Another busy month!
Budget
The County Council budget was passed on 11 February. Among other key things, the budget will:
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Allocate £60m to roads maintenance
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Allocate £4m to flood measures (including a restoration of annual gulley cleaning, which was made once every four years in the last budget of the previous administration)
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Increase spending on Children’s Services and Adult Social Care, including measures for early interventions and help preparing children coming up to starting school
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Put more money into libraries and family hubs
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Provide additional money for rural active travel facilities
Roads
A40
The work on the Shores Green junction in Witney has commenced. There will be some delays getting into Witney and occasional closures of the A40 overnight. When finished, it will make the eastern Witney junction four-way and relieve pressure on the centre of Witney.
I suspect the changes will also reduce traffic on Lower Road and in Barnard Gate, and on the Eynsham section of the A40, as it will become better for HGVs and other traffic from north of Kidlington to join the dual carriageway (A40) at Shores Green rather than at Eynsham.
Potholes
There has been a large investment in road maintenance, with £46m being put into road surface treatment, and £14m into other key maintenance after decades of under-funding. This is the legacy of the previous County Council administration of “managed decline”, which was explicitly set out in a 2014 Cabinet paper in response to Government funding cuts: AGENDA ITEM
As the weather improves, you will see increased activity filling holes and resurfacing roads. It has already started, as those travelling to Botley today will have noticed. I would expect the busier roads to be worked on first.
We do still need increased funding from central Government to get on top of the issue.
Local government reorganisation latest
As expected, the complexities of Oxfordshire mean that the Government didn’t put us in the first wave of changes for either unitarization or devolution.
Unitarization
Unitarization will happen if the Government sticks to its policy. There will be one or more unitary authorities in place of the current two-tier system of districts and county. We are required to put in an outline proposal by 31 March, with a full proposal by 30 November this year.
The wisest option is for a whole-Oxfordshire unitary authority, which would exceed the Government’s stated requirement for new unitary authorities to have at least 500,000 residents. It would avoid splitting up key services like social services and would be financially stable.
Oxford City Council appear wedded to an inner and outer ‘doughnut’, with the inner authority comprising Oxford and part of each of the other districts, which would almost certainly include Eynsham and Kidlington, and possibly Witney and Abingdon.
“Devolution”
The current top tier authorities, including Oxfordshire, are in discussions about the other part of the reform, which is to set up a Mayoral Combined Authority (MCA). The MCA will have power over things like public transport and inward investment. It is likely that we will end up with a Thames Valley MCA, with the first mayoral election in May 27.
Elections
The good news is that the Government did not cancel County Council elections, so they will be going ahead on 1 May. These will be under the new boundaries agreed by the Electoral Commission. I will be standing again for the Eynsham Division.
Botley West
A quick reminder that applications to make further comments on the Botley West planning proposal to be considered by the Secretary of State (Ed Miliband at the time of writing) have to be registered by 27 February. West Oxfordshire District Council and Oxfordshire County Council will be making representations. I have registered as the local County Councillor and as a District Councillor.
Should you wish to register, the web address is below: Register to have your say about a national infrastructure project - National Infrastructure Planning
I will be objecting to the proposal submitted by the developer on lots of grounds, including its effect on local residents and the environment, and the frankly derisory level of funding the developer proposes passing to parish councils and local groups.
Other things
Among lots of other activity so far this year, I have had the pleasure of accompanying our MP to meet the senior management team, including the headteacher Mr Thomas, at Bartholomew School. We are fortunate to have such well-run schools in Eynsham and Cassington.
I attended a crowded Stop Botley West meeting in Cassington and communicated with our Oxfordshire MPs about the topic.
Finally, I met with our new local police colleague, Hannah Leggott, who is working alongside Helen Keen. They are both keen (sorry) to be seen around the village.
As ever, I can be contacted via dan.levy@oxfordshire.gov.uk.