ORC application to be decided in August

The University of Oxford’s application will be discussed at the City Council’s Area Planning East meeting on the first Wednesday in August.

It comprises: demolition of 4 existing buildings (including Richards, Waco and Badenoch Buildings). Erection of 2 medical research buildings on 3 floors plus basement to accommodate Nuffield Department of Medicine and Kennedy Institute, to include laboratories, offices, stores, workshops and ancillary spaces. Provision of hard and soft landscaping, cycle parking and rearrangement of car parking.

It’s amazing how many major planning applications affecting the Headington area seem to happen in the summer holidays

Academies

At the Liberal Democrat Autumn Conference in 2010 which Ruth attended, the party raised a number of concerns about the expansion of academies, including the assertion that local education authorities should retain strategic oversight for the provision of school places funded by public money. 
 
The party called on the government to ensure that schools remaining within the Local Authority family are not financially penalised by the creation of academies.
 
What Liberal Democrats have campaigned on is:

  •  for all schools to be given the freedoms that academies enjoy
  • wider freedom for headteachers
  • that academies should be required to pay the full cost including administrative overheads for any services they buy back from the Local Authority 
  • that academies should have only observer status on the Schools Forum as they have placed themselves outside the democratic system for the funding of education.
     
    In particular, the Lib Dem Manifesto stated we would: “Introduce an Education Freedom Act banning politicians from getting involved in the day-to-day running of schools.”  The schools white paper addressed many of our concerns, removing much of the centralised and stifling bureaucracy imposed by Labour. Every school will have more autonomy, but the white paper also includes provision for local authorities’ strategic oversight.
     
    The manifesto also called for: “Reform the existing rigid national pay and conditions rules to give schools and colleges more freedom” . The white paper announced that we would give schools greater flexibility and freedom to set pay.
     

The Liberal Democrats are an independent, democratic party and it is clear that party policy will sometimes differ from coalition policy. Our members respect that in a Coalition government some of the policies that go forward will be Conservative ones and some will be Liberal Democrat ones. Compromise is inevitable and healthy.
 
As well as free schools and academies the Government is introducing a Pupil Premium to give extra funding to schools taking the poorest pupils, a key Lib Dem manifesto commitment. This will be worth £2.5bn a year by the end of the Parliament and will make an enormous difference not only to disadvantaged children but all pupils.
 
Michael Gove speech
 
In his speech on Thursday 16 June, Michael Gove announced that the weakest 200 primary schools would become academies in 2012/13.
 
This announcement needs to be put in context. For the first time, the Coalition has put in place a minimum standard by which primary school achievement can be judged – 60% of pupils reaching a basic level of English and Maths at 11, and where children make below average progress between seven and 11. Currently, 1,400 primaries fall below that standard. Of those, 200 have been persistently below that standard for five years and 120 of those for more than 10 years.
 
The bottom 200 primaries have been failing for a significant amount of time and attempts to turn them around have clearly failed. It is in these circumstances that the decision has been made to turn them into academies. It is hoped that by turning these schools into academies, it may succeed where other measures have failed.

When will joint bus ticketing happen?

At the Carbon and Natural Resources Board meeting yesterday it was stated
that a date has been set for implementation of the Qualifying Agreement
– not a Partnership as that was abandoned some time ago. The date
remains a secret – but the bus companies are correctly wanting to be sure that the software really works – it was not a question of their dragging their feet but a genuine failure of the software to do what it should.

The provisional date we had been told for introducing joint ticketing before yesterday’s meeting  was the end of the summer. This is ground-breaking work so the timing is tricky to predict!

Confusion reigns over e-agendas

The administration has rushed through its new centralised meeting arrangements so hurriedly that officers seem to be having difficulty keeping up with it all

The agenda and papers for Monday’s scrutiny meeting were not put up on the website till 11.15 that morning, yet any member of the public wishing to speak or ask questions was expected to alert officers last week. One of the agenda items was on the new democratic arrangements, namely area forums!

Let’s hope we soon see an increased commitment from the ruling party to involve the public at future meetings!

NE Area Forum – what will it look like?

Following a meeting between Ruth, two councillors from Quarry/Risinghurst, and Headington Hill & Northway, and our Communities and Neighbourhoods Team Leader Martin Yapp, it has been agreed that the provisional date for the first NE Area Forum will be Tuesday 5 July at 6 pm, and the provisional venue is the Headington community centre in Gladstone Road (we are checking availability)

It is likely to follow the following format (timings are approximate):

18.00-18.30

  • Informal discussions with local councillors
  • Display of Barton West plans with officer available to answer questions
  • Members of the public invited to post up ideas for area-wide issues we can discuss at future forums
  • Dave Walker to be asked to record issues re cleansing, refuse collection, etc

18.30-19.30

  • introduction to the Sites and Housing Development preferred options consultation document by relevant senior planning policy officer
  • break out groups (at tables for each neighbourhood)  to discuss how potential developments would affect residents and businesses
  • local councillors to sit in on discussions and ensure notes are taken

1930-20.00

  • Feedback from each group

20.00

  • End of formal business
  • Cllrs Wilkinson, Baxter and Darke plus Jackie Yates (Director of Finance), Martin Yapp and planning policy officer to discuss how to take forward issues and to consider agenda for October meeting

We will update this page when date and venue is confirmed

Invitations will be sent to specific individuals or groups likely to be affected e.g. Headington Business

Provisional dates for future Forum meetings are

  • Wed 12 Oct
  • Tue 10 Jan
  • Wed 11 April

Library forms go like hot cakes!

Save Headington Library stall at the Festival

Lots of people visited the Save Headington Library stall at Headington Festival this afternoon and picked up their copies of the Library consultation feedback form. Many more joined the mailing list for Save Headington Library events.

The Group also organised storytelling under the storytelling tree throughout the afternoon.

There will be an open meeting early next month and more publicity will follow. There is one question in the survey document about volunteering which needs careful consideration before answering – if you have any concerns or queries, please email saveheadingtonlibrary@gmail.com or get in touch with Ruth

Bury Knowle Library latest

As many of you are aware, there has been what looks like a U turn by the County Council following its initial plans to axe libraries across Oxfordshire

The County Council’s website is now displaying this change of heart.

Based on the needs analysis of each area which should have been done before any proposals were made, the following 22 libraries make up those that would meet the council’s statutory requirement to provide a comprehensive and efficient network  of libraries and would remain fully staffed under the latest proposals:

Abingdon, Banbury, Berinsfield, Bicester, Blackbird Leys, Botley, Carterton, Chipping Norton, Cowley, Didcot, Eynsham, Headington, Henley, Kidlington, Littlemore, Neithrop,Oxford Central, Summertown, Thame, Wallingford, Wantage, Witney.

The council would welcome volunteers to supplement these fully staffed libraries – potentially allowing libraries to extend their opening hours.

There will be a four month consultation on these new proposals

You can tell the County Council your views in any of the following ways:

  • Complete the online feedback form
  • Collect a copy of the consultation document from your local library or from the Save Headington Library stall at next Sunday’s Headington Festival and send back the FREEPOST feedback form at the back. (Ruth will be helping the Save Headington Library group on our stall throughout the afternoon)
  • Come along to a library service consultation event (date to be arranged)
  • Come along and have your say at our next Headington Ward Focus meeting on 19 July at the Headington Baptist Church Hall (date to be confirmed)

The Save Headington Library Group committee will meet later this week to discuss the proposals. We are aware that Old Marston Library is one of the county’s 16 libraries for which

There would also be a positive future … as a result of free access to a suitable building, to the county’s book stock and to the library stock management system.

The staffing emphasis in these libraries would shift from county council staff to volunteers in a phased way over a three year period

This is cause for concern. Our group forms part of the wider Save Oxfordshire Libraries Group which will meet in June to discuss future action.

It is curious that the County had initially said it has no money to keep Bury Knowle Library open, but now it is saying it can not only keep it open but fully staff it. As ever, we need more information to understand this change of position!