You said, we did

Oxfordshire school readiness

In early 2023, we invited feedback from parents/carers and stakeholders in the form of 2 surveys. It outlined the school readiness and lifelong learning strategic plan developed in 2020 which outlined our vision for children and young people to be well educated and grow up to lead successful, happy, healthy and safe lives in Oxfordshire.

You said:

A total of 51 stakeholder responses and 158 parent/carer responses were received. Overall, participants have requested information on websites being clearer to support parents, a focus on mental health and well-being , better data sharing on platforms and less waiting lists for support services.

We did:

Based on the feedback we are now writing recommendations which will be shared and published.

Household waste recycling centre strategy 2023 - 2043

The council’s seven household waste and recycling centres (HWRCs) are very popular, with around one million visits every year. They take in 40,000-45,000 tonnes of waste, and 65.5% of this waste is recycled. Over a six-week period in spring 2023, nearly 400 residents and small number of stakeholders shared their views on our draft HWRC strategy, and what we plan to do to manage our waste for the next 20 years.

You said:

You support our approach to deliver a HWRC network set up for reuse, upcycling, innovation, and the circular economy.
You want us to coordinate services with the District and City councils to ensure a comprehensive, easy to access waste service.
You are keen to keep travel distances to HWRCs as low as possible to encourage people to use the sites. Some people asked us not to shut sites
You told us about the challenges of reaching HWRCs without a car, especially as people reduce personal car ownership
There is work to be done with manufacturers to reduce the amount of packaging produced, which will help residents create less waste.

We did:

We used your feedback to inform our final strategy:

We will have reuse on sites as soon as we have the space to safely do so.
We will keep working with the other councils in Oxfordshire through the Oxfordshire Resources and Waste Partnership to deliver effective and (where possible) integrated waste services within the county.
We will make sure that the access policy for our HWRCs, and the council’s active travel policies, continue to enable residents to visit sites easily using a variety of different transport modes.
We listened to your concerns around travel distances to sites and acknowledged them in the strategy. Due to future uncertainties, we cannot commit to not shutting any sites, as we do not have security of tenure at some locations. However, the strategy does indicate the preference (depending on financial constraints) to secure or, where needed, relocate the sites in our network. Once this work is done, we can then look at expanding existing HWRCs to accommodate Oxfordshire’s growing population and this may mean that new HWRCs are created.

Helping people stay warm and healthy in their homes

From February to April 2023 your shared your views to help us design a service for Oxfordshire residents to help them stay warm, safe and healthy at home.

390 of you gave us valuable feedback, helping us to understand Oxfordshire homeowners’ experiences of keeping their home warm and energy efficient, how our current services (called Better Housing Better Health) could be improved, and more!

You said:

Residents told us that keeping their homes warm and free damp were their biggest priorities.
Cold, mould and damp were the top three problems reported by professionals on their clients’ behalf.
People were most likely to go to the internet, Citizen’s Advance or their family and friends for advice about high energy bills.
The biggest barriers to staying warm, safe, and independent in homes were:

Eligibility criteria of grants to help make changes
Not having impartial advice and information about energy efficiency and what to do
Knowing where to find trusted, reliable, and affordable tradesmen

We did:

We updated the specification for Better Housing Better Health (the Single Point of contact service) to better support people with vulnerabilities
We are improving the ways we tell people about Better Housing Better Health (including ways that are not on the internet) so that more people can know about it and benefit
We shared the results with:

Trading Standards, so they can help more people feel confident in finding tradesmen they can trust
The Livewell team, to help improve they way information about services is shared
The Policy team, to help us to understand the different ways we can help with residents’ cost of living needs
The Climate Action team, to help inform their work on grants to help people increase their energy efficiency

Oxfordshire water supply summit

Activity:

On 30 November, the council organised a summit to discuss water supply issues. Community and industry experts came together to explore the long-term water resource challenges facing the county and discuss plans proposed by water companies, with the aim of working towards better outcomes for the county.

Results:

63 attended

Feedback:

Stakeholders with very different views were able to discuss plans and concerns in detail in a supportive and neutral environment.
The council has used feedback from the day to help formulate responses to consultations on water resource management plans.
The council is now following up on issues raised at the event with Thames Water – the event formed the springboard for a closer working relationship with Thames Water.

Electric vehicles and home energy systems

A survey was conducted in January 2023 which was part of a research project looking into new home energy systems that might benefit residents who drive electric vehicles (EVs) in the future gather insight about the energy behaviours of local residents.

Oxfordshire County Council is part of a research project looking into new home energy systems that might benefit residents who drive electric vehicles (EVs) in the future. We are looking to gather information about the energy behaviours of local residents and to understand how people in Oxfordshire might respond to new home energy and electric vehicle technologies and what might trigger them to be adopted.

Your views on electric vehicles and home energy systems - the full report can be found here.

You said:

The high response rate to this survey suggests that the subjects of electric vehicles and home energy systems are highly popular with Oxfordshire residents, and that there is a strong interest in the concept of Vehicle to Home energy systems.
From the responses to this survey, it appears that across the board there is a strong positive reaction to the concept of vehicle to home technology and a great willingness for people to potentially adopt this in their own homes.
The results are very promising and suggest that Oxfordshire could be a potentially excellent area to pilot new Vehicle to Home technologies.
Given more time, there is a wealth of further analysis that could be carried out on this rich dataset to further understand some of the other factors that might influence the main key outcomes: a) respondents’ initial reaction to, b) potential willingness to adopt and c) perceived advantages and disadvantages of having Vehicle to Home technology in their homes.

Next steps

Next steps: we are looking at funding sources to potentially run some real-life trials of Vehicle to Home technology in Oxfordshire.

Traffic filters

Six traffic filters – designed to reduce traffic, make bus journeys faster and make walking and cycling safer – will be trialled in Oxford after improvement works to Oxford railway station are complete.

The decision was made by the county council’s cabinet on 29 November 2022.

The decision follows extensive engagement with more than a hundred local businesses, organisations and community groups, including bus companies, hospitals, schools and universities.

You said:

The traffic filters scheme was consulted on between 5 September and 13 October 2022.

5700 people responded to the consultation survey and another 485 emails were received my members of the public and businesses, schools and other organisations.

The responses have been analysed by an independent research company: consultation report. The feedback received has resulted in a number of updates to the scheme.

We did:

Based on the feedback received during consultation, key changes to the scheme have been made.

Traffic filters on Hollow Way and Marston Ferry Road initially operating at peak times only from 7am until 9am and from 3pm until 6pm Monday to Saturday. This is to confirm whether part-time filters at these locations achieve the aims of the scheme. The times of operation will be extended to 7am to 7pm only if considered necessary after monitoring.
Residents based in the Shotover Hill area and residential areas immediately adjacent to Barton will now be included in the Oxford permit area. They will be eligible for day passes to drive through the filters for up to 100 days per year.
Expanding the resident day passes scheme to include 25 day passes per vehicle per year for residents of Oxfordshire outside the Oxford permit area (with a maximum of one vehicle per person and two vehicles per household) to pass through the filters. Residents in the Oxford permit area, who are most affected by the scheme, would still receive a maximum of 100 day passes per vehicle (with a maximum of one vehicle per person and three vehicles per household).
Short-term exemptions for patients receiving frequent hospital treatments to drive through one traffic filter of their choosing and for people with temporary mobility problems (for all filters).
Expanding the permit eligibility criteria for non-professional carers to include anyone with informal caring responsibilities, but restricting the exemption to one traffic filter of the applicant’s choosing.
Allowing cars operating as part of a qualifying car club to be exempt from driving through the traffic filters

Next steps

The traffic filters trial will begin after improvement works to Oxford railway station are complete. This will enable an effective and representative trial to take place. The station improvement works require Botley Road to close completely to motorised traffic from 9 January 2023, with the road expected to reopen before Christmas 2023.

The traffic filters will be implemented using an experimental traffic regulation order (ETRO) for a minimum period of six months. During the trial, the county council will assess the impact of the traffic filters by monitoring traffic levels, bus journey times and air quality as well as review any impacts on individuals and those with protected characteristics. A further public consultation will run during the first six months of the trial. A long-term decision about the traffic filters will be made towards the end of the trial based on monitoring data collected and feedback from consultation.

Draft Central Oxfordshire Travel Plan (COTP)

The Central Oxfordshire Travel Plan (COTP) sets out the transport strategy for Oxford and travel connections between the city and Kidlington, Eynsham, Botley, Cumnor, Kennington and Wheatley.

It will be the key document used to bid for relevant funding to deliver transport projects between now and 2050 that support the vision and targets of the county-wide transport plan, the Local Transport Connectivity Plan (LTCP).

The county-wide targets cover all aspects of travel from private car journeys, cycling, freight, bus, and rail journeys and seeks to:

reduce car trips by a quarter by 2030;
deliver a net-zero transport network by 2040 and
have zero, or as close as possible, road fatalities or life-changing injuries by 2050.

You said:

The draft plan was consulted on between 22 August and 13 October 2022.

It resulted in 2,329 responses (2,035 online and 294 via email), with more than 21,000 comments about the proposals made.

The responses have been analysed by an independent research company: Consultation report: Central Oxfordshire Travel Plan which has resulted in a number of suggested updates to the draft plan.

We did:

Based on the feedback received we are making several changes to the COTP including:

Providing more information on how the plan will support walking and wheeling
Updating details on the delivery of a zero-emission bus fleet
Providing more ambitious aspirations for public transport and transport hubs including improving the affordability of public transport
Greater appreciation that for some use of a private car will continue to remain important
Greater recognition that a balanced approach to transport provision is needed
Further detail on how the plan will support disability and accessibility groups, the elderly and younger generations
Further detail on how the plan will support taxis and private hire
Greater commitment to measures to enhance resident cycle parking provision
Greater detail and commitment on designing for and integrating significant planned development on the edge of existing urban areas

Next steps:

The plan and proposed changes were approved by Cabinet in November 2022.

The plan will now be updated with the proposed changes and published in Summer 2023.

The COTP will be subject to regular review, as other Area Travel Plans and Local Area Plans are developed and as updated Department for Transport guidance is published.

Draft Oxfordshire Local Transport and Connectivity Plan (LTCP)

In early 2022, we invited feedback from on the draft Oxfordshire Local Transport and Connectivity Plan (LTCP) and its supporting strategies. The LTCP outlines our long-term vision for transport in the county and the policies required to deliver this.

You said:

In total 1,178 responses were received. Overall, there was support for the vision (76 per cent), key themes (74 per cent support) and targets (67 per cent agree). There was also support for the policies identified, with 9 of the 12 policy areas averaging over 70 per cent support. The only policy that was not supported was Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (31 per cent support vs 36 per cent oppose).

We did:

Based on the feedback received we have made several changes to the LTCP including:

adding more detail to outline how policies will be tailored to rural areas and how they will provide for disabled residents transport needs
adding a vision zero’ road safety policy and removing the air travel policy due to public opposition

More information is in our news story.

Draft library and heritage strategy

Over the first three months of 2022, we asked for feedback on our draft library and heritage strategy 2022 - 2027.

You said:

We received nearly 200 survey responses, with high levels of support for our vision, broad support for the package of thirteen priorities for delivery and lots of valuable free text comments. Very few people disagreed with our proposals.

We did:

Taking all this feedback on board and continuing with our commitment to listening to people, evidence-led planning and responsive service development, we plan to:

increase activities for children, young people and their families to support learning and literacy.
explore the opportunity to implement a programme called Every Child a Library Member with the registration service where every baby receives a library card when their birth is registered.
launch a new digital platform to make the county’s rich heritage records and assets more accessible to members of the public; and use this platform to increase participation and engagement with heritage services.
work closely with a range of partners in the community, to identify ways to increase and improve information and advice, activities to support people to live healthy and active lives and reduce digital exclusion.
support residents who want to start or grow their own business through a co-working and business networking space in County Library in Oxford and a programme of business support available to all new or emerging businesses in Oxfordshire.
assess all our library and heritage buildings to ensure they can meet the projected population growth and that our libraries can support the aspiration to become community hubs, offering a wide range of activities and events for the whole community.
measure more effectively the carbon impact of our buildings and activities and will develop and implement a plan to reduce the impact on the environment.

You can read a copy of the final strategy on the county council website.