http://www.oxfordcountylibdems.org.uk/speecharchive.php Recent Speeches from Oxfordshire Liberal Democrats en-GB Oxfordshire Liberal Democrats http://www.oxfordcountylibdems.org.uk/ Prater Raines Ltd http://www.praterraines.co.uk/ (c) 2008 Oxfordshire Liberal Democrats 2008-11-21T12:53+00:00 United Kingdom http://www.oxfordcountylibdems.org.uk/speeches/000075/sustainable_communities.html The Sustainable Communities Act 2007 set out a process to give local people more control over improving their community, by allowing a community panel to suggest ways local spending could be better used to improve local services and quality of life. The Department for Communities and Local Government have now issued a formal invitation to local authorities to put forward proposals. 2008-11-04T00:00+00:00 http://www.oxfordcountylibdems.org.uk/speeches/000074/eu_charter_for_equality.html The European Charter for Equality of women and men in local life is set up to enable local authorites to use their powers and partnerships to achieve greater equality for their people. Signing the Charter makes a formal public commitment to the principle of equality of women and men and implementation of this means drawing up an Equality Action Plan setting out priorities. Well we have already done this in our Gender Equality Scheme and excellent document setting out our actions for 2007 - 2010. So this motion is not asking the Council to do something different, it is merely acknowledging the work that our officers have put into this document and enabling us to make this public and ensure people know that we have made that commitment. What is more, and we can take some kudos for this, is that we shall be one of the first authorities in England to have done this. Although there are over 500 municipalities in Europe who have signed this charter, here there is only one authority so far (Chester-le-Street) and I am sure that this is mainly because people are unaware of the EU charter. 2008-06-17T16:00+00:00 http://www.oxfordcountylibdems.org.uk/speeches/000073/performance_not_yet_up_to_scratch.html I have carefully read the latest now unembargoed Corporate Assessment Report and would like to focus on a couple of key items. 2008-05-20T11:01+00:00 http://www.oxfordcountylibdems.org.uk/speeches/000072/real_consultation__lets_hope.html I am pleased to read that the County Council is committed to consulting the people and communities of Oxfordshire in a meaningful and robust way - this has certainly not been happening too well in the past so let us hope this bodes well for the future. That this was not done well previously was picked up by the Peer Group when they visited us. 2008-05-20T10:58+00:00 http://www.oxfordcountylibdems.org.uk/speeches/000071/local_area_agreement_2__lets_see_real_joinedup_working.html I am pleased that the 35 chosen indicators for this that have now been submitted with 16 statutory children and young people's target are related to educational attainment. Hopefully this should go some way towards getting back our 'lost star'. 2008-05-20T10:55+00:00 http://www.oxfordcountylibdems.org.uk/speeches/000070/oxfordshire_county_council_school_report__could_do_better_say_lib_dems.html This Annual Report seems to have been put together very hastily and appears very bland and left me wondering who was the target audience? 2008-05-20T10:51+00:00 http://www.oxfordcountylibdems.org.uk/speeches/000069/bottled_water.html It is just water isn't it? One might ask what difference accepting this motion would make. I believe we all need to be aware of the small changes we can make to improve the County Council's carbon footprint. This motion proposes just one for the Cabinet to consider. The environmental cost of purchasing bottled water is well documented. 2008-04-01T00:00+00:00 http://www.oxfordcountylibdems.org.uk/speeches/000064/proposing_cllr_anne_purse_as_council_vice_chairman_for_20089.html I should like to propose Cllr Anne Purse to be Vice Chairman of the Council. 2008-04-01T00:00+00:00 http://www.oxfordcountylibdems.org.uk/speeches/000065/multioperator_ticketing.html I don't believe that anyone can deny the benefits of this motion put before you today because this should ensure that public transport within Oxfordshire should have the capacity to improve, so not only helping the environment but giving us better value for money especially when considering how much this Council pays in bus subsidies. We also know that the budget for bus subsidies is being reduced so we really need to maximise benefits of public money going in to support this 2008-04-01T00:00+00:00 http://www.oxfordcountylibdems.org.uk/speeches/000066/highways_drainage_schemes_in_grove.html I have come here today in support of the Cabinet's recommended Highways schemes in the hope that work on these will be done sooner than later. 2008-03-18T14:00+00:00 http://www.oxfordcountylibdems.org.uk/speeches/000067/councils_performance.html I am speaking at Cabinet today to draw attention to three areas of concern on Annex 2 of the report. 2008-03-18T14:00+00:00 http://www.oxfordcountylibdems.org.uk/speeches/000068/local_area_agreement_targets.html We have to do this as it is imposed on us by government. I am pleased that we now we have 35 indicators which I hope will be manageable. I understand from 13. that they are fully resourced but the financial management of the reward grants is still uncertain. 2008-03-18T14:00+00:00 http://www.oxfordcountylibdems.org.uk/speeches/000063/transport_asset_management_plan__works_programme.html I recognise this plan and programme as significant for all Oxfordshire residents. 2008-03-18T00:00+00:00 http://www.oxfordcountylibdems.org.uk/speeches/000055/the_lib_dem_alternative_budget.html Last year we produced a full budget, due to the criticisms of the ruling group dismissing our amendments the previous year, despite the fact that we acted on the advice which was given to us at the time. Interestingly, a number of things which we put in our budget last year have been picked up by the Cabinet this year, so it must mean we did some things right. Maybe the real reason my group is encouraged to put forward a full budget again is to enable our good ideas to be taken forward for next year, so we can but hope. 2008-02-12T12:00+00:00 http://www.oxfordcountylibdems.org.uk/speeches/000056/cllr_jim_moley.html It is with great sadness today that I pay tribute to Councillor Jim Moley who died last month. Indeed, at the last council meeting, which was to be his last, many of us here today, heard Jim's last words in public in this chamber on an issue which affected his division (and mine) as he sat in his seat behind me. 2008-02-12T10:00+00:00