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Shortly after county councillors voted to approve this corporate plan on 16 February 2016, thedistrict councils announced proposals to create four unitary authorities covering all of Oxfordshireand parts of Gloucestershire and Northamptonshire.

As the leaders of the main political groups on the county council, we have grave concerns about thisproposal. Although described as a ‘simplification’ of local government, the districts’ plan greatlycomplicates public service delivery in Oxfordshire.

By pulling in parts of Gloucestershire and Northamptonshire, the proposed area would take in threepolice forces, the fire authorities and as many as five NHS clinical commissioning groups. It wouldalso mean the fragmentation of children and adult social care at a time when those services arefacing unprecedented demand.

The advice from professionals is that these proposals would be inefficient and potentially less safe forvulnerable children and adults in Oxfordshire. The arguments in favour of the districts’ proposals arehard to find.

However by putting forward these proposals, the districts and the county council agree on one thing– restructuring local government in Oxfordshire is long overdue.

With widespread support for reorganisation, the county council believes there is a good case forcreating an entirely new, single council for Oxfordshire. A single unitary council providing all localgovernment services is likely to provide the economies of scale that allow services to protect fromfurther cuts.

We also think there is a good case for offering parish and town councils greater control over localservices. Real devolution to local communities will be an important part of our proposal.

But we also believe there should be a public debate about all the options. As the corporate plan wentto print, the county council is commissioning an independent study to look at all the options,including one and four unitary councils. We want to make sure the public is well informed so you canhave your say.

The purpose of this corporate plan sets out the county council’s priorities for 2016/17. The unitarydebate does not change those priorities. At the same time, there will be an important public debateabout the future of local government for Oxfordshire.

We are committed to ensuring that debate happens, while ensure delivery of vital public servicescontinue as planned.

Why we are backing a new single council forOxfordshire

Cllr. Ian HudspethConservative Independent AllianceGroup Leader

Cllr. Liz BrighouseLabour Group Leader

Cllr. Richard WebberLiberal DemocratGroup Leader

My Ambition for OxfordshireReductions in central funding to councils combinedwith rising demand for our care services mean ournew corporate plan must focus on targetingresources at vulnerable people while becomingmore efficient.

However Oxfordshire County Council remains a substantial organisation, providing a range of servicesused by all residents, including some of the most vulnerable people in our society.

Government plans to change the way councils are funded also provide an opportunity to reshape thenature of local government. So let me set out clear priorities for the council in the coming years.

First, we will work to support Oxfordshire's thriving economy. That means helping the private sectorcreate high quality new jobs and securing government and developer funding for key infrastructure.

We are rolling out superfast broadband across the county to meet the needs of a digital economy, andsupporting the local enterprise partnership and education providers to create a skilled workforce.As more funding for local services is raised locally, this growth in jobs is needed so we can meet ourresponsibilities towards those who cannot support themselves.

Second, we will protect vulnerable people - in particular vulnerable children at risk of abuse andneglect, and adults who can't look after themselves. We will always look after those people witheligible care needs.

Where we can intervene early to help people avoid or delay life’s problems we will, becauseprevention is better than cure. It is also cheaper in the long run.

Third, while doing all this we will be efficient. We have already stripped out layers of management, androoted out duplication and inefficiency. This next step will require us to be even leaner, modernisingthe way the council runs and provides services.

More transactions will be digital. We will dispose of properties we do not need or generate an incomefrom them. Our own staff will work more flexibly so we need less office space, and where possible wewill share buildings with other organisations. We will also work with partners and central governmentto join up local services so that more decisions about Oxfordshire are made in Oxfordshire.

That said, I want to ensure we don't forget Oxfordshire's strengths. Most notably we are the fastestgrowing part of the country since the recession - outpacing even Greater London in economic growth.For this reason we have the lowest unemployment on record in the county, with only one person inevery 200 claiming unemployment benefit.

Another of our greatest strengths is the resilience of our people and communities. While helpingvulnerable people is the priority for many of our services, it is my hope that we can enable otherservices to continue, and indeed deliver better outcomes by, working in new ways, in partnershipwith local people, other parts of the public sector, and with private companies - and all at less costto the taxpayer.

This is my ambition for Oxfordshire.

Cllr. Ian HudspethLeader, Oxfordshire County Council

A Thriving Oxfordshire

A Thriving Economy Protection of the Vulnerable Efficient Public Services

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Your council�

Oxfordshire County Council works to deliver...

• Growth and investment � Support districts in providing

local housing for local people � ‘Combine authority’ alliance• Infrastructure � Funding to support economic

growth � Infrastructure plans for areas

of significant planneddevelopment

• Spatial growth � Spatial growth and

infrastructure strategy � Test growth options across the

county• Skills � Oxfordshire Skills Strategy � Educational excellence• Transport � Local transport plan � Maintaining roads – value for

money and quality• Broadband � 95% of premises by 2017, with

additional funding meaning wecan go further in the future

• Tackling child sexualexploitation

� New policies and awareness � Victim support• Multi-agency children’s

safeguarding � Multi-Agency Safeguarding

Hub to share information andrespond to concerns aboutchild protection

• Corporate parenting � Improving educational

attainment for Looked AfterChildren, providing high qualityplacements and planning forleaving care

� Aim of ‘most fostering friendlycounty’

• Thriving families programme � Narrowing the gap in

outcomes across the county• Housing options for older

people � Extra Care Housing schemes• Joint working and pooled

funding � Improve and maintain

standards of services and care• Health and wellbeing � Join-up across sectors through

the Health and WellbeingBoard

� Public Health work to preventill health, and improve healthand care outcomes

• Preparing for emergency � Prevent fire, plan for risk of

major events, and respond toaccidents

• Military Covenant � Services reflect Covenant

principles• Natural Environment � Emergency response to

extreme natural events

• Redesigned public services � Better tailored to local need � More local decision making � More responsive local service• Property Rationalisation � Release funds for service

delivery through changes toback office services, andworkforce flexibility

• Working directly withcommunities

� Town and Parish devolution � Voluntary provision � Community involvement in

supporting/reproviding services• Community Information

Networks � Information on local support

services and activities, moneymatters, and social care

� Supporting people to stay intheir communities for as longas possible

• While continuing to deliver arange of statutoryresponsibilities, and

� Encouraging communities tofocus on where they can addvalue

� Championing the needs ofresidents to Government andlocal partners

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Tighter budgets in a shrinking publicsector

In contrast to the rapid growth in Oxfordshire'sprivate sector economy, the public sector isrequired to make savings year on year - nowheremore so than in local government. As centralgovernment reduces funding to localgovernment, the county council has to continueto bear down on spending. While we work tomake our services as efficient as possible, thiswill result in cuts to services.

At the same time the demand for services, andtherefore the cost, is increasing. This is partlydue to our ageing and growing population, andincreasing demand for children’s social careservices. The most intensive users of our servicesmake up around 2% of the population butaccount for around half our spending, and thisproportion is growing. The council has also takenon functions from other parts of the publicsector, such as public health.

The financial challenge public services face inmeeting the needs of a growing number of oldpeople is well known. However, we are alsohaving to spend more on adults with learningand physical disabilities, and protectingvulnerable children. In less than five years wehave seen a 42% increase in looked afterchildren, and an 84% increase in child protectioncases. At the end of March 2015 there were6,494 adults in Oxfordshire receiving long-termsocial care funded by the county council. Therewere 515 looked after children, and 569 childrenwho were the subject of a child protection plan.

We also have to maintain a range of otherservices we are required by law to provide.

We have made significant savings withoutaffecting frontline services, throughefficiencies including managementreductions, pay freezes, smarter contracting,better use of our property, working with thevoluntary sector, and shrinking/sharing ourback office services.

However these will not be sufficient to meet thescale of the ongoing financial challenge we face,which will require radical new thinking abouthow we raise income and how we spend it.

Targeting resources at the mostvulnerable

The council now has to make some toughdecisions. Some county council services will bereduced and others may stop altogether.

While we will continue to meet our statutoryresponsibilities, increasingly we will not be ableto provide universal services beyond that core.Instead we will target services at those whoreally depend on them – particularly children atrisk of abuse and neglect, and adults who cannotlook after themselves.

In 2015/6 we spent around £575m – about halfof this is being raised from council tax. Thecouncil has already saved – or has plans to save– a total of £292 million between 2010/11 and2017/18. In many cases those savings have beenrequired to meet rising demand for our provisionto the most vulnerable, as well as addressing ourfalling funding.

We now expect that we will need to save up to£72 million more in the four years between2016/17 and 2019/20. These savings are long-term; even when the government meets itstarget on deficit reduction, we do not expectsignificant increases in council funding fromcentral government, and indeed believe thatOxfordshire may effectively be 'fiscallyindependent' by the end of the plan period.

Therefore, in addition to managing our cost baseas efficiently as possible, and reducing some ofthe services we provide, we need to supportgrowth in our local economy to maximise thecouncil's income from local taxpayers, devolvedbusiness rates, and central government growthincentives.

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1. A strong and thriving economy

We will support a strong and thriving economyby working with the local enterprise partnership,local universities, businesses, and the five districtcouncils in Oxfordshire, to:

• Help the private sector create new highquality jobs, particularly those which makethe most of the county’s world-famousexpertise in science, technology, andinnovation.

• Secure government and developer fundingtowards the costs of the infrastructurewhich enables and supports that growth,including transport infrastructure,superfast broadband, and otherinfrastructure such as new schools forgrowing communities.

• Support the LEP in working to ensure askilled workforce, including the right stafffor the public sector, in the context of agrowing private sector which generatesmore, and better paid, jobs.

• Maximise the funding to public servicesfrom a growing local economy, ensuringthat developers pay their fair sharetowards infrastructure, and making themost of business rate devolution. Asgovernment withdraws central funding theonly way to sustain vital public services inOxfordshire will be for a thriving economyto generate local resources.

2. Protection for vulnerable people

We will safeguard vulnerable children and adults,and meet their eligible care needs, through:

• Stopping abuse and neglect, and givingchildren in our care a good start in life.

• Backing evidence-based earlyinterventions which prevent morechallenging problems arising in the future.

• Helping and empowering troubledfamilies, including supporting them tomove off benefits and into work.

• Supporting people with significant needs(including older people with substantialcare needs), and meeting the eligible careneeds of people with physical disabilities,learning disabilities, or mental healthproblems.

• Offering information and advice so peoplecan look after themselves.

• Supporting informal carers.

Our priorities�

Given the financial challenge set out above, we must be clear aboutour priorities, and what we can and cannot afford to do in the future.Less money means we must use our influence as effectively andefficiently as possible to deliver our priorities

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3. Efficient public services

There are two aspects to this:

Firstly, to enable the council to target services atthose in greatest need, the council needs a moreefficient business operating model, which willinvolve: consolidation across the council, leanerprocesses, modernisation and rationalisation ofour functions, and other innovation to drive across-cutting approach to ensure services are asefficient and effective as possible. As part of thiswe will be:

• Making transactions and processes digitalwherever possible, simplifying customerinteraction with the council, making bestuse of the internet, helping people accessonline services, and joining up our backoffice processes more efficiently.

• Stepping up the pace of work on reviewingour asset management, disposing ofproperties where appropriate, and reducingour need for office space by requiring andsupporting our staff to work in a flexibleway, with fewer office staff havingpermanent fixed desks, and working withlocal partners to share property.

• Supporting people and communities tohelp themselves by making it as easy aspossible for people to volunteer in theircommunities, and ensuring that their workis valued.

• Taking a more commercial approach tomanaging our business. This will includegenerating income where this can be donein a way which makes a net contributionto the savings required - not least fromusing our remaining property assets inmore efficient and innovative ways.

Secondly, we recognise that we are part of thebroader landscape in the county and that wemust work effectively with our local partners todeliver the best possible outcomes for our

communities and ensure that residents receivejoined up and value for money services. Thiswork includes:

• Working with partners to ensure decisionsabout services and spending inOxfordshire are as far as possible made inOxfordshire, based on local evidence andlocal accountability. At the time ofpublication of this plan we, with otherlocal partners, are in discussion withgovernment to seek significant devolutionof powers and funding to the county.Current areas of focus for our devolutiondeal include:

• Building on the strength of our localeconomy and the opportunity to drivefurther economic growth throughseeking greater local freedoms ininfrastructure provision, housingdelivery, skills and business support;

• Developing a single approach for healthand social care in Oxfordshire, bringingtogether organisations and budgets tocreate a system that will deliver thecare that our residents need, as well asbetter value for money for tax payers.

• Where we are no longer able to fundservices we will discuss with communitiesand other partners (for example localcouncils, the voluntary sector andcommunity support organisations) howthey might be able to develop new andfinancially sustainable models of serviceprovision, where the council no longerprovides services directly but supports acommunity solution.

We will work closely with district councils tosupport planning for the growth in oureconomy and in housing, to plan ahead tomeet our infrastructure needs, and to ensuregrowth is delivered in a way which supportsOxfordshire's heritage and quality of life.

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Our statutory responsibilities

We will retain a range of other statutoryresponsibilities which we will work to deliverefficiently and effectively, including:

• Providing fire and rescue services andpreventative advice.

• Maintaining local roads to a safestandard.

• Disposing of household waste andrecycling.

• Supporting library services in ourcommunities.

• Helping people live healthier lives.

• Targeting rogue traders.

Examples of what we will not do include:

• Providing universal services without clearevidence of their cost-effectiveness - thiswill mean some services stopping, andothers being provided in a different way,e.g. being taken on by the localcommunity or volunteers where this canbe done in a financially sustainable way.

• Spending money on roads and otherhighway assets where it does notcontribute to our objective of maintainingthem safely and cost-effectively.

• Making judgements about who shouldprovide a service other than on grounds ofeffectiveness and efficiency.

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The last set of elections to Oxfordshire CountyCouncil took place in May 2013, and the nextelections will be in May 2017. The counciloperates a Cabinet and Scrutiny model. Thismeans that some decisions are taken by theCabinet (a group of councillors from themajority group), which are subject to scrutiny bycross-party panels on particular issues.

We will also apply a number of tests in ourbusiness planning to maximise the effectivenessand efficiency of our work:

• Is what we are doing joined up with otherstrying to achieve the same things?

• Do we need to intervene - to help ourmost vulnerable residents, or because oflegislation?

• Does what we are doing reward peoplewho are doing the right thing?

• Are our decisions being made on the basisof the best available evidence?

• Are we signposting the full range of helpavailable from all sources?

How we work

In making changes to tackle the financialchallenge we face, we will ask key questionsabout each change, including whether it:

• Contributes to our legal duties, e.g. to keepchildren and vulnerable adults safe.

• Can be achieved without significantlyincreasing health and safety risks.

• Makes a clear contribution to a thrivingOxfordshire.

• Presents opportunities for communities totake over services themselves, or maintainservices which we can no longer provide.

• Reduces costs or demand for services byimproving prevention.

• Is an opportunity to become moreefficient, e.g. through use of newtechnology.

We will also monitor our impact on inequality,including undertaking impact assessments ofservice change on groups with protectedcharacteristics required by the Equality Act2010, as well as considering deprivation andgeographic factors affecting rural or urbancommunities.

As an organisation we will continue to workto a set of organisational values in our workwith partners, the public, and colleagues.

• Customer focus

• Honesty

• One team

• Innovation

• Commercial

• Enthusiasm

How the council is run�

The council is a locally elected, democratically accountable organisationwith 63 councillors. This plan, alongside other key strategic documentssuch as the Medium-Term Financial Plan, has to be agreed by a majorityof councillors at its council meeting.

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Managing performance

The priorities set out in this Corporate Planshape all activities and services conductedacross the council. The directorates will usethese to develop their Directorate BusinessStrategies.

Directorate Business Strategies set out thestrategic priorities for their service areas,including making budget savings. They ensureall areas of their business are managed (notsolely focused on savings and pressures) andareas of underperformance/concern areescalated when appropriate.

The priorities and activities set out in theDirectorate Business Strategies will cascade rightdown to individuals so that everyone is clearabout what their priorities are to ensure wecollectively deliver our agreed plan.

We will measure our success throughperformance information and benchmarking(how we are performing against other similarauthorities, value for money/financialinformation, customer survey results), and a setof outcome performance measures.

We will report these back to our PerformanceScrutiny Committee and Cabinet throughout theyear. In addition, we will publish a range oftransparency data, available here:www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/cms/content/open-information

Alongside this Corporate Plan we will developa corporate business strategy, setting out howthe council will deliver change to services andour own ways of working.

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Oxfordshire Growth Board and LocalEnterprise Partnership: Provides strategic co-ordination for our growing economy and theexpected growth in housing, and supports workto get the funding for the infrastructure whichthat growth requires - particularly transportimprovements.

Health and Wellbeing Board: Brings togetherlocal government, the NHS, and other keypartners, to ensure we are looking in the roundat Oxfordshire residents' needs for health andsocial care, so that we can plan and deliver thesein a joined-up and coherent way.

Oxfordshire Safeguarding Children Board andthe Safeguarding Adults Board: Enablesorganisations to come together to agree on howthey will cooperate with one another tosafeguard and promote the welfare of children,or adults, at risk of harm. Both boards areindependently chaired and membership includesall relevant statutory agencies.

Children’s Trust: Reporting to the Health andWellbeing Board and involving local government,the NHS, schools, the police, the voluntarysector, and parents and young people, torecommend where resources for children andyoung people should be focused and holdingagencies to account for delivering the prioritiesfor children, young people and families.

Safer Communities Partnerships (atcountywide and district level): Involves thecounty and district councils, police, and others inproviding strategic oversight and direction forthe prevention of crime and anti-socialbehaviour across Oxfordshire.

Stronger Communities Alliance: Bringstogether 23 members from voluntary sectorsupport providers, faith groups, representativesof local councils, the NHS, military and police, tohelp build and maintain stronger communities,and a thriving voluntary, community and faithsector in Oxfordshire to improve the quality oflife for local people.

Oxfordshire Environment Partnership: A localgovernment partnership which helps tocoordinate shared action against broaderOxfordshire 2030 pledges relating to waste,energy, climate change, biodiversity andflooding.

The key countywide partnerships report toCouncil on at least an annual basis, and moreinformation about their recent achievementsand future plans can be found in this annualreport, available online. [http://mycouncil.oxfordshire.gov.uk/documents/s30720/CC_SEP0815R03.pdf]

Working in partnership�

The council already works in partnership with a range of organisations andsignificant business is undertaken through the council’s role on formalpartnership bodies including:

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We also work directly with a range of local andnational partners. Many of the ambitions set outin this plan can only be achieved with others –ranging from local people and communities,through local public and private sector partners,to national government.

Some of our key partners are shown below. Weare also involved in partnerships beyond ourborders where relevant. These include:

• England’s Economic Heartland, which willjoin up delivery of infrastructureimprovements across eight council areasfrom Oxfordshire to Cambridgeshire.

• Shared back office services (finance, HR)with Hampshire.

• Collaboration with Oxford City Council tosupport counter-fraud measures.

• Aspects of fire protection withBuckinghamshire and Berkshire.

To get the best outcomes for Oxfordshire,we will:

• Work with local and regional partnersand national government to attract newinvestment and new powers to helpsupport economic growth and deliverbetter services.

• Develop new models of joint workingwith better outcomes for local residents.

• Facilitate and encourage communities tohelp themselves.

• Help parishes and town councils respondto local needs by allowing them to takeon some council functions that we canno longer afford to provide ourselves.

xLEPdriving economic growth

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Helping troubled families thrive The county council is helping transform the livesof more than 400 new families in the secondphase of its Thriving Families project.

The scheme helps vulnerable families overcomeproblems such as antisocial behaviour, poorschool attendance and unemployment. All 810families identified in the first phase made real-terms improvements in their lives.

Oxfordshire is part of England’s EconomicHeartlandAs a founder member of England’s EconomicHeartland strategic alliance, the county councilis working with other councils includingBuckinghamshire, Northamptonshire andCambridgeshire to boost prosperity in thecounty by co-ordinating investment in transportinfrastructure.

Already home to over 173,000 businesses,investment in England’s Economic Heartlandgenerates 40% higher return than anywhere elseoutside of London.

Pooled care and health budgets bringbenefitsOxfordshire County Council and the OxfordshireClinical Commissioning Group continue to poolbudgets in excess of £330m to ensure thatspending on health and social care makes bestuse of available resources and achieves the bestpossible outcomes for patients / service users.

The money funds community health and socialcare services and recent examples of thebenefits of the pooled budget arrangementsinclude the jointly-commissioned dementiasupport service, and our shared ongoingcommitment to supporting carers in the county.

Joining up fire control servicesOxfordshire Fire and Rescue Service (OFRS) hasjoined forces with two neighbouring services tocreate a state of the art emergency call handlingcentre.

OFRS had joined Royal Berkshire Fire and RescueService and Buckinghamshire & Milton KeynesFire and Rescue Service to set up a new jointcontrol centre in Reading.

Frideswide Square – improving traffic flowand better public spaceAfter nearly 45,000 working hours, over 400tonnes of granite and nearly 4000m² of YorkStone the new look Frideswide Square nearOxford station is complete with its shared spacefor pedestrians, cyclists and public transport.

Other enhancements such as the free flowarrangement for traffic, trees, planters withuplighters and decluttered space means thesquare is now a fitting gateway into a city whichis looking forward to the Westgate shoppingcentre redevelopment and new train station.

Our track record�

While we face significant challenges around the demand for our servicesand the funding available to provide them, we have much about which wecan be positive.

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Firefighters watch out for vulnerableresidentsThe service returned 88 safeguarding alerts toOxfordshire County Council’s adults andchildren’s social care teams for furtherinvestigation following attendance at fires orother incidents during 2014-15.

If Oxfordshire firefighters see a family or olderperson in need in the course of their work, theyrefer concerns to other parts of the councilresponsible for children and adult social care.

Ring road improvements to ease congestion In the last twelve months the county council hascompleted major improvements on the A423 atKennington, A420 London Road and the Plainroundabout.

These schemes are part of the ConnectingOxfordshire programme and have helpedimproved traffic flows, provided new roadsurfaces and improved safety for all road users.

Each day around 16,000 vehicles, including up to900 buses and coaches, use London Road. It isalso a key road for residents and businesses ofHeadington.

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A40 – work underway and thinking for along-term solution continues£100m improvement works to alleviatecongestion in the short to medium term alongthe A40 corridor within Oxfordshire has started.Longer-term solutions for the A40 wereconsidered as part of a public consultation heldby the council in Autumn 2015 which willinform a long-term strategy for the A40.

Plans to boost adult social care workforceThe council is developing plans to grow its adultsocial care workforce and meet the challenges ofan ageing population and the increasing numberof people with complex health and social careneeds in the county.

The council is working closely with providers ofsocial care services to develop the skills andknowledge of staff, and promote the use ofvalues in recruitment, to help ensure they feelvalued and view their work as a vocation. Thereare also plans to boost apprenticeships in socialand healthcare by funding placements withproviders.

Ensuring children in care stay close to homeThe council is building four new centres to lookafter children in care and those at risk of cominginto care. This will enable more vulnerable youngpeople to stay closer to home and help keepthem safe.

Assessment Centres in Thame and Eynsham willhelp younger teenagers, and homes in Didcotand Witney will cater for those preparing toleave care.

Growing Bicester – supporting major growthplansOxfordshire County Council in partnership withCherwell District Council, Bicester Town Counciland Bicester Vision, has developed a jointcampaign called ‘Growing Bicester’. The purposeof which is to explain how a number oftransport, housing and regeneration schemes arepart of a coherent, long-term development planfor the town.

Innovation and challenges�

To support its ambition for a thriving Oxfordshire in the context of risingdemand for public services and reduced public spending, the countycouncil will have to find new ways to meet the needs of the people ofOxfordshire.

Some of the challenges and innovative solutions we will be working on inthe coming year include:

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Children and Family Centres for targetedearly interventionOxfordshire County Council is developingproposals for a new integrated model ofchildren’s services. Under the proposals therewould be up to eight children and family centreslocated in areas of greatest need acrossOxfordshire, and an outreach service to supportvulnerable children and families close to wherethey live.

It is also developing an offer to communities andvoluntary groups to continue delivering universalservices through existing children’s centres.

The ‘agile’ county councilFor Oxfordshire County Council becoming an‘agile’ organisation means working in a moreflexible way that makes best use of staff time,buildings and resources. We will maximise ourperformance by supporting teams to be moreresponsive, flexible and efficient.

Agile working is part of a bigger programmewhere the council is rationalising the use ofproperties to achieve savings.

Science Transit – connecting growth areasScience Transit is a fresh approach to planningand delivering local transport. It is needed if thecouncil is to successfully, and sustainably,connect the places in Oxfordshire where themajority of people will live and work over thecoming 20 years. Science Transit is designed toimprove connectivity within, to and from theOxfordshire Knowledge Spine (Bicester – Oxford- Science Vale UK).

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Examples of our work on delivering this commitment include:

• Talking Oxfordshire – a six-week consultation explaining the need to make further savings andsetting out the options we were considering; 3,631 responses online with 348 people attendingthree public meetings, followed by a meeting for parish representatives to talk about impact ofcouncil cuts on rural communities.

• Full consultation ahead of any significant service changes, including household waste recyclingcentres and children’s centres.

• The Big Plan – consulting service users and their loved ones on services for people with learningdisabilities.

• Delivering a consultation on supported transport in partnership with a respected third party toensure a fair and balanced approach.

• Annual 'Hearsay' events, currently delivered on our behalf by Healthwatch Oxfordshire.

You can view our current and most recent consultations online atwww.oxfordshire.gov.uk/consultation

Having your say

When the council makes significant decisions about services and funding,we are committed to making local consultation an important part of thatdecision-making process. This is so that local people and organisations areable to have their say about the policies which affect them.

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