing number of children at risk of abuse and neglect are protected, the children’s social care budget has increased annually from £46m in 2011 to £78m in 2018/19. Next year, the children’s services budget will need to increase to £83m, and up to £95m in 2022/23 – more than doubling in ten years.        

We are Investing £4.0m up to 2023 to support the increasing number of children qualifying for special educational needs school transport. And, recognising the growth in demand in special educational needs, we are putting up to £16.8m into a reserve over the medium term to manage demographic risk.

From 2010, when we started a savings programme, to the end of this financial year we will have saved around £400 million. Most of that money has been be reinvested in services, particularly for vulnerable children and adults.

This has been set against a back drop of the number of adult care packages we provide nearly doubling since 2010. The number of looked after children has increased by 60%, and demand for child protection services continues to grow.

 

 

With these sorts of budget pressures, we must target our resources to provide vital services to those vulnerable adults and children who require them most.

It's a tribute to our staff that we have been able to make the savings while continuing to run services - day in, day out - that help our communities thrive.

Here are just some examples of the services we deliver:

Received over 13,500 new requests for adult social care services

Providing long-term social care for 6,300 adults

Organising a million hours a year of support a year, as well as assisting thousands of informal carers.

Assessing almost 6,000 children, including over 1,500 child protection issues

Supporting, currently, 789 looked after children, and 602 on a child protection plan

Working to turn around 974 families with real problems so they can thrive

Registering 20,000 births, deaths, and marriages

Maintaining almost 3,000 miles of road

Issuing or renewing over 30,000 concessionary bus passes in year

Managed 285,000 tonnes of household waste in 2017/18

Oxfordshire County Council Fire and Rescue Service responded to over 6,250 incidents in 2017/18

That’s what business as usual looks like at Oxfordshire County Council. But demand for services continues to rise as our population grows and ages.

 

This year the government enabled us to increase Council Tax by an additional 1% in recognition of inflationary pressures on all services.

This will mean we will raise the council tax by the maximum allowed without triggering a referendum of 2.99%.

I do not believe in raising taxes unnecessarily. I understand the impact on our residents who may not have had an increase in their wages.

However, I am confident that people understand about the rising cost of social care.

In return, we will always ensure the money is spent as efficiently as possible.

Oxfordshire has an ambition for a thriving economy;

To help deliver that the Conservative government has recently provided an additional £7.4 million for road repairs which when added to the £10 million this year that cabinet agreed as part of the new £120 million infrastructure fund, has given the highways team the opportunity to deliver real improvements to the road network. Following on from the bad winter last year they have repaired over 40,000 defects

The 10-year capital programme means we can take a longer-term view of the costs and benefits of road repairs. We will be investing over £1 billion in Oxfordshire across our estate and schools including a £41m street lighting improvement programme, with traditional lanterns to be replaced with more energy efficient LED lighting, saving money in the long-run.

Within the capital programme is the Oxfordshire Growth deal, worth £215 million which we are now seeing been delivered across the county including £60 million to help deliver more affordable homes in Oxfordshire. These are large amount of investment, that will fund the infrastructure needed to support the predicted growth in jobs in Oxfordshire and ensure our economy continues to thrive.

 

We are not stopping there as we have recently submitted the Housing Infrastructure Fund bid for the Didcot area worth £218 million which will deliver vital infrastructure to help deliver more homes. We are optimistic that we’ll be successful with this bid we should know by the end of March and have been encouraged to submit another HIF bid for the A40 corridor worth around £140 million to help relieve the pressure on businesses in the area.

With these 2 additional bids we could see additional funding of over £350 million coming into the Oxfordshire economy.

An Oxfordshire Rail Corridor Study is currently in preparation.  This study is looking at the impacts of growth and what is required in future on the rail network.  This will include consideration of future rail service improvements at Culham which relate to the proposed housing allocation there.  Promoting an improved level of service from Didcot to Oxford In parallel, work is being undertaken on a business case for re-opening the Cowley Branch Line.

In last year’s budget I proposed the Councillor priority fund as I wanted to make sure that councillors and communities had a say in how money is spent. This has been successful in helping small organisations deliver much needed services that otherwise would not receive funding such as the Our Bus service in the Bartons. A community project that I’m happy to support that goes from strength to strength, in fact the latest community project is a community library in the stores.

The councillor priority fund will continue alongside the new youth provision fund enabling local communities to deliver what’s best in their area.

This budget for 2019/20 is not only compassionate as it is:

increasing the funding on adult social care by £8.8m

increasing the funding on Children’s social care by £9.0m

increasing the funding on Education by £3.0m

 

It is also about localism as we are providing funds that will deliver local solutions by County Councillors who know their divisions best.

This is a budget that delivers for Oxfordshire people and Oxfordshire’s thriving communities.

 

 

 

COUNCILLOR IAN HUDSPETH

Leader of the Council

 

Fit for the Future speech 11th September 2018

 

Thank you Madam Chairman

The redesign of the way the council operates is an opportunity to bring the organisation fully into the 21^st century whilst at the same time protecting front line services.

 This council and councillors can be proud of the financial situation we are in. The last 8 years have been difficult with the reduction in Government funding and the increases in pressures on our services. We do not have to look far over our border to see the consequences of not taking difficult decisions

 Those decisions have meant we have taken over £300 million out of the budget yet we are still providing vital services to Oxfordshire’s vulnerable residents. I realise that some members especially those elected in 2017 might wonder why I keep on mentioning those difficult decisions.

The reason is they were tough to take and certainly not easy.

The best example is the Feb 2016 budget when all councillors agreed a cross party budget.

Yes! That’s right all Conservative, Independent, Labour & Liberal Democrat members voted for reduction in funding:

in SEND services

in Children’s Early intervention services

in Resource Allocation System

in day services

in LD services

in supported people funding

in property maintenance

in gritting

in Gully emptying

in Supported Transport services including Dial a Ride

in bus subsidies removing non S106 funding

in funding for the Music service.

 Those were difficult decisions that all Conservative, Independent, Labour & Liberal Democrat councillors took that year to balance the books.

Along with other measures the savings were £34 million over the 4 year MTFP which is close to the £33 million we have to save over the coming 4 years to balance the books.

I’m sure councillors do not want to go through such cuts to services again because they would be far more difficult as we recently discovered with the £300,000 proposed savings to SEND transport.

I want to protect front line services to all our residents not just to the vulnerable of Oxfordshire. 

Over the years the councils working arrangements have developed in an uncoordinated way resulting in back office duplication and more importantly inefficiency for residents, this programme will remove those and enable us to protect front line services.

I’m sure some members will talk about those excluded from the digital age, well we currently do exclude many residents particularly the younger ones under 30 or 40. They do everything by smart phone, currently our service exclude them as only 10% of our interactions are on line.

I cannot say that I am in the under 40s group however I can order and receive my rail ticket straight to my phone at a time that was convenient for me not the rail company that’s the sort of service we should be providing.

When my 80year father in law was faced with a 54page document from Social Services (not this council) he simply froze, and it was me that filled in the form by hand how much better if it had been online? He was not digitally excluded he was simply over whelmed by the process.

We will not be digitally excluding residents we will be making it easier for those not able to use the system to be able to engage directly with us by freeing up valuable back office duplication.

I’m sure that some members will highlight the cost but remember this will be a 1 off cost spread over 3 years with nearly £7 million invested in technology implementation, £1 million in staff training along with £2 million in backfill services as listed on page 263.

I’m sure members will talk about the job losses, but these are not front-line jobs but jobs that are no longer needed as work that can be done differently.

If we do take all the measures, then it will mean a reduction of around 900 jobs over a 3-year period but remember we have a turnover of around 650 staff per year so over a 3 year period that’s around 1900 jobs giving more than sufficient scope.

 

We heard at the briefing last Tuesday that this redesign has been developed over the last 18 months with our senior management team and they are keen to deliver the next phase.

To make sure that they can deliver the vision we need to provide the capacity to deliver the resign whilst at the same time delivering the ‘day job’ we must not forget

We have lost 40% of our managers along with 30% of our staff this means they are all working hard delivering the ‘day job’

I would like to take this opportunity to say how proud I am of all staff members who work hard across the organisation to deliver services.

This redesign will enable them to continue to deliver those front-line services in the best possible way.          

This will be a difficult process and will have many challenges, but it will ensure that Oxfordshire County Council is Fit for the Future and not only deliver the £33 million savings we need to make but give members some real choices in reinvesting in some of the key services for our residents.

The alternatives are to stick our heads in the sand and pretend we do not have to make the savings or to cut services on a scale none of us would wish to do,

 

I look forward to an interesting debate and will take note of all comments that are made.

 

 

 

 

WOODSTOCK PARKING

 

The issue of parking is always contentious with any solution only providing another question. At virtually every Woodstock Traffic Advisory Committee (TAC) meeting parking is discussed, whilst everybody acknowledges more parking provision would be the ideal solution there is the question of cost and who would pay for it. There have been discussions with Blenheim who are the major developer and could be part of a solution but at the moment there are no firm plans.

 

There have been numerous complaints that cars are left well over the time limit in the centre especially the 30min and 1-hour bays with people saying anecdotally that people park all day and go into Oxford treating this as an unofficial park & ride. This means that frustrated drivers who can’t find a space tend to park illegally on the double yellow lines around the Crown. 

 

If we are currently unable to build new car parking spaces then we must use the existing ones better. The TAC requested that more enforcement of the 30 min & 1-hour bays would encourage people not to park in them creating more ‘churn’ and better usage, the TAC requested that the increased enforcement was restricted to the centre of town and a maximum of 2 hours at a time thus allowing residents the opportunity to find longer time bays in the morning before people come into the town.

 

West Oxfordshire District Council as the enforcing authority have issued notices to give people advance notice. In my experience no solution is ideal for everybody but we must try to achieve better usage from the existing space and by limiting the enforcement to the shorter time bays this should help.

 

My personal view is that we should have a residents parking scheme that would allow residents to park in the bays all day with visitors to the town able to park for a limited period of time, this works well in Oxford and I think would provide the solution. However, there would be a cost involved for the permits which goes against the policy of WODC for free parking so there is stalemate.

 

Whilst I fully understand concerns I would ask that we see if improved enforcement of the 30 min & 1-hour bays provides better use of the existing spaces.

 Oxford to Cambridge Expressway

 

 

My personal view on the Expressway is:

 

The road that causes the most traffic issues for Oxfordshire is the A34 as it’s a mixture of a local and national traffic. If the 2 parts could be separated to allow the ring road to function as a local road then there would be an improvement for Oxfordshire’s residents. The A34 impacts on all 5 Districts and all 6 constituencies so there are few residents not affected. On page 17 of the strategic stage 3 study  ( https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/571353/oxford-to-cambridge-expressway-strategic-study-stage-3-report.pdf )  paragraphs 3.4.5 & 3.4.6, it is clear that this proposal will provide a local solution.

 

Whatever corridor and ultimately route chosen there will be local impact with local opposition however we have to consider the bigger picture to improve the A34. For that reason I am not suggesting a preferred corridor as I want to wait to see the evidence that Highways England will provide.

  

 

Oxford to Cambridge Expressway – Oxfordshire Response on Corridor Preferences

 

 

We welcome the further development work and engagement taking place on the Oxford to Cambridge Expressway project and the opportunity to give views to Highways England. 

 

At this stage, Oxfordshire is not able to indicate a corridor preference, given that the technical and other supporting work required to inform the decision on a preferred corridor is not yet complete.  Nor is it possible therefore, for these reasons, to provide a formal Council position.

 

We support the strategic objectives and purpose of the Expressway project, recognising the opportunity it brings to support and enable growth and development, enhance connectivity and take forward innovation and smart technology on the Oxford to Cambridge corridor.  However, following detailed discussion on the project between officers and Members, we believe there are some important principles which, in addition to the published assessment criteria, should be integral to the corridor selection and decision-making process.   In Oxfordshire, these include:

 

1.        Ensuring that the Expressway corridor does not increase pressure on the existing, already overstretched strategic highway network.  Specifically, the Expressway must not use the section of the A34 through central Oxfordshire (broadly defined as at least the section between the Lodge Hill junction, north of Abingdon and the Bicester Road junction, east of Kidlington).  This section is where the A34 currently operates as both a regional/national strategic route and a local distributor route (forming part of the Oxford Ring Road) and it is essential that the new Expressway infrastructure provides a completely separate strategic route to avoid this conflict of use;

 

2.        Ensuring that the Expressway corridor (or subsequently identified route) minimises the impact on the existing highway network, i.e. it should not use existing local road networks or draw significant strategic traffic directly into local road networks / highway infrastructure which would not be able to cope – the ring road around Bicester for example;

 

3.        Ensuring that the Expressway is developed separately alongside locally planned highway enhancements such as Culham river crossing.

 

It is clear that, even taking these principles into account, there remain a number of corridor options and variants in Oxfordshire, including options west and east of Oxford City, and it is important that these are all fully and transparently considered through the assessment and decision-making process.  This includes taking into account how they would fit in with corridor preferences elsewhere on the Expressway corridor, for example in Buckinghamshire.

 

 

 

12 April 2018

Budget Speech 2017

 

 

Response to Cherwell Local Plan 

 

 

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to comment on the revision of the Local Plan. This is my personal view and does not represent the view of Oxfordshire County Council.

 

The key issue is that the extra numbers are due to the unmet demand from Oxford City therefore it’s important that they are located as near as possible. We have to acknowledge there is a demand for houses especially affordable houses for young people; we simply have to provide the houses.

 

Not only should the houses be located near to the city; there should be commercial development to provide jobs to encourage residents to live near employment so that they can walk/cycle or use public transport to get to work which reduces congestion

 

It has to be acknowledged that the A44/A4260 corridor has excellent public transport routes into the City and London with good connections to the A34/M40/M4. It has a business parks that are at the cutting edge of technology with an airport that has a longer runway than London City airport. Added to of all this there is a World heritage site at the end of the A44 dual carriageway.  This makes the area a good choice for development although we have to protect the individual communities and avoid complete coalescence of villages.

 

The Green Belt is a 1950’s idea that has served well but now is acting as a constraint and needs to be revised for the 21^st century. I do not advocate building on all the Green Belt but I do feel we need to consider the land itself and is it serving a purpose for all the community? Should any Green Belt land be developed then an amount equal or greater should be designated as 21^st century Green Belt. My personal preference is that we should develop green corridors or fingers that can reach out to the countryside so that we can develop excellent sustainable transport links such as quality cycle and footpaths. Should land be released from the Green Belt then areas currently adjacent to it should be considered for inclusion into a revised Green Belt/Corridor. I would argue that land around Woodstock is considered for inclusion prior to any development proposals.

 

An example of Green Belt land that I feel is not fit for purpose is the land between the Science Park and the railway line. The land is poor quality farmland with little value; if this was re-designated and developed then more quality jobs could be provided yet there would be no coalescence between Begbroke and Yarnton.

 

Any development has to take into account the new station at Oxford Parkway currently the land to the south east is open land in the Green Belt, this has to be considered first for development as the location close to the new station would mean fewer vehicles on the roads. Any developments to the north of Kidlington would mean residents getting into their cars to go to the station adding to congestion.

 

I would go even further and use part of the land to develop a world class sporting facility on this site involving the professional clubs and the Universities. In transport terms there is not a better location in Oxfordshire with a rail link and excellent links to the A34/M40/M4. The current football stadium is in poor condition, little room to expand beyond its current capacity with poor transport connectivity. By developing a new stadium with room to expand and a hotel with conference facilities Oxford could attract national or even international sporting events. There is no reason why a 50m swimming pool could not be part of the development as I believe there is not such a pool between London and Birmingham. The ice rink could be relocated to provide a new facility fit for purpose rather than the current one that news a major revamp. The added advantage of creating such a sporting facility in a new location would mean that the existing stadium and ice rink could be redeveloped for housing thus reducing the demand for more houses outside Oxford possibly by 800 units, with some of them located in the heart of the City.

 

Any proposed development needs to be taken in consultation with adjoining planning authorities as there is a knock on impact and they cannot be developed in isolation. Any development at the southern end of the search areas must be taken after intense consultation with the City council.

 

Likewise any development along the corridor must keep the identities of the village communities.

 

Any development near Woodstock can only be done if the entire required infrastructure is taken into account and work with West Oxfordshire District Council. There simply can’t be a ‘bolted on’ development with no consultation/consideration to the Town of Woodstock and its community just because it’s not within Cherwell District council.

 

The potential in the area is great but there must be a masterplan identifying the infrastructure required along with an indication of the phasing of any development. Above all any land released from the Green Belt must be replaced and the identity of communities respected.

 

Cllr Ian Hudspeth

11^th January 2017

  Response to 16/01364/OUT-2 Land East of Woodstock

 

 

Under current regulations this application is difficult (if not impossible,) to reject on planning grounds: this site is part of the SHLAA, and WODC does not yet have a current local plan.

 

My main concern for Woodstock is the lack of forward planning for infrastructure. Over the years incremental development has added pressure on, but not addressed that problem.

 

We are all aware of the issues: dwindling customers for the shops, parking, poor public transport to railway stations, lack of capacity at the doctors, pressure on places at the junior school, insufficient demand for 6^th form and a lack of affordable homes.

 

Those of us who are fortunate enough to have a home cannot ignore the fact that many children growing up in Woodstock have to move away simply because there are not sufficient houses.

 

If we continue to battle against development under all circumstances, Woodstock will suffer from a lack of infrastructure due to a lack of engagement, whilst inappropriate development will be likely to continue.

 

The Woodstock of 1950 was far different to today. The Woodstock of 2082 will be different again. Blenheim has been here for over 300 years and will still be here in another 300 years, long after we have all gone. Developments by Blenheim are designed to blend in with the location and remain there for many years. The current development at Bladon is a good example: a well-designed scheme that will create much needed jobs and houses for the village.

 

This current application mitigates the infrastructure issues for the application. However, if we do not consider the overall development then we will not address the underlying issues. We have to find a sustainable future for Woodstock.

 

I think we should approve this development, adopt the same sensible pragmatic approach as we did with the Young’s garage development, to work with Blenheim to try to deliver: more customers for the town centre shops, a solution to parking, upgraded S3 to Oxford, half hourly 233 to Hanborough station, a bus link to Oxford Parkway, a new doctors surgery, a sustainable solution to the junior school, more pupils for the 6^th form and above all more affordable homes so that children can remain in the town they love and grew up in.

 

To reject the development will mean we will not solve any of the infrastructure problems in Woodstock; the town will continue its decline into a dormitory town for commuters and a place for the wealthy.

 

Countryfile Live

 

The weekend 4^th – 7^th August, Blenheim Palace will be hosting a new event Countyfile Live. This promises to be a fantastic day out for all the family and will attract visitors from all over the country to Blenheim Palace. Full details can be found at http://www.blenheimpalace.com/

 

Traffic for Countryfile Live is currently anticipated to be considerably lighter than the Game Fair in 2014, there are 8 signed traffic routes to Countryfile Live. Traffic from the North will be split onto 4 routes, in addition to motorway traffic continuing south on the M40 to J9 and the A34. The A34 is the preferred route for traffic coming from the South-East and M40 westbound.

 

The decision to use the 8 routes was agreed at a traffic planning meeting with representatives of Oxfordshire County Council Network Management Group, West Oxfordshire DC, the Emergency Services (including Thames Valley Police Traffic Management Unit and Roads Policing) and with other stakeholder involvement such as local bus operators.  The same routing plan was implemented successfully for the CLA Game Fair in 2014.  If traffic congestion is seen to be extremely high through one route, the event organiser has the option to sign traffic to another route.

 

There will be increased traffic over the days, with the traffic management in place disruption should be minimal and everybody will be able to enjoy the event.

 

Huge rise in new members at Bicester’s brand new library

More than 1,000 new members have joined Bicester library since it opened its doors for the first time on 11 April.

                                                                               Unitary Debate

 

 I welcome the fact that the Leaders of the City and District councils now recognise the need to change the way local government operates in Oxfordshire. I have wanted to have the debate for several years so that we can provide the best service for all of Oxfordshire's residents. I want to have a full, open and transparent debate with all options considered rather than just trying to push through 1 option only.

Having said that I feel that all options lead back to having 1 back office and if that's the case then we should have 1 front office too. It is not about 1 council taking over another as all the councils will have to be abolished and a new one or ones created.

 

Below is a statement from all the political group Leaders at the County Council calling for the debate:

 

Thank you to everybody who took part in the action day or should I say action1 hour and half, as that’s all it took, to make a massive difference to the land at the corner of Park Close. Thanks go to those that provided cups of tea and biscuits which were really appreciated along with the green waste bins that meant we did not have to make a trip to the recycling centre. Thank you.

Link to the County council website

Following a motion to Full council by Cllr Kevin Bulmer I sent this letter to the Secretary of State for Transport:

Joanna Simons will be stepping down as Chief Executive in September in order that the council can carry out a review of senior management arrangements. The aim is to reduce costs in the light of further funding cuts announced by the government.

Supported Transport (subsidised buses and Dial-A-Ride) consultation

County Council secures £3.3m funding for cycle scheme

Oxfordshire County Council have secured funding through the Cycle City Ambition Grant to provide improvements along the Thames towpath and build a new bridge.

Annex 1: EY Report, Strategic Financial Case for a Unitary Council

County Council Leader outlines his vision for transport in ‘Connecting Oxfordshire’

A vision of a thriving Oxfordshire supported by a 21st century transport system has been unveiled by the Leader of the county council.

Milton Interchange announcement welcomed

News that the Government has announced that it will fund a major transport improvement project in Oxfordshire has been welcomed by the leader of the county council.

The Department for Transport has put forward £5m of the £11million needed to improve the Milton Interchange near Didcot. The scheme has also received strong support from the Local Enterprise Partnership and its chairman, Adrian Shooter.

County Councillor Ian Hudspeth, Leader of Oxfordshire County Council, said: “This is great news which has positive implications for the local economy.

“The county council has championed this scheme in order to enhance accessibility to Science Vale  and deliver the Enterprise Zone.

“We will now speak with the Highways Agency in order to secure work which I believe will see one of the county’s major traffic ‘pinch points’ become known for innovation, accessibility and success.”

This transport scheme will convert the current junction - where the roads from Didcot, Milton Park, Harwell and Wantage join the A34 -  into a 'hamburger' style roundabout. This will support the development of new employment opportunities in the Science Vale UK Enterprise Zone and new housing in the Didcot, Wantage and Grove areas.

The £11m million scheme will also be supported by developer contributions held by the County Council and by funds from the Oxfordshire Local Enterprise Partnership.

Notes: The Government has stated that it is ‘Minded to approve’ the funding subject to further clarification on a number of design and technical issues. Between the county council and Highways Agency.

Who am I to disagree with Dan Hannan?

Winter Maintenance

From 1st November the Council maintains a watch on the weather to determine if gritting is required for full details please use the link below:

 

Winter maintenance

  Well done to Cllr Colin Dingwall for finding a solution to the car parking at Hanborough station.

The article below appeared on the Oxford Mail web site by Tom Jennings:

For full details:http://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/9663570.Grant_bid_for_car_park_plan/

PLANS have been put forward by First Great Western to build a new 197-space car park close to Hanborough railway station. The station's 50-space car park is often full by 6.45am and dozens of drivers park on the grass verges along the A4095 and outside nearby residents' homes. FGW is seeking funding for the car park on a nearby former plant hire depot, next to North Oxford Garage's Mini showroom and body shop. Blenheim Estates purchased the site, off the A4095 Main Road, formerly owned by Hewden, in March and is in discussions with FGW about converting it into a car park. But the plan hinges on FGW securing a grant from a Network Rail station improvement fund, which is expected be decided at a meeting on May 10. If the scheme does go ahead, drivers would be charged to use the station's car parking spaces, with the county council putting no-waiting restrictions in place on nearby roads and the verges.

Colin Dingwall, West Oxfordshire District Council member for Freeland and Hanborough, has been working on finding a solution to the parking problem for three years. He said: "It is of the utmost importance. The situation down there is dangerous and is a tremendous nuisance for all the people who live in the area.

It is also a nuisance for all the people who want to travel by train to relieve the congested roads."

Mr Dingwall is also working on a scheme to build a housing development in a field alongside the railway line, which would combine affordable housing with a 100-space car park for rail users.

Cotswold Line Promotion Group Hanborough representative Andrew Wilkins said: "I've counted more than 70 cars parked along the A4095, which is very annoying for residents but also creates a danger with cars backing out on to the road."

The number of passengers using Hanborough station has grown by almost 50 per cent since 2005, from 70,500 journeys starting or ending there in 2005-6 to 104,000 journeys in 2009-10.

FGW spokesman James Davis said: "For customers to make the most of the services that First Great Western offers, providing suitable parking facilities can only be of benefit."

Blenheim Estates property director Roger File said: "We have acquired the Hewden site as a commercial investment. "We have a number of options, one of which is to do something with Network Rail, subject to their grant coming through. We would rather help solve the traffic problems than something that does not offer that benefit."

The change of use would need to gain planning permission from West Oxfordshire District Council.

Woodstock farmers market

 

Concessionary travel tokens must be used before end of March 2012

West Oxfordshire residents are reminded that any concessionary travel tokens must be used by
31 March 2012. After this date the tokens will cease to be valid.

Oxfordshire County Council, who took over running the concessionary travel scheme from the District Council last spring, removed the use of travel tokens from the service due to government grant cuts.

West Oxfordshire District Councillor, David Harvey said "It's important that people are aware that they are nearing the end of the ‘grace period' for using up any previously issued travel tokens.

"Eligible residents are now issued with a free national bus pass. This can be used on all local scheduled bus services across England. During the week the bus pass can be used from 9am in Oxfordshire and from 9.30am in other areas. There are no time restrictions at weekends or on Bank Holidays."

Bus passes will continue to be issued from West Oxfordshire District Council's Town Centre Shop, Welch Way, Witney until 31 March 2012. From April residents will need to contact Oxfordshire County Council.

For more information call 01993 861000 or visit www.westoxon.gov.uk/bus

The Leader of the County Council, Cllr Keith Mitchell CBE has announced that he will be standing down as Leader at the Council's AGM on 15th May 2012.
 

I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate Keith on his 10 years as Leader of the County Council. Despite all that has happened I can genuinely say that I have a huge respect for him and all that he has done transforming the organisation from its previous status as a hung council with no overall direction, no leadership and a mediocre service record to one that is seen nationally as high performing and able to punch above its weight.

In his resignation letter, Keith made it clear that he will be the leader until 15^th May 2012 and in the meantime its ‘business as usual'. The most important business we have to deal with is the budget, we have to ensure that we deliver a zero increase whilst protecting our front line services.

There has been speculation regarding possible candidates for the Leadership, at this stage I feel that we should be concentrating on delivering the budget as there will be sufficient time in the New Year to deal with the Leadership issue.

It was good to be at the official launch of the first part of the Cotswold redoubling held at Charlbury Station. Congratulations must go to all those involved in this project to improve the efficiency of the line. Obviously the team from Network Rail who carried out the work but we must not forget the part the Cotwsold Line Promotion Group have played in maintaining the pressure on the authorities to deliver the scheme.

We now must all work together to improve the parking at both Charlbury and Long Hanborough to ensure that when the improved service attracts more customers it does not add to the parking problems outside the stations.

 

I have to make an apology, as in my April report I mentioned the proposal regarding the Visitor Information Centre at the museum. What I failed to mention is the loss of the staff and the excellent work that they have carried out at the centre. They worked hard with their colleagues from the museum and often covered for each other in busy periods. They will be missed and I apologise not to have mentioned their good work and I wish them well for the future.