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Housing

Housing led approach the default for Oxfordshire 

A 'housing led’ approach to tackling homelessness in Oxfordshire will become the default from 1 April after our cabinet agreed on a record investment in homelessness prevention grants.

The countywide homelessness service is the result of three years of work between Oxfordshire’s six councils, the NHS Oxfordshire Clinical Commissioning Group, Crisis and local partners – including people with lived experience of rough sleeping – to develop a system wide approach to tackling homelessness. This puts homelessness prevention, collective responsibility and effective joint working at its heart.

The result of this work is a new default model for preventing and reducing rough sleeping as well as more jointly funded services.

Traditionally, people who have experienced rough sleeping in the UK have tended to move from the streets to independent living in stages. This approach assumes that people need to engage with support services before they are ready to move on to the next stage.

However, the housing led approach that we will now take, means that people will be offered permanent housing immediately and without preconditions like engaging with treatment services. Wraparound support can then be provided to help them maintain their tenancies.

Planning permission for 61 new homes in Littlemore 

Renters in Oxford encouraged to join union

Make your voices heard on our new tenants’ forum and represent the interests of renters in Oxford.

The tenants’ forum is open to renters in all tenures. Its impact is likely to be biggest in the private rented sector, which now makes up nearly half (49%) of all homes in Oxford.

Though rents are high and rising, the condition of privately rented homes in the city is often poor. In 2020, an independent review of housing conditions by Metastreet found that a fifth (6,200) of the 30,500 homes in Oxford’s private rented sector could have a serious housing hazard.

We need your voices and opinions to help us shape the rental market, protect tenants’ rights and ensure that every Oxford tenant can live in safety and security. 

Communities 

Equality is everybody’s business

The Covid-19 pandemic has once again revealed the extent of inequalities in Oxford, and the country, and how inequalities affect people’s lives.

Tackling these inequalities is the focus of our new Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Strategy.

In 2018, a report by think tank Centre for Cities ranked Oxford as the second least equal city in the UK.

The new strategy outlines how we will work with communities, improve service delivery, demonstrate local leadership and become a more inclusive employer.

Community Champion programme

We have launched a programme to better understand vaccine uptake and the underlying health inequality in Oxford.

Ten of Oxford’s 83 neighbourhood areas are amongst the most deprived in the country. In these areas, people die up to a decade earlier than those living in the wealthiest parts of the city.

There are many reasons for this inequality, but one is that people in more deprived areas of the city are less likely to engage with health services. 

Over the last two years there has, for example, been a reluctance to take the Covid-19 vaccines amongst some Oxford residents, despite overwhelming evidence of their efficacy – and the fact one of the vaccines was created in Oxford.

Our Community Champion programme will help us to better understand the reasons why some people have barriers to accessing local services, including health.

We will work with people within existing communities with the aim of removing the barriers and making changes to services so that they are more accessible and inclusive.

Do you think you could be a Community Champion? Head over to our website to find out more. 

Play all day at Hollow Way 

‘Big Ideas’ grants awarded to 36 local organisations

This week, we announced 36 organisations and community groups across the city that will receive funding from the first round of our Big Ideas Grants. 

Demand for funding has been overwhelming, with over £5 million in requests against an available £1m over three years.

Despite the challenging economic times, we have been able to maintain a community grants programme that will support third sector partners who share common objectives. 

The city's community organisations do extraordinary work, day in, day out, to support people, families, and communities. We are immensely grateful to everyone for their commitment, drive and care.

Help with rising energy bills

Earlier this year, Government announced a £150 tax rebate for households in council tax bands A-D. From 1 April, we will start processing the rebate for eligible council taxpayers.

If you are already paying your council tax by direct debit then you won't need to do anything, the money will automatically be paid to you. However, if you are not paying direct debit then it will take longer for your payments. This is because we will need to contact the liable person and invite them to make a claim.

You can still sign up to pay your council tax by direct debit by heading to the Pay Your Council Tax page. 

Climate Emergency

Decarbonising Oxford 

We're excited that the work - which started in Autumn 2021 - to decarbonise our leisure centres is nearly complete. 

The upgrade work will mean that a large amount of the heating which is currently provided by gas boilers can be replaced with heat pumps that transfer heat from the air or water.

At Ferry Leisure Centre, Barton Leisure Centre, and Leys Pool, we are in the commissioning phase of completion which will see the new systems integrated and tested.

At Hinksey Outdoor Heated Pool, which will see the installation of a heat pump from Hinksey lake, we are working with SSEN to install a substation to strengthen the local network. Once the substation is installed, final commissioning work can also start at Hinksey.

Leisure centres currently contribute around 40% of our carbon footprint, with swimming pools among the most energy intensive as they must be kept at a constant temperature.

The project will cut carbon emissions from our operations as a whole by around 21%.

Another key part of our decarbonisation programme is the investment in Ray Valley Solar - the largest community-owned solar park in the UK. The solar park is being built near Bicester and is fast approaching completion.

The project is the first of its kind for local social enterprise, Low Carbon Hub and is expected to be complete by late April. 

Boosting biodiversity

With spring in the air, we're sure you'll have noticed some early flowers starting to bloom in grass verges throughout the city. These early flowering species are an important source of nectar for insects as they're waking up for the year, while other species in the grassland will be a vital food source in the coming months.

That's why we're protecting them by cutting the grass less frequently. In 2021, we trialled the new approach to grass cutting - only mowing once at the end of the summer - this helps to promote biodiversity reduce emissions.

Annual Greenhouse Gas Emission report published

We aim to be transparent and open about our journey to net-zero, and this includes publishing our annual Greenhouse Gas Emission report.

The report shows a significate decrease from the previous year's, however, we are very mindful that it covers the year 2020/21 - a year of lockdowns due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Economy

The Covered Market welcomes six new traders

Six new independent businesses have opened in Oxford’s famous Covered Market in the past six months. Have you visited any of them?

Fresh yoghurt drinks company Puggi Yoggi becomes the market’s latest addition, following hot on the heels of pizza company Sartorelli’s, which opened in March, offering fresh sourdough pizza made on-site in a wood-fired oven.

In February, Oxford’s bookworms embraced the charms of Gulp Fiction, a unique space offering beer, coffee and the chance to buy and sell books. We're really excited about this as it is the Covered Market’s first book shop since the Little Bookshop closed in 2003!

In addition, three new shops joined the Covered Market just before Christmas as part of Meanwhile in Oxfordshire, an innovative pilot scheme from Oxford City Council and Makespace Oxford to transform the use of vacant shops across Oxfordshire.

Plans for Oxford Rail Station are chugging along

In Autumn last year, we granted ‘Prior Approval’ planning consent for upgrades to the rail infrastructure in Oxford. 

Network Rail is now finalising designs for a new Western Entrance and additional platform at Oxford Railway station.

This expansion of the station will bring a much-needed increase in capacity and help pave the way for further rail projects in the county, such as the re-opening of the Cowley Branch Line for passenger use.

The reintroduction of passenger services along the Cowley Branch Line is a key feature of strategic transport plans for Oxford and Oxfordshire.

A decision by Government on the final funding for the project is imminent and eagerly awaited. So far, the project has received £72.7m for final design and enabling work, with a further £88.3m needed to progress to the construction phase.

City Centre undergoes deep clean after securing Government funds

ODS apprenticeships 

Do you know a young person looking to start a great career and pick up recognised qualifications at the same time?

ODS apprenticeships offer the chance to do a real job, gain workplace experience, continue learning and get a professional qualification, all while earning a wage at the same time. There are are a range of different professional career paths available, from electricians to gardeners and accountancy to ICT.

An apprenticeship can take up to four years to complete and offers a fantastic start to a career. ODS’ apprentices are supported by mentors, line managers and assessors, and work alongside experienced colleagues who guide and support their development so they can become an important part of the team.

There will soon be opportunities on offer for new apprentices so keep an eye on the ODS website where these will be posted.

Oxford 

May Morning returns for 2022

May Morning is on the horizon and we're looking for ways to make the first in-person celebration in two years a memorable one. 

The celebrations have traditionally taken place from the top of Magdalen College Tower for centuries. The Covid-19 pandemic has meant the event had to be experienced distantly and online.

This year, we want to celebrate with a particularly festive event and revive the fun tradition of decorating the bridge to welcome the spring. To do this, we've launched a crowdfunding campaign and are looking for local businesses and organisations to donate products or services that can be used as thank you gifts.

Working with local artists and creative communities, we want to decorate Magdalen Bridge with artworks reflecting the city’s hidden gems.

The money raised by the Crowdfunder will be spent on commissioning artists, running a community competition and manufacturing artworks and products for the event.

Safer streets for Oxford 

The new cameras are monitored in real time with operators able to communicate with police officers, door staff and store security, cover the main areas of Oxford City Centre - including in three new locations - and aim to deter perpetrators.

They are the first of many physical measures which will improve safety and support women and girls at night and deter perpetrators from committing crimes.

Two years on from first lockdown

Although restrictions have been lifted in England, you can still find Covid-19 advice on our website.  

May Elections

On Thursday 5 May, you will be able to have your say on who represents you within Oxford City Council.

Oxford will have elections for half of the City Council as well as for Old Marston and Blackbird Leys parish councils.

The polling stations will be open from 7am until 10pm on the 5th. We will ensure that they are Covid-safe.

To vote in these important elections you must be on the electoral register. The deadline to register to vote is fast approaching – midnight on 14 April.

If you have not registered at your current address then we encourage you to do so before registration closes. 

It takes just five minutes to apply online on the Register To Vote page.

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