The Overview and Scrutiny Committee of West Oxfordshire District Council convened to discuss the council's financial and service performance in the first quarter of 2025/26, updates to youth services, and the Oxfordshire Local Area Energy Plan. The committee noted the reports on the financial and service performance, and the youth needs assessment. They also agreed to submit recommendations to the Executive regarding the Oxfordshire Local Area Energy Plan.

2025/26 Quarterly Finance Review Q1

The committee reviewed the [2025/26 Quarterly Finance Review Q1][Q1 Budget Monitoring Report Final], which detailed the council's financial performance in the first quarter of the financial year. Councillor Alaric Smith, Executive Member for Finance, reported an overall underspend of £260,745 against the profiled budget for the period. Key factors contributing to this included additional income from trade waste, the leisure contract, vacant positions, and better-than-expected performance in the materials recycling contract.

Other points covered in the review included:

• Recycling Contract: The recycling contract, which commenced in September 2024, continued to perform better than expected, saving the council an average of £60,000 per month between September 2024 and March 2025.
• Green Waste: Green waste income was £30,000 behind target, though net income was £1.2 million.
• Trade Waste: Trade waste income was £164,000 above target, partially offset by expenditure on bins and boxes.
• Legal Services: Vacancies in the Legal shared service resulted in an underspend, but recruitment had been successful, with new postholders starting in Q2.
• Development Management Appeals: The appeals budget was £24,975 underspent, but this was dependent on the actions of third parties.
• Conservation Service: Vacant posts in the Conservation Service resulted in an underspend, but these positions had now been filled.
• Leisure Contract: The leisure contract was £41,000 ahead of budget due to an inflationary uplift.

Councillor Alaric Smith also addressed the government's proposals for the Fairer Funding Review and Business Rates Reset, noting that the council was aware it would receive less funding but that the position was no worse than expected. He explained that modelling based on provisional funding formula changes indicated a £943,000 loss of income over three years from 2026/27 to 2028/29.

The committee noted the report.

2025/26 Quarterly Service Review Q1

The committee scrutinised the [2025/26 Quarterly Service Review Q1][Performance Report 2025-26 Quarter One], which provided details of the council's operational performance. Councillor Andy Graham, Leader of the Council, highlighted that the report was broadly positive, with many service areas performing above target.

Areas performing above target included:

• Council Tax and Non-Domestic Rates collection
• Processing times for Council Tax Support new claims
• Percentage of Housing Benefit overpayment due to local authority error/administrative delay
• Customer satisfaction
• Planning application determination times
• Official land charge searches completed within 10 days
• Affordable homes delivered
• High-risk food premises inspections
• High-risk notifications risk assessed within one working day
• Residual household waste per household
• Missed bins per 100,000
• Leisure centre visits and gym memberships

Areas performing below target included:

• Processing times for Council Tax Support change events and Housing Benefit change of circumstances, which were impacted by a planned pause in uploading Universal Credit applications.
• Percentage of planning appeals allowed (cumulative).
• Percentage of household waste recycled, which mirrored a national trend due to seasonal and structural factors.

During the discussion, members sought clarification on how recycling was measured and calculated, and what steps could be taken to improve communication with service users regarding recycling. There was also discussion of the merits of a separate Task and Finish Group for waste, but the committee expressed a preference for expanding the remit of the existing Waste Transformation Task and Finish Group.

The committee noted the report.

Responding to the Youth Needs Assessment

The committee reviewed a report on responding to the [Youth Needs Assessment][Youth Development Officer -Overview and Scrutiny report - Sept 2025 1], which was introduced by Councillor Andy Graham. The report shared the progress made by James Edney, Youth Development Officer, and set out priorities for the role moving forward.

James Edney explained that in his first six months, he had visited communities and identified six priority areas:

• Develop and grow new youth provisions and activities in areas where there is a shortfall and demand.
• Sustain existing provision by recognising, supporting, and strengthening it.
• Promote safety and wellbeing by encouraging and developing approaches that tackle challenges around mental health, anti-social behaviour, and violence against women and girls.
• Highlight youth-positive employers and encourage innovation and youth-friendly policies to enable young people to access work.
• Promote volunteering.
• Engage with young people directly and develop opportunities for them to be heard and to influence service delivery.

During the discussion, members raised the need for tangible targets for the work being undertaken, and clarity on what it was hoped would be achieved. There was also discussion of the Youth Development Officer's role, which was suggested to be one of facilitating communication and giving advice, not hosting events and groups.

The committee noted the report.

Oxfordshire Local Area Energy Planning

Councillor Andrew Prosser, Executive Member for Climate Action and Nature Recovery, introduced the item, supported by Hannah Kenyon, Climate Change Manager. Councillor Prosser explained that local area energy planning was a process that set out the pathway on how to get from the current energy system to zero-carbon.

Hannah Kenyon added that the Oxfordshire Leaders Joint Committee had supported the six Oxfordshire Councils to develop Local Area Energy Plans (LAEP). These plans sought to reduce energy demand and increase the use of renewable energy sources, as well as ensuring infrastructure was in place to support this.

The committee noted the report and agreed to submit recommendations to the Executive.

Updates from Task and Finish Groups

Councillor Genny Early, Vice-Chair of the Committee, provided an update on the work of the Public Conveniences Task and Finish Group. The group had met at the end of July 2025 and discussed the options to be presented in the upcoming Executive report, the cost per use of the various facilities, and the ownership of the various facilities. The group would continue for a further year and focus on potential changes to pricing and enhancement to the facilities.

Councillor Stuart McCarroll provided an update on the work of the Leisure Strategy Task and Finish Group. The group had met on 10 June 2025 and 3 September 2025, and discussed the council's proposed Leisure Options Appraisal, the need to continue to increase the use of facilities, difficulties with the booking systems, acquiring better performance data for the facilities, and benchmarking.

Committee Work Programme

The Head of Democratic and Electoral Services advised the committee that the item on Local Government Reorganisation (LGR), initially scheduled for 8 October 2025, was now expected to be brought to the committee in November 2025. This change was to align the council's approach with the other councils across the county.

It was noted that the Local Plan Spatial Options item was being brought to the committee in October.

The committee accepted the work plan.

Executive Work Programme

The committee noted that the Executive Member for the Car Parking Strategy item should now be Councillor Lidia Arciszewska, Executive Member for Environment.